Photography

Family portrait shoot on the farm…

I had the great pleasure of being asked to do some family portrait photography for the family who own and run the The Tythe Barn, Launton. Will’s parents are heading towards their golden wedding anniversary & the family thought it would be lovely to give them a photograph of the three brothers (who grew up on the farm) with their families on this special occasion. So, there we were with brothers, wives & assorted children & Burt the dog in the crisp winter air last Sunday. The Tythe Barn has lovely gardens & grounds & some fantastic architectural features that offer a photographer so many different options for weddings or a family shoot  and we were also able to put the hay bales in Will’s brothers farm to good use too!

Family Portrait Photography Oxfordshire Portrait photography OxfordshireWhy not book your family in for a family portrait photo shoot? I am currently offering shoots from just £50 in a location of your choice. Please contact me for more details.

Wadham College Pre Wedding Shoot

Last Saturday ( in slightly better conditions than today)  I photographed a lovely couple, Antonia & David for their pre wedding shoot. Their wedding service will be held at Wadham College chapel in Oxford during April. We had a fantastic morning & I captured some great shots of them in & around the college. The fabulous architecture & gardens were a wonderful backdrop & as David was a student at Wadham College the images will be a lasting reminder of one of his favourite places that hold so many wonderful memories.

After the service the reception is being held at The Tythe Barn, Launton one of my favourite wedding venues in Oxfordshire. Will & Emma who run the barn have restored this historical building beautifully & their attention to detail shows in every wedding I have had the pleasure to photograph there.

Please keep an eye out for some of Antonia and David’s wedding photos on my blog sometime in May.  In the meantime for anyone who would like to see more of The Tythe Barn there’s a little surprise coming up…..

Oxford City Weddings 2 Oxford College Weddings 3 Wadham College Weddings 1 Wedding Photography Oxfordshire

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#MerryChristmas to you all

It’s another beautiful baby boy, this time just 2 days old!

Recently I had an email from someone who was about to have a baby and wanted some pictures of their new born baby. I was delighted to meet up with the couple and their new addition at their home when little Oscar was just 2 days old. New born baby photography is limiting as to what you can do but still very rewarding and a wonderful time to get some professional pictures taken. Babies change to quickly so it’s important to capture them at different stages of their early lives.

Here are a few pictures from the session I though I would share with you.

New Born Baby Photography

Adorable, Hey???

Lake District Hill Farmers

I’m finally back on the ground after shooting several projects for the Princes Countryside Fund over the last few months, Biomass fuel projects, portrait sessions, booking weddings for 2013 and 2014, photographing jewellery for a client, and now tonight a Christmas party to photograph in a 14th Century barn.

Now the dust is settling and we are just about ready for Christmas it’s nice to be able to sit down and reflect on some of the work I have done over the last few months, I will continue to blog about my Princes Countryside Fund projects as they were most interesting and something I would like to share with my viewers.

After my trip to the North Yorkshire moors I travelled to the Lake District to photograph two more farming apprentices in the hills who are sponsored through the The Farmer Network. It was damp and miserable but that’s what these lads have to put up with day after day, it’s a hard life but also most rewarding I would imagine.

Here are just a few of my favourite images…

FarmapprenticeLake District Sheep FarmingSheep Lake DistrictHill Farming Cumbria

Equestrian Photography

Francesca, one of our brides from a few years back whom I have remained friends with via the wonders of social networking recently contacted me to arrange a shoot for her and her new dressage horse. With several sessions cancelled due to the unpredictable British weather we finally got together for the shoot earlier this week. With a bit of colour on the trees, a dry day and some reasonable light everything was looking good for the photo session. Bube her new horse, a dressage champion however was not so keen, he is naturally a pro in the arena but not such a pro at having his picture taken. However, with a few cheeky noises from me and a little gentle persuasion from his boss we got there in the end.

Francesca runs Sunhill Stud in Gloucestershire, the heart of good riding country. Francesca has achieved a number of qualifications, including a Flathorse trainers license and a Lady riders License as well as being awarded a 1st Level Riding Instructor Qualification. More about Francesca and her wonderful horses can be found by clicking here.

