James & Natasha's Engagement Shoot at The Hurlingham Club, London

What a treat to be able to wander around the private Hurlingham Club on the banks on the Thames in Fulham this morning.  It spreads over 42 acres so we only covered a small part of it but it's quintessentially English with it's grass tennis courts and bowling green. I photographed James' brother's wedding last summer before James' had even popped the question to Tash and was delighted to be asked to do their wedding this summer at Natasha's family home in Somerset.

Ian & Rachel's Engagement Shoot at Leadenhall Market

I hate being late and I hate having to rearrange things unless absolutely essentially so I very nervously contacted Ian after we had settled a date in the diary for our engagement shoot to ask tentatively if he would mind if we met on the Sunday morning rather than the Saturday afternoon.  Why?  Because in the time between arranging their shoot and the actual day I had foolhardily committed to spending my Saturday rowing 21 miles down the Thames from Docklands to Richmond in an old Navy tug rowing boat with a team of volunteers in The Great River Race on behalf of HASTE, a charity which raises funds for educational projects in Africa.

Thankfully Ian and Rachel are charming, flexible people and realised that having me rush straight from my race to their shoot was not ideal!  By Sunday morning I was rested and raring to go and delighted to finally meet them both having previously only spoken on Skype.  They were the perfect couple to photograph - smiling and natural from the first shots.  We had a great time wandering through the near deserted city around the dramatic Lloyds building and onto Leadenhall Market.  It was inspiring to shoot in more of a cityscape rather than a park - so many interesting backdrops, colours and textures.  I left them at lunchtime to continue their wanderings around London whilst I collapsed into a big comfy sofa with my boyfriend at Shoreditch House for a Bloody Mary and roast to recover from the weekend.

Danny + Suzanne's Engagement Shoot at Wisley Gardens, Surrey

I first met up with Danny and Suzanne on a cold December evening back in 2010.  They had found me online and decided to book me.  Since I last met them I have done well over 40 weddings and happily they have been following my blog and have seen how my work has developed since they originally booked me.  But I love that they saw something in my work even back then when I was just really starting out, and in fact still at college when we met up (I may not have mentioned that at the time!) So, we met up on Wednesday morning, early so that I could rush to Bristol airport for my flight to Marseille, and spent a lovely couple of hours at Wisley Gardens, chatting about their plans for their wedding in Croydon, and then photographing in the blooming grounds before the bank holiday families started arriving.  The morning really confirmed how important it is for me that I genuinely like my clients; it hardly feels like work when I get to spend time with interesting and warm people who I would choose as friends.