Today, for the first time in 5 YEARS, I went on a bike ride. It helped that it was the first sunny Saturday in a while and I went on a website called Bikely where you can find routes near you or share your favorites and add really specific tags. Let’s put it this way, I didn’t ask for any steep hills..

It was a lovely route that took me from Rossett to Pulford, Dodleston, Lower Kinnerton, Higher Kinnerton, Hope and Llay. I was meant to go through Burton Green but I missed a turn. Still cycling through these beautiful vilages was really lovely and I crossed quite a few smiley faces, some of them gave me a few directions which was appreciated..

Next time I’ll try and find myself a nice gps for my bike if there is such a thing.

I don’t have a mountain bike or a road/race bike. I have a hybrid! Now if you’re wondering why I’m going on about this is because I find a lot of people are either not aware of them or steered away as they seem to be the lacking a bit of appreciation.

Personally, I LOVE my hybrid! Sturdier than a road bike with a more comfortable driving position but lighter than a mountain bike with tires fit for road and trail a perfect all-rounder!

OK, that’s me finished ranting now..but next time you buy a bike think about this: do you want to race or do you want to simply ride your bike? Also, do you really need massive knobley tires with large suspension forks? Come on, give a hybrid a chance!

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Barely a week after the superb wedding of Taniya and Paul in Portmeirion, Neil and Amy were up from Cardiff for their engagement session at Talacre Beach. The beach, you ask?! Yes! Firstly, there is a lovely lighthouse which ads to the pictures, I think, and, having had the chance to speak to Amy a few times over the phone, I knew absolutely nothing was going to wipe that smile from her face! Good thing too since we had a bit of rain but the beautiful and spectacular light of the “Golden Hour” worked it’s magic on this beautifull beach of Flintshire, North Wales and we ended up with a fantastic set of pictures and had a great time all around!

Next time we see each other, it’s going to be for their wedding in Soughton Hall. And remember Amy. It’s in 8 weeks!

Either for your pre-weding shoot or wedding photography in North Wales, you deserve Celynnen Photography

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Whatfest was absolutely fabulous! Simon Bennet from Riverside Organics put up the most amazing show I’ve seen in a long time and one of the most exciting things that the entire family can enjoy in Cheshire I’ve ever been to! All ages were truly represented, not only in the crowd, but we were even treated to some jokes by a few toddlers in the crowd! (No, they weren’t bad at all..)

I’ll be uploading pictures soon on an online gallery for you. But keep an eye on the blog! If you see youself in a picture on our blog from Whatfest, email us and you will get a free 7×5! (bands not included)

Come back soon!

Ioan
PS: I’m going to do my absolute best to convince Simon to have Whatfest 09. If you enjoyed yourself, why not send him an email?

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Remember my friends from Riverside Organics? Well, Simon isn’t only an organic farmer… he is also a rock concert promoter! Think Micheal Eavis of Glastonbury fame…. on the first year he started!

No joke, Simon is behind one of the most exciting projects new projects in Cheshire: Whatfest 08!

As the school year comes to an end and summer trully (hopefully) starts, Whatfest 08 will get the plains of leafy Cheshire rocking to the tunes of bands such as Eskimo Smile, Elephant Juice and a great Coldplay tribute band: Square One .

These are only 3 out of the 16 band lineup of all kinds of what will hopefully become a regular event in the Cheshire calendar.

So if you’re a fan of music, camping or both at the same time! (sounds like paradise to me..) come over to Whatfest 08!

Pssssst!! Here’s a secret! Mention this blog and you’ll get 20% discount on official pictures of the weekend!

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The other day I went to one of my good client’s house to show them the pictures I had recently taken of their children. I must say it was one of the most pleasant viewings I’ve had! Taking pictures of adults and showing them to the clients is one thing. But taking pictures of teens and showing them to the teens themselves is often a tricky thing as they don’t always like seeing themselves in pictures. But, and I don’t know if Marianne’s flapjacks (from Riverside Organics) had anything to do with it, but they loved their pictures!

The thing that I essentially try to do with this age group is simply try and “capture their spirit”. Take pictures of who they are and aspire to be rather than direct them into strict poses. I want them to have fun. And have fun we did!

Besides that, I will be the official photographer for the Britain in Bloom Awards 2008! The event is being held at the Chester Racecourse as part of the Cheshire Year of Gardens Celebrations! I am a really keen gardener myself having a few roses, a wildflower meadow, herbs and all sorts of stuff.. I even have a hedgehog house and ladybird house! But I somehow had my doubts that I would be at the awards as a winner, so being a photographer was my only hope..

Finally, we’re on Facebook! You can find us on there by clicking on this link

I’m not sure quite how I’ll use my presence there, but one thing that is sure is that it will involve deals! So check us out!

Ioan

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As some of you have noticed, I have not updated my pictures on my website for a while. Basically, we are thinking about a new look, new galleries etc. So keep looking and soon (hopefully) you might get a surprise!

