"Breathless" promotion for Christmas and Valentines

This year has been a great year; fantastic weddings, wonderful couples, and a front cover!!! (Sorry I am still bouncing about like a looney with the news!!) It's also been a great year for "Breathless" sessions and Marathons.

I have been doing "Breathless" boudoir photography for 3 years now; after a slow start it has really taken off and many girls are seeing the advantage of an established female photographer for their Breathless session. I have had many girls visit the studio, as well as THREE Marathons in the North East of England! My work has even been featured on websites like The Fizz.

At this time of year, you might be thinking of that perfect Christmas gift for your fiance or husband. As well as a wedding day gift, "Breathless" sessions and resulting albums or prints are ideal presents for that special man in your life, not just on the wedding day!

For November, December and January, there is a special offer for "Breathless" sessions; get a FREE complimentary make-up session prior to your photographic session! That's right, Alana, a local make up artist would normally charge you £45, but for a limited amount of sessions in November, December and January, you can get a free session! The complimentary make-up sessions are very limited, so get in soon! Email for your booking form on mailto:nmncleodphoto@aol.com

NMP hits the front cover!!!!!!!!!

In the cut-throat industry of wedding photography, you always have to be the best you can be; but as long as your clients are happy, then great, yeah? Well, yes at the end of the day, my clients are the most important part of the job; without them, I would have no weddings to photograph!!

But it is always nice to get some recognition in the industry, whether it be awards in competitions, or your images in print.

The "Scottish Wedding Directory" is THE bible for Scottish brides. For 12 years, the SWD has been at the forefront of wedding planning magazines in the country; I even used it myself when I got married 8 years ago! EVERY bride in Scotland will have bought at least one copy of the magazine during their planning!

Over the past three years, the amazing people at SWD have added a sister issue; "Real Life Weddings"; a beautiful read of Scotland's beautiful weddings. With the amazing talent in Scottish wedding photography, it is VERY difficult to get even a small feature in this magazine, so I was over the moon when Lynne and John's Balbirnie wedding in 2003 was featured in the launch issue of RLW in 2004.

But today, I have had all my dreams and wishes come true; not only have Jen and Jon been featured in the latest issue of RLW, I GOT THE FRONT COVER!!!!!! When my idols like Gordon McGowan get the front cover in this magazine, it is well deserved as he is the cream of the crop, the top of the mountain, and someone at the level of recognition we all aspire to be at.
But this time, it was little ol' me that got the front cover, with a stunning photo of Jen and Jon in St Salvatores Chapel in St Andrews!! This was followed up with an EIGHT page spread of their wedding, featuring THIRTY ONE images from the wedding!

I was screaming with joy this morning, when my copy came through the letterbox! Even Jack joined me in the celebration!

I am just gobsmacked, excited, amazed, all the words in the world that say how over the MOON I am, to be a front cover photographer!!

Thanks to all at SWD for seeing some talent in my work, and thinking it good enough for their magazine and front cover

But extra special thanks go to Jen and Jon, for being the model couple, for actually paying me to photograph their wedding! It's funny to read their article and see them saying they tried to negotiate on prices with a lot of their wedding, but they never asked me for a discount of any kind; I am not one for giving discounts anyway, I just work extra hard for my couples!!

Jen and Jon's album can be viewed here at "Best of the Best"

ORDERS, ORDERS, ORDERS!

Orders have been coming in thick and fast, but thought it best to update you all on what will be happening over the next couple of months.

If any wedding clients are looking to order an AUSSIE ALBUM which they want delivered for Christmas, your must PAY for the album and give me your image choices BEFORE OCTOBER 5TH.

If you require a BELLISSIMO ALBUM for Christmas, you must PAY for the album before October 31st.

If you require any prints for Christmas, the closing date for ordering these is November 30th.

Please note, that I will be out of the country from October 7th to 27th, and no orders can be placed with the lab during this time, but I will be contactable during this time via email or telephone.

Fiona and Steven's wedding

When Fiona and Steven booked their wedding for St Annes Church in Edinburgh, and their reception at Balbirnie in Fife, they did not invisage the Forth Road Bridge having it's lenghty roadworks on their wedding day.

But there was roadworks, there were delays, but there was also a gorgeous bride and her handsome groom just appreciating the day for what it was...........fab!

