September / Birthdays

September is a busy time for birthdays in our family and the main request this year was for photos of our youngest son Raffe, who is 19 months old. Being no3 most pictures of Raffe have a brother and/or a sister poking their nose in! Of course though Raffe may have been the main subject, there's always room for brother or in this instance sister (see pic 4)....

With Christmas not too far round the corner images of kids and families make superb gifts especially if presented in a photo book, a stylish frame or even a digital frame... david long photography kids

Ramster

I have two weddings at Ramster in Chiddingfold over the next few months. It's another great venue dating back to the 17th century. Ramster is made up from The Great Drawing Room (below) where civil ceremonies take place and The Long Hall which hosts the reception - it also has a quaint courtyard and some superb grounds. I've posted picture 2 to compare against the same picture in Autumnal October when Tim and Claire are getting married - the colors of the leaves on trees with full wedding dress should produce a stunning image.

Southbank

On a sunny day with three kids to look after (Claire had gone on an all day 'birthday shopping' extravaganza with friends) I had the choice of beach or city and on this occasion the city won. The kids love the human statues and street entertainers so we loaded up with pennies and headed up to London's Southbank. It's a great part of London with loads going on from the cultured side of Festival Hall and the National Theatre to the tourist traps of the London Eye and County Hall - and also tucked away amongst it all the sub-culture of urban sports and graffiti, which is where I focussed my camera.

Image 1 - This guy was doing all kinds of tricks. The image stands out as the guy is flying through the air passing the text 'A Bird'. Image 2 - I had to have some connection to wedding photography! This looked to be a set-up not an actual wedding - no groom and guests gave this away! I like the idea of the contrast (watch this space) though this image stands out in it's own right as a good photo-journalistic image with the wedding shoot, graffiti and the skateboarder passing by. Image 3 - Again, had to throw one of the kids in. This was Mollie copying and attempting Parkour - the art of displacement (look it up on Wikipedia). Image 4 - Skateboard action...

Luton Hoo

This stunning venue set in the Bedfordshire countryside dates back to 1767. It has incredible high ceilings, sweeping staircases and glorious gardens, a perfect venue for a wedding - so much so that Four Weddings and a Funeral was in part filmed here! Carim and Carl are also getting married here in October so we took the opportunity to get some shots around the venue of them and their two beautiful girls.

Kids....

Photographing a wedding is perhaps one of the most intense photographic experiences there is, it's physically, mentally and creatively challenging - though the reward at producing and delivering a set of images that thrills the bride and groom makes the whole photographic journey an incredible experience. By contrast photographing families and children is one of the most relaxing photographic experiences, letting children do what they naturally do, capturing their wonderful and unique expressions.

I've just added a kids link to my website of some kids/family images - david long photography kids

First day at school...

For Freddie....

A momentous day in the Long household with 2 out of 3 now at school. Taking it in his stride he didn't seem too bothered by all the fuss.

Claudia & Fintan

By any stretch of the imagination this wedding was a spectacular! Leeds Castle is one of the UK's top wedding locations and it provided a wonderful backdrop for Claudia and Fintan's wedding pictures. When the images have been fully processed I'll post more...