About B72 Imaging-The Blog
Hi and thanks for checking out my blog! Home of my alter ego and where I can be a little more relaxed! My name is Andy and Im the owner of B72Imaging and yes Im a photographer, a very nice chap but not known for blowing my own trumpet, a trait my friends would regularly kick me for! Now Im known for being a very lazy blogger so hopefully this will inspire me to blog more often, although its normally when im excited about something ive done or about to be doing! SO here it is, nothing snazzy, just something to show anything ive found interesting or funny or even to show some of my latest work off!!! Cheers Andy
I met Hayley a few months ago when we had to recruit for a music video that we where doing and during that time I managed to get a few images. So when Hayley needed to update her port thankfully she got in touch and we went on from there….
Real mix bag but I tried to keep them nice and clean, crisp , fashion style imagery rather than digress to much although thats not to say I didnt light creatively?
So, heres a selection of my favoutiotes from the shoot
were just some of the elements that made Andy and Charley’s wedding day so special!
A visit back to the lovely Charlecote Pheasant ensued after a fabulous wedding ceremony at Elm Pentecostal church in Coventry where I heard hymns sang in a whole new light with a live band!
You couldn’t help but tap your feet !
The rain had threatened constantly as you’d expect for August……yeh right!! and had finally stopped by the time the ceremony had finished.
Getting the to the reception and it was still dry………….. and then it chucked it down!!
This probably put us back by 30 mins and so we got on with the group shots in between the rain showers!!
Because of this, i made a decision to leave the couple shots until after dinner, do some, have their dance and then do some more and with light fast running out, I was at the time getting worried I wouldn’t do them justice…..worry that was obviously misplaced 
Id discovered a field, yes, a field, something most people wouldn’t be too excited about but I had plans, an assistant ( my ever super James) and a flashgun, lets make it happen!
and after the dancing we grabbed a couple in the surprise which was the gorgeous room that Andy had booked as a surprise!!
Thanks guys for letting me share and be part of your super day!!
Now I enjoy taking portraits, in fact, portraits make up the majority of my work and so when I got a message from Layna saying something like;
” ive seen you a couple of times at Kasbah (local live music venue) and……..” I started to think Im getting chatted up…again ha ha ! but no , we had a mutual connection through my music side and the portrait session was booked.
Nothing out of the ordinary but Oli , her partner was in the army and was back for a month before being sent off to do his thing again and so we couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Now I’m proud to say I’m very pro armed forces, maybe because I was in the RAF in my younger days but even so, Ive so much admiration and respect for these guys, young and old and was really looking forward to the shoot.
Typically, the forces mentality and the blatant love these guys have for each other shone through in the session and to share their humour , here’s a selection…..
Ok, first we need to set the mood so click this to play this music! ( it opens in another tab) It was created and produced by my good friend and amazing producer Mat Lane who also did my website music!! This was sent to me today as a pressie to help calm and soothe our new addition and Laura!! what an amazing gift !!!Have a look at the blog post about him!
ANYWAY’S……………….
I became a dad for the first time!!!
The last 2 weeks in fact have been rather stressful, not through work but because Laura ( my beautiful wife for those that don’t know us!) ran into a few issues during pregnancy having discovered firstly that she had gestational diabetes and that her blood pressure was far too high to be good.
Ok, so we deal with it and do what needs to be done to keep Laura and the baby healthy for the last stretch, bearing in mind that baby at this point was due on the 7th September.
So Tues 3rd and Im working down in Warwick and I get the phonecall…” hospital have called, Ive got to go in as my blood pressure is too high and my bloods aren’t right”….errr…..ok, best get a wiggle on and off we go and Laura gets admitted with pre eclampisa or the onset of it, not good for anybody!!
So there she waits, on a ward taking her pills, trying to stay calm, nothing much happening until her waters broke early hours Thursday morning!
So we still wait and the hospital decide, if baby isn’t going to come along then they would induce Saturday morning 5 weeks early!
Really, there was no need! It goes a little like this…………….
Saturday 7th August
07.45
Phonecall from Laura, having breakfast in a minute, slight contractions but see you at visiting at lunch today…..
08.10
Phonecall from Veronica , a lady on the ward with her….” dont mean to panic you but Laura gone down to have the baby!!
Laura had gone from zero to fully dilated…baby WAS coming!!
08.20
I phone her mum
08.45
I get to hospital and see Laura in the delivery room on gas and air in labour.
09.00
I go for a costa cofee.
09.15
back with Laura trying to use all my knowledge from 1 NCT class and immediately start anoying Laura until its found that just damp paper towels was all it took to help.
10.00
the big push, its al go, the big contractions are here and where all ready!
10.15
Laura has a cup of tea
10.16
Laura is pushing!!!!!
10.35
Our wonderful beautiful gorgeous perfect baby daughter is born!!!!!!!!
Fleur was 5lbs 14 so a good weight for an early baby and had to be taken straight to the neonatal unit where she currently still is.
Mum is doing brilliantly and every hour Fleur gets stronger and is feeding lots more now….
We no longer have heated mattress or drips but the tube is still there for a little longer.
