Norton Photographies Big Night Out

Hi everyone.
Well Tuesday saw the first of my special Norton Photography event nights starting with
a trip over to Nottingham where I have the use of a private suite at The Nottingham Trent Arena.
I had twenty people join me and we all boarded onto a luxury coach supplied by Sleafordian Coaches of Sleaford which left Boston around 5.30pm. We were due to leave at 5.15pm but someone forgot their handbag and had to return home to pick it up. I won't embarrass Lindsay by letting everyone know it was her though.
Anyway we arrived in plenty of time and was able to bypass all the ques and go straight up to the VIP lounge on the fourth floor where we all treated to cocktails and nachos until it was time to go through to our suite which was high up above the stage giving us great views of all the action.
Supporting Leona Lewis was Gabriella Cillmi and she was awesome. Then after a short break it was time for Leona to come on stage. The theatre was electric with with the whole audience shouting and screeming.
The night was fantastic and Rachel our personal waitress was just superb. She had to endure all my terrible jokes all evening but this didn't put her off at all and she was still smiling when we left so I think she survived the ordeal.
Leona finished her concert at around 10.30pm and we all climbed back onto the coach and arrived back in Boston just after midnight.
My good friend Colin Simpson then had to go home, get changed and then get to work as he was working night shift. Poor old Colin!
I am arranging another VIP night out for Saturday December 11th to go and see JLS. Once again this will be at The Nottingham Trent Arena with full VIP status in a private suite, cocktails on arrival and a free Special Burger for everyone as well. Tickets are only £97.00 and already selling fast so if you would like to join me then get in qiuck!!!
Anyway must get back to work, Sooooo much to do!
I will castch up again soon.
Take good care everyone.
Pete.

Hi everyone.
I have had the most amazing few weeks here at Norton Photography.
Last week saw me photographing a fantastic new model.
As it turned out I'd known her family for quite along time but never met the beautiful Lindsey Gilbert due to her living down in London.
She came to me because she had heard from her sister about my being a fashion photographer and wanted me to photograph her for FHM magazine as she has entered into their Holiday Honeys competition and needed images for the magazine and her own website www.lindseygilbert.com
I truly believe she could win this and want any one who reads this and agrees with me to vote for her so that she has a better chance of winning.
If any photographers are reading this then you really should contact Lindsey if you need a model for any assignments as she is so versatile.
We had a Boudoir style photoshoot for her publicity images and then this week she helped me by modeling for two of my seminars. One seminar was on Thursday and was for a wedding business start up course and Lindsey was brilliant! She really did work hard and I felt so sorry for her as she dressed as a bride and although the dress she wore was beautiful it was very low cut and the weather was freezing cold at old church I use here in Lincolnshire. I did take along a nice warm fleece blanket for her which helped but Anne who was my student and I could see Lindsey was suffering.
But she soldiered on and we got some great shots as you will see below.

I would also like to say a big thanks to all the fantastic people who signed up and joined me for my Business start up and One Day Studio Lighting seminars. I met some fantastic people and am so excited for them with their plans to set up their own businesses.
It never stops amazing how much people put into improving their lives when they want to change the direction they were heading in. They put so much effort into everything they do and come to me with such great ideas and self drive.
One particular delegate that I really admired is Jilly from Robin Hoods Bay near Scarborough.
She has a property in the main part of the town that she had been renting out for years and when the tenants decided to move out she had a decision to make. Should she try to sell it or could she put it to better use? Well she decided on the latter and now she has a fantastic Old Times Style studio called The Memory Box where she photographs and prints images for tourists and locals alike.
What makes her amazing is that she had never done anything like this before but with the help of her daughter she intends to give it all she has and make a really successful business and judging buy the things she was telling me she is destined for great things.
If your in the area of Robin Hoods bay drop in on her and say hello!
Pete.

Special Valentines Lovers Gift Offer

Hi everyone. Well Colin and I have been back from the SWPP convention for a couple of weeks now so I guess it's time to get down and plan out what Norton Photography is going to be offering our clients over the next year.

We have some great things planned and will be rolling them out over the next couple of months starting with this incredible offer:

Due to the massive success we had last year we have just re-launched our Valentines Lovers Gift. A special way to say I love you!! With a gift of you from you!

