Wedding Accessories - A New Portal

A brand new site is just about to go live. I spoke to the new owners earlier today and was told that wedding accessories .co.uk is set to be the new big wedding portal. For the moment, the site is just being set up as a temporary holding page, but by all accounts it will be a comprehensive 'all-singing-all-dancing' hub of fourms, directories and listing of all things wedding-related.

O.K. there are loads of sites like this out there, but knowing the new owners, I have a very strong feeling that this will give the likes of Confetti a run for it's money.

Wedding accessories is a big subject and no doubt there will be a lot of content. So although it isn't doing much at the time of writing, I'd definitely recommend bookmarking it.

Sell Your Wedding Dress Online

We've just heard about a brand new site that has been launched to sell your only-used-once-one-careful-owner wedding dress.

At Society Brides we get regular calls from brides who want to sell their dress after the wedding, wondering if we buy them...(we don't by the way).

So this new site designed specifically to help those on the hunt for a bargain hook up with those trying to raise a little post wedding cash.

It's easy to use (so I've been told) and will soon be full of the latest in wedding fashion.

So if you want to sell a wedding dress go to: www.sellweddingdress.co.uk

New Look for Society Brides

Well it was about time to give the old wedding website a makeover.

The Society Brides site has had a number of different looks over the last few years, but we thought we'd go for a paler approach for a change. This seems to suit our new location better than the more sober look we had up until recently.

So for the best in wedding dresses and bridal fashion visit Society Brides.

The new studio is working out famously at the moment. We're finding that clients are staying with us for longer in the less formal atmosphere that we've endeavoured to create.

There's still a large range of dresses on view, but Michele is focusing on bespoke couture almost entirely now much as she did back in South Africa.

Yet Another New Inkjet Cartridge Site

A new site to join the many myriad of other inkjet ink cartridges websites offering not only genuine replacement cartridges but also cheaper non-brand cartridges is about to rear it's head on the already saturated marketplace.

Cheap is always good, and I have been assured that they will be offering amongst the cheapest prices for good quality replacements.

Why not take a look, the site is due to go live at the end of August 2009: www.inkjetinkcartridges.co.uk
Let's face it, in this flooded end of the web marketplace, they're going to need all the help they can get.

Weddings Are Still Plentiful but Photographers Are More Plentiful.

It never ceases to amaze me that in this world where the majority of women living in the western world wear only trousers that dresses are still popular.

Yet that is still the case when it comes to weddings.

Perhaps the fairytale wedding is secretly still the little girl's dream and this childish thought somehow carries enough weight throughout a woman's life to make 'the big dress' still desirable. Maybe it's not that....perhaps its merely the tradition of the wedding dress that allows it to be the number one choice at wedding time.

Whatever the reason, wedding dresses are not going out of fashion anytime soon. Each year I hear a bunch of statistics that suggest weddings are reducing, whereas in fact, they have remained remarkably stable in line with the population of the UK for the last 10 years at approximately 250,000 per year (with a slight percentage increase as populations grows albeit slowy over the last five years).

So photographers need not hang up their cameras just yet. The problem some have noticed however, is that since the digital revolution, the number of photographers has increased existentially, thus making it more difficult to find enough work to survive.

Established photographers such as ourselves have not had too many problems, but for someone starting out, it is going to be a long, hard slog to keep busy.

Maybe aspiring photographers need to look at other areas of social photography to find the quantity necessary to progress.

Lifestyle shoots are becoming really popular at the moment. My tip would be to market this relatively fresh area of the business as hard as you can as (believe me) it beats trying to earn from supplying photo libraries or being vomitted on by spotty prom students as the 'event photographer' hands down.

New Look for Wedding Website

Well it's been a while since my last post, as you know, work has been overtaking me a bit recently.

I'm in the middle of re-vamping the wife's website that deals with designer wedding dresses, Society Brides.

The hard part is always the on-line shop as stocking it takes forever, not to mention all the product photographs etc.

There is one section I'm quite pleased with...it's a new carouselle wedding dress slideshow . If I say so myself, I think it's turned out quite well.

SEO?

It's been a stupidly busy year and quite frankly I haven't been able to give as much attention to wedding photography as I would like.

Thanks to all those of you who have been patient with me whilst waiting for prints, albums and other stuff. Apologies for the unusually long delays. We have hardly had time to take a breathe.

My wedding books are now full for 2008 and most of 2009.

In the mean time, we have been focusing on studio photography and as was referred to in our last post - the search optimization business. What is search optimization (SEO)? It's a big subject, but follow the next link and you'll get a bit more information on the subject.

SEO clinic - striving to be the best SEO company in the UK.

Search Engine Optimization

Well we've all heard about climbing the Google ladder, but how's it done?

SEO Clinic offer search engine optimization services that get excellent results. I've been part of the team for some time now and am enjoying the complexity of the business. There are not many hard and fast rules.

By that I don't mean there are no rules, just that the goal posts are liable to change. It certainly keeps me on my toes.

Search engine marketing is becoming a highly competitive marketplace, so SEO companies have to work harder than ever to keep ahead of the game.

At one time it was fairly easy to DIY - now it's more like a full time job to keep even a single site floating high in the ranking stakes.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic for a photography blog, I know, butI thought I'd spread the word about my 'other' role.

Indiana Linux

Just having a bit of fun, what with the new, and long-awaited Indiana Jones film on the horizon. You may have seen Linux's emblem 'Tux' the Penguin...well here's the new Indiana Tux.

