Fiona Campbell Photography blog

The Dior advert ‘I found my love in Portofino’ (which you can see if you head over to my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FionaCampbellLondon ) inspired me to post a few playful images from my little adventure this summer. I thought now would be a good time to remind you that it was summer once…

They say Portofino should always be approached by water…

My love in Portofino (he’s the one in the hat!)

Portofino houses

Camogli at sunset from the restaurant of the Hotel Dei Dogi Cenobi

leaving Portofino… was it a fairy story? Maybe one with pirates in it…

I love it when there’s a creative conversation between artists. That’s what happened when  awesome art director Thaoski put up a shoot entitled ‘Joanna’s Land of Plenty’. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.275690982456973.86331.162560637103342&type=3

Thaoski wrote about how she had meditated with her client Joanna Eden to find Joanna’s ‘land of plenty’. The American Indians believed that everything you really want already exists somewhere in a place where your heart’s desires can be found. Joanna realised when she did her meditation that she already had her land of plenty. It was in fact her family ranch, so they did the shoot there and she vowed to spend more time on it.

This interested me and I wondered what the meditation was that they had done. I thought it would be interesting to do my own little meditation.

When I meditate I always surround myself with the light of Christ before I start. It is a Christian belief that when you open your mind you have to protect yourself from any negative influences that might be floating around. Then I asked my mind to be still and I asked where was my land of plenty. All at once I saw a flower filled scene of the park nearby, with the old church that rises above it in the distance.

I began to make more of an effort to pass through the old park more often. And when I went there I realised that it had changed. For one thing, the garden that I saw in my mind’s eye had been developed and was now a magical kitchen garden profuse with flowers. It was so quiet there, too – place to sit and be private and think. For another, the church that rises above it had changed too and become more lively and happy. I used to attend that church years ago but I had stopped going, for one reason another. I began to get involved there once again and was inspired by the spirituality and sense of communion that I found once more. So it seems Joanna’s meditation works! For me, my land of plenty was on my doorstep.

For this project I wanted to sketch and go for a dreamy, not too perfect look. The light was amazing. I love the secret garden atmosphere that these pictures have taken on.

I hope you enjoy the photographs. And that you find your land of plenty.

PS. While I was writing this my son came in and read over my shoulder. ‘How to find your land of plenty?’ he exclaimed. ‘Where’s your land of plenty?’ I asked. ‘Food!’ he said. A land of plenty can be very different things to different people…

Really pleased to see that this venue has been taken over by new management and is not going to be pulled down. It was an incredibly photogenic venue and I have very happy memories of Beth and Kevin’s wedding there, so long may it thrive!

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I just wanted to say how sad I was to read that The Node, Codicote, is being pulled down. It has been sold to a big corporation and rumours have it is going to be destroyed. I photographed Beth’s wedding there last April and as you can see it’s a pretty magical place. http://fionacampbell.biz/blog/2011/06/17/love-in-april/

It’s pretty rough around the edges, but the staff were so positive and did their utmost to contribute to Beth and Kevin’s wedding. The couple didn’t have a massive budget and I think they did very well to get such a fairytale venue. Probably it could be refurbished and then it would be another uber glamorous five star hotel. But then Beth wouldn’t have been able to get married there.

I think there are various lessons here; the first is don’t trust everything you read on TripAdvisor. The Node had 3 x one star reviews, and one very irate former member of staff believed that may have been what killed it. But also, we need to be reasonable that if we don’t pay five star prices we can’t expect five star treatment. I don’t know the ins and outs of The Node’s business plan – perhaps it had some flaws, but I do know that, mostly, you get what you pay for. So don’t complain on Trip Advisor if you paid for a b and b and got to stay in a castle. Because otherwise next time the castle will be gone and you’ll have to put up with the B and B!

Hopefully if enough people protest it will be saved. It has something like a 1000 years of history, even if the water gardens do need restoring and someone has whitewashed the walls badly. Meanwhile enjoy these pictures.

http://www.peoniesandpearls.co.uk/2011/09/real-wedding-peony-wedding-in-skies.html

Click on the link above for gorgeous pictures of Leila and Caz’s wedding at the Gherkin, and the low down on their exquisite party at the Gherkin.

Watch the slideshow here: http://fionacampbell.myshowit.com/lewinweddingslideshow1

From the moment that I met Sarah and Andy I was struck by their relaxed sense of humour. We clicked immediately, so I was really thrilled when they asked me to photograph their wedding at Sarah’s mother’s local country church and nearby Coltsfoot Country Retreat in Hertfordshire.

I love it when brides go all out on the details for their wedding. So it was with Sarah, who gave her beautiful country wedding a Florentine theme, because that was where Andy proposed. The table plan showed a map of Florence, with each table named after a different part of the city. There were flowers and tea lights everywhere, with beautiful pots of lavender on the tables and elegant silver candlesticks as centrepieces. The ancient country church, St Peter’s Tewin, looked beautiful, with flowers at every turn. The bridesmaids had fresh green dresses which added a wonderful shot of colour to the day.

Andy is a cricketer, and I loved his cricketing cuff links, which proclaimed, ‘I’d rather be playing cricket.’ Hmmn. Seemed to be rather enjoying himself to me. Methinks he doth protest too much. The cake was decorated with tiny bunting and a cricket bat inscribed ‘Andy and Sarah’. So cute! Two of the guests found my sons cricket bat in the car and had an impromptu match while I was photographing the bride and groom. Hilarious!

