Altar-ed Vintage Bridal Tea Party – Dartmouth House

rachel — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:05:35 +0000

I shot this gorgeous event back in April hosted by the lovely Mary from Forever and Ever Events and Alexis from OMG I’m getting married.
Apologies it’s taken a while to blog and upload this, but better late than never I say!
The wonderful vendors who made all this possible are:

Venue, Dartmouth House
Makeup and Hair by Claire Hanson Makeup & Hair Team
Stationery by Hello!Lucky
Millinery by Edwina Ibbotson Millinery, (inquiries at edwina.ibbotson@yahoo.co.uk
Photography by Shell de Mar
Entertainment by Sternberg Clarke
Crockery by The Vintage Table
Flowers by Wild About Flowers
Cakes by Restoration Cake
Sparkly advice by Jon Keith Diamonds

Rockin’ it at the Isle of Wight Festival

rachel — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:23:31 +0000

Where do I start? Well, I’ll start by saying thanks! Thanks to my gorgeous friend Dayna for getting us VIP tickets to the Isle of Wight festival. We’ve both been to our fair share of festivals over the years, usually in either a work capacity or to watch our husbands play (they’re musicians you see), but this time we wanted to go for a girls night. It just so happened to be another ‘girls night’ at the festival too. Kate Moss was having her hen weekend there but we decided to blow her our and just do our own thing… (just kidding)!
We were there just for the Saturday and left London nice and early so we could check into our hotel and then head off to the festival, it was a glorious day for it and actually quite hot. When we got our passes I asked if I needed a press pass for my camera and was informed that my pass would get me anywhere…. ANYWHERE!!! So we headed straight for the Ray ban area (thankfully I was sporting my pair so fit right in). The beer was flowing, the music was playing and we even had a little dance on the 50′s diner dance floor they had set up. All of the hen party joined in apart from the hen herself, who was apparently a no show on the second night. Oh well, I hear she helicoptered in a load of booze for her hens though so at least they were happy for the weekend.
Our main objective for Saturday was to see Iggy Pop, Pulp and the Foo Fighters, after all it was thanks to Mr Grohl himself that we had such great passes. During Iggy’s set there were a whole host watching from the stage, including Mr G. My friend said her hello’s to her old pal and re-introduced me at which point I struck while the iron was hot and very (casually) threw my arms around him, gave him a kiss and a cheeky squeeze (what? don’t tell me you wouldn’t). I politely said thank you for the tickets and then turned back towards the stage to enjoy the rest of Iggy, followed by an amazing set by Pulp, followed by the headliners themselves.
I was having such a great time but I did manage to get some shots. Here are just a few….

Turin Brakes at Meadowlands Festival

rachel — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:00:01 +0000

So after being quite shy about writing blogs for the site I finally have come around to the idea that they’re not actually that daunting. And really I can write about anything that I feel is interesting to me or relevant to my work. So, I am writing a little piece about 3 of my interests, my husband, music and photography (roughly in that order)!! Yes, I know I’m a filmmaker/videographer, whatever you want to call it. But I’ve had a strong interest in photography since I studied it at Sixth Form college aged 16. I know I am in no way a professional and even if I was great at it, I don’t think I COULD be a pro. It’s tough and actually more stressful than shooting a video! However, I love taking stills on my GH2 of the significant things in my life. My trips out with the family, the kids school summer fayres and BBQ’s, gigs etc.
So this weekend my husbands band were playing a little festival in Glynde, near Brighton. OK, so they play lots of festivals and go on tours but this gig was quite special. Their first album, The Optimist LP was 10 years old in March and was their critically acclaimed first album which has been a firm favourite to many. As headliners of Meadowlands they decided to honour this record by playing it in its entirety followed by some of their big hits!
What a gig it was too. Now you can imagine how many shows of theirs I’ve been to over the years, and I am used to watching from the side of the stage, back of the venue, sound desk, in the crowd etc. But last night I wanted to be a part of the atmosphere and out there with the fans. I got almost to the front (didn’t want to go too far up front, get’s a little weird), and had a great view, especially of hubby! I can’t explain what it was like hearing that album from front to back, something I probably haven’t done for the last 10 years, let alone hear them play it live. What was amazing was how eclectic the audience was too. When I saw a group of 14-16 year olds I thought ‘Oh crap, they will have no idea who this band is’, but I was totally wrong! There they were singing along to every word from the Optimist with their parents behind them in the tent singing along too. These kids grew up loving and listening to the music their folks did! I hope they continue listening and loving it for another few decades to come.
Anyway, although I was in a happy place in the tent with some of the other WAGS of the band, supping back my beer, singing along as loud as I could and dancing away to the music I managed to take a few pictures and even managed a little bit of video! Hope you enjoy.