Wedding Dress Show

Here's a quick link to a wedding show we put together in record quick time (9 days notice). This was the first show to be held in the Bournemouth International Centre's new Solent Hall.

Society Brides Wedding Show

Virtually all the dresses were designed by Michele and are available at Society Brides.

New Fashion Site for the Other Half

Well it has happened at last. The other half's been persuaded to allow her domain name to get some use. www.michelekeffen.com

Michele's one of those designers who keeps out of the limelight for most of the time, depite her work for many of the big names in the fashion industry.

I couldn't help myself taking this little Venture stylee pic. of her. No flash, no background, just a little inaccurate tweaking of the old curves in PS and hey presto.

She spends so much time behind the camera, that I thought there should be at least one pic of her on the web.

In the mean time the Society Brides Formal Suit Hire site seems to be attracting quite a number of hits at the moment. Quite surprising as we are now past the prom season and most people's weddings are already booked for this year. Then again, come to think of it, weddings aren't following the same pattern that they used to. With so many couples deciding to marry in a sunny location, the season has become a bit muddied.

Lots of baby pic requests at the moment. I might post a few of the best when I make my next entry.

Mens Formal Wear - Looks for the Year Ahead

Formal wear is one of those areas of fashion that most would assume seldom changes. To some extent this is true, but as always each season sees a series of subtle changes that the well-dressed man needs to be aware of.

Etiquette are one of the foremost mens hire companies in Europe and their styling is second to none. This year has seen the launch of their 'Prince Edward' jacket, a new take on the already popular two thirds length jacket.

Silks are as popular as ever, with many choosing bespoke waistcoats and cravats to tie in with the colours worn by the bridesmaid.

Ascot and other formal occassions still stick firmly to morning suit tradition with the normal dove grey or beige waistcoats, but in Wedding attire we are seeing a series of gradual changes, often with the groom standing out from the best man, brides father and ushers by wearing a different waistcoat / cravat.

Etiquette fromal hire is available form multiple outlets including http://www.societybrides.com/.

Busy, Busy, Busy.

Sorry, folks, I've not had much to say recently as we've been rushed off our feet over the past three months. I don't think I've ever worked so many hours.

Weddings are almost certainly up this year in the UK, with most pro photographers reporting full order books for the year.

In the trade we use the term 'Uncle Bob' for the aspiring photographer who, having got his new toy, now thinks it's just a matter of pointing and shooting. There was certainly a rise in the number of UB's during the 'I've got this great new digital camera' period. The majority of couples are now realising that if they want professional looking pics, then they are still better off visiting a professional.

The gap between a pro wedding photographer's work and the amateur has been steadily growing since the emergence of Photoshop as the must-have software for the professional. I occassionaly go to the odd seminar by fellow pros, and the standards they are exacting are simply amazing compared to a few years ago.

Oh sure, Uncle Bob is still alive and well, but it's gratifying that couples are recognizing the standards that pros are setting right now. Dave -Society Brides for Designer wedding dresses

Rusty Hippo Mobile / PDA search

We now have a PDA / mobile phone friendly version of the Rusty Search.

Find it with this link: Rusty Hippo PDA / Mobile Phone friendly Search

New Search Engine

We've just released our new search engine: Rusty Search as part of our http://www.rustyhippo.com services.

The aim has been to keep things simple - no buzzers, no bells, just a straightforward search engine based on Google's search algorythms under the Google coop mantle.

See it in action:

http://www.rustyhippo.co.uk

You might even consider making it your new homepage!

New Design Agency to Showcase Our Services

There are so many elements wrapped up in the photograph / graphic and web design business that as a design agency, it is sometimes difficult to showcase them all at the same time without appearing as a 'Jack of all trades'.

We've tried to achieve this with our new site http://www.theviewfromthetop.co.uk

The new site talks a bit about our complete list of skills such as SEO services, web hosting, graphic layout and design, web design, database design and management, internet services and, of course, photography (including product photography).

SEO Services (search engine optimisation) are an increasingly important part of the whole website package. After all. what use is a fabulous website if the only ones able to find it are the site's owners?

Wedding Preparation Photo's Are Important.

Preparation photo's are as popular as ever, and we've started to take them as early as we can. This one , for instance, was taken in the bridalwear shop during a fitting:



It's pleasant for a bride to be able to look back in years to come to see this happy stage of her life. We can so easily let a lot of these type of moments go by, and before we know where we are, the years roll by and great days like these are lost forever.

New Fine Art Photo Web Gallery

Those of you who know me, will be aware of my art photography and associated poetry, that is generally kept separate from my mainstream work.

Hopefully by the end of next month the new web gallery will be up. Here's a taster for the time being:







The theme's tend to be Gothic architecture related with wistful reflections of the past probably best summed up by this line from Thomas Moore: 'So sleeps the pride of former days'.

Confront your Mortality

Came across this video today courtesy of Jerry Frazier. Called 'Every Day' it shows a young photographer Noah Kalina taking a photo every day from 2000 to 2006. Love the music by Carly Comando.

Notting Hill Carnival

Managed to get along to Notting Hill Carnival the other day.....Bit worrying to see so many people squashing into the streets around the procesion.

The Police certainly had their hands full, especially into the evening as thousands seemed to be pouring onto the already crowded pavements. We saw a few people injured as barriers gave way. Sad when, in general, the event is such a happy one.

We'd dropped off in London after photographing a wedding in Norfolk on the weekend. It was well worth the effort.

Most of those in the carnival had put an enormous amount of effort into their costumes. There were, of course a few hangers on along the way, which spoilt the look of the procession slightly, but all in all it was a magnificent display.