1841 miles!In just an 8 night stay, that’s how many miles we managed to clock up in our post WPPI Page, Arizona and the surrounding area.

This years WPPI (an International convention for photographers held in Las Vegas) was attended by over 5000 photographers from around the globe. Some of the worlds leading photographers, such as Matthew Jordan-Smith (Americas next top model) Joe Bussink (top celebrity wedding photographer) gave lectures and presentations at this years convention.

Vegas strip at night

The convention was held at Ballys Hotel, Las Vegas and runs for just over a week. With seminars starting at 8.00am in the morning and the last presentations ending at 10.30pm it makes for a pretty long week. Sandwiched in between is the trade show, where manufacturers and suppliers showcase all that’s new in the photographic world. This year we have been able source new supplies for albums and stationery for the studio - more details will follow when we receive our new supplies.

The Master Photographers Association (MPA), presented the UK’s award winning photographs this year and these were “hung” in conjunction with the WPPI’s own winning images. Mark’s photograph from the MPA awards was well received and resulted in several requests for sales including a five foot print.

Next years convention will be held earlier in the year (February) with a change in venue to the MGM.

Immediately after the convention, we headed off to Page, Arizona to shoot some stock landscapes, for the stock library Alamy.

“The Eagle” Antelope Canyon.

Page is a great place to base yourself, as it allows access to some of the great (and mainly as of yet) undiscovered areas which are sandwiched midway between the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. Alstrom Point, Coyttee Buttes North and South (including “the Wave”, Antelope Canyon(s), Wahweap Wash and Horseshoe Bend are all within a short distance of Page.

View from Alstrom Point, looking towards Padre Bay.

Possible one of the highlights of our stay in Page was being lucky enough to get permits to visit the world famous “wave”. Only 20 people per day are allowed into this protected area. Ten permits are allocated 3 months in advance via the NPS website - but the go almost instantly (we tried this route unsuccessfully) so our only option was to enter the daily lottery where 10 passes are drawn daily( for the following day) - during our stay around 50 people per day entered this draw for 10 passes so our chances were slim, but unbelievable on day 4 (our last chance to go before leaving Page the day after) we got lucky!!!

“The Wave”

The Wave

Page was only established in 1957 and was originally built to accommodate the workers who built the Glen Canyon Dam which formed Lake Powell (one of Americas controversial projects).

Moonrise Monument Valley

During our stay in Page, we were lucky enough to be around at the time of the new moon, so we took a drive up to Monument Valley and I was lucky to get the photograph above.

In addition to the 1841 miles we also managed to clock up another 340 miles on our day trip on the Harley. We went down a section of “Route 66″ and came across the local photographer!

Before flying home and to break the drive back to Vegas we stayed overnight a small town called Overton, which is quite close to the Valley of Fire.

Another photographer in action.

My attempts at “painting” with flash. This photograph was around 2 minute exposure (you can see the moon towards the top RHS of the photo) then you use your flashgun (with multi bursts) to illuminate the foreground.

Now back in the UK I have to edit and prepare around 2000 images to go off to the stock library that sells these on our behalf - as you can image I’ll be pretty busy for the next few weeks.

Well it’s all change - Nicola who is the wedding co-ordinater at Eltham Palace is leaving to go backpacking around the world - after many years at Eltham Palace she has decided on a change of pace and is off on a years trip.

We have always had a good working relationship with the wedding co ordinators at Eltham Palace and hope that this will be continued with Nathalie, Nicola’s successor.

Best wishes from all of us her at the studio and many thanks for all you help over the years. I’m sure you’ll have a great time - and don’t forget to send us a postcard or two!!

Our promotion on makeover session where clients would receive a makeup and hair session before the one hour photoshoot by our award winning photographer will be ending very shortly.

If you have not already booked your session with us please call the studio now on 0208 688 3972 before this limited offer ends.

MHP Studios have been again asked to be the photographer for both the leavers Ball in May and the year 11 ball in June.
The occasions are to be at Westerham Golf Club and Surrey Downs Hotel.
More will be on the blog in due time.

