Party Time.... no1

Always a time to celebrate when it's your eldest child's birthday. Mollie had a joint 7th birthday party with best friend Lily. These images show the two sides of Mollie, one just before the party the second when in full flow!

I Love Autumn....

OK so I prefer summer, and probably Spring, however Autumn is my third favourite of the four seasons! The mild Autumn has created some beautiful light for taking photographs and with the leaves falling from the trees it great fun for the kids and for me...

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

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...

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.

Devon

As it's the last week of the school holidays we've taken the opportunity to get away for a week with friends to Slapton in South Devon - 6 adults, 7 children and a sausage dog! Despite a few showers and howling gales we've still managed to spend some great time on some of the amazing beaches around the area. Weather aside, you forget what a stunning coastline, what quaint fishing villages and cracking country pubs the UK has.... As ever it's been a great opportunity to get some pictures of my three favorite subjects. When I get back it's a busy period with two pre-wedding shoots at the weekend, followed by four weddings in quick succession and a mammoth post wedding process after an incredible wedding at Leeds Castle - images to follow.

Kos

Just returned from a great family break at the Greek Island of Kos. Unlike the wet UK Kos was hot, we didn't see a cloud all week! When traveling I prefer not to take an SLR with me as they're bulky to travel with and the risk of damage on plane, at the resort, sand, sea water or just losing it takes the edge off the holiday.....! Not wanting to be camera less I took my Canon G7 - probably the closest thing to a pro compact camera (though the latest version is now G10, and even better). Fortunately my favorite subjects are not shy at posing for the camera.... Back in the UK the weather is wet, with a busy few weeks photographing ahead I hope it cheers up a little bit - starting on Sunday at Leeds Castle, Kent with Claudia and Finton for an 'engagement' shoot - pictures to follow.

A Day In The Back Garden...

Of all the photographs that I take my favourite subject is always my own children! We had a lazy day today and with the sun shining I took the opportunity to get some shots of Mollie, Freddie & Raffe. Full of energy, they're not the easiest to keep still but with a bit of coaxing from mum (bribery with chocolate!) they stayed still long enough to get some great shots. 

I've used one of the post processing techniques taken away from the Jeff Ascough Master Class that I recently attended - I'll go into the Master Class in more detail on a future post.  The 2 days left me feeling pretty inspired with many thoughts on how I can improve all aspects of my photography from business elements through to more efficient post processing.