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Category Archives: General

Worcester Cathedral in the Snow

January 21, 2013

Hello there,

Well this weekend we have had a lot of snow and a shot i have always wanted to do was of Worcester Cathedral in the snow.

The long story……

Last night Mrs P and the mother in law went to see Strictly Dancing at the NIA in Birmingham, so JD and Soukie (our kids) went for a sleep over at granddads. That meant that this morning Nikki and I had to go pick them up, and at 5 ish we had to go over my sisters for dinner, so my day was pretty much taken up – looking at the long range forecast I was worried that the snow would all be gone in the next day or so, so decided that I would shoot it at night after we had the kids in bed.

So to tonight, I set off to photograph Worcester Cathedral in the snow, I was hoping for a good bit of falling snow to still be around, but alas, when I got there the snow had stopped, I wanted the snow as it would help light up the sky, I didnt just want it to go black. But I was there so what the hell let shoot away. After the first couple of pictures it was very obvious that capturing the Cathedral in all its glory would be a hard task in one image, so I decided to shoot an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image and blend the layers together. I put my D800 on a tripod and using the Nikon 16-35mm F4 VR lens, (I turned off the image stabilization) as when shooting for 4 – 5 seconds with VR / IS turned on it does very weird things to the images. I shot wide open at F4 at 400 ISO and only shot two different versions of this image. I picked out a spot on the Cathedral where I thought the light was about middle of the road, and used that to set my meter reading by using spot metering. I then took a 5 stop exposure over 5 images, 1 & 2 stops under and 1 & 2 stops over and my metered reading.

I blended them all together in Photoshop using Nik Filters HDR merge pro and this is the result.

Hope you like

Photo of Worcester Cathedral in the snow

I then had to do a fair bit of photo shop to take out the bright red postbox and several bollard from in front of the church.

hope you like.

ciao

Tags: hdr, night time photography, snowy pictures, worcester cathedral

Best Bird – AKA Miss Emma – and friends around the world

October 31, 2012

Okay, all year and for many many years on the blog you would have seen me refer to Best Bird or Emma in vairous posts, Well BB is my wife’s best friend and was naturally my wifes maid of honor or her BEST BIRD or cheif bridesmaid

Best Bird is also my ultimate stalker and blog fan, and the one who kicks me in the ass when I get lazy and dont update the blog,

So I think its time we put a face – Sort of – to Best bird.

This photo taken on my wedding day, features my beautiful bride (left as you look at the photo) and Best Bird, its my wife’s favorite wedding photos (including the ones with me in them!)

This is BB in all her glory !

Hey BB, missing you honey !

The photo was taken by Mark Vivanco, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, he is currently huddled up in one room with his whole family in his house in Pennsylvainia where he lives, with no power currently thanks to Tropical Storm Sandy, they also have no showers although he has been to the YMCA for a shower (betting Mrs V is happy about that) and surviving off a generator that is heating the living room (family room our our US friends) and keeping the fridge cold, but on the bright side he still has internet via his cell phone so not all bad.

My thoughts are with Mark and his family, Warren and his family and all my friends over there in the states at this time.

Absent friends can simply be as far away as London (BB) or the other side of the world including some brits (Tim and his family) who happen to be vacationing in New York this week !

God bless you all and god bless the internet for keeping us all in touch.

Could this be my best ever wedding dress photo ?

October 5, 2011

Very quick one as I am having dinner while at a wedding, just waiting for speeches, but simply could not wait to edit this photo.

Tina my bride for today is a very cool girl, she comes from Melbourne in Australia and found me while planning a wedding in the UK

Having a good look at my blog she saw I have a penchant for wedding dresses and more importantly the photos of wedding dresses. Since she is from down under they hired a house for the week and when I turned up for the bridal prep there was no where great for the wedding dress photo. The house they have rented is right on the beach so has no garden space either – it was a bit of a dilemma

I had the idea to take it to the beach and photograph it with the sea in the background, maybe hang it from a palm tree or something, and this is the result

right back to work speeches about to start

What happens when your wedding photographer is ill ?