Fiona looked stunning as she was about to enter the church with her brother; the wind played lovely havoc with her veil! St Annes is a stunning venue; and the minister was very kind to allow me to shoot some images during the ceremony, which she normally doesn't do; in her words "a dancing photographer totally put me off once, so no cameras at all from now on!" The joys of a recce means that I can speak very nicely to the minister and promise her that I won't "dance" and therefore I am allowed to get shots like this; if only all ministers were like her (and all photographers were like me.......)See, when you don't get to shoot the ceremony, you miss wonderful moments like this; a guest reaction just after the first kiss! It turned REALLLLLLLY sunny as the couple exited the church and of course, all churches seem to have south facing main doors right into the sun! So I just cranked down the exposure on the camera, and this is pretty much how it came out straight from the camera!
Some girls just don't see how beautiful they are. When I met Fiona for the first time at the recce (I was booked sight unseen after Fiona seen my work from her work collegue Sally's wedding) I could see straight away her stunning eyes. Like most women, Fiona could only see her faults and didn't believe me when I told her she looked gorgeous! I showed her this image seconds after I shot it, from the back of the camera; she then believed what I was saying...Shooting from the motorway on the way to Balbirnie, I could see the flower girl Lara had decided the roadworks were too boring and fell asleep....

And before the guest bus arrived, I managed some time alone with the newlyweds around the grounds of Balbirnie.
It's always special for me to shoot at Balbirnie, having got married there myself 8 years ago.
Stunning huh?And the mums are gorgeous too! Here is the Mother of the Groom.

The Mother of the Bride....The cute bridesmaid Lara....Infact, all the ladies were just gorgeous. The bride and her sisters all possess the most amazing eyes; it truely was a beautiful wedding to shoot.And as the newlyweds and their guests were tucking into their Cock-a-leekie, I used the remaining light to capture the beauty of the georgian manor house that is Balbirnie.

Enjoy Mexico guys. Again, a bit more on the blog than usual, as the newlyweds won't get to see the finished results until end of October, due to me being out of the country.

WARNING - holiday closure for orders

Just to let everyone know that NMP will be closed for photo and album orders between 6th and 27th of October.

I will be contactable by phone and email but as I won't be in the country, I won't be able to place any photo or album orders with any of my suppliers.

Allan and Claire's wedding

It's very rare that I don't meet up with a couple before the wedding day; whether it's at the booking stage, or at the recce before the wedding, I usually always meet up with my couples at least once, even if it happens to be the day before the wedding! Reason? It's nice to put a name to the face, it's easier to spot the bride on the day but sometimes not the groom, and it's great to be able to get a feel for the wedding through a face-to-face chat.


But occasionally, circumstances arise and it just isnt possible to meet up before the wedding, today was only the 2nd occasion in 7 years that my first meeting with the bride and groom was on the wedding day itself!


Allan and Claire came up from the North West of England to be married at Arnot Towers and time just got away from us all, and we only met at the wedding for the first time! But this couple were just SO lovely and so relaxed about everything to do with their wedding, within being in their presence for just a couple of hours, I felt like I had known them for years!


Claire was stunning when getting ready in Helen's boudoir..

And once married, the newlyweds were greeted by a fantastic supply of natural confetti, while being piped out by Steven Dewar of Scotia Pipers.
I have worked with Steven before, his relaxed demeanour and excellent playing makes him a favourite with all the guests! And he is more than willing to allow the groom a shot of his pipes.....
We were SO lucky with the weather; the sun broke through the clouds for the ceremony, and once again for the couples session around the Gardens.

And the speeches were heartfelt and funny to boot! The proud Father of the Bride..

And is this young man not gonna break hearts when he gets older.....?! The Guest Book attendant, Jack also uses a mean camera!

The beautiful contemporary flowers were by Stucio and Waow in Dundee and the venue is one of my favourites. It is heart wrenching to hear that Arnot will not be taking wedding commissions over the next year or two; the atmosphere of a small, intimate wedding here is unsurpassed by any other venue in the area, and probably in Scotland as a whole. Helen is a wonderful host, treating all guests like old family friends and I will be saddened if I never shoot a wedding there again. The (hopefully temporary) closing of Arnot is a loss to the industry.