Here are some of my favourite images from the session

I think Francesca liked the images as she has just ‘Facebooked’ me the word AMAZING! She is getting a lot of comments from her Italian family and friends on her Facebook page about the pictures – If only I could understand Italian!

Please do get in touch if you would like some pictures of you and your horses for publicity or just for yourself. info@marklordphotography.com

The Blacksmith of Blackwell, Derbyshire

After my shoot with The Farming Life Centre based in Blackwell, Derbyshire I headed across the courtyard to see if I could take some pictures of Darren the resident Blacksmith. Darren informed me he has had a few photographers take pictures of him over the years and I can see why – I could have spent all day chatting to him and photographing him working at his forge and anvil. But with Mrs Lord in the car and a 3 hour journey back home I could only spend about 10 minutes with him and his resident cat!

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the shoot.

The Farming Life Centre, Blackwell – photographed for the Prince’s Countryside Fund

Earlier this week I was up early and heading up north to Bakewell, not for a tart but to meet a gentleman who works for The Farming Life Centre to photograph him and the work he does for the Prince’s Countryside Fund. We arranged to meet at Bakewell cattle market to take some photographs there before moving on to a nearby farm. Jonathan met me and after a brew and a chat in the canteen I set to work taking some pictures around the cattle market. Jonathan’s role is to help farmers in need of assistance in the local area, this can be anything from computer problems to livestock management.

Jonathan is the gent in the middle at the top of this compilation of images.

On an interesting note, the farmer holding his arm out above is holding a one pound coin. This is called luck money and he is the seller of the sheep currently being auctioned and  will give this money to the winning bidder of his sheep once the hammer goes down. So, anyone who wins 20 lots of sheep at auction will also walk away with £20 for a few well deserved pints down the local that night!

After the auction we headed up to a nearby farm who Jonathan works with.  After meeting the lady from the farm I got taken around meeting some of the animals and workers, one who was fixing an old tractor (worker not animal!) A perfect photo opportunity, I thought, so we wheeled the tractor forward a bit to get some light on it and I did some nice portraits of the chaps with the tractor. Here are some of my favourite images from the shoot on the farm.

Finally we arrived  at The Farming Life Centre for a well deserved cuppa and a massive cookie in the 1950’s style kitchen with manager Julia Cook. The reason for the 1950’s style kitchen is the centre holds social groups for retired farmers in the area and having old objects around helps them to reminisce about the good old days. After a few pictures around the courtyard of the staff and I  headed back home. Well, nearly, I just had to pop over the yard and have a chat with the resident Blacksmith for a few pictures….. (to follow soon)

To find out more about this brilliant organisation please visit The Farming Life Centre by clicking here.

‘Did I have a Bakewell Tart’ you ask? Drive 300 miles and not try a Bakewell? What do you think? 🙂

#HenleyShow – Ploughing Match, Dunsden

Last weekend I put on my wellies and took the family to a field in South Oxfordshire. With family celebrations on we had my parents staying for the weekend so what better place to take Mum and Dad than to a ploughing match – Mum loves heavy horses and Dad loves an old tractor!

This was a new event for me to photograph but being a country boy I have had my fair share of mud in the past. I’m currently building a portfolio of more country based images alongside my portrait and wedding work and have been busy working on several themes over the last year.

Here are some of my favourite images from the day. Photographing at shows is always tricky if you are trying to get a timeless looking image as there is always some plastic fencing in the background or a modern motor vehicle but on Sunday I did manage to get some more vintage looking images.

For those that competed in the show please have a look at my Photobox Gallery by clicking here for more photographs of the event.

It’s a beautiful baby boy…

Recently some wedding clients of ours got in touch to say that they were having a baby and would like some new born pictures of him to remember his early days by.

So a session was booked and I met up with them to photograph the new addition to the family. It was lovely to see them again as I had not seen them for a couple of years and it was a pleasure to be asked to photograph their baby boy. It was lovely session and I am thrilled with the results. The baby’s Mum knitted the wool nest and his Dad supplied the furs to provide some great backgrounds for him to lay on.

Special thank to my clients for allowing me to use these images on my blog and I look forward to seeing the 3 of them again in the future.

I wish to expand my new born baby portfolio and would love to hear from anyone who has a new born on the way or has had a baby very recently! Please contact me for more information if you would like a complimentary session.