E-sensualboudoir at Norton Photography are again offering Free boudoir sittings to the first TEN ladies or Guys to call us up and ask us to get them booked in in time for Valentines day.

These sittings designed to show off lingerie and lace or artistic style nudes are confidential shoots and for you and your partner eyes only.

The studio shoot can be for couples, as a gift of 'you from you' to your partner or simply just for you.

You will not be charged for your photoshoot. All you are required to pay for are any prints you you feel you would like to purchase and we know you will love all of them!!

Your images will be placed on our secure website gallery using a pass word supplied by you.

This was so good last year that we were fully booked in just two days so don't be shy as this IS limited to TEN sittings only.

So call the studio now to secure your special place on this once a year only incredible offer.

Go on ! It feels so good to be naughty!

For fast track bookings call direct on 07876795710 or 01205351899

Latest

Hi everyone.
So what's been happening over the last month?
December saw my camera clubs first exhibition which was amazing. We had around 70 people attend our opening night with everyone having great reviews about their work. No one was given a negative remark.
Dan Goodyear was even lucky enough to sell his image of Skegness pier which took him by surprise although we all new it was a very commercial style image.
As I write I am in London at the SWPP photography convention.
It has been great catching up with all my friends and colleges that I only get to see once a year.
I was reminded today by my fiend Sue Greetham that I was not keeping up with my blog again so I promised her I would get right on it tonight and not being one to go back on my word I am doing just that.
She was really excited when she showed me how she had just completed re-branding all her marketing material including her website which is just fantastic. You can take a look for yourself at www.suegreetham-photography.com.
Since arriving here at the convention I have also bumped into my good friends Celia & Abbey only to go and have a senior attack of memory loss while introducing the girls another close friend Colin when I just could not remember Celia's name. I felt so embarrassed as after know her for about four years that is like forgetting my own name. Anyway she was good enough to laugh it off although she must have been a little put out .
Anyway about time I got some sleep as we have an early start tomorrow so I will say by for now and I will try to write again this week with more updates of what has been going on at SWPP 2010.

Hi everyone.
Well tomorrow sees the launch of my camera club The Collective's fist annual exhibition at the Carre Gallery in Sleaford. If you're in the area please feel free to come in and have a look around.
There is some fantastic work on show from a group of photographers some of which have only had their cameras a very short time. Our latest member Eda Wan has also decided to enter some of her etheral contemporary images that have you tranfixed when viewing them. You can see for yourself at www.edawanphotography.com
Also exhibiting is my good friend Chris Radford who recently retired from a local department store for a more sedate lifestyle in photography. Chris is hoping to take on weddings and family portraits over the coming months and of course we wish him all the very best. You can check out some of his work at his website www.cristophotography.com
Along side these guys are Sam Meeds who I see as being one to keep watching as her photography is realy superb. She has a great eye for composition and her fine art nudes she is showing at the exhibition are amazing. So much so that Caroline or Pud as she likes to be called her subject is going to be at the exhibition herself.
Two club members pauline White and Julie Green have surprised everyone by saying that they thought their work wasn't good enough to put into the show but take it from me they are a whole lot better than they give themselves credit for. Their images are brilliant.
Dan Goodyear has amazed us all with his architectural images that just blow you away. They are technically brilliant.
Colin Simpson is showing images he took while in the Masai Mara. His eye for a great shot is second to none. He manages to capture his subjects just as if you were there at his side when he pressed the shutter.
Laura Berry has some amazing shots she took while we were all out on a jolly one evening out in the country. Although they are all of outdoor scenes Laura is actually an excellent children's and family portrait photographer .
And of course there's Ann Bugg who has had her own exhibition before and had amazing reviews.
Anyway I'll let you all know how things go in a week or so.