I thank my wife with all my heart for this and how brilliantly she did, you make me so proud Laura and I love you beyond words.
I’m not going to waffle an anymore but welcome to the world my beautiful daughter Fleur and let the fun begin!!!
One things for sure, there will be lots more photographs getting added as she changes so quickly but these where taken at an hour old with the first one and a day old with the others and you can already tell, shes going to break hearts!!
Thanks all for all your support during this time!
Andy,Laura and Fleur x
Yet another quite frankly, fabulous wedding!!
Indeed, welcome to the sneak peak ( even though they have seen them!) of Vic and Wayne’s wedding pics.
I got booked for this quite late on and having already been booked for the sisters wedding, i felt I had a lot to prove with this!
Beautiful weather welcomed the day with the church wedding being held at the lovely church at Hampton Lucy followed by the reception at the Charlecote Pheasant.
This was always going to be about getting the best out of this couple since like I seem to hear alot….” so and so doesn’t like having their picture taken”………yeh right!!!!!!!!!!
This wedding is a real mix of contemporary traditional through t my more favored editorial/magazine style shoot and I love the results and more importantly ..so do the happy couple!!. A big thanks to the National Trust for allowing us all to shoot withing Charlecote Park and the lady that owns and runs the garden centre next door! Indeed, just how CAN you turn me down with a gorgeous couple in tow!! ha ha!
Once again, I am merely the facilitator of images, the raw ingredients are the fabulous couple and the wonderful guests…thanks for letting em part of your special day, I loved it!
So , let me not break the habit of a lifetime and waffle, here’s some pictures!!
The title is a long standing comment about this wedding!
In every e mail and correspondence, it was titled Wedding of the Year 2010 and was always going to be about the guests, hence the title of the blog post….
so, Ali and Mark, where to start?
Ali and Mark got married on the 17th July 2010 at the beautiful St Mary’s Church Abbey and the reception was at the oh so cool venue Heart Of England Centre.
I met Ali at a wedding fayre ( 1 of the 2 ive ever done ha ha!) and also the fact that Id done her brother in laws wedding meant i was or my reputation was already known…
as this wedding was explained and described , I became more and more excited as the church and venues where mentioned and what they intended to have during the wedding and during the reception.
Being a Rugby and Netball couple meant lots of sporty super fit people attending…errr…yep, and big drinkers!!!! With a Vodka Luge , bucking bronco and bouncy castle , not to mention the casino and live band, this was going to be entertainment and celebration to the extreme and you cant beat a helicopter arrival!!
Now there are lots and lots of images from this wedding and I cant possibly divulge too much and show everything, so here’s the teasers!
I do a few wedding during the year and one of the things that always catches my attention as well as the beautiful dresses are the tiaras.
Now weirdly or not, these have a special place in my heart since my wife’s Laura’s tiara cost more than her dress and so I do like to make sure I capture them at a wedding either before or during.
So, I mentioned in a previous post briefly about the shoot I did one Sunday and so asked Tracy if she wanted do write a few words too…..and here they are..
Really , please check her range out and give her a bell, they are truly exceptional and beautiful examples of what tiaras are about.
Hi, my name is Tracy Taylor and I love creating beautiful things!
The wonderful Andy here, the little star gave up his valuable ‘chill-time’ one Sunday recently to take some fab pics for Chrissie McClelland (hair and make-up artist) who kindly asked me along to show off some of my work…..I design and craft unusual tiaras and accessories for weddings, proms or any special occasion really…..
www.crystal-calla-tiara.com
I have to say that becoming a model for a day was right out of my comfort zone but hey what we’ll do for friends and free advertising eh, especially when your business is as new as mine, no pain-no gain, I guess!
If you like what you’ve seen on my website, please come and say HI at The Belgrade Wedding Fayre on the 14th August. It would be lovely to meet you in person and it will give you a chance to hook-up with other wedding suppliers…it’s never too early to start that BIG DAY planning, but of course you’ve already found the perfect photographer! ( ha ha Thanks T! )
So, here it is, a shoot that happened way back when….well in May!
Why wait till now I hear you cry or type over and amonsgt the interweb..maybe..
Well, finally my shoot has been featured in Warwickshire Life Magazine, Image and Vintage Life and I thought id shout about it a little.
I like to create and take photographs….FACT, and oddly enough I love doing it which is all well and good since its what I do for a living!
and I know a lot of us photographers get published , but I still LOVE to see my images in print in a glossy mag!
However doing this sometimes means we have to release the inner muse or plain simply have a go at something either different or well…nice or lets face it, something that you can sell too?
The story starts when a friend of mine Claire met our model Clare Hughes on the bus and had done a bit of a vintage style shoot in my studio.
It wasnt until I saw her for the first time that I sort of went…”coooool , I could so do a really good vintage fashion shoot with you!” or words to that effect!
Clare was an absolute star who booked time off work to do this and has since moved out to Spain for a while!
So , i wonder whos clothes I could use…????mmmmmmmmwho do I know????