During the month of March, Mark and Jackie travelled to America where they spent an exhausting time attending the WPPI Conference in Las Vegas.They are back now and catching up with their in trays (and the dire weather)
Although the Studio has been much quieter with the Boss being away, Pam has kept herself busy.
The completion of a few of our albums have made wedding couples very happy. Gary and Ruth have chosen the large Coffee table album, the creativity of the images plus backgrounds and added text have joined together to make a beautiful album. They are delighted with the finished product (as are we) . Cheryl and Kris had favoured the black leather Jorgensen of Australia album and the images from their big day have culminated to provide a romantic and classic story of their wedding day.
The Studio is sporting some new images presented in contemporary ways which have been wall mounted this week.There are some acrylic portraits which are very eye catching and some new canvasses too . Both designs are presented with the clearest focus and colours.These together with the new sample wedding albums have given the Studio a new and fresh feel.

On Sunday 16th March Pam travelled to East Grinstead, West Sussex to the lovely wedding venue which is the Felbridge Hotel.
During the day Kelly and her dedicated team hosted their bi-annual wedding Fayre. The event had been advertised on local radio and although the day was dull and rainy, many brides to be plus their families came to view the refurbished hotel and the very recently finished gardens in the quest of finding the perfect venue for their wedding reception.
MHP Studios were part of many exhibiters who had been invited to the fayre together with a chocolate fountain company(always a popular choice especially with the exhibiters who get to try it out too), classic cars, jewellery companies, cake makers and of course florists.
Many thanks go to the Felbridge Hotel for supplying refreshments throughout the day too. Always much appreciated.

We busy preparing for the forth-coming bridal fashion shoot.

The shoot will be on Tuesday 10th March (just before Mark heads off for Vegas for this years WPPI convention) and will showcase the designer gowns from White Dresses and Tiaras who are based in East Sussex.

The models are supplied from Toni and Guy in Knightsbridge - who will also be taking care of the hair and make up. Many thanks go to Shona who is organising this side of things.

The venue for the shoot is the recently refurbished Felbridge Hotel nr East Grinstead, East Sussex.
Look out for some of the photos on the blog later on in March.

This week has been extremely busy with photoshoots and online orders from previous clients.
Mark spent a couple of days at the Focus exhibition at the NEC. He was impressed with the new acrylic prints so look out to see these soon at our studio. Also there were some interesting canvases that caught his eye.
Pam, in the meantime has been to Olympia to the National Wedding Show. There was everything there from teeth whitening to glorious wedding gowns. Cakes and novelties, the best being a chap dressed in a Roman toga. Not quite sure what he was selling but it was something to do with mosaics.

Did you know that Mark is also a budding author?
His passion for bikes and his experience photographing American Landscapes has spurred him on to write two seperate books about these two different avenues. Mark hopes these will be publishes later this year. I will keep you posted.

It’s been a busy time here at the studio over the last three or four weeks - hence the blog hasn’t been updated recently.

The cut off dates for getting prints back from the lab, getting frames made and our ordering our handmade albums have all passed. As usual there were one or two orders that we’ve managed to squeeze in before the final deadlines.

So what have we been up to ?

We attended the Eltham Palace open day, were all of Eltham Palace’s preferred suppliers are invited to meet prospective bride and grooms who have booked or are planning thier wedding at Eltham Palace.

Eltham Palace is one of our favourite venues to work at, it has fanatastic grounds and stunning interiors, which make an excellent back drop for photography.The open day is a great opportunity to meet couples in a relaxed atmosphere and discuss what the would like from thier wedding photographs.

PS Here’s a link from Bloomsbury Video to one of our wedding we shot at Eltham Palace earlier this year http://www.MaleneandShariffsWedding.com <http://www.maleneandshariffswedding.com

We have been busy in the studio photographing families, babies and couples for Christmas presents. We then have to show clients their photographs, order the prints and frames and assemble these ready for collection.

We’ve shot the front cover for a new and soon to be released fashion magazine. We’ll post more on this once the first edition is out.

We’ll update you with some more information later- but for now it’s back to work!