Along with Ian and Kim, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Georgina and Graham yesterday. Despite the overcast weather, everyone was full of smiles and love was the order of the day. Georgina's "Audrey Hepburn" style was elegant, unusual and a real hit. The groom and groomsmen were handsome, the bride and bridesmaids beautiful, the venues awesome and the whole day was a delight. Here are some of our favourite images as a preview of what will be a beautiful set of photos. Thank you Georgina and Graham and families for a wonderful day.

The team at Jillian Dixon Photography are having a quiet day today-preparing for the wedding of Graham and Georgina tomorrow at St Andrew's Church Roker (the Arts and Crafts cathedral of the North-a nice Burne-Jones tapestry and some William Morris carpet to look forward to!) and at Durham Castle. We're praying for good weather for the lovely couple, and of course for ourselves!

My associate photographer/assistant Kim and I spent today at Kiki's Kabin at North Shields, courtesy of Nicky and Richard. We had a fab day photographing children large and small, as well as a bit of wall art- photographing it, not painting! The adults with the children were fun too! For those of you waiting for photographs of your little ones, they'll be available at http://www.jilliandixonphotography.co.uk/ late tomorrow afternoon.

I had the great pleasure and honour yesterday of photographing the baptism of Millie Olivia Parker. I've known her dad for several years and her mum is a recently met friend. Millie is the most beautiful and delightful little girl you could ever meet, so being part of her first "special day" was a real pleasure. As it was Easter Sunday, we were treated to the dressing of the cross with fresh daffodils, a touching and stunning ceremony. Thanks Clive, Sandra and your lovely families. Colin and I had a great time.

Big Boy's Toy!!!

As promised- some photos of my husband's pride and joy (not me of course- a 23 year old E28 M5, the rarest BMW production model) If anyone has £8000 to spare, it's for sale to a loving new home. Unfortunately, the other half has his eyes on a 1961 Chrysler- as big as a whale- eat yer hearts out, B52s!

Louise and Craig had their "engagement" shoot today. We caught the best of the weather at Tynemouth Priory, and tried out some shots in soft sunshine with a hint of a breeze (actually it was pretty darned windy!) Indie, Craig and Louise's dog came too. What a lovely family they make- and top models too! I'm looking forward to the wedding at The Crab and Lobster in Thirsk, and I'm sure we'll be able to produce some beautiful photos together. See what you think...

Still waiting for the BMW to arrive from its winter home.

Holidays are coming up shortly, so hopefully that'll give me an opportunity to get up at a crazy hour of the morning and sit in some Iron Age ruins (Castlerigg Stone Circle) waiting for sunrise. Then again...a three hour lie-in sounds attractive too.

Watch this space to see which road the vacation time takes...



(I'm putting MY money on the latter)

Customs House Wedding Fayre

The clocks went forward- it was early - VERY early - well 7am (6am in real money). The sun shone. The wind blew.

The people came in their scores, and I met new customers (and a few old customers dropped in just for a chat!), showed the new branding, logo and DVD, and generally we all had a great time.

Techy highlight of the day for me was trying out my new lens on willing models,- thanks Zoe and friends, and particular thanks Negar for your patience and exuberance on a deceptively cold day.
Thanks also to Nicky and Ross for arranging a fab fayre-let's do it all again some time soon!

Another lovely blowy day when I'm stuck inside! Hmmph.

HOWEVER:

I do have the new toy *smiles gleefully* and I have a commission today. Well ok, it's from my husband, so not a real commission. His pride and joy, a 1984 BMW E28 M5 (a real one, I'm told, not a boy's toy M535i- means a lot to me...) is ready to have its portrait done. That means lots of polish, lots of crawling around on the floor and lots of oohing and aahing - then when I'm done with that I have to take the photos as well....*winks*

If anyone wants to buy a genuine M5....photos later.

I've got new toys! My new Canon 24-105mm IS lens arrived today and I can't wait to get out and try it out. Keep that rain away!

Watch this space for the results.

What a lovely Spring Day it is outside! Shame I'm stuck in here and can't get out with the camera- I love the light and breeziness of Spring. (Hence the Spring colour scheme today...)

Actually I'm just adding another service to those offered by Jillian Dixon Photography- online proofing and gallery facilities. These are signposted by "Clients Login" on the all-new beautiful website. Here clients will be able to log in to their own private online gallery of commercial, portrait or wedding images, and also order online at reasonable prices.

Happy viewing!

New branding!

Today is the day- new branding and image are GO! Heartfelt thanks to the clever folks at The Images Group for my lovely new web presence and business cards.

Visit Jillian Dixon Photography at http://www.jilliandixonphotography.co.uk/

and also

don't forget....

Wedding Fayre, 10am - 3pm Sunday 29th March (clocks go forward today!)

Exclusive Jillian Dixon Photography special offers and prizes to be won too!

Photographing the photographers!

What a buzz! I was recently asked to photograph a team of local photographers for their website. We had a great time comparing apertures, shutter speeds and such 'tog' type things ( -do you think we REALLY talk about that sort of thing? ) Here are some of the results.

Just heard that the new website goes live today-can't wait! We're also putting the final touches to our special offer which applies only at the Customs House on Sunday 29th March. You'll have to come along to see what it is!

Two new album sample packs arrived today- Renaissance by Colorworld, and Bellissimo by Loxley Colour. Wow! What a fantastic range of products. The printing and finishing of both are wonderful, and the mini books from Loxley are SO cute!

Also, The Images Group are just putting the finishing touches to the new branding and website. Thanks to Jim, Gavin and Rose for a job well (no excellently!) done, thanks for the tea, coffee and sound photography advice- this is beginning to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech- time to go!

It's lovely out there today-wish I'd managed to get up at dawn to catch the sunrise at Roker. Maybe next week ;).

Just preparing for the Customs House Wedding Fayre on Sunday 29th March. I'll be showing my new DVD presentations, as well as a range of new albums. The new website and branding officially launches on that date too, thanks to Jim and Gavin at The Images Group. I love the new look, and I hope my customers will too.

Here's a sneak peek at the DVD. (Thanks again, Jim and Gavin, for sharing the secret with me!)

Why not come along and see us at the Customs House, between 10am and 3pm on Sunday 29th March (no harm in saying it twice!) to collect your copy of the DVD, free canapes and Buck's Fizz, and to take part in the prize draws-I think you'll like our prize.

Now I'm hooked! Here's my latest short video - portrait photos.

The new version. Slower transit (sorry Activia!) and more appropriate music.

Yesterday I had a revelation. I've discovered a new way to present wedding photos in a DVD format and it's pretty cool, if I say so myself! Watch out for a sample on this blog.