We have been busy, recommendations have been great but this has made us lazy with news, website updates and generally talking about our business but there has been some pretty amazing things happening.
We have at long last managed to get a domain we have wanted for a long time... ArtisticFairies.com and hence our new name.
To launch this we have a new website coming later this month (Dec) at www.artisticfairies.com so please visit us to take a look when live and see all the wonderful changes that have been happening.
Thanks for reading,
Cliff
ArtisticUK Fairy Experiences
Artistic UK is now offering the chance to book your little fairy's in for a photo shoot, any day of the week or weekend, for as little as £60. This will give more time in front of camera, in fact, nearly double our event sessions, and, the opportunity to come back and view your images on the same day, edited.
Another bonus, the session is private, giving more time for nervous children to settle and relax before the photography starts or maybe that you, the parent, might like to be included. We have some great photographs of mums with children.
Another new feature is our online booking service, so you don't need to call us. Just email your details and fairy names and we will send you an email link to book your session.
Email Address: [email protected]
Family of Fairies-21630A mother and children session.
As an official photographer for the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, I had the pleasure to meet and photograph a man who, in my opinion, is a true hero. George "Johnny" Johnson.
Now, I am not a man who gets excited about meeting important people, but when I approached Johnny Johnson I felt privileged to be shaking his hand. That is a strange feeling for me, as I feel everyone is special for so many different reasons, but this man, along with many others who went to war for our freedom, stands out from the crowd.
To cut a long story short, after talking to the Red Arrow pilots and mentioning to them that Johnny Johnson was here, they were eager to meet him. Seeing them interact gave me much pleasure and a good feeling that today, 70 years after such bravery, today's pilots still felt men like Johnny were important enough to take time out from a very busy and demanding schedule.
On that day I saw many 'important people' want to meet this hero and when I took pictures of him with the Red Arrows it was a pleasure to see some very important people getting in on the photographs.
This spring, George 'Johnny' Johnson releases an autobiography of his life and the part he played in the Dambuster raids; it's called The Last British Dambuster and I wish him much deserved success with it.
My last word is a thank you to his son Morgan, who I am sure is responsible for including one of my photographs of his dad and the Red Arrows team in the book. I feel very proud to be associated with this book and to have met two very fine gentlemen.
Thank you for reading.
Been with SmugMug...
It has been a while since i have been here and sorry to all the visitors who have been visiting while we have been away with Smugmug.
It had not occured to us that Google would still be passing trade via the old links while i have been updating the new site with pictures and event information, anyway with that said we are now back with zenfolio and embracing the new updates that been too long in coming.
We look forward to updating and catching up with this site and making it feel fresh and exciting.
Thank you.
Melksham Oak Community School Prom 2013
We had a great time at Grittleton House with the students of Melksham Oak Community School this friday.
Grittleton House is a great stage for the prom which made taking the photographs much easier with such fabulous grounds and house as the main backdrop.
Inside we had a room to ourselves where the students came to have their photographs taken and on our site we have uploaded both the arrivals and posed shots.
Hope all students had a great time.
Fairford Airshow 2013
Fantastic news...just been asked to photograph the Royal International Air Tattoo Again!
What a great weekend...
I want to start this blog of with a great big thank you for all the help we had at our Marsh Farm Hotel Fairy day event. The two day event was sold out and all the little fairies had a great time. Marsh Farm Hotel was great and we encourage anybody wishing to book a venue for their own event to make it a place to book.
The most memorable moments for me was the children's faces when they realised the set was real and that the mushroom can be sat on. I am sure the time went really fast for them but we had some great photographs for them to treasure.
We are in the process of booking the next event, again at Marsh Farm Hotel as we have quite a few clients for the event already interested in booking so if you are interested please give us a call to avoid disappointment, this event might not be advertised if most of the places are pre-booked. The price will remain at £35.
Here is a photograph taken at the event.
What a fabulous fairy :)
Our First Fairy Experience is nearly sold out...
We have been selling our 28 slots for the past week and have only 6 slots left so if you are interested in booking a session with us at Marsh Farm Hotel on the 27th May 2013 you need to call us now on 01793 855127
Sunday the 26th is sold out but if it is the only day you can make then we could be pushed to book a couple of slots early evening...give us a call.
