2024 in Review and Looking Ahead to 2025

First up, happy new year to you all! I trust everybody had a great Christmas.

As is fairly traditional around this time, I like to look back at the year just gone in pictures, share some insights into experiences encountered and look ahead to the coming year.

Charlotte & Dylan at St Michaels Church, Great Oakley

As ever, I’ve been a bit rubbish at blogging my experiences as I go, but, in my defence, it doesn’t seem 5 minutes since 2024 started! Let’s kick off with some piccies.

2024 in Pictures – Weddings

As some of you might remember, a knee injury a couple of years ago meant I stopped actively pushing weddings so hard. Touch wood, I’ve been able to manage things well through cycling, and it’s not really having an impact on my life or my ability to function.

2024 saw me photograph weddings at three new-to-me wedding ceremony locations, plus a new (church) venue for a wedding blessing.

Shan & Dan married at the stunning Warwickshire wedding venue Shustoke Barns back in April. A truly beautiful, very different location.

The stunningly different Shustoke Barns wedding venue, Warwickshire

Closer to home, a new Northamptonshire wedding venue for me was Chester House, where I photographed Shannon & Michael’s gorgeous day in June.

A wander down by the River Nene at Shannon & Michael’s Chester House wedding

Remarkably, I also photographed my first event – Jasmin & Ed’s wedding blessing – at the delightful St Peters Church in Oundle. Following the blessing, the wedding party moved on to The Talbot Hotel in Oundle.

Newlyweds walk down the path at The Talbot Hotel, Oundle.

Jasmin & Ed at The Talbot, Oundle, on their wedding day

Charlotte & Dylan married at the quaint St Michael’s Church, Great Oakley, before going on to another regular haunt of mine, the Falcon Hotel in Uppingham.

Charlotte & Dylan at The Falcon Hotel, Uppingham

Another very familiar location was visited for Vera & Mark’s highly entertaining Kettering Park Hotel UK wedding ceremony.

Vera & Mark celebrate their Kettering Park Hotel wedding

I also photographed Cherie & Ashley’s fabulous UK wedding party at the Duke of Wellington in Stanwick – one of two bookings there in 2024, having not previously been there for the thick end of 20 years!

Cherie & Ashley at the Duke of Wellington, Stanwick

2024 in Pictures – Babies

It was a really strange year for newborn baby photography bookings. We were running at reduced capacity for a good chunk of the year due to other commitments, which meant not a lot of time, effort or money went into promoting newborn sessions.

Despite that, we still had a couple of periods where we photographed three babies or more in a week or so. Either side of that, though, it was often deadly quiet!

Baby Romeo

Baby Emmie

Baby Dhriti

Baby Aubree

Baby Leonard

As ever, we’re constantly looking to make tweaks to improve the pictures, be that through new blankets, drapes, and props, through to adding a new feature wall to the studio.

Baby Junior

Baby Oscar

Baby Darcie

Baby Archie

Baby Archer

I am hoping we’ll be able to ramp up availability again in 2025, so look out for a more visible social media presence as we gear up for that.

2024 in Pictures – Sitters & Cake Smashes

It’s always so lovely when babies cycle back through for other milestone photography sessions during their development. I know not everybody can afford to do it, but I do so love a sitter session. They’re always great fun and Baby’s personality is already starting to shine through by this stage!

Evangeline’s sitter

Poppy’s cake smash

Betsy’s cake smash

Scarlett’s sitter

A new addition for 2024 was the bath tub as a natural conclusion to a cake smash photo shoot.

Jackson’s cake smash concluded with a bath shoot

2024 in Pictures – Events

2024 was quite quiet for event photography bookings, albeit I did do significantly more than I’m able to show!

Without doubt, the party of the year was for Alicia’s 30^th birthday at the fantastic Hinwick House, just across the Northamptonshire border in Bedfordshire. It was a two-day affair, with day 1 featuring a murder-mystery event and formal sit-down dinner, and day 2 being an incredibly whimsical Alice in Wonderland-themed dress up occasion, complete with Mad Hatter’s tea party. I was absolutely blown away by the costumes Alicia’s amazing family and friends had put together for the occasion!

Alicia in Wonderland at Hinwick House

The outdoor spaces at Hinwick House looked utterly beautiful after dark, too, and we had to take advantage of that.

Alicia’s 30th birthday at Hinwick House

The other booking of 2024 at Stanwick’s Duke of Wellington was for Jason’s 50^th birthday party. He and his family had flown in for the occasion from the US, having originally grown up in the area before emigrating. Lots of guests hadn’t seen each other for a very long time, and it was great to see so many happy, smiley people.

