Howick Hall Gardens - Northumberland

We escaped for a day out yesterday and off we went up to one of the best coastal gardens in the country. I had recently seen Howick Hall on gardeners world and thought it was about time we visited, well one has to really since ones husband is a landscape gardener! (Meandering Gardens is currently taking the norths gardens by storm and transforming them beyond belief, you can contact Paul via the number on the banner!!)

So after that small marketing message for Paul (well he deserves a mention, he's working so hard) here's some photos from our day out.





So this is the view of Howick Hall as you approach, you can also visit the Earl Grey Tea Room with cake aplenty and a dolls house which the girls loved playing with.



This is the front of Howick Hall with Daffodil bank in the foreground.



A full frontal view!




Interesting pots with Acers in.



Counting rings on the tree which had just been forested.


Abigail was standing in front of the most amazing red rhodoedendron (sp?)




Dancing!!
We went on a woodland walk where it was a little stormy



But we had fun, look at Paul here with a huge thorn on his nose, pretending to be a rhino!



Iain stopped for a portrait!



I also spent the day collecting photographs of textures to use in photographs and there were lots to collect. The hall has an old church on it's ground with some very very old gravestones indeed.



All in all we had a wonderful family day out and I'm so thankful that we get to do such great things together.

Kerry and Martins Pre-Wedding Shoot at Close House

I met up with Kerry and Martin today at Close House for their Pre-wedding shoot. Kerry and Matt are celebrating a year since Martin proposed and funnily enough today it's exactly a year to the day until they get married!!


Red haired Kerry is simply gorgeous.


Martin is very dashing and I think they're going to look amazing on their wedding day (not that they looked any less amazing today of course, LOL)



Close House is a fabulous country club up near Hexham in Northumberland.



The views over the tyne valley were simply divine.


Getting a little romantic!



Kerry and Martin, you are such a wonderful warm couple that I really can't wait for your wedding next year.

Thursday Update....

Where does the time go?

If you missed my post about portraits in the park you can get more details HERE I've filled 3 sessions in only 1 day so far so if you're umming and harring please don't do it for too long or you'll miss out on booking your slot!

My beloved Craft Forum has had a horrid setback. My techy co-owner called yesterday to say that some tape in the server had been eaten basically destroying the database and all known backups are corrupt. This was not the news we wanted because we've worked hard on getting our wee forum from 7 members in it's earliest day up to over 7000 of late. Philip is working tirelessly to restore everything but I'm asking all members of www.craft.co.uk to keep the faith, send some positive vibes to Philip and be patient. I'll update on the blog as soon as I have more news.

I went to see Iain in his class assembly this morning, he said atleast 3 paragraphs, more than he's ever said in any other performance, I am so utterly proud of how confident he's becoming.

Wedding bookings are starting go get busy for the 2009 season, if you're looking for a wedding photographer for next year please do enquire now or you may miss out, especially if it's a prime date.

Well on the whole this week it's just been busy busy and a little more busy but without very much actual groundbreaking news so I'll leave it there for now, watch out tommorrow as I have an engagement session I've really been looking forward to!

Spring Portraits in the Park - Jesmond Dene 13th April 2008

Spring is nearly here and with that in mind I'm going to be doing a 1 day marathon of portrait sessions down in Jesmond Dene.

If you've been putting off those family portraits, want some great shots of the children or want a wonderful photo of your favourite pet then this is the event for you.

On Sunday 13th of April from 9.30am until 6pm I'll be down in Jesmond Dene all day, you'll need to book a half hour slot. It's £25 and within 7 days you'll be given your very own password protected gallery for 30 days to make any purchases of prints, canvases and mini albums.

If you do want to take me up on the offer you'll need to book your slot by calling me at one of the numbers up on the header, clicking through to contact me on my website or emailing me at mandycharltondesigns@gmail.com

We even have an events page on Facebook!

A Morning at The Seven Stories Centre for Childrens Books.

I decided to take the children out this morning to the Seven Stories, it's the centre for childrens books and only a 10 minute walk away in the Ouseburn Valley part of Newcastle upon tyne.

What a brilliant morning we had an I got a load of fabbo photos of my poppets and so of course, well I wouldn't be a photographer if I didn't share them!!