Hey everyone. Welcome to another Norton Photography Blog
Well that's it! The last of the bank holidays for this year. I had a really busy time over the weekend though. In fact my Canon 5D MK11 is still cooling down as I write. I had the privilege of visiting my good friend Barbara at her hat studio Harlequin Hats yesterday. If any of you girls reading this are going to an event such as a wedding, the races or any other gathering where you require the very best in designer Hats, Fascinators, handbags and even shoes then you really should get in touch with Harlequin Hats as Barbara has an amazing collection. Now I am no Girly but I have to admit I fell in love with some of the items she had on show in her beautiful studio based in Swineshed Lincolnshire. She told me that she had clients hiring her hats from places all over the country after one of the top national newspapers wrote an article about her studio.
We wish her all the very best for the future with her business.
Just a small reminder to all those Mums in the local area reading my blog that I am back at ASDA again this coming Sunday 6th September following massive demand from parents after our Baby and Toddler competition from last week.
We were overwhelmed with requests to run another competition as so many of you couldn't make the last one so we buckled and gave way to you all.
I will be there from 9am till 3pm so get yourselves down there and you could win yourselves some great prizes.

Just one of the fabulouse hats from Harlequin Hats

Hey everyone.
Welcome to another norton photography I had a great time last week. I was asked by our local Asda store to help them out with their charity fund raising events and so went along with my mobile studio to photograph the best Baby and Toddler of the day event. Well I started at 9am and 67 babies later at 4pm I was able to pack my gear away. It was manic. We manage to raise about £350.00 on the day so I was really pleased with the out come.
On Saturday I went down to High Wycombe where my 15 year old niece Melissa was performing in a dance troupe at the Wycombe Swan Theatre. She had only been given ten days to rehears but wow! she was amazing, so professional I was blown away.
I had the great pleasure of meeting the beautiful Melinda Messenger. She was in town on personal business and dropped into the White Hart Hotel for lunch. Never being one to miss an oportunity to talk to a georgious girl I was able to get a couple of shots of her with myself and Alan the hotel manager before she went for walk around the town centre with her family.
I would like to extend a very warm thank you to her as she was so friendly and welcoming which for a celebrity with her status is rare. If you read this Melinda and you are in town again in the futre please look me up. I would love to do lunch with you. Maybe you could visit the Norton Photography studio for a family portrait. LOL!

Melinda Messenger

Melinda Messenger with Alan the White Hart Hotel's Manager


Melinda Messenger and Me!!! :@)

Hi every one.
Welcome again to the Norton Photography blog Yeah I know it's been a while again. I've got no excuses I just get so busy that when I get the time to blog I don't think to do it and when I think to do it I don't have the time. It's a week excuse but hey it's the truth! Any way what's been going on at Norton Photography? Well The camera club I put together is really coming on. We have been meeting up every other Monday since November and the membership is getting quite large now and I've had quite a few enquiries in the last week so watch this space we could end up taking over.Ha Ha!
I took a group out on a Norton Photography street shoot a few weeks ago. Everyone had a real blast. I've put a couple of images up for you all to have a look at. Congratulations have to go out to Laura who came on one of my night school classess about a year ago and has stayed with me ever since by joining the camera club.She also went on to sign up for further classes as well such as basic studio lighting and fashion. Well she had her first paying portrait sitting last week and I have to say her images are fantastic. She was asked to cover a children's shoot on location at their own home which can be very tricky as you never know what equipment you need to take and Laura still only has the bare basics. Needless to say she was superb. All the images she showed me I would be more than proud to hang on own my studio walls.
Well done Laura
It's also Big Ups for Ann Bugg who came along on one of my camera familiarisation days about six months ago. She had bought a new camera as she was getting a little tired with the performance of her point and shoot and wanted something she could take control of. Well a couple of weeks ago she held an exhibition of her Sunset and landscape images. All I can say is Ann your a very dark horse. You have surprised everyone at the club. We all wish her every success with the sales of her prints and postcards.
As you will see from the street shoot images Natasha is getting on great. We have been working on her portfolio and she really is fantastic a model.
On the subject of models I would like to introduce Eva.
I was at a my good friend Leo's party last weekend and got talking with her. She told me had always wanted to get into modeling but wasn't sure how to go about it, if she was good looking enough or even if she had what it takes. Well answers on a postcard please. NO SERIOUSLY! Let me know what you think and I will pass on your comments.

Eva 1

Eva 2

Colin & Sam get Natasha into a sexy pose!

Nelli shows us what she's made of!

Sam, Ann, Colin & Adi photograph Nelli while Natasha takes a well earned
break!!

