Special Offer

I'm pleased to report that the Ulster Star published a short feature on David Lester Photography, following the gold image award I obtained from the SWPP recently. I hope plenty of people saw it and look forward to welcoming new customers as a result.

If you did see the feature and are thinking about having that portrait you've been putting off, let me tempt you in with a 10% discount off any portrait shoot if you book your session to take place before the end of April 2010.

David

Radisson Blu Belfast Wedding Fair

This coming Sunday, 21st March, I will be exhibiting my work at the wedding fair at Belfast's Radisson Blu Hotel. This will be my first wedding fair since moving to Northern Ireland and I'm really looking forward to meeting lots of new brides and grooms.

I'll be holding a competition to win a wonderful pre-wedding shoot. And as if that were not exciting enough, I'll also be offering one lucky winner a free bridal boudoir shoot, designed to produce images that will really wow her groom!

So if you're planning your wedding, do come along and say hello. There are plenty of other wedding professionals to see, too, including two catwalk shows. It promises to be a wonderful day - doors open at 1pm and we'll be exhibiting until 5pm.

See you all there,

David

Gold Award Images

Wow, today has been a great day! I've just learned that one of my images has won a prestigious Gold award from the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) in their most recent monthly print competition. The image is of baby Joseph and here it is for you all to enjoy:



The shoot with Joseph was a lot of fun and it must have brought out the best in me because the image below was also awarded a Gold at the turn of the year while I was in the process of moving my business over to Northern Ireland. As I didn't get to post it then, I'm taking this opportunity to do so now. It's a little more serious than this month's winning image but still very cute all the same:



It's not all baby photos here, though. My work also gained 2 silver awards this month, in the 'Pets' and 'Contemporary Weddings' categories. If you'd like to put yourself forward for my next competition panel call the studio now to book your session on 028 9267 0620 - you never know, you may be a gold winner, too, like Jospeh.

David

A New Life In Ireland

We've now settled into our new home in Ireland, just outside Glaslough in County Monaghan. It's a truly beautiful place and the people who live there have all been incredibly welcoming. We feel like we belong and can't thank our new friends and neighbours enough for their warmth and kindness.

There has been plenty of snow recently and I took the opportunity one snowy day to capture some images in the Castle Leslie estate which dominates the village. As you can see, it was a little like taking a stroll through C.S. Lewis' Narnia:

This was the view of the Castle itself, seen from across Glaslough lake. The lake was completely frozen over, though I hasten to add that I didn't dare to test just how thick the ice was!

And here, for comparison, is a similar view captured on a typically grey and overcast day last summer:

The new studio in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, will be up and running soon and I hope to be busy enough to post plenty of new images throughout what promises to be an exciting year.

David

Emma's Portrait Shoot

On Monday this week, Emma came in for a portrait session and we set out to create a variety of looks. Here's a selection of the images we made - I think you can see from this set that we achieved what we set out to achieve:















Emma was great fun to work with and looks great in these shots - that killer look in the last image was achieved by placing her boyfriend, Alex, in her line of sight. As you can see, it worked a treat. Thanks for being such a great model, Emma.
David

Gemma

A few weeks ago I posted an image of Gemma and promised to upload several more. Well, here they are - half a dozen shots of Gemma looking truly radiant. Gemma and I didn't have much time on this session but, despite a strong wind that played havoc with her hair, we came up with some wonderful images. I hope you like them:

I think you'll agree Gemma has a great look and I'm looking forward to working with her again soon,

David

Becky

I met aspiring model Becky at a recent wedding and found a few minutes to capture a handful of shots with her. I'm looking forward to shooting Becky's model portfolio shortly. With her gorgeous looks and geat figure, I'm sure she could go far in the modelling world:

David

Kerry & Darryl At The Bedford Swan Hotel

Last Saturday, I spent the day at the Bedford Swan Hotel with Kerry and Darryl as they celebrated their wedding. It was a really great day and I enjoyed myself enormously in their company. Daughters Scarlet and Poppy had a lovely day, too, and one of my favourite shots from the day features the two of them in the window of the room where mummy and daddy tied the knot (see below). Here's a selection of images I've chosen to showcase from the day:

Congratulations Kerry and Darryl on such an enjoyable wedding day. I wish you both a very happy married life and wonderful future together,

David

Abigail - Bringing Up The Ton

Abigail's portrait shoot last week is the subject of my 100th post on the David Lester Photography blog, and I'm really pleased to have such a wonderful set of images to mark the occasion. We started the session with a few traditional studio images but what I really wanted from the shoot was a set of trendy fashion-inspired photographs for a more urban, contemporary look. As you can see, Abigail made the perfect model for this:















This one, without doubt, is my favourite from the session:



David

Gemma's Portrait Shoot

Last week I spent an enjoyable few hours photographing Gemma who I met at a recent wedding at Notley Abbey. We got some great shots and will be shooting together again, hopefully in November. I'll be posting a series of images from our first shoot quite soon but, for now, here's just one of my favourites as a starter to whet the appetite:

David

Today's Portrait Session

Just got time for a very quick post from this morning's portrait session with Elise. We went for some colourful backgrounds today, including this shocking pink one which complemented Elise's outfit perfectly:



More images from this and other recent portrait sessions will follow soon.
David

Melanie & John's Wedding This Afternoon

I had a great time this afternoon photographing Melanie and John's wedding in Shenley Church End. These two are a really special couple and I knew today was going to be a lot of fun. There was much giggling as the girls got ready in the morning and the smiles and laughter carried on right through the service too. After a clutch of family shots, we managed to squeeze in some great images of Melanie and John before they settled down for their meal and evening entertainment (which they're enjoying right now, I hope, as I publish this post).

Here are a few of my favourite images from their day:
























How's that for a funky image to end on!

Many congratulations to you both, Mel and John. I know you're going to be very happy together and that you'll enjoy a wonderfully long and fulfilling marriage.

David