Personal Work Backlog

As ever, being a professional wedding and portrait photographer, means having a very busy schedule. This is especially true in mid to late summer.

When i do get a moment i still love to follow my passion of photography, which was originally born out of my love for motor racing back in my early teens. I grew up at Brands Hatch and when i raised enough funds from my first proper job, i used to shoot racing on a trusty manual focus Nikon 35mm film camera and long zoom lens.

I was fortunate enough to travel to a few UK circuits as well as the first two motorcycle Grand Prix at the then "new" Nurburgring and also the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Back then i was huge Barry Sheen fan and was privileged to see his last ever German GP ride as well as his last British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

After a few years break due to work and family commitments i have tried to attend the British Superbikes at Brands Hatch whenever weddings allow. This year i made it to both meetings and on each occasion it was well worth the trip.

I know the meeting was back in August but due to my workload, i have only just got around to work on my images. On the day i had Jacob and Ruby in tow. We had a great time, but obviously my photography had to take a back seat as i enjoyed a family day out.

Here Ruby on the stunning BMW K1300R.




I also managed to grab a few shots on the exit of Druids Bend. All were shot on my D300 and Nikon 18-200 VR lens.













Late in August, Eastbourne is host to Airbourne, a 4 day airshow with many fly pasts out over the sea. The town comes to a total halt and on Sunday night, a huge firework display takes place off of the end of the pier.

We took the kids to see the fun and i had my trusty Canon G10 in my pocket. Here are a couple of my shots, captured hand held and with me holding my breath whilst bracing myself against a wall.

James and Laura's Wedding at Newick Park

Just finished designing the album of Laura and James' wedding that took place on 17th October at the beautiful Newick Park Hotel in East Sussex.

They wanted a relaxed coverage to the day with the majority of the photography being my signature "documentary" approach, which enables Laura and James to focus on enjoying the company of their guests and family without having to worry about excessive posing and hassle.

For the second week running we were blessed with amazing autumn weather and a stunning sunset and i thought i would share a few favourites here.

The whole wedding can be viewed on my website .












The guys arriving































I always pop outside to check for sunsets.

Roland Sands Design

Wow!

Together with my good friend, Phil Burrowes, i am very excited to see to that our images taken for Shaw Harley Davidson have been featured on the blog of one of the world's leading custom bike design studios.

We were commissioned to photograph two RSD Harley-Davidsons by Steve at Shaw H-D and he was so pleased with the results that he sent the images to Roland Sands Design in California USA. Click on the link to check out the story and images and keep watching for further developments on this exciting project.

September and October Madness!

Its been a crazy couple of months with 7 weddings in 5 weeks and a number of other shoots that all seem to have fallen at the same time of year.

On the wedding front i have shot in Gloustershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and of course in Sussex as well.

Crammed in between have been some very exciting commissions. I have undertaken a few location portrait shoots in Eastbourne and at other locations throughout Sussex such as the beautiful Ashdown Forest.

At the same time i am shooting a project for my good friends Jerry and Tula at Breeze Flowers which should help them to take a huge step towards their goals for their business.

I am also working together with my buddy Phil Burrowes for Steve and his team at the fabulous Shaw Harley-Davidson on what should is an amazingly exciting project that we are putting together. We spent a day at the dealership shooting Roland Sands Design Custom Harleys for Steve Willis for what should be a tremendous long term relationship.

Last week, after a great wedding at Newick Park in Sussex, i then exhibitted at the Wiston House wedding fair on Sunday, before driving to Bristol on Monday to hold a seminar on how to shoot winter weddings, for the Great Western Region of the Master Photographer's Association.

Then on the long drive back home on Tuesday i dropped into see my good friend, Bella West and her new studio in Shaftesbury. I have to say that the portraits were stunning, as was lunch!

In between all the madness, Karen and i try to relax and unwind by taking the kids and Baggins out and about. Working all the time can really drag you down if you are not careful and our family time is very important to us. Living in the village of Stone Cross, just north of Eastbourne, certainly enables us to escape to the wilds with the minimal of effort and it a great way to chill out.