The weather on the day was a downpour, and I was quite depressed as up until then I had an unbroken record of good weather for all the weddings that I photograph! But then during the service the sun suddenly smiled, and from then on the light bounced off the rainfall to create the most brilliant sunlit images. In fact rainy days make for very flattering portraiture, whereas sunshine is better for more atmospheric shots, so we had the best of both worlds, and all the challenges.

After sunlit drinks and a delicious supper, the wedding party danced the night away to Penfold, a rocking live band that I hadn’t heard before, but certainly hope to hear again!

Here are a few of my favourite images, and a link to the slideshow preview that I created for Andy and Sarah. Don’t forget to leave some love for the bride and groom if you’re having a look!

I was assisted by Funmi of FOPhotography, who second shot for me, carried umbrellas and was generally an absolute trooper.

If you’d like me to shoot your wedding, get in touch on 07977 538424 or fionaalcampbell@me.com. The website is www.fionacampbelllondon.com

Oh I love Hampstead! It has such a beautiful natural feel, and yet it’s proper funky London as well. I am going to rebrand as a photographer who specialises in Hampstead weddings, especially after this gorgeous wedding. James and Lisa got married at the York and Albany and had their reception (a big bash for about 200) in their magical garden on the edge of the Heath.

James and Lisa are a very reserved couple and not the kind of people to show their emotions or wear their hearts on their sleeves. That’s why it was so touching when they almost cried during their vows. They are clearly very much in love and also great parents.

Everything about the wedding was individual, from the beautiful room with its luminescent bird wallpaper and moon like lights to the wonderful deli where they had cunningly held drinks while the room was being prepared for their intimate lunch for 15 or so family and very closest friends.The deli of course served amazing food and drinks, and had a great, earthy, raw feel to it that I’d not seen before at a wedding. Very cool.

Then after lunch we all hopped in taxis and zoomed up the hill to Hampstead where the light was just taking on that magical midsummer quality that inspired Shakespeare’s Dream. The cow parsley was in full bloom, and you can almost imagine fairies. There was one little fairy in the guise of Emilia, James and Lisa’s first daughter, who was an utterly charming bridesmaid and proudly showed me her ballet shoes. In the evening what seemed like the whole of Hampstead, including about 20 pregnant women, partied to the sounds of jazz in James and Lisa’s exquisite garden, just over the road from the Heath.

Here is a sneak preview of their wedding.

Ooops. A bit behind with my blogging – this shoot was last Autumn! I loved photographing this wonderful family. Here is a selection of pictures from their shoot. Apologies for the weird frames – you need to click on each picture to see it. I need to adjust my blog settings but I haven’t had a chance yet!

The adorable Beth and Kevin tied the knot in April at the Node in Hertfordshire. It was a wonderful, pink and purple day of bluebells, cherry blossom and bubbles! A truly happy family. You can view the slideshow that I made for them as a sneak preview of their day here, or click below to view the photos. http://fionacampbell.myshowit.com/coleweddingslideshow4

I’ve just been voted one of the world’s most creative wedding photographers! LoveOlio.com is a wonderful South Californian site which lists the best wedding photographers around the world and blogs about weddings. I’m so excited to be one of just five London wedding photographers on their site!  I have huge respect for some of the other photographers. I truly believe that great wedding photographer is a kind of art form, and I like to make my work as creative as possible, whilst providing a beautiful, natural and chic record of the event, so I feel very happy to be part of the LoveOlio project. I work internationally; I speak fluent French, Italian and Spanish and I some destination weddings and lots of weddings in the local London area involving multi-national parties. But mostly I do weddings of lovely people who love photography, love each other and love beauty. And I love them!

www.loveolio.com

A glamorous cherish the dress shoot reflecting the magic of the Mall and the beautiful, vital Alix.  the day before yesterday and evoking the glamour of the 1930s and old movies. A girl dreaming of a lost world, a lost house and ideas from long ago barely remembered. I took the 1930s and the film Brideshead Revisited as my inspiration. Aloysius the teddy bear showed up as you might expect, and Pall Mall kindly provided some of the glamour of the art deco era. Many thanks to Maggie Hunt, our genius make up artist, and Lucia Silver from State of Grace who provided this beautiful beautiful dress.

The dress and accessories were provided by State of Grace (www.thestateofgrace.com) and celebrity make up artist Maggie Hunt www.maggiehunt.com did the make up. Lucia Silver of State of Grace is creating 3 dresses for guests attending the Royal Wedding. Alix is not a model – I wanted to work with an ordinary person who had no experience in front of the camera in order to show the transformations that can be effected by my team. Sometimes I get brides saying that they’re not sure they’ll be pretty enough for my pictures. This is missing the point. My mission is to make everyone look and feel beautiful! In the words of Alix, ‘If you want someone to make you look gorgeous, Fi’s your girl!’

Aloysius

The shoot was part of a new range of images that I am creating and offering for clients called a ‘vintage cherish the dress shoot’ where we make their dress the star of the show with a fashion and beauty shoot on location. For this shoot I chose Pall Mall, and the setting was just perfect for the dress. My favourite image is the one at the end of Alix standing in front of Buckingham Palace. All the union jacks were flying and the light was just spectacular. I love the sparkle and light of this shoot.