It seemed a fitting time to post a photo and the mini-film I did a month or two ago for MJ Cabinet Makers as I'm off down to Windermere in a little bit to work with them again.  They are based near Bassenthwaite and make the most beautiful things out of wood! It's like the woods melted into the furniture shapes! Absolutely stunning! Check their website out here: mjcabinetmakers.co.uk

You can have a look at their mini-film below -off to Windermere!

There are moments nearer the end of this mini-film when its clear that I either need to go to the gym and lift weights or remember to take correct stabilising equipment out with me! As muscular arms wouldn't really suit my 5'1" frame, I think it'll have to be the equipment in future, especially for when the wind picks up.  I thought I'd share this anyway as the day was just beautiful!

Having been out shooting a Duke of Edinburgh group for UCC's Success Magazine (see http://bit.ly/1wwLChY for a couple of pics from the day, the magazine will be out next week) I took the opportunity to spend a little more time out that way with my Mum.  We walked around Elterwater and made our customary stop at Chester by the River.  I'd recommend the route to anyone - one of my favourites!! I feel I might need to take my camera again in the autumn and get another few shoots and a bit more footage.  A less busy day at Chesters would mean less wobble on the decking too! Though Chesters always seems to be busy - not a surprise there!

The Lake District, Elterwater and the Langdales in particular, are some of the most beautiful places to be in all of England!

There are days where the sun shines and the whole Lake District seems to do a little dance to show off how beautiful it is.  I was lucky enough to be out on location shooting a Duke of Edinburgh group for a magazine article on Monday and so spent a good part of the day in the Lakes with my camera! I had time to take some film too so hopefully I'll be able to throw that together in the next few days too. In the mean time, here's a couple from the day (the magazine ones will come out next month).

During April and May, I took part in an online film course run byAdobe Generation.  Whilst I've been involved with film elements at Ullswater Community College, it is an area that I really wanted to get some training in, as well as have the opportunity to give time to filming creatively.  Firstly, I can not recommend the course enough.  The free course provided tutorials, industry guests, encouragement, peer assessment, forum discussion and a framework for progression, all hosted by great tutors.  It was both fun and challenging from a creative and technical point of view.  Adobe Generation are currently running a game design course and an app design course following that.  I think they will be continuing the courses next year, so keep an eye on their website if you are interested. 

The final project for the course was to create the intro section (60 seconds or less) for a book that you love.  Having gone through lots of my favourite books - Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day, Midwich Cuckoos, Count of Monte Cristo, Toilers of the Sea - and discarded them as either having been done too well or needing to live in Guernsey etc, I settled on Cloud Atlas.  I have avoided all the trailers etc for the Wackowski's film as I was nervous of losing the version I had from the book, so it was an exciting prospect to film my own introduction.  

It was a pleasure to plan, film and edit this.  A pleasure to bump into the 2nd Ashton Scout Group from Preston who so very very kindly let us film in the cave whilst they waited outside for a good half an hour.  A pleasure to work with my brother who composed the music based on my mad scribbles and gesticulations of 'more sad', 'loopy and repetitive' or 'more scratchy'.  A pleasure to spend the day with my brother and sister-in-law helping me (and eating food at the amazing Chesters by the River).  And it was a lovely lovely thing to win the competition at the end of it all.

So if you think a spot of filming would help people connect with what you do, or would like a filming aspect to your wedding photography, it would be my pleasure to work with you.

My Cloud Atlas film:

And a couple of shots from the day:

Editing has begun at de la Mare Photography, after a lovely day yesterday at Marie and Steve's wedding.  The weather held over the gardens at Tullie House for the ceremony and the walk to the Tithe Barn.  Not only were the bride and groom wonderful, but the guests were a particularly smiley bunch!  I'm looking forward to spending time sifting through all the shots and editing together their wedding film - a new feature!

Highlights - the time given to mingling, the beautiful gardens at Tullie House and the gorgeous handmade candle glitter jars. A pre-wedding highlight was the dress shoot that took place in the Tullie House staircase.  It was great fun being creative with the bride before the day!

Congratulations to the lovely Mr and Mrs Neile!

Yesterday was quite a day! It was one of those days where the Rachael of de la Mare Photography and the Rachael of the UCC LRC meet at a common event. 

On the LRC front, it was the culmination of months of work from the three of us in the LRC to create a special film for the opening of the UCC Prize Day.  Last year's film was 'school' themed featuring students from each of the years and clips from some classic school's from film and TV.  This year we were hoping to showcase more of the students and push up the quality and style again.  I think we really did manage to open the show with a good bit of fun, with the help from over a hundred students, staff voices and The Muppets! From a technical point of view, the amount of layering in Final Cut was a challenge but definitely worth it. UCC is such a unique school and hopefully the film reflected that character.  I'm often so impressed at the willingness and confidence of the students and staff to take part and trust us, which is a credit to them and the school.

From a photography point of view, the cards are now full of all the gymnastics, dance, drama and music performances as well as many, many students receiving recognition for their hard work from Rob Norbury, who starred in Hollyoaks.  He really threw himself into the day and his smile for the photo with the three hundredth and something student was the same as with the first.  I've never seen Penrith Leisure Centre look so full!

Now the one-to-one time with my laptop starts for some serious editing!

Last week the Options process at UCC began and a film produced by the LRC, which I'm lucky enough to be a part of, was released online.  We made the film back before the summer and its so good to see things finally out there! The students did such a good job!