Sneak Peek - AIRR Clothing Model Shoot

Just a speedy post because I am so excited to share with you a few quick edits of the work I did on Wednesday for AIRR clothing (who have a fab competition on their blog that you should really check out, £150 worth of clothes? Yes please.)

There'll be more soon! I have also photographed basically everything in the shop (a mammoth task which was fuelled by plenty of biscuits and found us a little hysterical by the end) for their website which is going to be launched very soon. In other words I probably won't see daylight for the next few days while I get the editing done and will turn into a Gollum-esque figure, crouched over my screen laughing to myself about unsharp mask. Or crying. 

See you on the other side, internet! 

A belated Happy New Year

Gosh, so Christmas happened, then New Year and nearly half of January without a blog post??

Things have been pretty hectic here at Hannah Millard Photography HQ, including lots of very exciting fashion work! More on that soon, I promise.

For now let me share with you some of the pictures I took of this gorgeous family a couple of weeks ago!



















Eeee! It was so much fun, albeit a little bit chilly!

I am very delighted to announce that this year is nearly booked up for weddings and next year is filling up too. I am so excited about it, there's going to be vintage buses and knitted dresses and pick n mix buffets and cupcakes and some really fabulous couples, to name but a few exciting things. I cannot wait!

I'd also like to announce my shiny new wedding package and price. This includes:


♥ Eight hours coverage.
♥ All the final photographs, edited to a high standard on a disc for you to share, print and treasure.
♥ An informal consultation at no extra charge (apart from reasonable travel costs if required.) 
♥ A free 1 hour engagement shoot including a disc of all the final photos.
♥ Passion, dedication and fun.

for just £450 (plus reasonable travel/accommodation costs if required) 

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!