A couple of shots of my brand new nephew – little Jake Pike.  Nice hat!  (I bought that!)

What a cutie!  And one with his big sister, my gorgeous niece Meggie…

Massive congratulations to my sister Jo and my brother in law Paul!

xxx

Here it is! My TOP60 of 2011! (I tried to make it TOP40 but I just couldn’t cut it down any further!) Another amazing year at Jonny Draper Photography filled with awesome experience after awesome experience. Another year of meeting some of the loveliest people you could ever possibly wish to meet and another year of working at some of the best venues and with some of the best suppliers in the wedding industry. To all of my brides and grooms and to all of my wonderful wedding friends – thank you for making 2011 an absolute joy. I’m looking forward to more of the same this year!

So without further ado, my favourite images in no particular order. As with my 2010 review, I set myself a couple of simple rules so as to (hopefully!) not bore you to tears reading this blog post and instead let you just look at and enjoy the images. The rules were: Only 60 images (I worked out that I shot over 100,000 images last year so it’s been a bit of a task to cut them down again!) and only a simple line about each one. Here we go…!!!

The gorgeous Poppy at Styal Lodge modelling for our ‘Future of Vintage’ shoot as featured on English Wedding (you can see the whole shoot HERE)  We could have been in Ibiza the weather was that good!  One of my iconic images of 2011 – so much so that it is about to be hung on our lounge wall!

Katie & Colin’s Grange over Sands wedding – I love a happy and full dance floor!

Bev & Phil’s pre-wedding shoot.  Seedy?  Nah….!!!  I love the colours!  (And so did they!)

Bev & Phil’s wedding at The Ashes in Staffordshire.  Taking a few minutes out at their stunning venue…

I’ve heard rumours about photographers not allowing guests to take pictures at weddings they shoot – obviously I don’t roll like that, but even if I did, I’d have struggled to stop Lisa & Eric’s guests at Thornton Manor!!!

Kelly & Mike’s Inn at Whitewell wedding – stunning.  That’s it.

Alexis & Adam’s wedding at Mitton Hall.  Wowsers.  What a gorgeous evening for the the most gorgeous couple.  Ali & Adam REALLY loved everything about their wedding and the photography and were so keen to use their amazing venue to it’s full potential.  As with all the images in this post, I could have used hundreds of images from their wedding, so it was tough cutting it to this one.  But I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a worthy entry!

Another Mitton Hall wedding, this time Jenna & Chris’s big day (that’s not Chris on the left by the way!) – I just loved Jenna & her bridesmaid’s matching Vivienne Westwood shoes!

Ridiculous gin based behaviour at Kate & Ant’s wedding.  Love it!

Chips by the river for Carrie & Rob and their bridal party at their wedding at Oddfellows in Chester – don’t think I need to say anything else!

Chrissie off of Chrissie & Louis at their pre-wedding shoot at Tatton Park – how gorgeous?!?!

My fave shot from Charlotte Balbier’s Candy Kisses launch party at Great John Street Hotel in Manchester – a stunning collection and an honour to be involved.

Catherine from Catherine & Will arriving at church.  Who cares that it’s raining?  This is a gorgeous shot!

Awwww…Jacqui & Will at Styal Lodge – I love them so much!  They are the nicest couple in the world!!!

Vicki off of Vicki & Stuart having a race with her bridesmaids at Browsholme Hall.  As you do!

One of my all time favourite images.  The gorgeous Ruth at The Ashes in Staffordshire.  It’s just so ethereal and beautiful!

Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.  Just because it’s so iconic.

A rather special moment at Louise & Tom’s wedding in Bristol where the ‘do not climb on the cow’ sign was very much ignored…

The first shoot I did for Black White Denim in Wilmslow, Cheshire.  My favourite model who’s not a model, Ella…

Jess & Mike’s Manchester pre-wedding shoot.  Because it doesn’t get cooler than this…

Charlotte & Teddy’s (and Ellie-Belle Balbier!) Tatton Park engagement shoot.  The loveliest couple on a stunningly beautiful and colourful autumn day…

Another of my all time favourite images taken at Hannah & Jason’s Styal Lodge wedding – I LOVE a moody sky!

Big red wedding bus at Steph & Kris’s Manchester Town Hall wedding!  Love it!

I think it’s the colours that do it for me.  And the expressions on Ali & Adam’s faces!  A BRILLIANT pre-wedding shoot at Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury…

Because people only smile like this when it’s the best day ever… Polly and Paul’s Albright Hussey Manor wedding…

Rebecca & Andrew taking 5 minutes out on the beach on their way to Lytham Hall.  Because they could.  I love a bride who loves her dress but doesn’t worry about it!

Mrs Angela Doran.  Because Emma & I love you!

One for the boys AND girls.  A sports car (Lotus Exige for anyone who’s a car geek like me!) AND a man in uniform!  What’s not to like?!  Mike from Jess & Mike outside Styal Lodge…

Lisa & Alex’s ’secret’ West Didsbury wedding!  I love this shot of them enjoying fish and chips in Frankie’s Fish Bar on Burton Road!

