A McNicol Photography

My best friends wedding

amcnicol — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:15:25 +0000

My friend got married in May – both her and her (now) husband are god parents to my son. I’ve known her since we were 3. She really wanted me to do her wedding photography, but when she originally asked me I was only just starting to do paying jobs, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get into wedding photography and I was nervous. However she really wanted me to do it so I agreed.

Well the wedding became a lot larger than I was expecting and I was sooooo nervous.

However, although it was a very long day – started at 8am and didn’t finish til midnight as I also did a photobooth in the evening, I was really pleased with the end results – and so were they which is obviously the main thing.

Then I also did a photobooth in the evening. I think this is a relatively new thing to the UK but am so glad I discovered it whilst on the internet searching for ideas. Its such a fab way of getting photos of the guests and getting some hilarious photos as the guests (and bride and groom) get drunk.

My First Boudoir Shoot

amcnicol — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:44:46 +0000

After seeing some example of my friends Boudoir shoots I was desperate to do one and luckily had 2 friends volunteer for me.

My friend L was first. And bless her, she was so nervous – well I know I would be, stripping off in front of the camera. But I turned up at her house and just chatted to her as she finished getting ready, had a bit of a giggle as she tried to put on false eyelashes for the first time ever and then finally she was ready.

As it was my first shoot, I was nervous, she was nervous, we had a laptop nearby with the internet where I could bring up the photos I’d found for inspiration and ideas. I think L liked that she could see what sort of thing I wanted and was reassured about what would be on view.

We quickly got started and after a few minutes she admitted that it wasn’t that bad. We tried a variety of poses and from looking at my little screen on camera I was so pleased with them. After a while we had loads of photos – and then realised it had only taken about half an hour which shocked us both.

I hurried home (after picking up my baby from another friends house) and immediately loaded the photos onto the computer for processing. I was so excited. By that evening I had them really and put them onto Flickr privately for L to see via a guest pass. Well she loved them so much she asked me to put them onto facebook for her and has one as her profile picture.

Shock! Horror! The kids wanting photographs.

amcnicol — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:31:22 +0000

Well I have got loads to blog about but thought I had to get this down on print otherwise it could end up being one those things that I’m never sure it actually happened or not.

My children have pretty much had cameras thrust in their face from the moment they were born – they now decide they dont like it. I often get hysterics from them if I get the camera out. Though occasionally I will be lucky and they’ll want a photo taken.

Today for example, Callum who is 4 this month did a very surprising thing and had a nap – he dropped his naps many years ago but was so tired today he fell asleep on Sam during his lunch break.

After a little while I woke him as otherwise he wouldn’t sleep tonight. Expecting a full blown tantrum you can imagine my surprise when he started saying he wanted a photo. Well never one to miss an oppurtunity I quickly dragged him downstairs and sat him on the dining table with his reindeer. He was still sleepy so wouldn’t smile but was happy to have his photo taken.

Then imagine my surprise when Hope then said she wanted a photo. I tried to get her to pose with her teddy similar to Callum and his reindeer but she didn’t want to so I just went with the flow.

And then because I obviously couldn’t leave out Chloe when she woke from her nap I took some photos of her:

And then to top off a very photographic day with the children, Hope put on Sam’s beret and wanted a photo taken with it on – and well who am I to say no??? lol

Whoops! Another long absence – good reason though!!

amcnicol — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:14:30 +0000

Ooops! Sorry guys that I haven’t blogged for a month – yikes! I had planned on being much better than that!

But I do have a very good reason ….. I promise!

On the 23rd of last month my lovely husband came home after 10 weeks in Afghanistan. He had 2 and a bit weeks off after that so we’ve just been chilling round the house.

And as you can imagine my kids were very happy to see him home.

I have so many things to blog though so promise to catch up very soon!

Head Shot Fun

amcnicol — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:39:27 +0000

I recently met 2 photographer friends in Bristol – both are also starting their own photography businesses so it was lovely to meet up and have a chat about our progress and bounce ideas off each other.

Liz of Eliza Claire Photography wanted some headshots for her website which I ofcourse was happy to oblige.

Working hard.

amcnicol — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:20:41 +0000

I’ve been working hard on my website for the past couple of days – it had been left untouched over the past few months so have spent my time re-doing the style and replacing the photos. Its still a work in progress but I’m much happier with it now.

However, I took a little break earlier to take some photos of my beautiful Chloe. I’ve done little photoshoots with her at least once a month and as she’s approaching 7 months now (on the 11th) I decided it was time for her 7 month shoot. Here are just a few.

Must be a better blogger!

amcnicol — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:40:34 +0000

Hmmmm has been a while since I blogged – have lots to blog about but wont do it all in one go!! I promise to be a better blogger in future! lol

So why haven’t I been blogging? Well to be honest, life has been very hectic – Chloe is now 7 months old (in a couple of days), my lovely Husband is in Afghanistan at the moment and my older 2 children are very …. hmmmm …. spirited! But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy I’ve had several family shoots as well as a couple of weddings. I’ve got weddings booked for the future and I’m hoping to introduce both Boudior sessions and Trash The Dress shoots …. however not many people are keen on actually trashing their dresses so I may be changing this to Rock the Frock so that people don’t feel like they have to ruin their clothes.

So I am now pulling myself of my self-induced maternity leave to dedicate more time to my business.

Before I go here is the reason due to my quietness over the past few months.

My Brother

amcnicol — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:32:08 +0000

A few months ago my brother was round ours and I decided to get some photos of him for our Mum. He wasn’t too keen to pose for photos at first but eventually agreed and he was quite pleased with the results.

And then my little boy came along and decided he wanted to be in some photos.

So thank you Russell for agreeing to pose for these photos.

A Month of Christmas – Days 8 and 9

amcnicol — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:22:24 +0000

Day 8 – These star lights are hanging from our living room window.

Day 9 – This is the decoration my Husband chose this year – a very colourful garland which is on our living room wall.

Meeting Chloe Anastasia.

amcnicol — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:01:20 +0000

My b eautiful daughter was born on 11 November. Throughout my pregnancy I’d planned on doing a photo shoot with her within the first few days of her being home – unfortunately this wasn’t to be as she spent her first 10 days in the Special Care Baby Unit in Yeovil hospital with breathing problems.

She was finally allowed home, and a couple of days later I took her into my bedroom for her first ever photo session. And boy was I pleased with what I came up with – the only problem I have now is choosing which photos to frame.

These are my favourite ones.