Ian & Sarah, a Snowy Shoot Around Hebden Bridge

It was a cold and frosty morning, and snowy, and blowy!  Thankfully Ian and Sarah were not put off by the freezing temperatures, ice cold winds whistling down the paths, and the snow flurries blasting us every few seconds!  When they booked a pre-wedding shoot with me, I'm sure this wasn't the weather they had in mind.  We set off on our expedition along the canal path and had a little wander.  When the wind became a little bitter we ducked into a shop for a browse and a couple of shots.  Thanks to the Heart Gallery & Lucy & The Caterpillar Boutique for letting us shelter!  The shoot ended in Organic House for a well earned brew.

 Bring on the lovely spring weather for Ian & Sarah's wedding in May!

Things In The Everyday

I walk round with a head full of photo ideas for my portraits, weddings and engagement sessions, always getting excited about new shots to try out.  Sometimes I'll write them down in a little notepad I carry around, or if I'm feeling brave enough, I'll try and sketch them.  I also like to think about personal projects I can get stuck into.  In 2011, I challenged myself to a 365 project.  I posted them up on my personal Facebook page and it had a lot of positive reaction.  I still get friends asking me if I'm going to do it again - I might do, in some form or another.  

One thing I realised when I was doing this project, is how I like to take pictures of an element within a scene, rather than a big view or landscape.  That's not to say I don't like that sort of thing - I've just bought a book about Ansel Adams' landscape work and it's stunning.  I guess my eyes just see beauty in the smaller stuff.  Over the next few months I'm going to take a series of photos of everyday things, hopefully showing off their beauty!

I've been sorting out a lot of photos the last couple of weeks, and realised I had quite a few pictures of clothes pegs.  It might sound barmy, but I like these little fellas! 

How they all bunch up and let the light shine through...

or gang up on a couple further down the line...

or have a little rave

or just patiently wait until the clouds clear

 always hopeful!!

My name's Sarah & I like pegs!  There, I've said it......

Canopy & Stars Artist Of The Month!

The lovely folk at Canopy & Stars have made me their Artist Of The Month for March -   to say I'm a little bit chuffed about this would be an understatement!  I love what they do, we all need a bit of glamping in our lives!

For all you camping purists, I don't want you to get the wrong impression about me.  I have done my fair share of guy ropes, tent pegs, and cooking on a trangia in the pouring rain.  But now, I guess I'm just after a little bit more luxury whilst still enjoying the great outdoors - win win!  Last September, we stayed at Scales Plantation, a Canopy & Stars property near Keswick.  Home for a couple of days was a shepherd's hut in the middle of a silver birch wood.  A great escape for some r & r and a big kid adventure!  You can read my blog post and see more photos here.

Canopy & Stars are part of Sawday's and they offer places to stay from yurts, to Gypsy caravans to treehouses in the UK and further afield.  They do weddings too!  Maybe you've been thinking about your own mini festival on your special day - how fab would that be?!  I'm looking forward to my next stay, it's just which one to choose!  Bob over to Canopy & Stars website to find some little gems.  

You can see the Artist Of The Month feature here.  I'm not sure why I shared the abseiling story - I thought it was well and truly blocked from my memory...

Happy Mother's Day

So 2013 is well and truly bedded in.  Valentine's Day came and went in a flurry, closely followed by crazy Shrove Tuesday pancake concoctions, then there was St David's Day, and I'm sure a few more I've missed.  This weekend I'll head up to Grassington to spend some time with the folks.  I've been summoned to come and see the new kitchen by Mum, but I know it's really because she wants us all together on Sunday.  A walk, a roast, and some quality time with Mrs M - sounds good to me.  She's already treated herself to some l'occitane hand cream in case me and my sis 'forget' to buy her a present.  I like this approach, she treats herself and of course gets a treat from us too!

In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share a few photos from the last year or so.  Little moments & bonds captured.

 I thought I'd save the last photo for me and my Mum.  We're not sure where it was taken, but judging by the funny hat and white tights, I think we can assume it's in this country!  As I didn't walk until I was 2, this was a usual pose for me....

Whatever you are doing over the weekend, and whoever you are spending it with, I hope you have a good one. x

Dream For Life Competition!

This is new territory for me, I've never run a competition before.  Well, this month sees Sarah Mason Photography (not forgetting the Zebra), celebrating its fourth birthday, so I thought now was as good a time as any! 

As some of you know, I've been really excited about launching my new Dream For Life portrait package.  The idea for the package is that your child comes up with their own ideas for their shoot.  It could be a character from their favourite book or film, or a Teddy Bears' Picnic as Amy did...

You can see the rest of the shoot on a post here.

Or Taylor wanted to make perfume....

You can take a look at the rest of the shoot here. I build the scene around them.  Firstly, we'll sit down and plan the shoot together, sketching and drawing out how they see it, and make a list of things we might need for the shoot. 

Sooo - here comes the competition bit!  I'm offering a Dream For Life shoot, including all the planning and styling, and then the shoot itself.  At the end of the shoot, I will then frame one of your favourite images.  The shoot is for one child.  What I'm asking for is a sentence or two from your little one about what their Dream For Life shoot would be.  The closing date is March 31st.  To enter, please send me an email to - info@sarahmasonphotography.co.uk with your child's Dream For Life and your contact details.  I will pick one out of the hat, and I'll be in touch with the winner to arrange the shoot! 

Come and follow the competition on my Facebook page. 

I'm a massive advocate about taking photos of children when they are doing something they are enjoying.  I guess if I had a chance to enter the competition, I'd want to have my own Swallows & Amazons adventure, or maybe be in The Red Hand Gang - but I may be showing my age with this one...

Just one last thing – good luck, and I’m looking forward to reading the entries!

You can pop over to www.sarahmasonphotography.co.uk to see my other photography packages.

Wedding Albums - Made In Yorkshire, With Love.

With my re-brand last year, I made a change to my wedding photography packages and started to offer couples a disc option.  I am still a big advocate to showing off your photos in a beautiful wedding album, and the majority of my clients will add this to their package.

Last year, at a couple of meetings when the bride's parents' were also there, they rooted out their wedding albums to show me.  It was so lovely to turn the clock back!  A good wedding album should stand the test of time, and along with your memories, will be the one tangible element from your day you can keep looking through together.

I love designing wedding albums.  Like every wedding, each is unique.  I'm so happy to have found Folio Albums - they really showcase my work in their gorgeous touchy-feely fine art albums.  For me, designing an album is a culmination of our time together from our initial meeting, through our pre-wedding shoot and then to the magnificent day itself.

I thought I'd take a few photos of the albums so you can see for yourselves, including a few I took of Nicky & Ben when I presented their album to them.  It was just before Christmas as you can probably tell from the images!

I love the choice of covers and finishes.  The colours are divine from Jade to Nut Brown to Pillar Box.  Then there are the gorgeous duplicate albums, all cute, and very portable.  And don't even get me started on the bamboo presentation cases!

I'm looking forward to designing the albums from 2013 weddings already! 

Do you have photos of wedding albums you'd like to share?  Maybe your parents or even your grandparents?  I've been wanting to collate a few for a blog post, and now seems like the right time!  If you'd like to send any photos, you can email me at info@sarahmasonphotography.co.uk.  I'm looking forward to seeing what treasures we can find!