Leona.  Beautiful.

Laura & Simon’s Thornton Manor wedding – you can feel the atmosphere in this shot, I just love it…

Louise & Andy’s Mitton Hall wedding – Bags of attitude!

Vicky & Jamie at The Lowry Theatre – how cool is it that we were allowed to shoot in the theatre?!?!

My great friend Howard Wing getting a ‘Love Train’ going at Paula & Andy’s Barton Grange wedding – that was before the speeches had even started!  That’s how good he is!

Little Lola Fox.  Cute as you like!

Hayley & Matthew’s Blackpool pre-wedding shoot.  The wanted the glitter ball to be a feature.  So that’s what we did!  Ace!

Rachael’s portfolio shoot in Manchester.  Because we got her to sit on a wall on the 5th floor of a carpark and she was up for it…

Dawn & Phil’s Sandhole Oak Barn wedding.  We shot some gorgeous images of them after the wedding breakfast and this one of them having a few minutes to themselves is one of my faves.  What a lovely couple they are too…

Catherine & Richard.  It’s all in the look…

Emma & Pete and a couple of their hilarious mates – what’s not to like about this pic?!?!

Jess & Terry’s wedding.  Another wedding where I could have used hundreds of images for this post, but this was my fave (sorry you didn’t feature Tez!  Although you DID like it so you DID go and put a ring on it!!!)

Jordana & Ben at the windmill on the green in Lytham.  Because Jordana still has it as her profile pic on Facebook – I’m glad she loves it as much as I do!

Nicky & Graham at Styal Lodge.  I wanted to give them a different perspective to the now famous ‘platform’ at Styal Lodge – and it worked beautifully!

Louise from Louise & Andy on their pre-wedding shoot at The Inn at Whitewell.  They wanted to do something a bit different.  So they got REALLY dressed up and then we went for a walk in the country!  Cool hey?!

Tiz & Rich – once again, it’s all about the look…

Andrea & Andy’s Inn at Whitewell wedding.  Just to prove that even hotel corridors look awesome in wedding photographs…

Ashley Margolis shoot (Ricky from Hollyoaks)  Ash wanted something a little bit cooler than his usual headshot/agent card images so we spent a morning shooting some properly cool stuff around Castlefield…

Mel & Jivko’s Conwy Castle wedding.  Check that view out!

Katie & Nick’s big finish to their first dance at Albright Hussey Manor!  As choreographed by my good friend Ailsa Baker!

Tanya & Paul’s Bartle Hall wedding – I love them stealing a minute away from it all just before their first dance…

Check out that smile on Nat’s face!  Proof that rain doesn’t dampen spirits on anybody’s wedding day!

Jamie & his groomsmen at Stirk House having a little loosener before the ceremony!

Recently featured on their wedding ’sneak preview’ on my blog – I love this shot of Ali & Adam kissing under the mistletoe at The West Tower…

Another Black White Denim shoot – featuring the very lovely Charlotte.  Simple, elegant and incredibly beautiful…

Weddings are all about interactions and reactions – I love the look on Maria’s face as her and John are applauded into the room at Rookery Hall…

Sophie in a stunning gown from The White Closet at The Styal Lodge Open Evening.  Because it was such a fun evening!

Julie & Jamie’s pre-wedding shoot in Liverpool.  A ‘Friends’ moment…!!!

The gorgeous Stacey on The Vintage Wedding Dress Company shoot for The White Closet at Willow Pool in Lymm.  As featured on Love My Dress HERE!

Carly & Ian’s Manchester pre-wedding shoot.  Because they drink alcohol that is on fire.  And they’re particularly gorgeous and lovely!

This seemed a particularly appropriate image to end on!  Lucy & Ian’s friends at their Lyme Park wedding getting stuck into Jagerbombs!  Cheers!

So there it is. My 60 favourite images. Beautiful brides and grooms, wonderful moments, new friends, I loved every minute.

A huge thank you to the following people for their continued support and for contributing so much to such an incredible year:

Emma Draper

Chris & Pete Draper

Jo, Paul, Megan and ‘Bump’ Pike

Katie & Anthony Roberts

Clare Draper

Keith & Pauline Latham

Jane & Jason Thompson

Olivia Jones

Richard, Sarah, Georgie, Poppy & Franny Higham

Tom Harrington

Nikki, Rich, Jessica & Charlie Graeme

Charlotte Balbier & Ed Bedford

Sheree Reece

Howard Wing

Judith Blacklock

Jo Davies, David Bell, Charlotte, Lucy and all the girls at Black White Denim

Helen Corr & Pete Ruane

The Northwest Photographer ‘drink up’ massive

My lovely mates

And last but my no means least, all of my amazing brides and grooms!