Jason’s 50th at Stanwick’s Duke of Wellington

In August, I was commissioned to photograph a book (Three Nines Fine) launch for Alanah Knibb, who was working with Omotola Thomas and Alzheimer’s Research UK to raise dementia awareness, and specifically what you can do to reduce risks, amongst the Black African community in the UK.

Alanah Knibb launches her book Three Nines Fine in association with the Alzheimer’s Research UK

2024 in Pictures – Equine & Equestrian

The biggest growth area again remained in equine and equestrian photography.

I photographed an increased number of events for H&P Equine Events. These included clinics with Petros Spiliopoulos at the gorgeous Abbey Farm Dressage Equestrian Centre, and show jumping, dressage, hunter trials and one-day events at the ever-popular Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre.

Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre – H&P Equine Events Unaffiliated Show Jumping

I photographed dressage at Weston Lawns for Keri Bates / Ekko Equestrian.

Weston Lawns – Ekko Equestrian Unaffiliated Dressage Stay Away Show 2024

I covered another Jane Hussell Equestrian Training and Clinics camp at Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre.

Jumping action on the XC course at MKEC during a Jane Hussell camp.

I also photographed arena hires, private sessions and we headed off to Field Farm Bring Your Horse on Holiday once more.

Courtney & Wilf’s spectacular prom dress equine shoot

2024 Changes

Heirloom Print Products Range

I guess the biggest change I made in 2024 was in finalising the items that appear in my Heirloom Print Products range. I am so happy with what I’ve settled on. The products are stunning!

The stunning Acrylic Photo Book Box Set

Fully Mirrorless

The other big change was in going fully mirrorless with my cameras. After it initially being a bit of a slow burn, I have now fully embraced mirrorless. My current setup features two Canon R6 MkII bodies and a Canon R6 MkI.

Video

Particularly on the equine side of things, I have started to play around with video – specifically super-slow motion stuff. I’m still to work out precisely where and how it fits into my overall offering, but it’s there bubbling away in the background.

2024 Experiences

Client Behaviour

I don’t like to moan, but while most of my clients were as lovely as ever, I am sorry to say that cannot be said of everybody! Without doubt, I was messed around more by people in 2024 than in all my years doing this prior to that combined. From delaying payment to total ghosting, 2024 was without doubt the worst so far.

I think I’m a pretty fair, understanding human being, but my patience was tested a lot last year. When you commit to signing the contract, it is explicitly stated that (at least part of the) payment is due then. Unless we have a conversation about that at the time, your booking is not confirmed just because you have signed the contract, and it won’t be until that payment has been received.

If I go out of my way to travel and meet up with you, please have the courtesy to at least drop me a message if you decide to book with someone else. I guarantee you will not receive a reply from me with anything other than thanks for letting me know. Being left hanging is the worst thing as a small business owner!

If you ask me on two separate occasions if I still have availability on a certain date (the same date), don’t then go silent on me until I chase you up on it 10 days later – only to be told the client went with their usual photographer after all! (this was an event planner!)

This doesn’t just apply to me, but PLEASE don’t leave service providers just hanging on.

Moving forward, I will be applying date holds for people when they enquire about a date, but if you have not confirmed the booking within that timeframe anybody else will be free to enquire. The onus is on you to act.

Dress shoot on the beach – Field Farm Equestrian

Client Privacy

This isn’t just specific to 2024, but it’s something that seems to have been gaining traction since COVID.

I completely understand you might want pictures from your event to remain private (or at least for me not to have carte blanche control over what I do publish); I photograph events for some quite high-profile people.

However, part of my pricing structure assumes that I am going to be able to use some images from your event to promote my business – I work in a visual field and need to be able to show that, after all. It’s included in my contract. Increasingly, clients and potential clients are asking me to remove that clause. Usually, when I explain my position and that I’m happy to not publish anything without their explicit approval, they are happy for a tweaked clause to be inserted.

That’s all very well and good until the client then ceases all communication post-event.

The reality is, if I cannot use images from your event to show what I’ve been up to, I have to spend more on advertising.

It’s not something I want to do, but if this trend continues, I am going to be forced to charge a ‘privacy fee’ to those who require it.

Equine sunset silhouette

2025 – Looking Ahead

Newborn Photography Package Price Increases

I’m afraid I am going to have to increase my newborn photography package prices from 1st April. It was already the most labour-intensive, least profitable type of photography I perform, but increased costs in just about everything associated with it (props, accessories, prints, labour) means prices need to increase (which they won’t have done for 18 months at that point).

2025 Weddings

I’ve got one new venue in the diary already for 2025 (Grendon Hall), and though I do now limit the number of weddings I shoot each year, I do still have some availability. Check out my wedding photography packages if you’re looking for wedding photographers near me.