August 15, 2011

What happens if your wedding photographer cant show up ?

Hello there, this is a bit of a strange post – but its a very important one.

One question that you hear time and time again as a full time wedding photographer is what happens if you get ill or cant make the wedding ? What happens if this happens the night before a wedding ? Well read this and and be inspired !!!!!!

If you read THIS post (the one previous to this one) you will see that recently I was diagnosed with a very serious condition that needed surgery pretty much right away – well after a good few hours of Keyhole surgery I am well on the way to making a full recovery and have started back to work albeit with light duties for the next couple of weeks.

I am a full time wedding and portrait photographer, this is my only job so if I dont shoot weddings I dont get paid and my family dont eat – but this also has the benefit that I choose to only photograph 30 weddings a year – Once I hit my limit of 30 weddings I stop taking any more bookings. This is not that uncommon in the professional photography arena. This actually worked out GREAT for me in two ways and as the story unfolds you will see why.

Without blowing my own trumpet, I am pretty good at what I do and am in quite a bit of demand – most of my photography friends and piers are in pretty much the same boat – and nearly all of them are members of a fantastic network of international professional photographers called

The International Professional Photographers’ Network

Members of IPPN display this badge with pride on their websites.

As a member you join a small select group of professional photographers from all over the world but with the majority of its members based in the UK its a great place to hang out. We have a private members forum where we can ask for help and advice, where we share great learning experiences and new trends in the industry with each other. One of the main features is the SOS board where you can post up asking for help.

The second I knew what was going on and that I needed a serious operation I posted an SOS and received offers of help from some of the top photographers in the UK. Within hours all the weddings I had booked over the 3 – 4 weeks I would be off work for were covered and I started to contact my brides and grooms with the information – Naturally I offered them a choice of photographers or a full refund if for what ever reason they wanted to switch to another photographer.

This weekend (just gone) was the first of these weddings and unfortunately the evening before this wedding, the 2nd shooter (the assistant photographer) had a family emergency of her own and informed John – John Mottershaw (the lead photographer who was standing in for me at this wedding) – http://www.johnmottershaw.com and he put up another SOS with less than 12 hours to go – Well within 3 hours and less than 12 hours before the wedding the assistant photographers position was filled.

The wedding of Niamh and James took place in Leciestershire this past Saturday (I will post up pictures from this in the next post) The two photographers who attended this wedding are actually two of my mentors and photographers who I look up to and whos work I feel is far superior to my own.

They were John Mottershaw from http://www.johnmottershaw.com and Simon Revill - http://www.simonrevill.com/ - who also happens to be the founder of the IPPN. Between the two photographers at their wedding the couple actually received coverage that far exceeded what they would have had with me shooting it – Both John and Simon are full time professional photographers in their own rights and between them have over 50 years of experience in the wedding photography industry. John is from generations of photographers and basically has been taking photos since he was pretty much able to life his finger and press a shutter. If you had to pay their respective fee’s the couple would have to over double their photography budget.

This August I only happen to have 3 weddings, one was the week before the surgery and two were following it – on paper I have 5 other Friday or Saturdays available for weddings in August yet I am fully booked as I have reached my 30 weddings of 2011. Its because of this that I am available to jump in and help out if needed, it so happened that both Simon and John were free this weekend although I believe that both of them had weddings the Friday before. They are also pretty much fully booked but have spaces free where they can help out other photographers in their hour of need.

Naturally I cant thank John and Simon enough but will be trying to over the coming days, weeks and months.

So if your a bride looking at photographers ask them about their emergency contingencies and ask what would happen if they happened to break their leg the night before you wedding – it can and does happen – while your at it ask them if they are members of The International Professional Photographers’ Network

The IPPN does have a Directory of some of its members (its a voluntary directory so some members have not yet got around to filling it in) but why not start your search for a professional wedding photographer in your area by visiting The International Professionals Photographers Network Directory.

