Hours at the Computer

The bulk of this week has been taken up with administration. Apart from a quick shoot on Monday morning (pictures to follow) I've been sitting in front of the P.C. typing out quotes for wedding enquiries answering questions via e mail etc.

The picture you see here is a commercial job I was commisioned to shoot. The building is an old barn that has been converted into a fantastic house.

The decor and size of the house are fanatastic. The kitchen area was something totally amazing. As i have said before commercial photography isn't my favourite side of the business but occasionally it makes a welcome change with far less pressure.

Later on today I'm off to shoot the Colchester Gladiators at their home ground, they're playing the East Midland Saxons and it promises to be a great game (again pics to follow). The Gladiators have been getting some pretty good press coverage in recent weeks including, full pages or page dominance in, The Evening Gazette, The Essex County Standard and The East Anglian Daily Times. All of the write ups include my pictures and include my details, great advertising for free!

Also this week i've had another three enquiries from people wishing to come on my portrait photography training day in October. This is promising to be great and places are going fast, if you want details just e mail me or click through to my site www.martinwilmottphotography.com and whilst your there you can sign up to my free photography tips (look under the tips section).

One last thing if you look at the bottom right of this blog you'll see a map, feel free to click on it and add yourself, i love seeing where people who have signed up to my free tips are from, all over the world!


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Colchester Gladiators at East Midland Saxons

This weekend saw another amazing game! Colchester Gladiators travelled north to Peterborough to face the East Midland Saxons. Unfortunately I missed the first half because of other work commitments but managed to arrive just in time to see the last couple of plays of the 2nd quarter.

The sun was beating down making an already very physical game even harder on both sides. Colchester pulled the game out of the bag eventually winning 24 - 23. Every game seems to come down to the wire. It seems the Gladiators always struggle to get started and then somehow turn it on for the second half.

To see my images from the Gladiators @ Saxons click the underlined words. Next week (Sunday 30th July) the Gladiators have a rematch against the Saxons, you can bet it's gonna be serious, loosing by one point after a three hour game never goes down well and you can bet the Saxons will be looking for revenge.

For details of next weeks games (and the rest of the season) check out the Gladiators web page here www.colchestergladiators.com. See you on Sunday?


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Family Photo Shoots

I was lucky enough to be asked to photograph a family recently. The difference between this and a normal lifestyle session? (if there is such a thing). Not much just the amount of people involved, 8 brothers and sisters.

Now anyone who has attempted to photograph more than one person will realise the more people the harder it can be. The trick is to work fast and hopefully make it enjoyable for everyone. Also try and listen to what they want and attempt to get it for them, just because they're young doesn't mean they don't have an opinion.

I've put a few of the images together here I think we managed to capture the true spirit of everyone and all without any tantrums or sulks.

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Only Fools on Horses

Saturday night saw the final of the only fools on horses competition. for anyone who's missed it or not from the UK the basic concept was celebrities were taught to ride horses and then how to jump and competed against each other.

I was lucky enough to be offered a VIP ticket to the final and went along (it was held at Towerlands Arena Braintree not far from where I live). I wish I could say what a thrilling night of energy and fun it was but unfortunately it was anything but. Because it was the Sports relief night the programme was recorded in lots of little bits and for a spectator in the arena it never really got going. The first thing that happened was everyone had to practise clapping and then clapping and cheering and then build up from small applause to a big cheer etc. All very false, the crowd also had to practise the ooohs and ahhhs incase a horse refused or a rider fell.

All in all it was an OK experience but because of they way it was recorded (they didn't want to show it live in case of a major accident) made the evening a bit boring. Having said that all the celebs seemed genually nice with a special mention to Sally Gunnel who went out to meet members of the public whilst the rest were guarded by a Gestapo like security.

No chance of any pics inside the arena though, the Gestapo security saw to that, even with no flash the movement could have upset the horses apparently, yeah right and a crowd being whipped into clapping and cheering frenzy wouldn't!

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Colchester Gladiators at Cambridge Cats

Last Sunday saw the Colchester Gladiators travel to the Cambridge Cats for a re match. When these teams met earlier in the year the game was won by Colchester with a touchdown scored with one second left on the clock. Close is an understatement.

The game started poorly for Colchester as they went behind for three scores, the team dug deep and started their comeback getting back a score before half time. Again it was a completeley thrilling game which could easily have gone either way.

The final score ended being Colchester Gladiators 26 Cambridgeshire Cats 25. Too close for comfort but this means the Gladiators now top the table with a 4 wins 1 loss record, with a record like that theres a real danger they could go through to the playoffs and possibly the Brit Bowl (to be played at Don Valley stadium in September).

Of course i got some images that you can view by clicking here
Anyone interested in the Gladiators can find details of their next games here www.colchestergladiators.com

Look out for there last home game on the 6th August, It's going to be a big major event with varius stuff laid on for children etc. Whilst i was at the game i got chatting to another photographer covering the game, it turns out he works for First Down magazine and covers NFL games in the states, ......... I offered to carry his bags but he already had that one covered.

Work wise for some reason there has been a sudden rush of enquiries for weddings and portraits throughout the year, no sense or reason it just happens like that sometimes.

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Great Weddings

One of the great things about this job is I get to enjoy many fantastic days out (and call it work). I feel sure every bride and groom must spend weeks / months planning every little detail which ensures these fantastic events. However having done the easy bit (capturing the images) its then time to do the hard bit.

Alot of people don't realise how long is spent in post production after a wedding / event and think photographers only work one day per wedding (I wish). I estimate a wedding job takes me about 7 days in total to complete (not back to back). I often wonder when I read about photographers doing 50 / 60 weddings a year what sort of end product they produce?

There are many hours sitting infront of the computer, firstly sorting the images, then adjusting them and then producing them in a way so they can be viewed. That's only half the job done, having been viewed it's now time to plan the albums that are ordered and place the orders to the various companies so they all come together like clock work at the end. It is hard work and stressfull sometimes but i can tell you it is really worth it when the bride is given her album and the tears come to her eyes.

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Bar Mitzvah Photographs

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be asked to shoot a young mans Bar Mitzvah party. The party was a massive success and was thoroughly enjoyed by everybody.

Part of the entertainment was the waiter you see here in the picture, unbeknown to everyone he was actually an actor hired by the young boys mother. As a waitor he started of reasonably well but was a little to over helpfull and got people the wrong drinks. He was also extremely clumsy and fell over on several occasions needing to be carried out by various guests .

When everyone had arrived he called the guests through to the marquee to be sat and promptly announced that the chef had unfortunately eaten one of the starters and had come down with food poisoning, but not to worry as he was going to take control and cook the meal.

As you can see from this next image he wasn't a complete success in the kitchen. To be honest i've seen a few similar style shows to this but I think I can say this was the best of the bunch.
His name is Mark Howard and has his own web site here www.sillywaiter.com.

Having had the oppurtunity to sit and chat with Mark in between courses it soon became apparent that he has worked in some major venues and also for some big names in the entertainment and business community. If you're planning a special occasion and were looking for something a little differant, I highly recomend him.

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