Super 8 home movies

rachel — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:30:42 +0000

Ever since I started using Super 8 film, it’s my format of choice for all my holiday, birthday parties and home movies. I know I’ve said it before and countless other Super 8 filmmakers say the same thing, but there is nothing better than capturing your happiest moments on film. I can’t ever imagine filming my kids parties on digital video anymore, or getting some of our holiday footage with my voice behind a video camera saying “look at mummy, look at the camera etc etc”. Something you don’t get when you shoot on Super 8. To me it’s an extension of your photos but it captures those moments in motion unlike a still image.

Once my films come back from processing I love putting them together with music that’s fitting for the occasion. I’m not a painter, and I’ve never painted! But it feels like I’m painting a picture of what’s happened, whether it’s a holiday or a party or anything. It’s my way of keeping that memory of those times alive and in a way that can be watched, enjoyed and remembered over and over with everyone. The films always look like how I remember the emotion of the events, not a digital document that is slick and technically accurate but a dreamy, nostalgic, memory from that time, you really can feel Super 8!

I’ve added this home movie of a family trip to Cornwall that myself and my husband shot 4 years ago now! (my tiny baby in the film was 4 last week)!! I hope you enjoy it and that it sparks off memories of your family hols.

Altar-ed Vintage Bridal Tea Party

rachel — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:48:00 +0000

I’m very excited to say that I will be at the Altar-ed Vintage Bridal Tea Party at Dartmouth House in Mayfair on 20th April.

Mary from Forever and Ever Events and Alexis from OMG I’m getting married who are hosting have asked me to be a part of this fantastic event and shoot some Super 8 film of the evening. I’m honoured and can’t wait to for everyone to see the results!

Brides and girlfriends come along for some vintage inspiration.

From cine to digi in a a day…

rachel — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:29:20 +0000

My Super 8 hat has been off and my digital one is on!
I’ve been on an all digital day in a fake supermarket shooting for a tea company, I’m using my lovely new GH2 and my trusted old Canon XHA1, I wonder if I get a lifetime supply of tea for this? Hmmmm……

First Blog… hello!

rachel — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:13:57 +0000

So, after deciding to get a new website up and running I also thought it would be a great idea to have a blog too. Everyone is doing one and most of them are really very interesting. Having said that I now find myself trying to think of something really profound to say on my first blog and I can’t. There are a few reasons for this. Number one is that I am really busy with work and just haven’t had time to pass on any little film, video or wedding gems I’ve come across recently (because I’ve been too busy to look myself)!, B I am a little bit scared… I know I shouldn’t say it but I’m just being honest here, Thirdly what I was thinking would make a great blog actually happened a few weeks ago and everyone else blogged about it when it happened and finally… well there are no other reasons, apart from not many people will really read this since hardly anyone knows I’m ‘blogging’…yet!
So, I might as well just tell you a little bit about me and how I got into Super 8. I’m a 30 something year old young lady who’s married, has two beautiful young girls and a lovely young bengal kitten called Echo. Our holiday films are all shot on Super 8 and our girls will either love us or hate us for it when they are older… (I’m hoping it’s the former). I shoot on Super 8 because it’s a beautiful looking, nostalgic format that is great to work with and gorgeous to watch.
So my first super 8 camera was actually bought for me by my husband who was a film maker himself and likes to think he still is, (we weren’t married at the time and I think it was an excuse for him and I to spend more time together). It worked! I kept on using Super 8 and one day realised I had accumulated about 6 different cameras. Suddenly I found myself shooting weddings which turned into I Do Films which in turn has lead me to becoming one of the first females who shoots Super 8 weddings in the UK. Now, it has become a passion of mine. I not only get to go to loads of weddings which is always fun, but I get to shoot them on Super 8 and hand over a beautiful film to my clients, who are bowled over by how gorgeous their wedding looks on Super 8 cine film!