My last wedding this year was my first as a ’second’. Confused? Read on…

Craig and Eilidh held their ceremony at the beautiful Glen Tanar estate, just outside of Aboyne.

The ballroom was used as the space for the ceremony, reception and ceilidh. The first thing that strikes you as you walk in is that almost every available surface is covered with mounted antlers from decades of hunting on the estate, which is fine until, through the wonders of photography, they appear to be sprouting out of top of the groom’s head.

With 120 guests for the ceremony there was plenty to cover, so Craig and Eilidh opted for two photographers, myself and James Kelly. James and I have a really good working relationship, having teamed up before to cover events, though this was our first wedding working together.

James, being the official ‘first photographer’, had the honour of driving us to and from the venue, organising the group shots, designing the album and racing from the bride’s house to the venue after shooting her preparations.

I on the other hand, spent my morning drinking tea (and a cheeky glass of champagne) with the groom’s family, capturing them getting ready before casually strolling the 100 yards or so from the Groom’s cottage to the hall. There were a few photos needing taken along the way, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying myself!

Craig’s family made me feel incredibly welcome and relaxed, and that just set the tone for the whole day, in spite of things running behind and the persistent drizzle. Thankfully, Eilidh’s meticulous preparations made everything run that little bit more smoothly.

James and I had spent the day before scouting the location, and I’m glad we did. The ‘fishing pond’ actually turned out to be more of a full blown lake, and provided the perfect setting for the couple’s portraits. There was almost no wind, and the water was like glass.

With two photographers we were able to work quickly, with James shooting from the far bank to capture the couple reflected in the water whilst I set up the lighting for the car shot, as well as grabbing my favourite shot of the day.

I then took on the role of ‘voice activated light stand’ (to quote Ryan Brenizer) for the group shots, getting thoroughly drenched in the rain while the guests sheltered under numerous golf umbrellas. Then it was back to the warmth of the hall for the speeches, cake-cutting, dinner and ceilidh.

Thanks again to Craig & Eilidh for having us, it’s a day that will stick in my mind for a long, long time to come.

 

I’ve been planning this exhibition for the last 12 months, and to finally have it on the wall is a huge relief.

Yesterday the hanging itself went incredibly smoothly thanks entirely to the assistance of my dad, David Henderson, who has had plenty of experience organising exhibitions. His input over the last few weeks has been invaluable in making this show what it is, really can’t thank you enough. While I’m on the subject, a big thanks to Rebecca Prentice for helping design the posters, pricelists and labelling, Eion and Craig of Kilau for giving me the exhibition in the first place, and to Tim for his assistance and input on the day.

The only problem thus far is that the batteries in the LED torches I’ve used to illuminate some old slide viewers (slide viewers? what are those?) have died a lot faster than I had hoped, so right now a large part of my show consists of small, dark plastic boxes. I’ve hurriedly ordered alternative light sources so fingers crossed they fit inside and last a little longer.

The work itself is mostly made up of landscape photographs that I’ve shot over the past few years, mostly as experiments with odd cameras or processes. A lot of the work was shot on Velvia 50, Kodachrome and Type 80 Polaroid Peel-Apart films, all of which are now no longer in production. The show is called ‘the end’ for a few different reasons* but the main reason is almost every image in the show has been created with a camera, film or process that is no longer available to photographers. Although it is possible to fake the look of an image in Photoshop, it was the unanticipated effects of the processes that really made these images.

As well as having a lot of smaller, reasonably-priced pieces in the show, there’s also a strictly limited edition greetings card featuring a proper photographic print from the show on sale for only £3.

The exhibition runs from today until Saturday 30th January 2010 at Kilau Coffee on Little Belmont Street, Aberdeen, Scotland. I’ll be posting in more detail about the various pieces themselves and the techniques used over the next few weeks, as well as adding more images and making some general improvements to the site.

*Why ‘The End’? The exhibition’s timing at the end of the year/decade (depending on how you interpret a decade), a shortened version of ‘The End of Oil’, the title of one of the projects featured in the show, the fact I love that Doors song and because a lot of the images look a little bleak and post-apocalyptic (some were intended that way, some not).

Well, this is a post that’s long, long overdue.

Steve & Kim heard about me through a friend of a friend, and after a chat in one of Aberdeen’s many pubs (usually it’d be a coffee but it was a bit warm that day) they decided to take me on. “Be as creative as you like.” What photographer doesn’t love hearing that?

I had a great time on the day, with the Duthie Park Winter Gardens providing a beautiful backdrop to the ceremony. Then it was on to Inn at the Park until the wee small hours for the reception.

Thanks again to Steve, Kim, their family and guests, and congratulations to the happy couple on the birth of TJ. Wishing you all the very best for the future!

 

Not long til my first solo exhibition opens at Ki:lau Coffee in Aberdeen. More information on the way…
For now, I just want to say thanks to my wonderful girlfriend Rebecca for her help with the poster!

I’ve also spent two weeks riding around in Jeepneys in the Philippines, been preparing a solo exhibition of my photographs which is now a mere 5 weeks away, and my first year anniversary as a nightlife & events photographer is fast approaching!

I’ve also been kept busy with a lot of graphic design work. It seems the trouble with being both photographer and graphic designer is as soon as you commit yourself to one discipline, someone asks you to do something with the other.

As the year’s gone on I’ve been obsessing over, upgrading and modifying my gear; expect a few geeky posts on that subject in the not-too-distant future.

As a result of all this mayhem, my own site has been rather neglected (sorry!), but please check back soon for:

Wedding galleries, packages & pricing…

More nightlife & events photography…

More information on that fast-approaching exhibition…

Once again it’s Degree Show time at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, and several of this year’s Printmaking graduates were kind enough to let me hassle them for semi-formal portraits alongside their work (as well as act as assistants!).

Cheers folks, great show!

Performers, in order of appearance:
Vendetta Vain, Malady de Winter, Creme de la Cremation, La Belle Noir, Scarlett Flame, Vivienne de Vower.

Amazing night, thanks to Andy, the staff at 99 and all the performers for having me. Here’s a few shots, straight from the camera, to tide you over while I work up some good ones.

Performers, in order of appearance:
Malady de Winter, Creme de la Cremation, Candy Canes

99 Bar & Kitchen, Back Wynd, Aberdeen

Some old Fuji S5 RAW files from way back in January 2008, newly reworked.

Katerwaul will be releasing their first full length album in June.

myspace.com/katerwaulmusic

Only one gallery at the moment; I’ll be adding new content as often as I can. I’m pretty busy with a full time job and various photography assignments in the evenings.

If you’d like to see more of my work in the meantime check out my flickr page here.

All of my nightclub photography can be found here.

I’ll be at Bar 99 on Wednesday night covering the Voodoo Dolls “tiki-burlesque” event, should be good! Photos coming soon!

Chris