Wirksworth in the snow!

Today I went for a wander out and about in the incredible snow that has brought Wirksworth to a standstill and bumped into some lovely people who didn't mind me taking their picture.





















There's nothing like a snow day to bring people together! Everyone was laughing and chatting and helping each other out. More snowy pictures coming soon and lots of prints and potential Christmas presents for sale on my photobox website.

The Autumn leaves were turning to the colour of her hair...

Summer is gone. Autumn is here. Winter is on its way.

Bring. It. On.

Fashion Photography - Stolen Thunder & Kayla Hadlington

It's time I said a few words about my recent shoot with Stolen Thunder jewellery and fashion blogger extraordinaire Kayla Hadlington.




I have always been lucky enough to work with some fantastic people and the Stolen Thunder shoot was no exception. The girls from Stolen Thunder have blogged about it here, complete with behind the scenes pictures!

I am utterly in love with the Stolen Thunder jewellery and can't tell you how thrilled I am to see my work on their website.

Some of my favourite pieces include the Little boy and dog brooch, the incredible coral jersery strand scarves, the Pardon My French ring and all of the pieces they designed for Marina and the Diamonds, especially this ring.

Last but not least I have to say a few words about Kayla. What a star! It was her first time modelling but you couldn't tell at all. In total we got through about 50 pieces of jewellery but Kayla managed to make every single shot special, despite us freezing her half to death with the wind machine. She's a remarkable young woman and fantastic to work with. I really hope we can work together again soon!

Kayla has various blogs you can reach from her lookbook which are all well worth a look. She's even been featured in a book of fashion bloggers.

Oh, when you write...

Jess, Calum and Laura approached me last week to take some pictures for the University of Derby's Student magazine Dusted. I am immensely proud to call the three of them my friends not just because they're hard working editors (on top of studying for their degrees!) but because they are brilliant writers.

 

 











I also love them for the following reasons:














I would encourage you to take a look at Calum's blog (this tale, features none other than yours truly) and to spend A Life in the Day Of Laura Jane Williams and to take a look at the book she edited (also featuring me before I realised that writing was not my strong suit). This is also where I'd put something of Jess' if she'd only put more of her fantastic writing online. SIGH.

Coming soon:
More weddings, fashion shoots and bands!

Camera Explorer Revisited - Bow Boutique now on Not on the High Street!

So this will be my fist revisiting post (there's another coming really soon too!) in my Camera Explorer series. Think of it like Wife Swap: The Aftermath or The Xtra Factor except prettier, less dramatic and less likely to grace the pages of Heat magazine.

So, you might remember my first Camera Explorer post was a photographic ode to the lovely Bow @ The Printworks. The fabulous Susanna has since been working her socks off and has a new online shop at Not on the High Street. She recently contacted me to see if I would be interested in taking some photos for the new site and, being the snap-happy lover of all things Bow that I am - of course I agreed! You can see her take on it on the Bow blog here. (DISCLAIMER: Susanna lies, I am not too beautiful to sweat.)

And here is my take on the shoot:

When Susanna told me that Sally was kindly letting us shoot in her "amazing" house, I didn't really know what to expect. I have a fair number of friends who are students and so usually when someone says a house is "amazing" it usually means it has two bathrooms and is twenty seconds away from an off-license. Sally is no student. The house is amazing and I probably embarrassed myself by spending about 90% of the shoot just gawping. Every room is spectacular, fresh and immaculate - when we moved the toaster THERE WASN'T A SINGLE CRUMB... and the colours! Oh the colours! It was divine. We shot in just about every room and even the cat was photogenic.



At one point, Sally and I realised that we had actually met before, a couple of years ago when we both took our children to the same playgroup.
 "If you'd told me then" I said, clicking my camera "that we'd one day be in you garden trying to photograph a chicken and a cushion, I'd never have believed you!"

Camera Explorer - Acanthus

One of the highlights of the changing seasons in Wirksworth is the window displays of Acanthus. Always eye-catching and creative it's clear from the outside that this tiny flower shop is special. 


Then you step inside and...

special becomes an understatement.There's not just flowers but gifts and beautiful artwork (which can also be commissioned).

Acanthus offers creative floral designs for weddings, funerals and special occasions and can be found at:

6a Market Place,
Wirksworth,
Derbyshire,
DE4 4ET

The full set of photos can be found here.

Writing about Love

A number of years ago I rented a Belle and Sebastian CD from a library. I liked the cover art and one of my best friends banged on about them all the time so I thought, what the heck - 50p for a week. I'm not a music journalist so I'll spare you a review, sufficed to say that I've loved Belle and Sebastian ever since. I even used one of their lyrics in a previous blog post.

When the 'Write about Love' photo competition came up I was excited to take part. We spent a morning cutting and sticking and the end result was this:


Through the competition I discovered so many talented people. I particularly adore the work of this lady (sorry, this post is link-tastic) who is not only hugely talented but thoroughly lovely and I hope to keep in touch with her despite geographical impediments! Last night she contacted me to point me in the direction of this (yes, another link!).

"Our winners come from Germany and Indonesia, the USA and Brazil. But our first prize goes to an English lady, Hannah Millard.

 She came up with the idea of hanging the letters from her washing line, and is pictured with her son, in the back courtyard of her house in Derbyshire. Fab composition, simple idea, fab colours, and just a nice ‘feel’ to it. My favourite picture! First prize!"

 

I really couldn't be more surprised or delighted!

It's a lovely end to a great summer - my son's last summer before he goes to school. I feel sad to see the summer and that part of his life come to a close but I know we have a lot to look forward to.