Adi gets the girls into possition!

Ann likes to practice being a paperazzi now and then!!

Hey everyone.
Yeah I know its been a while since my last posting. Things have been sooo busy the last couple of months and I guess I just didn't get around to writing here. Well I'm back now and ready to update all my friends out there.
Earlier this month I was invited back to to a seminar with Top fashion photographer John Grey held at Photomart in London. I had a real blast except for getting food poisoning from something I ate on the way home. While I was there I was given the opportunity to photograph Jade Cartwright one of the best professional models I've had the pleasure of photographing. She is so easy to work with and needs no direction at all. I have attached an image for you all to gaze at. Thanks Jade.
I was also given a really great surprise this week when I had a call from Natasha. She has been considering a career in modeling for some time now and a conversation with another model that works with me on a regular basis gave Natasha that final push to have a go. Well what can I say WOW! We went out on location around my home town of Boston and got some fantastic shots. She was so natural and needed very little direction as if she had been modeling for years. I am looking forward to working with her again very soon. I have attached a few images of Natasha for you all to take a look at.

And Introducing Natasha

Hey everyone.
Thought I should be updating my blog again as I have so busy I have been neglecting to do any writing.
Well what's been happening? The studio has been flat out over the last month. sooooo many Mum's with bumps and sooo many new borne babies and still a few more booked over the next two months. Phew! I've posted a couple of images from the last month for you take a look at. The wedding season starts again for me next month. I've had to limit my bookings this year as I have sooo much going on. I even decided not to go to the WPPI convention in Las Vegas this year for the first time in five years. I am really having serious withdrawal symptoms from it. Oh well next year!
More soon.
Pete.

Hey everyone.
Had a really busy month. The new studio has been a real success. I been taking images of all sorts from new borne babies to three generations of one family. I took the portable studio out to a hotel for a 40th birthday party with a James Bond theme. That was such a blast and everyone came in their tux's and ballgowns and there was also a fun casino on the go which raised a little cash for an Asthma chaity. I was also invited to my good friends Shelly & Harry's chinese restauraunt for chinese new year. I thought the food would never stop coming. There was so much I was starting to think we could have fed a small country. There was a raffle with some very nice prizes and sam, one of the waiters was given the job of handing them out to the winners. I started teaching a night school last month as well and that is going really well. I have been lucky onough to get five really nice people who are such good fun and are learning really quickly.
While I was at the SWPP convention last month I managed to get talking to Adam Woodyatt who is probably better known as Ian Beele from east Enders. He's such a nice guy. He's even put me on to a a chap who is promoting a band called Bo Peppers. They are awsome. You can see them on youtube at www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=the+bo+peppers&aq=f
Loads more been going on and I'll tell you all about it next time
Speak soon
Pete.

Hey everyone.
Just got back tonight from SWPP convention down in London. I had such a blast this week meeting up with loads of my fellow photography friends. I was also joined by my brother Kevin and sister in law Karen as they were exhibiting at the trade show with Zoom Album www.zommalbum.co.uk My seminar talk went really well. I was given a slot known as the grave yard shift as it started at 8am on Sunday morning. I wasn't expecting many people to turn up as there had been a photographers party the night before that went on till the early hours. The talk was supposed to be for two hours and I was not sure if I would have enough content to fill the allotted time. As it turned out I had too much and ended up running over buy at least an hour. Luckily the room I was using for the talk wasn't going to be used for another lecture until 12 O'clock and so didn't cause any problems. If they are reading this then I would like to thank Paul and Derek from Onevisionimaging LTD www.onevisionimaging.co.uk for their kindness in printing several large images for me to display around the conference room while I was talking. All in all it was a fantastic convention and I just had the best time there.
More soon.
Pete.

Hey everyone.
Been really busy this last month. Almost got my new studio finished now so really glad about that. I have had a few sittings there this last week and everyone commented on how good it looks. It isn't as big as I would have liked but it is big enough to let me do almost anything I want. If things work out the way I've planned though I should be moving to a bigger unit within the same building sometime mid next year. I have put a couple of images of the studio up for you all to see. My good friend Kim Treffinger from San Diego California www.treffingerstudio.com sent me a message on Facebook asking when I was going to let every see the place so I made a point of taking a few shots just for her. She gets so cranky if you don't do as your told you know! Only joking Kim. Looking foreword to january and the SWPP convention. I think I have my seminar just about worked out now. I have tried to put as much info into it as I can and lots of humour too so as to keep everyone awake.
Anyway time to get some more work done,
Speak later.
Pete.