The set is all real and your little girls will have an experience to last a life time. We supply all the props and dresses so there is nothing to do but enjoy the session. The cost is only £35 and you get to take home a 7 x 5 (unedited) print. There will be viewing sessions available for those who would like to purchase additional photographs.
On display will be several styles of frames and images which have been fully edited to produce stunning individual pieces of art.
There is coffee and tea for under £2, the bar is open and access to the garden if the weather is kind to us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Cliff
What's in a name...
I might be wrong in many others opinions, but to me the name of your company is one of the most important decisions made on the road to business success. Life in Print Studios was a nice name but in the six months of using it I struggled to find many who could tell me my company name. They all remembered Life in Print but that, of course, is not the name. So here we are...a new name.
What is our new name? Art1st1c
Why Art1st1c? Well because we are much more of an artistic company in its approach than just a photography company who takes pictures. We have timeline montages which give a finished photograph from just a few old photographs of family members. We make montages from events attended throughout the year and of course cities and towns where the landmarks are placed together into large format pictures.
The fairy experience is going to take a very artistic approach to photography too and of course the main studio can be more than just formal photographs.
Anyway, hope you like our new name and comments are of course welcome and appreciated.
Our Fairy Experience Part Two
We have now received our mushroom!!
It stands nearly a metre tall and is a metre wide and we can't wait to see our little, and of course the larger fairies, sat on top. Here is a couple of pictures i have taken in the studio.
Already had fairies jumping onto it to test it's strengh and can't wait to see a fairy dressed in the new dresses and wearing a fantastic pair of wings being made for us right now in the USA by a fantastic lady who is pulling out all the stops to get our wings here for our fairy launch.
Well thats it for now, next posting will be when the wings get here and i know they are going to be stunning...
Don't forget we are still busy in the studio and everyone is welcome wether it be the full studio shoot or just a photograph for a passport. We charge only £8 for passports and id cards and studio shoots are free, we make our money from the pictures sold in the viewing session, so you have nothing to lose and it is fun :-)
Our Fairy Experience
Take a look below and you can see the first stage of our fairy set being produced. It's a mushroom that is a metre wide, and when finished, strong enough to hold an adult. It's being made by a studio in Brighton and is a major part of the fairy set.
We already have the backdrop and most of the dresses have been made, sizes to fit 2 year olds to 15 years and more to come. Below is one that is in the early stages but as you can see, they are going to be stunning and all made by Carol.
The wings for our fairies are being handmade in the USA and been on order now since beginning of Feb. They are special and the company makes them for the big film studios and hence we are still waiting for them. Will post a picture of them when we get them!
Well, that is it for this post, i will let you know more when these main props are finished and in the studio for some photography.
Happy Christmas to you all...
We are nearly all done, just a few more pictures to be picked up by customers and two more parties to photograph and we will be breaking up for christmas.
It has been a tough year, like for most of us, but we are really looking forward to 2013 and have some great ideas and new product launches to look forward too, so from us at Life In Print Studios, Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Christmas Dinners
Our event business has been busy this Christmas too and of course not finished yet.
We have been photographing company Christmas do's and as always, these are an experience never forgotton. People do have a good time and it does have a tendancy to spill out onto our backdrop. Everyone wants their party trick recorded and we watch in fear as the scenery around them looks like it's about to engulf them all. Still we have enjoyed the experience and look forward to next weeks events which will conclude the christmas rush for us.
A photograph of the backdrop we use and I am sure you will agree, it does look real, does it not?
Christmas And A Lovely Pet Shoot
It has been a busy christmas this year but as usual always compacted into a small timeframe. The studio has been busy as well as the montage section, which I particually enjoy, and now look forward to seeing the reactions when the photographs are picked up.
One of the pleasurable shoots was with Chris and his dog. He wanted a Freddie Mercury album cover reproduction with his dog Suzie beside him (appologise if I have the name of your dog wrong again Chris). It was a nice shoot and his dog was so well behaved, it was a pleasure to do.
Here is a photograph...
Of course we took some of her on her own too and I think it shows what a lovely dog she is.
Today, we have had the cutest fairies, in our studio. They were amazing to photograph and posed like seasoned models and with the help of their mums tried on many costumes for us.
