xmlns:fb='http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml' Welcome to the blog of international award winning wedding photojournalist Ian MacMichael: February 2011

Monday 28 February 2011

Leonie and Tristan pre wedding shoot...

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Leonie and Tristan booked us what seems like ages ago now and we met up for their PWS with their wedding approaching in April. It was quite chilly but really sunny after a miserable morning so we were happy with that! Leonie and Tristan had met while they were students in Liverpool and had both lived around Smithdown Road, so this is where we met up for the shoot. They were really relaxed about it and we had a great laugh. Here are a few pictures with the rest to follow in a couple of days.....













Friday 25 February 2011

60 Hope Street test shoot....

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Here are a few images from a quick test shoot today for 60 Hope Street, more on this project coming soon....






Thursday 24 February 2011

Welcome to new 2011 wedding clients Paul and Elisa

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Last week, we were delighted to be commissioned by Paul and Elisa to shoot their intimate wedding at 60 Hope Street later this year. Elisa is Italian and her family will be making the journey over for the special day. This is our first booking as a result of our recent partnership with 60 Hope Street and we hope it is the first of many. We are also beginning a series of shoots for the 60 group including 60 Hope Street, The Quarter and Host.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Lucas, Ariana and bump!

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Last week, we had a great time with Lucas and Ariana, capturing some memories for them before their little one arrives in the world! They are so relaxed about being new parents and they have everything ready! With our best wishes for the next couple of weeks......









Wednesday 16 February 2011

Welcome to new commercial clients Aintree Race course

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This week we are pleased to welcome Aintree Race Course as our latest commercial clients. We have been working with them and their design and marketing partner on new marketing and publicity materials for their wedding business. We had a large input into the look and feel of the new brochure as well as supplying the images shot by photographer Ian MacMichael. We are pleased to say that we are now their preferred photographer. This is our latest partnerships with prestigious venues and is a further sign of the quality and creativity we are able to bring to clients. An electronic version of the brochure will be posted here soon...

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Kath and Tod PWS

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Here is the complete collection of images from Kath and Tod's pre wedding shoot, hope you like.....

Kath and Tod PWS and Pocket Wizard Flex!

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Well, I had been patiently waiting for the release of the PW flex system for Nikon watching, all the stuff Canon shooters were doing! As soon as they were available in the UK, I ordered a set. I had them for a week or so before a chance to use them on a shoot. Kath and Tod, whose wedding we're shooting in April, were happy to use their pre wedding shoot for us to have a play!
By means of a quick review, here's how I found the whole experience.......
When the PWs arrived, I un-boxed them and updated the firmware as per the instructions on the box!
Put the batteries in (which are supplied, which is nice!)
Put the TT1 on the camera, the TT5 on the flash, turned them on then began the long process of getting them to talk to each other, must have taken about 3-4 seconds!!
So I was thinking, I really have to have a good play with these before the pre wedding shoot with Kath and Tod so I'm not embarrassed if things go astray (not that they ever do for photographers, right?!)
Before the shoot, a combination of busy family life and client meetings had restricted me to 14 shots with the system!
So we arrived at the shoot at Liverpool's famous Pier Head, set the stuff up and, well, trusted in the system to deliver! I have to say that, hand on heart, they never missed a beat (or a shot!) for the whole shoot! I used a D3 and a D700 and kept swapping the TT1 between the cameras. This never made a difference, every shot was nailed on. Normally, I would use manual triggers and spend quite a bit of time going to the flash and adjusting the power. It was such a revelation to be able to change things from the camera and concentrate on the client and making them feel good about the shoot. It was also great to be able to shoot above 1/250th and get the results in camera I had in my mind! These shots here were all shot at around 1400hrs with one bare faced SB900 at 1/400th or above, and have had very little post other than colour and vignette.
The PWs were soooo good, they far exceeded my expectations. It is one thing to see someone using then on a blog or youtube video, but quite another to use them yourself and to feel the confidence they inspire.
Hope you like the photos Kath and Tod, and every one else.......thanks PW, the system is awesome!













Monday 14 February 2011

Welcome to new wedding clients Victoria and Adam

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This week we are pleased to welcome Victoria and Adam as our latest wedding clients for 2011. They were recommended to us by a friend of theirs and we are delighted that they decided to book us for their wedding. We are looking forward to the day with the reception at Liverpool's Palm House......

Front page on theweddingvine.com

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Today, we are pleased to find out that one of our images is being featured on the front page of premiere wedding website The Wedding Vine. We have been associated with this great site for over a year now and are very grateful for the support we have received from Mark and Victoria. The image was shot as part of the advertising and marketing photography for The West Tower. We hope to have some of our weddings featured on the site in the coming months, from their site: "We've also got lots of beautiful weddings in the pipeline from an extremely talented stable of photographers including, Brett Harkness and Ian MacMichael"......

Saturday 12 February 2011

Welcome to new commercial client, 60 Hope Street....

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This week, we are pleased to welcome, as our latest commercial client, 60 Hope Street. 60 Hope Street is one of Liverpool's premiere fine dining venues with a staff passionate and committed to their customers, their product and excellent service. We experienced this first hand when
we shot a wedding there on Christmas eve. We got on really well with the staff and Colin on the day, and they loved some of the images we captured. We have subsequently met to discuss a number of ways in which we can work together. The first step of this is that we are to be their first recommended photographer. Owner Colin said "you really managed to capture the essence and feel of the day so well. We have never really felt we could work with or recommend a photographer before, but we will certainly be more than happy to work with and recommend you!". Hopefully, there will be lot more to come from this partnership as we seek to take both of our businesses forward together.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Kev and Erica's stunning Queensberry album

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We are delighted to be an approved supplier of Queensberry wedding albums. Widely recognised as the best wedding albums in the world, we are delighted to be an approved supplier. Photographs, no matter how good, can't do justice to the experience of a Queensberry in the flesh!

Monday 7 February 2011

Latest work for Legal Reality

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Here is a selection of some of the latest work for Greg at Legal Reality. The site is due to go live very soon, will post a link here when it is live. We are glad to have produced all of the photography for this site.....

Welcome new wedding clients Michael and Alicia

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We are pleased to welcome our latest 2011 wedding clients Michale and Alicia. They are good friends of Annemarie and Patrick whose wedding we covered in Ireland last year. tHe really liked our work and we got on really well when we met up. we're already looking forward to working with them later in the year.....

Saturday 5 February 2011

Website featured on iFolios client examples page!

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We are pleased to have been informed that the iFolio version of our website has been listed in the client examples page of the makers of the software. Check it out at iFolios , thanks to Graeme at stylographic design for customising the design!