I get it. Ali J Photography You treasure photos of your kids, but you are very rarely in them, you always find yourself behind the camera, dodging the lens, capturing everything for everyone else.  And photos with the whole family in them – never! Maybe a quick selfie or two (hundred), with occasionally one that you are happy with.   You can’t bear the thought of a stranger jumping in, alongside you and your kids and telling you to pose like this or that, leaving you feeling out of place and with those “What am I doing here thoughts?” shouting at you inside your head.   You ar ..read more

Elementor #2597 Ali J Photography First a top tip for editing your photos quickly and easily on your phone / tablet (and they’ve got a PC version now too!) Snapseed is a great little app I’ve had on my phone for a while now – a cracking piece of software that easily lets you edit your photos like a pro! Everything is worked via a slider, so easy to learn and so many options if you want to explore including Spot Repair, Brush, Lens Blur and zoom controls among many, many more. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, why not download it and try it out on a recent shot or two and see what you ca ..read more

A Summer Wedding Ali J Photography I met Georgie and Nick at a couple of weddings before I shot theirs this summer.  The first I didn’t know them, the second, we’d messaged and spoken but I had yet to meet them and link their faces to their booking – so I ended up with a ring at the door a few months before their special day and suddenly clicking who it was – the faces I’d seen multiple times laughing and gorgeous, on my computer were those wonderful folk stood in front of me, trusting me with capturing their day! As you may know, I don’t advertise as a wedding photographer and all of m ..read more

Brain Trees Ali J Photography Driving to Wales earlier this week, on the way to meet up with some friends and go kayaking for the first time in ages, I stuck on a Podcast from a series to tend to go to – Feel Better, Live More by Dr Rangan Chatterjee, where there is a wealth of information about diet, mental health and generally living better! This one was episode 281, Five Simple Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress and Toxic Thinking, with Dr Caroline Leaf.  Without going into details, the title was one that resonated, especially with events in the last week. &nb ..read more

Summer Wedding at Thoresby Hall Ali J Photography Wedding at Thoresby Hall I only take on a few Weddings a year – and with a definite caveat that reportage and candid images are the way I do things!     Beth got in touch through a recommendation from a mutual friend and after a couple of phone calls, we decided that it would work and the date was penciled into the diary.  I popped up to Thoresby Hall a few weeks before and we wandered through the gorgeous grounds, chatting about the day and spotting places that might work for images.  The grounds were stunning ..read more

Freestyle Kayaking World Championships Ali J Photography A few weeks ago, Holme Pierrepont hosted the World Freestyle Championships.  For a couple of weeks, white water freestyle canoe and kayakers from across the world converged on the Trent in Nottingham and we got to watch some of the top athletes in the world doing their thing right at home.     I got to pop down on the Monday with the school I’m at , who we introduced to kayaking on the top pool and then had 10 minutes at lunch to snap away at a practise session.  Then popped back down on the Finals ..read more

A Saturday Shoot with a difference Ali J Photography A couple of weekends ago, I was asked to take some images at a Mundan Ceremony, at the Hindu Temple in Carlton, Nottingham.  To be totally honest, it was new to me  – family events, yes, but I had a quick google before agreeing, and I am so glad I did.  The ceremony is an age-old tradition that dates back thousands of years and involves shaving off the hair of the child, when they are between 1 and 3 years old. In this case, Ivaan was 18 months, and I my first thoughts were of a screaming child, who was uncertain a ..read more

Trail Running in the Peaks Ali J Photography "Those two just work so well together, what a cracking day." A snippet from a conversation after a day’s training in the Peaks with Becki and Kelvin from Wild Souls Running Collective – a short but sweet comment that just about nails what they do so well. Disclaimer (I have had the privilege to know and be friends with these two for a long while now, which in every way emphasises the below!) Both outdoor experts in a wide and varying range of fields, from kayaking and climbing to ski touring and trail running, Becki and Kelvin have been start ..read more

Summer Evenings Ali J Photography New favourite place for family shoots A gorgeous weekend in May – well, it turned out to be!  We’d picked the time well and the wind had blown the clouds out of the way to reveal some lovely dappled light between the trees – so that’s where we headed first!  My new favourite place to explore with family photo shoots is around Padley Gorge and, while the wind was tearing away over the higher ground, the shelter of the trees was perfect.   There are so many options here to use the natural elements around as props and provide something to l ..read more