If our a professional wedding photographer who would like to be able to offer your couples total piece of mind and would be interested in joining a small but ever growing network of like minded professionals all looking out to help each other grown and develop as photographers then pop along and take a look at with the IPPN has to offer – I should point out however that we (I have nothing to do with the administration or management side) do not just accept any application and members are checked out and voted upon by the leadership team (of which I have nothing to do with) – You can find out all about the IPPN by visiting the main website at http://www.ippn.co.uk/

In the coming weeks several other brides will be having the likes of Simon and John turn up to cover my weddings and provide them with amazing and outstanding photography and professionalism let alone a lifetime of amazing memories.

So special thanks for the time being to

John Mottershaw – Sheffield Wedding Photographer

and

Simon Revill – Derbyshire Wedding Photographer

and all of the members of

The International Professional Photographers’ Network – http://www.ippn.co.uk/

Ciao

David Purslow
Wedding Photographer
http://www.davidpurslow.com

Studio: 01299 253 844
Mobile: 0759 007 6666

Tags: backup wedding photographer, emergency wedding photographer, ill wedding photographer, professional wedding photographers network, wedding photography coverage

Alive and Kicking – Getting Back to work……

August 15, 2011

Hello there,

For those of you who are regular followers of my blog you will have noticed around 4 months I stopped posting updates as often as I normally do – the reasons for this were two fold.

In the past 4 months I have been working on opening a Studio and I am proud to say the new studio is now ready and is open for business, this is where I now work each and every day, no more locking myself away in the spare bedroom and meeting clients in the dining room. – I will post about the studio shortly.

Around 6 weeks ago I also started to feel unwell, after a few doctors visits, a CAT scan and being poked and prodded pretty much everywhere its possible to poke and prod both inside and outside of the body and after having a camera taking a good look around inside of me I was diagnosed with a serious Kidney Infection – So serious I needed to have 1/2 a Kidney removed.

Last week I underwent surgery to remove the effected area and I am very pleased to say it was a total success and apart from being a bit sore and tender I am now well on the road to recovery.

I visited the studio today for the first time since coming out of the Hospital and starting tomorrow I will be back there working for a few hours each day – over the next 2 – 3 weeks I will build up to working full time and getting caught up with my outstanding Albums and blog posts – WATCH THIS SPACE as there is going to be a HUGE flow of new work to come.

I just quickly want to say a few thank you’s – more in the next post

First off I want to thank ALL the staff at Redditch Alexandra Hospital – From my consultant to the people who clean the wards I can honestly and whole heartedly say I have never every seen such a dedicated and professional bunch of people – it was very inspirational. The cleaners were so meticulous (I had hours to sit and watch them) that every single square inch from the inside of each and every bedside lamp to insde of the rails the curtains on were cleaned on a daily basis. The Nursing staff were fantastic apart from waking me up every hour for 36 hours to poke, prod and check all my vitals etc were fantastic, The ladies who delivered breakfast each day were so friendly and took great pleasure in presenting you with a cup of tea just to your liking. There are so many people to mention that I cant pick out one person on their own but I was totally blown away by my treatment – you hear horror stories all the time about the NHS but even if I tried I cant think of a bad word to say – I would like to add that the food given to the patients is outstanding – it was always hot, large portions, you got exactly what you asked for and it was super tasty – Nikki (Mrs P) had a hospital say in Pembrokeshire following the birth of Joshua and the food she was served was terrible to say the lease – one day it was a single cold boiled potato the size of a cricket ball and a dried out boiled ham slab that tasted like it was fake skin right from the operating theater – This was my expectation and I was so pleasantly surprised by the difference and the amazing quality of the food at Redditch I am going to see if i can book a table once a month for dinner !