Hey everyone.
I was told by my good friend Andrea the other day that I was not updating my my blog often enough. So here I am again letting you all know what I have been up to. I have a little story to tell you about and how I feel our health care is not what it should be. As some of my close friends know I have been suffering from a severe headache since 2002. It is always there but a different levels each day. I have learned to live with the pain now and don't pay too much attention to it. About a month ago I went to see my doctor and he referred me to a neurologist at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. I was given an examination (to my head before you get any silly ideas) and he felt I needed to have a brain scan. This came through quite quickly, in fact I was back at the hospital two weeks later laying down in the big noisy machine feeling like the filling being pushed into a sausage roll. Here I am now a further two weeks later and I've just received a letter saying "We are pleased to say that we have found no tumours, Aneurysms or diseases within you brain area. Your headaches will stop sometime in the future. Yours so on so on. Now stop me for being senile but how long is in the future. I've been suffering this for six years already with no let up and no real diagnosis from all the specialists. Does it mean that because I've had a scan that it is some kind of super machine that has somehow started to reverse the pain. If so it's not working yet!!! Well thanks for nothing. I took two days off work and a fortune was spent on getting to Nottingham only to be told NOTHING!! I could have told myself that for free. Anyway enough ranting.
Now for some good news. Last week I finaly got moved into my new studio. It is not massive but it is a lot better than where I was. I'm already getting bookings for sittings and have this week launched a new camera club for the Boston area. I've also decided that I am going to be letting other photographers have the use of the place as well (for a small fee of course). I'm also going to start holding photography courses once a month for those who would like to get into the photography business. I did this a year or so ago and they were very well received.
If anyone knows of people who would like to get into modelling, I am setting up a model register. I will be using models from time to time myself for regular shoots and I will also be trying to get work for them as well. So far I have a couple of students who wish to photograph subjects so as to gain knowledge of how a studio lighting setup works and for this I will need to use a couple of models myself.
Andrew, who came to me last monthfor a portfolio had his first modelling gig last sunday. I managed to get him a job where he was showing off male wedding outfits for a local outlet and looked really good up on the catwalk so look out fashion-tv he's on his way.
If your reading this Kim, I hope you've got sorted out with the course that never happened.
Oh yes and good luck to my chinese friends Shelly & Harry on the opening of their new resaurant in Grantham on Monday night. I'm really looking foreward to being there watching the dancing dragons and the firecrackers.

Pete.

Hey everyone.
Thought it about time I posted another message.
I've been really busy of late what with weddings, kids and commercial photography work that has come my way. A couple of weeks ago I photographed my last wedding for this year. It was a real blast. Nicola and Darron both looked fabulous. Obviously Nicola looked better than Darron though.Ha!Ha! Check out their slideshow in my videos at the top of my blog. This week saw me doing a bit of charity work for When You Wish Upon A Star. They held a charity sports nigh over in Spalding and Neil 'Razor' Ruddock and Funny comedienne Mandy Knight came down to help out. Also we had a special guest appearence from Titan the robot. He was brilliant! I have posted a few pictures here on my blog so check them out.
I had a great day out with a cool guy a couple of weekends ago. Andy crook is the nephew of an old school friend of mine and he contacted me and asked if I would put a portfolio together for him as he would really love to get into modelling. We headed of out to Heckington Hall which is about ten miles from my home in Boston where we spent most of the day and got some really great shots for his album.
Speak to you all very soon.Pete.

Latest news

Hi everyone. Great news! I have just signed a contract with the SWPP (Society of Portrait & Wedding Photographers) as I've been asked to hold a two hour seminar on children's photography at their 2009 convention at the Novotel Hotel, Hamersmith, London in January. I am really amped about it. I will be talking alongside some of the best photographers and speakers in the world. What an honour.I have now just about recovered from my bike ride and would just like to thank everone who helped me and of course all those who sponsored me.
More later.
pete.

