In the longer days of summer, Mr and Mrs Fiamor-Young got married! It's been such a pleasure getting to know Alex and Klenam over the past couple of years - from walking around Rydal for their engagement shoot to all the lead up to the big day - their love for each other, their families and friends and life in general made for a fantastic day. Great to meet Jane Ryder Make Up, shoot at St. Thomas' Church Kendal again and see the stunning views from Helsington!  Congrats Alex and Klenam, and thank you for including me in your day! ​

The colours are reminding me of two shoots over that last years with this gorgeous family - one after their little boy was born, then last year with their little girl too! What a joy it is to celebrate milestones with people. 

Autumn is such a beautiful season, especially in the Lakes.  I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for an outdoor shoot, there's often a crispness in the air and days that gives a little buzz to photos and of course, the colours of the changing trees and landscape make fantastic surroundings.  Whether it's down Ullswater or through parkland, it's a great time for a shoot. Get in touch if you want to make the most of the season! 

If you want to keep up-to-date with goings on here at de la Mare Creative, my autumn newsletter will be out soon with lots of pretty things from across the season. If you'd like to receive it, you can sign up here.

Earlier in the year you might've seen me do a prize draw in my usual waffley manner (sign up for emails about the next one!). This lovely family won the portrait sitting and used it to celebrate their newest family member. There were lots of giggles, singing and silliness (and that was just the adults!!)

For your own record of giggles, silliness and family, you can book your sitting here and get in touch to chat.

What a month! Being the Elven Queen is always amazing - the Fairyland experience is hard to describe but you can see from these photos that it's a magical thing to be involved with.  The team (photos below!) have been amazing, from our Fairy Queen to all our fairies, pixies and Wizards who make Fairyland so much fun for the hundreds of fairy families who visited.  A special shout-out goes to the team who made our beautiful Dragon (I only did a few scales here and there!) - isn't he gorgeous and he actual purred wisps of smoke! Thank you to everyone who came! 

Goodness what a shoot this was!! Having run up and down Haystacks (apparently Wainwright's favourite fell), I was well warmed up by the time I met Kenji and Georgia on the shores of Buttermere for their engagement shoot.  Having met overseas, the couple were visiting Georgia's childhood home over the summer and decided to have a shoot during their visit.  We wandered along the shores of the lake, and I had a whale of a time letting them celebrate being them (and clicking away in the process).  Their joy and love for each other is so evident in the photos.   It's been a pleasure spending time with these two (from the shoot to their little messages on their slideshow!) and their prints are going to be boxed up soon.  I love my job!

Back in June, it was a privilege to meet this little lady and her parents. Isn't she gorgeous! 

In October 2021,  I had the immense pleasure of spending the day with Darryl and Naomi - along with family and friends - as they celebrated ten years of married life by renewing their vows.  By my height and my name, it's very clear that I'm a Guernsey girl (not a relative of Walter though!) and this beautiful family moved to the Lake District just before Covid from Guernsey too.  There's a small but strong group of islanders who have made Cumbria their home!  I'd not crossed over with Darryl and Naomi before (unusual in Guernsey circles!!) and so it was a double delight to meet them and record their day.  

The service - which was filled with celebration and warmth - was at St. James' Church followed by a fantastic reception at Woodlands Country House in Ireby.  The Etoile String Quartet played beautifully at both locations and after months of little or no live music, their playing added to the emotion of the day which was already full of so much joy and love.  If anyone is considering how to celebrate a marriage milestone, I can think of no better life and love-affirming way to do so! Congratulations Darryl and Naomi!

For many years, March meant my annual visit to Eden Boutique at Newton Rigg for a fantastic couple of days shooting the end of year Creative image work from the hairdressers and beauty therapists there.  Sadly, due to Coronavirus, this year's shoot had to be cancelled so here's a couple of my favourites from the class of 2019 instead!

 A couple of months ago I had the great pleasure of shooting with the Lost Art Theatre Company.  The play, Number 8, is based around the life of the Carlisle-born suffragette Maud Mary Brindley.  What a performance it was! The subject matter was stirring and, putting the particulars of the politics aside, the story of human endurance and singularity of purpose was interesting in the light of the current climate on freedom, and on freedom fighters.  It was wonderful to work with director Jane Reardon again and alongside Jordan Summers from 1Five Events for the performance at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle.  If you missed the performances in August, Number 8 will be making a return at the Borderlines Festival in October.

On a beautifully chilly day in January, Ben and Ailsa got married! We had a lovely wedding wander around the balmy Winter Gardens in Duthrie Park, Aberdeen. Lots of joy and beauty in these photos! Congratulations!