Mrs P did take some nice photos of me in my stockings and when the back of the gown didnt quite cover my bottom but I will save those for another day.

Second off I want to thank all of my past brides and the future ones who this effected – I had in the time I cannot work 4 weddings I could not cover – well with talking to the couples these were all resolved so thanks to all of you, it has made my life a whole lot easier and stress free.

For all my brides waiting for blog stories, proof’s, albums etc – over the next month I will be working on all of that – the only work I can do is computer work so rest assured every second I am working, I will be working on catching up – again thanks to each and every one of you for your understanding and more importantly for your best wishes and notes of support.

I dont want to make anyone blush but one couple in particular really made me feel very special and brought a tear to my eyes. Two weeks ago or there abouts I visited London to shoot the Engagement Session of Niamh and James, it was a GREAT shoot (pics coming soon) and the couple were so understanding to say the least, their wedding was this weekend and was the first one I missed – (more in the next post) Well the day I woke up after having my Kidney removed Mrs P brought in a beautiful hand written card from the two of them that was filled with amazing best wishes and really kind words – I was speechless – Thank you guys.

Its GREAT to be back, and watch this space for lots and lots of new posts over the coming weeks !

Very quick update !

July 18, 2011

Hello there,

It seems like I have been Missing in Action over the past 6 weeks, well I am still here and been shooting like a mad man.

I have been having major internet issues associated with moving into our NEW STUDIO !!!!! – this should all be sorted out tomorrow afternoon and I will start to catch up on the blog, so in the mean time, here are a few images from a few of my past weddings over the past 6 weeks.

The Wedding of Chris and Anushka – actually 2 weddings in one day !

The Wedding of Amber and Chris

The Wedding of Hannah and Dan

The Wedding of Emily and Nick

The Wedding of Stephanie and Chris

A Production Out take from the shot above – in this shot, Sarah my assistant shoots me holding the light she was holding in the above photo and showing how we get the veil flying

Dummy Run in the studio – I asked Top UK baby photographer Sarah Wilkes (Sarah Wilkes Photography – http://www.sarahwilkesphotography.co.uk/ ) to come to the studio and show me how its done – I had a fantastic mentor session !

This is Baby James

As you can see I have been a busy boy – I will be posting full blog stories starting next week as with any luck my internet issues should be sorted out this week– Oh well I cant drink yet another cup of this McDonnalds coffee so better run – see you all soon,

ciao

A Very Special Thank You

May 16, 2011

To Paul Goode Photography

Hello there,

This weekend saw me shooting the wedding of Simonie and Mitchell – (see below)

If your a regular to my blog you will know I generally work with an assistant / second shooter and its because of the people I work with that I feel I can create the kinds of images my clients seem to love and want. Well this week Helen was not able to make it and after putting into practice my backup procedures I am very happy to say that Paul jumped into to help me out.

Paul (Paul Goode) from Paul Goode Photography – http://www.paulgoodephotography.co.uk is based in Sutton Coldfield and is a very talented wedding & portrait photographer in his own right.

Although I am now fully booked myself for 2011 I know Paul has a few slots left and I have no hesitation at all in recommending him.

Paul spent the morning with the boys while I spent the morning with the girls then we teamed up at the church to provide amazing coverage of Simonie and Mitchell’s big day which carried on to Hampton Manor for the reception. Paul continued to second shoot and also assisted me with lighting etc for the bridal portraits and some of my signature images.

I know Paul probably wont enjoy this photo but I do try to capture photos of my assistants / second shooters working throughout the day however this was the the only photos I managed to capture of Paul this Saturday since the wedding was so FULL ON and we worked our socks off.

so for the record – THANKS PAUL – your my hero and you helped make me look good !

You can visit Paul’s website at

http://www.paulgoodephotography.co.uk

ciao

Tags: paul goode, paul goode photography

Hey – Its Me !