Here’s to 2012!

xxx

This is my great friend and TOP make-up artist, Gemma Hallowell, her husband Jon and their beautiful daughter, India.

They’d booked me for a family session and we decided to use fab hotel and wedding venue, Mottram Hall (Gemma’s got some contacts there, so we didn’t get thrown out!) as our location.

We got very lucky and had a beautiful spring morning to play out in. I approached the shoot as I always do when it comes to shooting people. Trying not to over complicate things with excessive posing and just allowing them to interact as a family and capture some genuine, loving moments between them.

Here’s some of my favourites from the day…

x

How gorgeous does little India look here?!  I shot top make-up artist Gemma Hallowell‘s family a couple of weeks ago at Mottram Hall in Cheshire.  We got some really beautiful stuff and it will all be on the blog soon!

x

It’s always a real pleasure to do a bit of work for family – it’s the ultimate compliment to be honest.

My Aunty Diane is one of my most regular blog commenters and it’s always really nice to hear what she thinks about my work.  She knows what she likes when it comes to photography and it’s always good to have a chat with her about styles, landscapes, moody skies, models, brides and locations.

Anyway, she asked me a while ago if we could get put together a family shoot for her and we’ve been waiting for most of the summer for an opportunity to arise – between weekends I was working, weeks away they were having, etc. it was looking like it would be Christmas!  But luckily we chanced upon a weekend where we were all due to be in the same place at the same time, so we got it in the diary and had a chat about what she wanted from the shoot.

My biggest opinion on family shoots, lifestyle sessions and portraits is that they must show the genuine personality of the subjects in the images.  I’m not going to go too heavy on what I don’t like and what sorts of styles I don’t shoot in, but suffice to say, I like to use family homes, familiar favourite places of theirs, rather than getting everyone to take their shoes and socks off in an impersonal white studio where one family looks exactly like the next one and the one before them…

If your subject is relaxed and comfortable in their environment, then this is going to come across in the photographs.  Which is why kids enjoy being photographed in their natural habitat (the family home, back garden, local park) where they can relax and go about playing and enjoying themselves.  And it’s not that different for adults to be honest!
So Diane wanted a mix of posed family shots and then some very relaxed, reportage style images of them all interacting and generally being a family!

We were on location with a good variety of backgrounds available and we got some great shots in a relatively short period of time, demonstrating that you don’t have to sit in a studio all day to get one good shot.

From the sublime to the ridiculous!  We realised early on that catalogue poses were perhaps not going to work too well…!!!

My cousin’s socks quickly became quite famous…

The boys ‘mean and moody’ was far superior to their Gratton catalogue efforts!

The socks make another appearance…

Not happy with a few cracks at catalogue poses, we stumbled upon a wishing well…cue more ridiculous posing!!!

The second biggest thing for me about any kind of shoot with people as the subject is that it should be fun!  If everybody relaxes they’ll have a good time and if they’re having a good time they’ll relax and that is one of the key things I’m always mindful of when I’m on any shoot, whether it be with a bride and groom, a family or a model.

You may think that shooting family is easier than people that you don’t necessarily know that well but that’s not always the case…sometimes family can struggle to relax enough as they’re nervous because of how well they know you – though it wasn’t a problem in this instance as you can see!!!

This is the lovely Fox Family – Adele and Jamie initially got in touch as they wanted a simple portrait of their youngest son, Jayden, that they could get printed onto a canvas to match one that they had done of Mackenzie a few years ago. But we turned it into a full family shoot and got some great stuff off all of them together at home and in a local park!

I shot all of this series with available light only – Adele and Jamie’s front room has a lovely big bay window that flooded the room with light which helped to keep the shots looking natural. No flash units required!

Jayden is possibly the happiest little boy I’ve ever had the good luck (because often it is luck as to what kind of mood little ones are in when it comes to being photographed!) to shoot!

Mackenzie was a little bit of a poser!

It always works well starting out a family session at their home – the kids feel relaxed there and it gives them a little bit of an opportunity for them to get used to you before you head out and about!

We headed out to a local park to give us a different look to some of the shots.

We got a bit lucky with the weather, it was quite overcast and rain threatened, but we just got away with it!

It was great fun shooting Adele and Jamie’s family – they were a pleasure to work with and I’m really looking forward to getting the canvas of Jayden made up, it’ll look awesome!

Here’s a few shots from a wonderful family gathering I was privileged enough to be asked to shoot a few weeks ago.  Sally had organised a fantastic dinner celebration at The Grand Hotel in Lytham St Annes for her Mum, Molly’s birthday and then hosted the family at her house the following day for a BBQ in the garden!

My kind of party!  Great food, marvellous company and wine and champagne flowing – what more do you need?!?!

The AMAZING Flower Design had decorated the dining room at The Grand…

Katie Cupcake from The Little House of Cupcakes created some beautiful cakes…

The Birthday girl!

The morning after the night before…everyone was remarkably fresh – I think the fresh air and fantastic food on the bbq may have helped a little bit!