First, break some chocolate pieces into a bowl and melt them over the hob. When it looks like something from Will Wonka, spoon it into mini cupcake cases and drop in a marshmallow. Stick them into the fridge for 15 minutes, then stick a Smartie to the top of each, held in place with a small amount of icing squirted onto the top.

You now have:
a) An Easter present for someone you love
b) Happy children
c) A large amount of leftover chocolate that ‘needs a good home’.

Ever the kitchen enthusiast, I’m off out for a meal tonight at the local Indian restaurant (shocking website but amazing food!)

Bye for now! :)

But I thought this would be a great opportunity to demonstrate the difference that effective lighting can make to a photograph.

The picture on the left is straight out of camera with no flash lighting. I took this simply to demonstrate how low the lighting was in the corridor we were shooting in. But with two simple flashguns on stands, one behind and one in front of the main subject, we completely change the whole look and feel of the picture.

Of course, there are times when shooting with ‘available light’ (not adding any other lights to what is already there) is the right thing to do. But there are other times when using additional lighting is exactly the right thing to do.

If you’ve never been there, Benares is one of London’s finest venues for Indian cuisine. The food is excellent (first hand experience), the service is second to none, and the décor of the venue is just stunning.

All this means it’s perfect for some great event photography in London.

A sneak peek of the photos can be seen below. The complete set is online here: http://bonjour.zenfolio.com/benares

To find out more on professional corporate photography, please visit www.bonjourimages.com.

Thank you!
Simon

But more than anything else, Jen looked stunning. I mean, really stunning!

The day started with light rain but it didn’t even begin to dampen any enthusiasm for the day. And the great thing about Eastington Park is the exclusivity you get for the day; nobody else can stay at the venue so you really start to feel like you own the place.

With a two minute drive to the church, the service was thoughtful & meaningful and carried contributions from different members of family. And by the time we all stepped outside it was pure blue sky and zero rain; the perfect conditions for excellent wedding photography!

I won’t detail out the whole day but I must add that the speeches were amongst the most touching that I’ve ever heard. Only the hardest of folk would have survived those without a tear in their eyes!

Tom & Jen, have a great honeymoon. Give me a call as soon as you’re back because I can’t wait to show you some amazing wedding photographs!

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy these ‘sneak peeks’…

Have fun with this video and don’t forget to to share it with your friends.

So after running the competition in December 2011 to find the photograph you liked the most, it was good fun to find the winner last night and run the result through video.

See if you were the winner below…

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, being in the right place at the right time is almost entirely down to anticipation.

When taking photographs and trying to capture that ‘moment’, instead of looking around for the moment that’s already happening look for the moment that will be happening soon.

Because if it’s already happening you’re probably not going to be prepared to photograph it; the camera could still be set for the last photo, the lighting might be at the wrong angle or more simply you might have a zoom lens on the camera when it should be the wide angle.

Instead, look around at what’s going on and try to predict what will happen in the next few minutes. If guests are about to walk into a room and you expect emotion, kisses and hugs, get yourself in the right position now. If you’re walking with the people you’re photographing and you want a specific background, anticipate where they will be in 30 seconds and run ahead to be in the right place.

The two photographs on this page are good examples of this. To capture the photograph on the boat (below) I could see Big Ben was close and would make a good background. I got into position and had to hold the camera with one hand while keeping the balloons out of the way with the other. Then I had to hope the bride would react well to the guests on my right. One made a joke and she turned around laughing. Perfect!

In the second photograph (below) I wanted to get the emotion in the moment of hugging while setting most of the background out of focus. I chose a wide aperture (low ‘f’ number) and got into position, hoping the lady would hug the man in front of me. She did, almost as if prompted by me.

Both examples demonstrate being in the right place and waiting for the moment to happen.

But it won’t always work in your favour. Sometimes you’ll anticipate incorrectly and the picture won’t happen. Never let that get you down and simply move on to the next expectation.

For more details on photography training courses visit www.bonjourphotography.com.

After all, how many times have we seen the harsh camera flash making people looked shocked and (let’s face it) quite unhealthy!

Here’s one idea for something a little more hand-made. The ‘recipe’ is below. :)

Recipe for the photo above…

Lighting:
- There’s no flash with this and it’s relying purely on the ambient in the room. This also means positioning them both where they’re not in the shade from the main light.
- The benefit of no flash is letting all the background light come through from the fire and Christmas tree to add to the scene.
- The ‘white balance’ setting on the camera allows a very warm kind of light to come through which matches the flavours of Christmas.

Composition:
- Obviously, the children are both positioned to allow the tree-lights and open-fire to set the background.
- A wide aperture (low ‘f’ number) was used to create that mushy out-of-focus background. This shallow ‘depth-of-field’ is important for the photograph but you don’t want it too out-of-focus back there or the colours merge into one and you’ll lose Christmas (shock!) :)
- To make the shot more interesting, they’re both looking straight to the camera with no smiles. This is a good way to encourage slightly older children into a photograph; you can tell them to look more like a rock-star and they’re more likely to buy into your ideas!

Why it’s different (summary):
1. No flash
2. Yummy out-of-focus background
3. ‘Cool’ expressions for kids

So this Christmas why not use some of that spare time to try some new styles of photographs. If nothing else, you’ll have lots of fun with it!

For more information on getting better photographs with your camera, visit www.bonjourphotography.com/training or email simon@bonjourphotography.com.