Of course I already knew that I would ask Ella Myles that owns Corina Corina, a fabulous boutique shop in Warwick that specialises in vintage and pre loved as well as the beautifully modeled re worked line aswell.
Having discussed this with the parties involved, done a bit of a recce and decided where and how I was going to shoot this ( the really important stuff us photographers do and have to know and that what makes the images look fab! ), Ella had a word with a couple of ladies she was acquainted with for the specialist hair and make up of the 40′s and 50′s.
What luck!! So a big thanks goes out to Lynsey Le Keux for the amazing hair that runs and organises vintage events and weddings. You can see what she does here!!
She actually used equipment from the 1940′s!! it was amazing! and she really is a real life vintage retro person ( if thats an apt description!)
I cant possibly forget our fab make up artist for this shoot too! Again we needed specialist make up and so Emily Jayne Phillips was on the scene!
Emily also is involved in all things vintage and runs bridal and vintage make up consultancy too. Here’s more about Emily here!!
So everything was in place , the day and time was set and we all did what we do best!
I have to say, if it wasn’t for social networking like Twitter, we could go through our life and not meet new and exciting people that not only enlighten and help push our own work, but enlighten our life’s too. Yes, I crash Ella’s shop whenever I’m passing by or through Warwick!!
Im not going to go into too much detail with the technical aspects of this shoot as I like the pics to do the talking, but please feel free to get in touch if you are interested!
So without further adooooo
Some of the images used in the magazines.
ok, sounds a bit random doesnt it?
Thing is, it was a busy weekend ( last weekend the 9th, 10th and 11th July) which started at Silverstone followed with the wedding of an ex work collegue from back in the day………..and finished on the Sunday with a shoot at the studio!
Obviously Ive blogged about Silverstone already but………….
Stuart and Tabitha held their wedding at the fab Hinckley Island Hotel which is funnily enough just off an island on the M69/A5 nr Hinckley!
AS some of you may or may not know, the weather has been a little warm to say the least and it didnt change for this weekend either!
Luckily, Im hired to take fab photos of your wedding day not my fashion or dress sense so I can sort of prepare for these hot or cold days but the heat was epic! So much so that during the wedding breakfast, i went to the leisure centre in the hotel for a shower and freshen up, all ready for the rest of the wedding.
What was also so cool about this wedding was that I knew half the guests! Proper blast from the past with ex work collegues , so lots of catching up was to be done
Anyway, twas a fab wedding, very hot, Stu looking the smartest Id ever seen him ( ha ha) and Tabs looking beautiful in a gorgeous dress….
So heres a big congrats to a fantastic and happy future together!
So heres a few pics from the day!
I couldnt not post a blog update without mentioning a little shoot ( 4 hrs ) on the Sunday after the wedding!
Normally I chill all day after a wedding as the physically and mentally drain me! ( yes I put everything into my work!) but as it was a favour for my make up artist Chrissie McClelland and other peeps where involved and Sunday was the only day then…Sunday it is!
Chrissie was makeing up some brides that had already been married but lent themselves to bening made up again and wear their dress and model not only their hair and makeup but some amazing tiaras by Tracey of
Crystal Calla Tiara
So heres a cple of pictures ;
For those of you that either know me, or know of me, or indeed maybe even follow this blog, you may realise that in any walk of life, things happen that fall outside of our control.
I for one, am pleased to have the mindset and ability to switch to Plan B,C,D or even E and this becomes easier to do when your with a friend who has the same mentality as me, or should I say, a friend that humors me in such a way that I feel normal!
So , bit of background story……….my friend and model Torrs drops me a line to see if I want to go to Silverstone to photograph her doing promo work at the Grand Prix!!…errrrrrr……..of course!
This was arranged by outside sources and so of course I twitch a little having no control over matters, BUT its a friend, shes picking me up and its a free day out at the F1 , so should be all good.
Ok, 6am and we are off to Silverstone, happy days, beautiful weather and full of excitement on getting some great pictures and chillin watching the F1 practice and getting pit access, maybe meet some VIPs etc etc, you know the usual hopes and dreams!
This is where it gets complicated and political and im not going into on here BUT needless to say, we got in……………
and subsequently got thrown out…………………………………………
and got in again…………….
got followed and stalked , met another friend on security, met 2 random strangers and had drinks with them and turned a disaster day into a great day , saw the cars, caught some rays and made some new friends!….
There is a video we made of the day, its nearly 10 mins but its funny, well I think so, its edited together in the most crappy way ever( im a photographer not a video editor) and sums up the mentality of the day, just a shame the battery died! Its not on here and may find its way on here at some point when I figure out how to embed MP4 into WordPress blogs!!! argghhhhhhh
oh and a couple of F1 associated images I managed to get inc our favs, serious heat shimmer and new friends!
Massive respect for those guys with the biggest lenses in the world out there, in that heat….taking images of the racing.
Size must really matter, where the difference between a 500mm and 800mm is a good looking promo girl or one of the F3 girls instead.. ( sorry ! ha ha)
Cheers
Andy
And for those of you who have the time and patience to watch a silly video diary of this ( well ,most of the day) then feel free to click the link!!