If you would like to see some more of them, then, there is a few uploaded for all to see. Go to Photographs and select Studio Portraits.
Thanks for reading and again, comments welcome.
Great news, my free, yep, free 35mm prime lens arrived today. Just trying it out and then I will be putting it onto ebay to help replace some of the cash I spent...it all helps. Waiting on a 18 - 55mm zoom lens to arrive, so do not need the prime.
Had emma and her friends in last week for a party in the studio and got some great photos, most of them had individual ones taken and they are all stunning. I have uploaded them into the client section so ask the girls for the password if you would like to see them. I'm sure they will not mind and of course they can be purchased online and discounted too.
My new camera, the Nikon D800 has arrived and I have been out and about putting it through its paces, getting to grips with the file sizes and they are seriously big but it will be great offering larger print options to my customers. Its prime use though, will be the weddings and with the D700 they will do a great job capturing those beautiful brides.
Another camera on order and hopefully soon arriving will be my Fuji x-pro 1 with a 18mm-55mm zoom lens, this camera will be fun to use making my photography more fun and accessible. It's a street camera, small and quiet but very high res and will open up carrying a camera with me to places that the large SLR cameras just looks too intimidating. Of course, it will be great at capturing those pictures at weddings that only a camera that hasn't been spotted can take :-)
It has been a busy month, wedding marketing, website changes and now busy into setting up a photo scanning service. It will compliment the timeline montage service so if you would like to have your old albums scanned and placed onto a CD or DVD then keep a look out on the website for pricing.
To finish here is a customers pet rabbit that was taken in the studio last week, if you like the picture, there are more under animals to see...
Our new company name...Life in Print Studios is now out and about :-) We have new business cards, leaflets and more importantly, a new design on the website.
It took a long time finding a new name as I wanted it to reflect other interests the business is pursuing and of course finding the domain names free was an even harder task, still here we are, and all domain addresses purchased. The logo, hopefully, giving an impression of life and youth with bright and cheerful colours. Comments of course welcome.
Cannot believe that it has been over 3 months since the last blog entry and so much has been happening since the last post. We have now purchased and setup a full exhibition kit which ironically is from the same manufacturer that i purchased this kit from way back in 1985, of course, it cost about a £1000 then and now, 30 years on, is only half that price. We have used it a few times now too, so it is already out there and earning it's keep.
Been to London and photographed the Thames Flotilla and these pictures will be up here for all too see when I have caught up with the montages I am doing. Also photographed the Royal Wootton Bassett Festival and also got involved by exhibiting. Got school proms to prepare for and local carnivals to attend and of course there is also the portrait sessions here at the studio. so, it has been very busy and there is still the Fairford airshow, festivals to sort and of course this website too improve, as to date, there is no real sales outlet here.
Anyway, hope this give a little update to what has been happening in our camp and please keep coming back, as there is a lot of new photos to be uploaded over the next few weeks and of course improvements to the site as well...
Our new leaflets arrived today and just in time for our first exhibition to advertise our free studio photo shoots. The exhibition is in aid of breast cancer and we will be making a donation from the photographs sold. So fingers crossed, the exhibition is a busy one. For any ladies interested the exhibition is at The Platform in Faringdon Road, where Swindon is hosting the Honey Bee Hive ladies only party night on Saturday 3 March from 7:30 – 11pm.
Had a comment made today about our website and how there wasn't many photographs on it. Of course that made me think that perhaps the site isn't easy enough to use as at the time there was over 500 photographs..
So, if it has not been noticed, we have changed a few things. We now have all the photos under the heading of Photographs and this includes all montages that were previously separated out under their own heading.
We have created a heading called "Shop and Clients". Hopefully this makes it simpler to purchase prints and allow clients to find their images which need a password to view.
We have also made the navigation menu structure larger. It was too small for the iPad and thick fingers to navigate.
So...hopefully you feel the website changes make it a little more friendly and any comments are very much appreciated.
Cliff
New business cards arrived this morning. They cost much more than our first ones from Vista but the quality is far better and worth every penny. Quality from here on in...proves the best policy every time :-)
Hosting site was down this morning for maintenance, with this, there was a hope that there might be some new enhancements and low-behold... new enhancements... a blog :-)