Eleanor Jane

Meena & James

Happy Birthday wedding to me! I turned 26 eating honey on toast in the conservatory of a pretty little b&b in Nottingham, watching the rain run down the conservatory windows and drown everything in the garden. Oh dear. Rain. I needn’t have worried though – the skies cleared at all the right moments and this stylish, vintage wedding was my birthday present!

Meena & James were so sweet and welcoming and have incredible taste. They live in a beautiful flat near the arboretum absolutely crammed full of vintage treasures… I could have happily photographed the entire wedding in their living room! Meena wore a stunning cream & gold sari for the ceremony and later changed into an Alice Temperley gown (which I have since been trawling ebay for! Take the hem up a foot or two and no-one would ever know it was a wedding dress… maybe!). James was also looking swish in a tweed suit and tan brogues - no traditional morning suits here!

The ceremony and reception were held in a village just outside the city at the 17th century Woodborough Hall. Big thanks to the wonderful coordinator Doug who didn’t have a smidge of evil dragon about him (hooray!) and even helped rearrange the furniture for a photo. The details and décor were fabulous and Meena had collected the most beautiful second hand books & glass wear for the table pieces. In fact, editing this wedding was almost too easy as everything was already perfect (if I do say so myself!) so it was extremely tricky to narrow the selection down to include here. Enjoy!

Snaps from the Big Chill festival

Aaah, where is the time going? I meant to get this blog up on Monday yet somehow Friday is here already, my holiday is fast approaching and I still have a tonne of work to do… how?!

The Big Chill festival at Eastnor Park the other weekend was a welcome break for Peabrain & I from what has been an endlessly hectic summer. The vibe this year was kind of different to when we went previously (& the comedy tent was nowhere to be found!) but still good times. This year Big Chill was all about delicious cider cocktails from the Somerset Cider Bus with fresh mint and raspberries. Standing almost right at the front for Robert Plant & The Band of Joy. AMAZING! I saw this photo yesterday of Led Zeppelin at the height of their fame and they seem so huge and unreachable. I could hardly believe just a few days before we watched Robert Plant from such an intimate distance. His Band of Joy were legends too which is more than can be said for Kanye West… hmm. Laying in the grass in the sunshine tasting my very first jelly nut before the appearance of dramatic black skies and the obligatory summer festival downpour. Abandoning the tent in favour of my cosy warm car... I love sleeping in my car. Tents are rubbish! All the complimentary chocolate puds, yoghurts & cereals we could eat (and a strange Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Kids style experience in a giant cereal bowl) at the Alpro Breakfest bar. Late night wanderings through the ferns on the art trail watching trippy performances, video installations and mysterious floating neon lights in the woods. We saw the festival out shivering hard and spilling paper cups of hot tea all over ourselves but we fought the cold to catch Rodrigo y Gabriela who were incredible. How do they not lacerate their fingers and bleed everywhere?! I love Rodrigo’s metal riff stances and Gabriela’s sweet uncertain swearing!

Thanks for inviting us along, Alpro (& an even bigger thanks for the puds)!

The Big Chill Festival

Packing the essentials for a weekend away at the Big Chill festival tomorrow – camera, little stumpy (that’s my 50mm lens), couple of rolls of the good stuff, crown of flowers, copious amounts of pink Alpro soya milk… what else could a ffotogirl possibly need to have fun in the sun?! Actually, it’s all thanks to my obsession with the pink milk that I’m going to the Big Chill this year at all. Somewhere along the line Alpro saw me raving about it on Twitter and as they’re hosting a stand at the festival this year, they invited me along as their guest! See, it’s good to have an obsession some times.

(I have also recently rekindled my 12 year dormant obsession with David Duchovny - ♥♥♥ - to the point where last night I even dreamt I was helping him buy furniture. So if there’s any scope there for Ikea to set something like that up for real I would really appreciate it.)

Anyway, I haven’t been to Big Chill since August 2009 and remember it as being super relaxed, spacious (being able to stretch out on GRASS at a festival = heaven) with a friendly vibe. To be honest last time I went I hadn’t heard of many of the bands and spent most of my time between the comedy tent, the falafel van and the stall with all the glittery fairy things! But this year I’m really looking forward to seeing Rodrigo & Gabriela, Robert Plant and Janelle Monae and I’m sure we’ll stumble across all sorts of madness along the way. I’m also looking forward to shooting on film for the first time in weeks & weeks, eating some massive veggie burgers, sampling lots of tasty Alpro goodies (I hope they have the chocolate puds) and having free massages!

Anyone else going? See you there!

Rory Gallagher - Guitar World

Look what arrived via FedEx from New York yesterday afternoon... the latest issue of Guitar World featuring my Rory Gallagher gear shots. Best of all, my photo of his iconic Strat is the pull out centerfold poster! In the biggest musicians magazine in the world! EXCITING!

I took the pictures a couple of weeks back in a pokey little attic in West London (dragging my studio kit up the rickety wooden ladder was an experience I'll never forget!) crammed with Rory treasures; priceless guitars, magazines, tour ephemera, recordings and his inspirational floor to ceiling vinyl collection. Rory's family do a great job of looking after his legacy and I was very grateful for the opportunity to be let loose to document such valuable stuff.

I also drove past a Stormtrooper skipping hand in hand with his sweetheart down a Chiswick high street on the way home. Which was weird.