It's been a busy two or three months leading to a very delayed 'Best of 2017'.  I almost considered leaving it until 2018 but there were so many lovely moments in the last year that I thought it was worth popping them up even if they are a little late.  Thank you to all those who have appeared through the lens of the de la Mare camera this year!
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Starting with a stunning Couple's shoot for Simon and Bethany in January, following their London wedding, this year's weddings have been a joy! There's a couple in here too of Tom and Hannah's stunning Graphistudio album that arrived this year.  Congratulations one and all.

It's hard categorising photos - a few in here could fit into the lovely people section, just they aren't people! Getting out and about or shooting pets in the studio were some of the highlights of 2017, with another successful Pet Week in Angel Square and lots of opportunities for capturing nature.

It's been such a pleasure to work with lots of different local businesses and organisations again this year including the beautiful work of mj cabinetmakers, a stunning fashion collection, work for the wonderful Ullswater Community College (including a little bit of Joey Essex) and Eden Boutique and a project for Hospice at Home's 20th anniversary including a visit from The Duchess of Gloucester.  If you don't know about Hospice at Home, please check out their website - it's a wonderful charity.

Really, it's all about people.  Thank you to all of these people who spent a little portion of their 2017 with me as we preserved a few memories together.  

It's been an age since I last posted a blog - as usual, it's a sign of being particularly busy.  Between one thing and another de la Mare Photography has been particularly rammed this season! One of the things that I've been so pleased to be involved with is UCC's Prize Day.  On the actual day it's a lot of fun recording all the performances and prize winners (this year with the amazing Joey Essex - a perfect guest for making the students feel special) but I'm also privileged to get involved with making films for the event like the one below.  UCC is such a fabulous school and it was great to be able to celebrate the school year.  To quote Miranda's Mum... such fun!

I know 'Photos of the Year' type posts are meant to be limited to a small amount of shots (I have a great deal of respect for photographers who can choose 10!) but I've gone for a smaller amount of shots in a variety of categories! 2015 has been a fun and varied year with lots of exciting and beautiful things to capture.  Spring and summer seemed particularly long this year and so there were more opportunities for outdoor photos.  I also had the great joy of becoming an Aunt too (my new nephew Eli makes an appearance below).

To all who I've had the privilege of working with this last year, thank you!

Some lovely locations locally and further down the country (a beautifully sunny Bristol!). Congratulations to all this years couples x

As ever, its a real pleasure to live in Cumbria with easy access to the Lakes.  There were also some new (furry) additions to the residents at Dalemain Mill that will probably mean that next year's 'fav photos' will feature less birds!

Thanks to Creations Hair and Beauty Salon, MJ Cabinetmakers, Eden Boutique, and The Rendezvous Restaurant for some fantastic sessions this year. As always, it's been great to work with Ullswater Community College again this year and join in with all the wonderful things they do. 

Thanks to all the lovely people I've spent time with this year - I look forward to seeing some of you again soon! And of course, welcome to Eli!

Lastly... a little splash of colour at two Hospice at Home Colour Runs.  If you weren't involved this last year and live in Cumbria I'd definitely recommend signing up for the Carlisle or Penrith event.  As you can see, it's amazingly fun!

There may or may not be a film show reel of the year too but just in case - a belated Happy New Year! Here's to an equally wonderful 2016

A very quick round up of a wonderful year - thanks to all those involved!

Chris Wormald popped in to UCC today for a tour of the school and some hospitality.  It was good to meet him and see some of the students perform, but I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the food - doesn't it look amazing! From the UCC Catering team kitchens.

It's rather late in arriving but I've been compiling a 'favourites' folder from 2013 for a while.  Looking back and forward is a little luxury at this time of year and I can hardly believe how quickly this year has gone.  Sadly I was without a camera for my trip to France in the summer, but other than that I've had a ball!

I have had the privilege of spending time at UCC photographing many of their events.  Once again, I was able to see and shoot the A-Level art exhibition which included the light shell on the magazine page above, which was a particular favourite (you can see the shell in action in the footage we shot in the second part of this mini-film).  It's also been a pleasure to photograph productions and devised pieces from the Drama department - much is due to Jane Reardon (pictured), who has left this term.  One of the true highlights of the year was the visit of actor John Hurt to the school to launch the Branch Out reading event - what an honour and a truly lovely man.

It was almost impossible to choose a few for this blog from the session - a larger selection were put in May.

Once again, I've been lucky enough to photograph the multiple successes of students at UCC (though the luck doesn't run to the photos from Venice!).  Another great term! 

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!

At de la Mare Photography, we work closely with Ullswater Community College capturing lots of events and images for their various media.  It's a pleasure to work in this way with them, as it's possible to get a real feel and overview of the College as a whole.  Their new website features a number of photographs taken across the last year or so as well as film footage highlighting some of the different subject areas.  I've never enjoyed MFL or Maths so much before!