Abigail sitting in the window of the book den which had the most awesome natural light.



Iain was actually happy to pose for a couple of new portraits of him.



Looby as ever didn't want to pose but when she did she looked beautiful



Couldn't resist this one.



We went up to the seventh floor and it was dressing up aplenty and thats where I got these next shots which really all need to be put onto canvas!



Giving it some Attitude!



I think Abigail was actually being the king of something here.



and probably again here, she's really only happy when she's royalty



Probably the best bunny in the world ever!

We had such a great morning, it cost £15 for me and all 3 children and I would heartily recommend it to all!

Happy Easter!

I know it's not technically until Sunday but I might forget or be whisked away by Ewan Mcgregor!

Slightly fed up with the weather especially as it's meant one of this weekends photoshoots has had to be postponed. If you're in the Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead,Northumberland or Durham area and you fancy a half price photoshoot this weekend give me a call, only stipulation really is that it must be at your home or somewhere indoors due to the horrid weather. Just a reminder that I do family portraiture, Childrens photoshoots, Maternity, Boudoir Photography, Engagement Shoots and even Pet Portraits!

So anyway, back to today, Paul was braving the weather and gardening for clients which left me on my own with the kids! Well being that the sun was actually shining this morning I decided a walk to the Quayside was in order.

First of all we passed the old biscuit factory.



and then down on to the Quayside.



by this time it was turning increasingly chilly as I think you can sense by these next two photographs.



Did someone say it was Spring?



There's an exhibition on tha Baltic right now about mind control and marketing, it's very good if somewhat disturbing, one of the posters hangs from the side of the Baltic.



On the Baltic I asked the children for 1 photo, they were so cold though!!



we walked over the Millenium bridge and I took the obligatory photo of the Tyne Bridge



and this one of the Quayside which is not unlike the one I have just had published by Schmap!



we were in the Baltic for a little while when Looby and Abigail decided to go for a sail!



Iain was more interested in the 70's chair!



I love this one, can't figure out why, I just like it!



After that we went for lunch and came home, far too cold to stay out in the cold!

Thankfully tommorrow my one remaining "On"photoshoot is indoors so I'm looking forward to that immensely!, it's been booked since last July!!

Happy Easter everyone and if you're short of Easter Egg ideas you can always purchase a gift voucher for a photoshoot and some gorgeous photos, to contact me about anything either give me a call or click through to the Contact page.

Nixies Second Milestones Shoot at Jesmond Dene

I was thrilled to meet up with Nixie today for her second milestones shoot, she's 9 months old now and simply delightful!

She's a quiet thoughtful little girl and she's blossoming with every day.



A little bit of a Lomo Effect with this one.



With mummy Tonie who is her favourite person in the whole world!



Oh My have you seen her eyes?



Just beautiful, I love this one so much!



Oh and this one too!

Thanks for a lovely afternoon and I can't wait to see Nixie on her first birthday!

Smaller Wedding Photography Packages for Budget Concious Brides

Just wanted to post this special announcement:-

Ok, so I realise that brides in the north sometimes find that they don't want to have a full 12 hour wedding photography extravaganza package and I've wanted to have a smaller package for ages but it's taken me a while to come up with something with smaller weddings, budget concious brides and great photography all in one small package!

So here's the deal, how does 2-3 hours of great photography sound with all the files on disk and an option to upgrade to a small and reasonably priced album? Ok, now let me tell you that the price for this is £395!!

If you are interested email me with your wedding date and budget to mandycharltondesigns@gmail.com or click through to my Contact page and mention this post.

Photography Field Trip

Well being that I didn't get to shoot today and I didn't want to sit around twiddling my thumbs plus the fact that Paul wanted to watch the first Grand Prix of the season meant that I took the girls out this afternoon for a photography lesson.

I was armed with my 20D plus Sigma 50-150mm, Abigail was armed with my Holga and Looby had a polaroid camera!

We had a lot of fun modelling for each other and looby got some great shots, we'll have to wait to have Abigails film developed and I got some great shots of the both of them :-





On our way to practice photography!




We took turns to be the model.



Abigails face when I told her to relax her eyes.



Abigail is very good at posing when she wants to be!



Looby looking lovely!



Camera Faces!



LOve this one!



and this one.





What a great afternoon :)