With this celebratory post out of the way normal service will now resume! Expect plenty of exciting exploring, weddings, bands and more news soon!

Camera Explorer - London Edition - Mega City Comics Camden (and thoughts on being home)

Longest blog post title EVER, right?

So I've been a Bad Blogger lately, weeks since my last update and all! I do have reason for this but first, on a not wholly unrelated note allow me to introduce you to Mega City Comics.



I love comic book shops and this one is pretty much perfect! Stacks and stacks of comics and graphic novels, collectables, t shirts, posters and amazing colours everywhere while having a dark, cosy feel. It's somewhere to browse and want and buy and enjoy which is about all I look for in a shop, really.







Mega City Comics can be found at

18 Inverness Street,
Camden Town,
London,
NW1 7HJ

about a minute away from Camden Town tube station and is open 7 days a week.

www.megacitycomics.co.uk


And now, thoughts on being home.

I recently had an internship with a very successful fashion photographer in London (who shall remain nameless). Sufficed to say I learned a great deal, good and bad about the fashion photography industry. In many ways it reinforced what I already knew about my own goals in photography. I was reminded of how highly I value honesty, integrity, creativity and passion by observing these qualities (or lack of them, in some cases) in the photographer I worked with. 

Another thing I was reminded of is how much I love where I live. Derbyshire has been my home now for almost eight years and I must confess I came over all Frodo Baggins when I had been away for a few weeks. I love to travel and I enjoyed the thrill of being in the city but I pined for the shire and my inner hobbit is glad to be home.

Camera Explorer - AiRR Clothing

So, it's been an exciting time at Hannah Millard Photography HQ (otherwise known as my sofa). First of all I had a huge box of printed items delivered including a great big banner advertising my wedding photography, for wedding fayres and markets and so on. It's bigger than me. Remind me to take a silly picture illustrating that soon. I also got a free Hannah Millard Photography pen which is great, I love pens and lose them constantly. Surely I'll be able to keep this one? There are also some greetings cards and so on that I am going to try and find a place for in some local shops (this would make a nice segway into today's Camera Explorer post but there'smoreexcitementfirst. Maybe I'll find another smooth link into it shortly...)


The other exciting thing is that due to a potentially brain-meltingly exciting email I received yesterday I have to be in London first thing Monday morning. I love going to London. I'll eat yummy food and demonstrate utter mastery of public transport. Maybe I'll buy a new pen. It'll be great.

Before I go, however, I have to find a smart, cool outfit and I am intending to go out and make some headway with that this afternoon. And, here comes the smooth link to today's Camera Explorer, luckily I have this shop pretty much on my doorstep:

Seamless link there, right?

AiRR Clothing opened in the last couple of weeks and it's absolutely lovely, as is the lady that runs it.
Hopefully we'll be working together on a fashion shoot soon, which is another exciting thing!

What's also exciting is that I am now about thirty seconds walk away from a shop that sells People Tree clothing as well as some other excellent brands (such as John Smedley and Crewe Clothing). Oh, pink and orange checkered dress - you shall be mine! Ditto stripy dress. Ditto pretty cardigan. Ditto... well, need I continue?

There's a great selection of menswear as well as womenswear and a selection of jewellery all laid out beautifully. It makes a perfect addition to Wirksworth's collection of independent local shops.

AiRR is located on Market Place in Wirksworth and opens 9.30-5.00 every day except Sundays and Bank Holidays when it opens 11.00-4.00

The full set of photographs can be viewed on my flickr here.

Camera Explorer - Bow @ the Printworks

This is the first post of a new feature on my blog! *insert mildly underwhelming fanfare/confetti bomb here*

I have been wanting to do this for a while. I absolutely love finding little shops, cafes and other amazing places and there is a wealth of them in my local area. From time to time I'll nip into places and take a few pictures of the things I find there and I thought that, seeing as I'm doing that anyway, I would write a little guide to the places I love.

So, without further waffling I'd like to introduce you to Bow @ the Printworks.

Tucked away on Cromford's Scarthin promenade Bow @ the Printworks is a miniature haven for shabby chic accessories, vintage crockery, soaps, gifts and more. Want a teapot birdhouse? Look no further. I came away with a lovely mug and some keepsakes for popping in the post with wedding contracts. I was heavily tempted by some travel journals and Cath Kidston letter paper and.. well, most things actually.

Google-based research tells me that you can also buy things online.

The final photos can be found here (flickr) or view all of them here (facebook).

Bow @ the Printworks
The Old Printing Works
Scarthin
Cromford
Derbyshire
DE4 3QF

Opening hours:
Wednesday-Saturday 10-6
Sunday 12-6

"I left my lady in the launderette..."

Gratuitous Belle and Sebastian lyrics there!

On Monday I was able to shoot with Teri in a lovely launderette on Friar Gate in Derby.

I am really, really pleased with how the photographs have turned out and can't wait to shoot with her again

Band Photography - LookiMakeMusic

On Sunday I made my way to Birmingham to take pictures of LookiMakeMusic.
It was good fun and ended in curly fries as most good things do.

Here are a couple of my personal favourites:

20th April 2010 - Baby Snapshots in Peli Deli

"The first of many trips to Peli Deli" I cooed at my housemate's week-old nephew.

I may just have a mini-gush about the Peli Deli for a moment. Tasty food, lovely people (who let me put some of my business cards out - hurrah!) and generally ace atmosphere. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone, if you find yourself in Wirksworth or Matlock you should definitely pop in. We spend a lot of time there as my housemate and I are coffee fiends.

Anyway, I met this adorable baby today and I'll hopefully be doing a "proper" shoot with him and his sister in a few weeks
.