May 4, 2011

Hello there,

I LOVE taking photos but I HATE having the camera turned on myself !

I often hear people say to me, Oh I dont like having my photo taken and I can relate to that – I think thats why I enjoy the Documentary and reportage style of photography.

So I was shooting the wedding of Claire and Nick and Nikki (My Wife) was my assistant for the day – well whenever we work together she always manages to grab a photo of me.

So if you wondered what I look like – wonder no more, here I am.

Told you it was scary pic time !

Bridal Boudoir / Super Sexy Wedding Photos !

April 5, 2011

Birmingham & Worcestershire Boudoir Photography

Smoking hot wedding photos by David Purslow

.
Okay, Last week saw me at a photo shooting day – this was not a workshop, there was no training involved, this was just a day to practice and get myself back into the swing of creative lighting as wedding season is fast approaching.

The basic idea was that 10 photographers got together with 1 couple, 5 female models, a stunning venue and some beautiful wedding dresses – we had an hour per couple / model and got to shoot whatever we liked. We set up our own lights, picked rooms (or church) and just had a great day.

Several of the models were ones I had worked with before but there were several new ones also.

I like to describe my style as – are you ready for it – a mixture of Fashion, Reportage, Contemporary, Documentary and just down right amazing wedding photography. – I wanted to play with strong lighting from portable light sources – the kind of thing I carry at weddings. I wanted dramatic images, sexy images, beautiful looking brides, rugged looking groom shots, beautiful couple shots and soldering hot bridal boudoir shots.

Here are some of the results.

Please note:

The following images are smoking hot – If you are offended by incredibly sexy wedding photos then please dont scroll down !

Well I hope you like these, I am looking at introducing this kind of lighting throughout my weddings over the next 12 months or so – the subject matter may change slightly as ‘real brides’ may not play up to the camera as much as some of the models seen here however if you want a beautiful, sexy bridal potrait session – this should wet your apatite so give me a bell and lets chat about it.

We are also opening a Photo Studio Between Kidderminster and Worcester in the next few weeks – we will be offering all kinds of portraits including bridal boudoir photography.

Thanks for stopping by

ciao

David Purslow
Wedding Photographer

http://www.davidpurslow.com

Phone 01299 250114

Tags: birmingham wedding photographer, bridal b, gloucestershire wedding photographer, sexy wedding photography, sexy wedding photos, wedding photographers worcestershire, wedding photography birmingham, worcestershire wedding photographer

Two in a row – Another award winning wedding photo !

March 2, 2011

Wow – where does the time fly ?

I seems only a couple of week ago I blogged about winning an award on the Drama Free Photography website.

As a professional photographer I think its important to constantly challenge yourself and there is no better way for a photographer to do this than entering competitions. Being judged by ones piers has always been the best way for one to grow in any profession. As a member of the PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS only Drama Free Photography Forum - a collection of professional photographers from all over the world, whos membership is made up with members of such photography society’s as The MPA – The Master Photographers Association, The SWPP – The Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers, The ISPWP – The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers, The AG|WPJA The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association and many many more I enter their monthly image competitions.

February sees major changes to the competition, mainly an anonymous team of judges, each awarding marks for differing aspects of the submitted images, two submission allowed each month and the winning categories being, Gold, Silver and Bronze, to achieve Gold you need to amass more than 80 points from the judges.

I am pleased to say one of my two images submitted this month won a Bronze award.

This is the image in question

The image is from the wedding of Isabel and Phil – The wedding took place in Codsall nr Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.

If you’re a professional photographer and would like a friendly, honest forum to get good advice about your work and your business, then click on the banner below and apply for membership. Please note that the gold winners have their images shown on the slideshow, so if at work or if easily offended by nudity (artistic nudity, that is!), then maybe shield your screen from others, as one of this month’s gold winners contains just that!

Ciao

David Purslow
Wedding / Portrait Photographer

http://www.davidpurslow.com

Phone 01299 250114