Until then, here are a picture from a very special day that I was able to capture recently.

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Besides that, I’ve just had the most wonderful weekend in a long time!!

First of all, my beloved wife Nickie came back from France where she was working for a week, which really raised my spirits. Her coming back, not going..

Then, we went to a good friend of mine’s for my BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Nothing crazy or exentric, just a lovely day in the countryside, with chickens and goats and carps, with lovely food and lovely wine. Then the next day, we went to The Groves, in Chester to surprise one of my ex-colleagues for her birthday!

A beautiful evening to the background of Salsa music which ended with the Chester Ghost Tour provided by Tom Jones! (No, not THAT one..)

So yeah, a very social and exciting weekend for me!

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On the 22nd of February, I’ll be shooting the Robert Moffat Memorial race in High Legh. I’m really excited (I know, I get excited about a lot of things..) because even though I am not a runner myself, the feeling of achievement and happiness some of the runners displayed last year was really infectuous and I felt really lucky to be there to share that moment with them. That’s the really great thing about photography. Of course, There’s also another souvenir associated to last year’s race. The day after the race after we uploaded the pictures, we lost not one, not two… three hard drives!!! Surely that must be some sort of record??

And so things were rough, chaotic and disorganised for a bit. But now we are back sturdy on our feet with 5 drives on two Macs which should (touch wood), keep us going for at least one or two wedding seasons!!

Anyways..
If you are interested in running this great 10k, it’s in High Legh, next to Knutsford in Cheshire. The route goes through this beautifull village of rural cheshire and is truly a race which can please runners of all levels!

For more information, go on the official race website which is:

http://www.highlegh.org/race.htm

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I’m feeling really happy!

First of all, I am really happy with some of the pictures we got from a family shoot we worked on last week (see attached picture)

Then early in the week I had a really good boudoir photography shoot for one of my clients. Boudoir photography, if you are not familiar with it is, as stated in wikipedia, “is revealing style of photograph where implied nudity is common, as is the subject showing part of their undergarments while still dressed.”

But our “definition” is simply sensual pictures after a session of pampering by a make-up artist, a bit of champagne and you feeling fabulous and glamourous with pictures for yourself or to give as a gift for a special person in your life.

Anyways, we had so much fun, we ended up working together for 6 hours!!!

Also, as you might remember, I am trying to have a baseball team I coach travel to Northern Ireland. These are not ordinary kids and they really need our support.

So the other day, whilst I’m doing a bit of a email fundraising operation, I see this ad about Warburtons, the family bakers. It shows people talking or encountering Jonathan Warburton here and there and makes a point about how friendly he is and all that. I had seen the ad a few times that week and had noticed that Warburton was the brand of bread we had in (I don’t buy the shopping you see, so I need stuff to notice)

Anyways, the ad finishes with his email address, I decide to use it and email Brett Warburton as well, which I learn is his cousin. They both replied within a week. Now you might ask, why am I so excited? How much money are these bakers giving me? To be honest, at this point and time, I have no clue, all they said was that they will chase it up. But the friendliness of their email and the fact that they took the time to reply to my email is enough for me to get excited!

These kids really are important to me and so I’ve sent emails to 300 local companies, including bakers, and most of them never even bothered replying.

So simply because they made me smile by being just as friendly as their “tv personas” and for taking interest in a very special group of kids, I publicly want to thank Jonathan and Brett Warburton and wish everybody a great weekend!!

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“I’m free” seems to say this beautiful dog we shot during a family shoot at their home the other day! The whole shoot was done outdoors with the dog and family members having fun playing cricket, football, playing on swings and generally having a good time, and believe me, I did too!

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Besides photography, I also help children of primary and high school age make the most of their education and solve a few issues along the way. One of the ways I do it is through coaching baseball. I started a team to help pupils move from Primary School to High School. Unfortunately baseball in Britain can be quite expensive. Last year, luckily, we struck gold in 2 ways. First, Majestic Athletic helped by offering us our team shirts.

Then the Portstewart Eagles, a baseball team in Northern Ireland sent us some helmets, bats and all sorts of crucial equipment for our team.

To thank the Eagles and to help raise the aspirations and cultural awareness of our young players , I’m organising a trip for them to visit the Eagles in Northern Ireland. In order to achieve this, we absolutely need sponsors and we have been asking quite a bit lately for people to either sponsor the team or individual players, depending on their preference. The first company to step-up to the plate was the Mitchell Group. I cannot say how gratefull I am to them for their contribution. Their help does not only take us one step closer to getting to Northern Ireland, it also gives a strong sense of pride to the players that feel that someone out there believes in them.

On behalf of the Rudheath Majestics, thank you very, very much!

IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN HELP THE MAJESTICS OR MORE INFORMATION ON THEM, EMAIL OR CALL ME. FOR EACH PLAYER FUNDED, YOU GET 50% DISCOUNT ON YOUR SHOOT!

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