San & Michael's Pre Wedding shoot

San & Michael travelled up from Derbyshire for the weekend to organise wedding plans, see family, friends & have their pre wed photo shoot. We arranged to meet on the Sunday & spent the entire day dodging the rain & boy did it rain!!! Thankfully the dene is quite sheltered so we started off there before heading over to Newcastle Quayside.

This is one wedding I'm really excited about as there will be quite a few of the Chinese wedding traditions along with English traditions. Currently they are trying to arrange the Chinese Lion/Dragon dance which is a form of celebration for weddings. There will also be lanterns at the evening reception weather permitting of course. The venue is the gorgeous Otterburn Tower in Northumberland.

Here are just some of my favourites from their pre wedding shoot. Be sure to come back in August to see some of their wedding images.

Kelly & James Pre Wedding shoot

I met up with Kelly, James & Daniel their son last weekend for their pre wedding shoot. After a chat about the wedding we headed down to St Mary's Island & then over to Tynemouth longsands. The weather was glorious however slightly cold but this didn't stop the fun.

It's been a stressful last few months for Kelly & James as their original wedding venue let them down in a big way & the search was on for another venue. Thankfully they managed to book the stunning Matfen Hall so all is well in their household now...........phew!

The Wedding of Sarah & Neil - Linden Hall

Sarah & Neil must be the luckiest couple as their day was by far the hottest this year. We don't get many dry days in the Northeast of England so it was an added bonus.

I arrived early to capture the bridal preparations & details. The bridesmaids (Louise, Sarah & Christine) were in ivory dresses which made a change & looked fantastic, a very nice contrast against the guys in the dark tartan kilts! The 2 flower girls Georgia & Jessica were also in ivory & 1 year old Jacob matched the guys with his tiny kilt. Sarah looked stunning in her dress with fine detailed bodice, her hair up & with a elegant tiara.

I met the guys outside for some shots at the main entrance & then followed them over to the pub for some more reportage shots. Now I had forgot all about this day being Grand National day but the guys hadn't & out came the racing page from the newspaper while they all made bets by phone.

The ceremony was in a room with vaulted ceilings with twinkling fairy lights wrapped around the beams. Sarah & her father followed the bridesmaids led by the piper up the aisle to where a very emotional Neil stood with his brother/bestman. The ceremony was beautiful & their vows to each other very special.

After shooting the groups & a few of Sarah & Neil the wedding party headed not over to the banqueting hall but to the pub to watch the Grand National!!! Priorities first!!! ;-)

After the meal I managed to get a few more shots of Sarah & Neil on their own before the evening reception began with the fantastic band "Laughing Jacks".

Here are some of my favourites from Sarah & Neil's day.

Meet Floyd

As you will know if you follow this blog we bought our little Sam (a working cocker spaniel) last year.......well Sam needed a buddy & so after some careful research on the internet we decided on either a St Bernard or a Newfoundland (yes I know, huge dogs but these dogs aren't any ordinary dog)!!!!

We met up with a breeder Shambrabern who had 19 St Bernards, haha yeah 19, Nick & Cath's love for these gentle giants is unbelievable. After spending a few hours at their farm up in Eastgate & seeing how the dogs were with our girls we fully understood how these guys are ohterwise known as gentle giants.

The following day we headed to Barachois down in Northallerton. Debra (another amazing person & huge lover of her animals) breeds Newfoundlands & Irish Wolf hounds. Again these beauties have wonderful temperaments with children & strangely enough our girls weren't put off by the general size of these guys! They had four little chunky pups playing quite happily amongst all the excitement while we met their gorgeous parents Boris & Stella along with plenty cuddles from them.

We left for lunch to a nearby village & talked about both St Bernards & Newfoundlands. After being introduced to both breeds the decision was impossible as we adore both. We left & headed straight back to Barachois to buy our new member of the family "Floyd" & once he is fully potty trained we will buy a St Bernard pup. Now you may think I'm mad but many people that do buy one of these gentle giants usually come back for another & speaking from the heart.........I can certainly see why!!! :-)

Here are a few pics of our Floyd, he sleeps most of the time as he is only 8 weeks old, but when he is awake he is so playful & very cute. Sam our other pup who will be 1 in June is worn out which makes a pleasant change!!!

I'll keep you updated on Floyd's progress from time to time as he wont stay this size for very long ;-)

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Sunday & the girls couldn't wait to get out into the garden to hunt for eggs. Even Boo joined in & managed to find a few!!

Model Shoot

Last week myself & a good friend of mine Henry Aarvold photographed the gorgeous Anna. The location was a small wood not far from where I live. And with some speedlites, gels & ezy boxes we decided to have a play with the light.

A huge thanks to Anna for standing the extreme cold weather while wearing very little!!!!

Kate & Antony Pre Wedding shoot

Kate & Antony will be married in September this year. Their wedding however is no ordinary one, they are travelling to Mongolia where they will then head out into the countryside to be married in a Yert with some villagers they have got to know over the last couples of years as their guests. They will be in full Mongolian wedding attire (which I am very much so looking forward to seeing)!! When they return they will be staying at the magnificent Chillingham castle (one of my favourite venues) where they will have their wedding blessed in the chapel.

I met up with Kate & Antony this weekend at Chillingam for their pre shoot. Thankfully the rain had stopped by Sunday & it was quite warm which made a nice change.

Note the 'Star Jump'.......apparently this is custom when having their picture taken & so was not to be missed!!

Down by the archway leading to the woods we had a bit of a scary experience, there was a very small patch of mist that came & went in seconds, now if this had happened at night I don't think we would have been quite so blase' about it!!!!

Here are some of my favourites from the shoot.

Just for the Girls

We are now taking bookings from the girlies who want that extra special gift to give to their husbands on their wedding night. Whether it be a framed print or a leather bound book of a selection of images taken from your shoot. Boudoir Fine art is exactly that..........FIne Art! Each session is tastefully done to bring out the best in you & all images are retouched giving you that Hello magazine flawless look.

For further details contact us at mail@clairedalgarno.com

Sarah & Neil's Pre wedding shoot

Sarah & Neil both work for the RAF & at the moment don't get to see each other as much as they'd like, so when I heard they were coming up to the Northeast for Christmas I thought it would be a good idea to hook up with them & take some pictures. What made it even more fun was the snow!!!! Although the temperatures felt like -10 it didn't seem to bother them (or at least if it did they didn't mention it)! The couple will be getting married in April this year at Linden Hall & with Neil being a Scot he has informed me the lads will all be in kilts (lets hope it's a wee bit warmer come April!!!! ;-)

Here are just a few of the images from their lifestyle shoot.