Excellent shopping experience in Monsoon in Westfield

Just back from Egypt, and a sudden request to find a glamorous dress for a young singer making her debut with a internationally famous Big Band. We only have a couple of hours and the performance is tomorrow.

Where to go in this cold, slushy city? Westfield is the obvious choice in west London. But it's enormous and the choice can be overwhelming.

Monsoon's shop window caught our eye and in we went. A gentle and charming young woman greeted us and asked if she could help. Usually, I quite like to browse and look after myself, but this time we accepted the offer.

It was an excellent experience and Rebecca and I warmly recommend the services of Silvana Borg. She knew her stuff and talked to us to find out more about the occasion. She quickly picked out half a dozen dresses, all of which looked good.

There was no pressure to buy and Rebecca looked fantastic in the first dress she tried on. In fact, she was so pleased she didn't bother with the rest. Silvana then showed us co-ordinating shoes and costume jewelry. Perfect.

The items weren't the cheapest but they will be worn often and give great pleasure, And we will certainly return to Monsoon to ask Silvana to help us with our spring wardrobe.

By the way, Silvana also offers bridal dress advice. She's in Monsoon Westfield on Thursdays, Fridays, and every other Saturday and Tuesday. You can reach her on 0208 749 3368

PTO Egypt Phil Jones SWPP CEO

Meet a very generous man, Phil Jones, Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, SWPP for short.

Our good friend, Gurwinder Soor, from http://www.eastwestphotography.com/ recommended we join SWPP a couple of years ago. We did, and learned a lot. This year's conference in Hammersmith was a massive success, with over 12.000 delegates attending.

Imagine our delight when we heard that Phil Jones, together with his wife and business partner Juliet Jones, were attending PTO in Egypt. there had been no chance to spend time with Phil in Hammersmith, occupied as he was with organising one of the biggest photo conferences in the world.

But here he was in Egypt, temporarily in a wheelchair because of an injury he sustained while organising the conference in Hammersmith.

I can tell you that Phil is one of the most generous guys in the business when it comes to sharing ideas and techniques. We spent the morning together, and he updated us on the latest business information.

We truly believe that if you are making a significant outlay in your wedding or portrait investment, you should seriously consider booking a photographer who has taken the time and commitment, both personal and financial, to update his or her expertise and professional development.

We left Phil and Juliet Jones planning next year's SWPP conference, to be held again in the Novotel Hammersmith - and packing their bags for WPPi in Vegas.

Bon voyage and thanks to you both.

Photo Training Overseas Egypt

Photo Training Overseas

A big thank you to George and Glenys Dawber rang out from over 100 top professional photographers at the 22nd Photo Training Overseas course held at the spectacular Sofitel Hotel in Taba Heights, in Sinai province of Egypt.

Speakers flew in from all over the world to update practising professional photographers on developments in digital retouching, advances in technology, lighting and business.

It was a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the most important people in our industry, including CEO Phil and Juliet Jones of the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers and Llewelyn Robins from the British Institute of Professional Photographers.

The weather was perfect, blue skies and all you'd wish for a summer's day. The hotel was iconic. All I want to do now is go through the photos we took and pretend we were back there again.

And share with you what we learned.

Summer weddings at Syon Park, Syon House

With the temperature below zero here in London, it's hard to believe that just a few months ago we were enjoying some wonderful weather. Smell that lavender! Close your eyes and you're in Provence.

We're just finishing Gwen and Cyrus' Jorgensen album from their Syon Park wedding. They live in the States so it's good to have broadband to preview the album design long distance. We're finding that more and more couples are choosing to marry in England though they live abroad. Their yen or euros might well go further here.

Our biggest regret of the year? Maybe we should have listened to our Turkish banker bride Asli who told us before her wedding last January that the emplyees at her bank had been told to sell all their sterling and convert it into euros. That bank definitely has a crystal ball.

But then, if you're job involves taking photographs at such a dream wedding location as Syon Park, perhaps it's just as well we stayed put.

For more about weddings at Syon Park, visit http://www.westlondonphotography.com/wedding_venues_uk.php

2009 Wedding photography at Syon Park, Syon House

Planning your wedding at Syon Park this year? Looking for a wedding photographer who knows Syon House really well?

Or are you just looking at Syon House as a wedding venue for 2010?

If the answer to both is yes, you'll be interested to know that Syon Park 's wedding fair will be held on April 18th 2009.

For anyone considering holding a civil marriage, partnership or celebratory reception on the Estate, this will be an unique opportunity to view Syon House and the Great Conservatory – and also to meet some of its excellent, approved suppliers. Entrance is free but places are limited, so please make sure you book in advance. Please email victoria@syonpark.co.uk or call 020-8758-1888.”

We hope to meet you there.

Susan and Godfrey
for more informaton on our wedding photography service at Syon Park and Syon House, please visit http://www.westlondonphotography.com/wedding_venue_location_syon_park_brentford_middlesex.php

SWPP conference Hammersmith

Any serious professional photographer needs to update his or her skills, contacts and products. January is an ideal time; we're not photographing weddings every weekend and the major suppliers visit the SWPP conference to showcase new products and educate us.

The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers annual convention in Hammersmith, just a couple of miles from our studio, is a must attend event each year. Photographer Mark Cleghorn will give a full day seminar which Godfrey is looking forward to.

For more information - for professionals as well as talented amateurs - visit http://www.swpp.co.uk/

See you there - and we'll report back on our blog.

Happy New Year

We wish you all a very happy New Year, especially if we will be photographing your wedding in 2009.

We start our new wedding season on January 5, beginning with Victoria's pre-wedding shoot.

It's really good to work with couples who understant that taking stunning pictures in low lighting levels isn't for novices. We spend time planning the day so that we make the most of available light and then we use the skills of a professional, qualified and experienced photographer.

And we enjoy the challenge of taking the flash OFF the camera, using our professional kit to create an on site studio for those important family group shots and using low level lighting to make the most of intimate, cosy settings.