Here are a number of images mostly taken from my weddings in Hereford and Hampshire, although the first couple are from the wedding of Ryan and Nicki Harper at the Tudor Barn near Burnham.


Ryan and Nicki





Images from the Shaw Harley-Davidson RSD Shoot





Phil supervising



Shots from Hereford





















The temptation..............



A couple of shots from my seminar in Bristol. First our stunning model.



Then a delegate..................



Back to my Hampshire wedding.















And finally time to relax..........

An Amazing Testimonial

Wow!

Just opened up the office and logged into my e-mails and found something to really get the day off to a flyer!

As much as in passionately love my work, it genuinely makes life a whole lot better when clients makes such lovely comments about the albums you produce for them. It makes all my efforts worthwhile and has me buzzing for this coming weekend's wedding.

To me, my wedding and portrait photography is more than just a collection of images. Its all about creating a family legacy full of unrepeatable moments in time. I feel that its my responsibility to offer people the opportunity to have their family history artistically and timelessly created for generations to come.

The e-mail in question came from Michael Sotiriou who married the beautiful Kate, in July 2008. They had their reception at the stunning Eastwell Manor in Kent and the striking image on my homepage was taken on their wedding day.

Here is the e-mail.

Dear Peter,
I hope you are well.

You took our amazing wedding photographs July 19 2008 (wedding of Kate and Michael Sotiriou in Wye, Kent) and everyone has been wowed by them!

Even yesterday, more than one year after the wedding, a good friend of mine who attended the occasion was talking to a mutual friend and praising your incredible talent... he actually commented that you are the best wedding photographer he has seen and of course Kate and I would agree.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on to you my friend's praise of your skill.

All the best,

Michael Sotiriou

Breeze Flowers Photo Shoot

Its been a madly busy couple of months here and the past fortnight has been crazy beyond belief.

Firstly i had a fantastic wedding in Hereford which was followed by a day long photo shoot commissioned by my good friends at Breeze Flowers in Eastbourne.

Breeze have a fabulous reputation as a contemporary florist, producing stunning pieces for all occasions. Their bridal bouquets are exceptional and with this in mind we put together a shoot to show their flowers to their best. We had 4 models throughout the day and along the way i managed to find a few moments to experiment and produce a couple of extra images for me.

We were priviged to be able to use two of the South of England's finest hotels, the Cavendish Hotel and the Grand Hotel and i would like to say a huge thanks to the teams at both venues for their help.

Here a few images from the shoot that i have played around with.

Nigel's Birthday Bash

Sunday saw us invited to the birthday party of our very good friend, Nigel Harper.

We set off for Buckinghamshire at lunchtime and just for once, the M25 was clear and we made it up to Stone in good time.

Having unseasonally good weather, meant we spent the afternoon and evening in Nigel and Karen's stunning garden with their friends and family. It was great to catch up with some of the fabulous photographers and friends. who had been invited to the celebrations, especially Dennis Orchard, Barry Weare and Hoss.

I have to say, that the food laid on by Karen was superb as ever!

Unfortunately the girls had school in the morning, so we had to set off around 9pm to get them home.

Today is Nigel's actual birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIGEL and thanks for inviting us.


Here are a few moments of the day, all shot on my Canon G10, in and around Dennis who stole the show!


The birthday Boy!



Ruby made herself at home.



Nige with Dennis







Arranging a big group photo




Karen and Hoss



Opening the champagne



Striking a pose



A Devilish cake

Kids model for a magazine cover!

My good friend and now neighbour, Phil Burrowes of Avant Photographic has been commissioned to shoot the front cover of a local magazine.

He needed some crazy kids to have fun, dressed up as if we were in winter already. Knowing how mad mine can be, he drafted in the services of Ruby and Amelia and we were joined by Katie and Charlie who live across the road.

I tagged along with my trusty Canon G10 and thought i would post a couple of snap shots from the shoot as well as my quick portrait of the mad girls, Ruby and Katie.





Phil laying around on the job!





I think they had a lot of fun!