Made it !!!!

I made it. It was really hard going though. I started out from the Humber bridge just after mid day on Tuesday. The weather was just right for cycling as it was not too hot or windy. I had to try to block out any thoughts of how far I had to go as I had made it my goal to make my brother Kevin's house in Warwick my first stop over. The route took me through some really picturesque towns and villages and before I realised it I had traveled almost seventy miles.Great I though! but I still had a long way to go though and finally reached my destination between eleven and midnight totally shattered and with serious backside pain. I sat outside on Kevin and my sister in law Karen's patio and between us we managed to drink two bottles of wine in celebration. At six thirty next morning I got up showered, dressed and had some breakfast then it was time to check the bike over ready to get started again. I set off around seven and withing a couple of miles almost decided to give up. The pain when I sat on the saddle was almost unbearable but after about an hour it seemed to ease off. I had it mind to stop and find somewhere to stay when I reached Cheltenham. When I got there I stopped in at a Brewers fayre pub for a coke. With the help of a Tom Tom I realised I was only about thrty odd miles from the Severn Bridge so after a drink I set off again and at around four thirty I was at the Bridge Services looking at the awsome site that joins Bristol with Wales. I can't tell you how good it felt knowing that I was not going to have peddle one more metre. Oh joy!!!
All thats left for me to say is a big thankyou to everyone that made this possible.

Sponsored Bike Ride!!!!!

Well today is the day. I am finally getting off on my Sponsored bike ride. I will be driving up to the Humber bridge this morning with the intention of starting at 12 O'clock. My first overnight stop off is going to be in Warwick. I realise that this is very ambitious but unfortunately I couldn't get any of the B&B's I called to put me up FOC. Shame really as I had offered free advertising for them here on my blog and my website. "Their loss". I chose Warwick as my brother and sister in law live there and have offered to let my stay with them for the night. Handy as well because they own the Tea rooms in St Nicholas Park opposite Warwick Castle so I will get a good breakfast tomorrow to set me up for the day! Their cafe is so cool. It is an old building with a thatched roof and a patio area outside where you can just sit and watch the world go by. If your in the area call in and mention my name and who knows you might get the VIP treatment.
Anyway best get going. Lots to do still. I will be taking pictures along the way so keep looking at my blog to how I'm getting on.
Pete.

Hi everyone. I just finished putting together a slideshow for Kat & Tom who's wedding I shot last week. They are such a cool couple and we had a real blast on the day.

Hi everyone.
I thought it was about time I updated here again.
So much has happened since I last posted but the most major thing was my computer crashed in a big way. I upgraded the memory so that I could speed things up a bit and by accident managed to pull a wire off my hard drive. When I switched on again it wiped out everything. I got my friend Glyn Dale from Action Response Computing to come over to fix it but it was dead. He had to completely re-install Windows XP for me. This meant I now had to re-install all my programs as well. It has taken me almost two weeks to get them back in. It's not until something like this happens that you realise just how much stuff you have stored in there. Luckily I have a strict rule of back everything up on a separate hard drive and anything really important gets burned onto disc as well so that side of things was OK. Never the less a real pain though.
One thing I thought I had lost though was a few images I took at a seminar day I attended at Photomarts London showroom. It was a great day and I learned so much. We even had the chance to photograph two stunning models. Sarah was the first to be photographed. She actually held the title of Miss Trinidad & Tobago so it goes without saying she is gorgeous. I felt so sorry for her though. It was a cold showery day and she had to pretend she was on a sun drenched beach in the Caribbean. She even had to get her hair all wet by dunking her head in a bucket of water. Sarah you're a star! In the afternoon we were inside and took a class on studio lighting setups with Jon Gray a well know fashion photographer. For this lesson we had the honour of photographing Katie a very well established model. She had photographers at the show almost fighting to get her images into their cameras. All in the name of proessionalism though! Saying that we all had a great day. Thanks to Simon and his staff for looking after us all ( and the great buffet to). I'm so looking forward to the next event. Oh yeah. My sponsored bike ride has now been rebooked and I will start peddaling on 24 July and nothing bar being dead is gong to get in the way this time!