Lizzie and Paul's wedding

I am FINALLY finding 2 seconds in amongst all this post processing/downloading/backingup/albumdesigning to blog last Saturday's wedding, which was a cracker!

Lizzie is my favourite kinda bride; bubbly, fun, photogenic and not abashed with the request to get photos taken beside a graffiti wall!!! And on meeting her handsome groom Paul last Saturday, I KNEW we were onto a model wedding yet again!

Lizzie looked stunning in the morning...... Paul and his Best Man had some funky shots beside their apartments EQ2 before leaving for the ceremony. The weather finally played ball for once!
The wedding was held at Craighouse in Edinburgh; a fantastic Victorian building on a hill in the city, which is now part of Napier University and it offers stunning views of the city.

The Humanist cermony held by Ken McMillan was full of fun and laughter, in fact the whole day was fun, fun, fun!

For example, before the ceremony, the Father of the Bride had a jig in the apartments with the bride's shawl...................

the bride and her father had a jig to the bagpipes at the front door of Craighouse on arrival.....

and the bride and groom giggled laughed their way through the ceremony, it was wonderful!

But unbeknown to even Craighouse's wonderful wedding co-ordinater Moyra, there is a groovy funky graffiti wall in the grounds, and when I found it at the recce I did the month before with Lizzie, it just jumped out at me and said "PHOTOGRAPH ME!!"

Only a particular kinda newlywed couple would be up for getting wedding photos beside an graffiti wall, which is surrounded by overgrown weeds, potholes and nettles. Paul and Lizzie were "that kinda couple", looking for something a little different in their wedding photos.....
Liz and Paul had a totally fun couples session, I could have photographed them all day! The buildings of Craig House are so photogenic!
Vivienne at "Dragonfly Wedding Services " (also of Dalgety Bay!) did an amazing job on the flowers.

And Paul's sister Julie did a wonderful job on the cake!

And remember I said the day was full of laughter... it continued into the speeches; here is the Father of the Bride, with one of his many hats during his fabulous speech!

It was a brilliant day, enjoyed by all; I even received a text of thanks from the bride the following morning;

"Thank you so much for yesterday, you made us and our guests feel at ease and from what we saw, the photos look amazing! See you soon!"

Lizzie is referring to the slideshow of a couple of the images displayed at the evening reception, which is available with any of the Ultimate packages.

I am so glad you both had fun, and I thank YOU both for feeding my artistic whims and trying something a little different!

I have blogged a few more images than normal for this wedding; this is because the complete wedding will not be online until the end of October. By the time the proofing is ready and Lizzie and Paul can travel over from Northern Ireland for their "Bliss" session and post wedding viewing, I will be in Canada and California!! So they are leaving the trip over until the end of October, so hopefully these images will keep the memory alive until then!

"Barking Mad" pet photography promotion

I am POOPED after Lizzie and Paul's GREAT wedding day yesterday, which I will blog later, but in the meantime I have to go get ready for a pet promotion stand at the local vets.

September is "Barking Mad" pet photography month!

Partake in an environmental dog session in Dalgety Bay, or for horses, cats and small furries, a home session in the immediate Dalgety Bay/Dunfermline area, with online proofing in the month of September 2007 and receive a complimentary black framed 8 x 6" print of your choice!

Contact me on nmcleodphoto@aol.com for details.

Sob................... {blush}

A delivery man has just arrived...................
I don't think he brought this too though..............

Diane and Rob had a "Back Again" session in Ayrshire last month; glad you liked the images!

"Thanks" from Leanne and Allan Boyne

"Dear Nikki

We can't thank you enough for our wedding album we received on Friday. It is absolutely stunning and we are so pleased with it!!

We had such a great wedding day and you have captured every special moment perfectly for us to keep. Everyone we have shown our pictures to, is so impressed at your work. It is so creative and modern - the whole reason we picked you in the first place!!

We had fun working with you on the day, you are professional, friendly and you really made us feel at ease.

Once again thank you so much,

Love Leanne and Allan Boyne"

Leanne and Allan's album is now online at "Best of the Best"

Passion8 Flowers

Part of shooting a wedding is capturing all the details; all the important things that the bride thinks about for her day, that in the end, get thrown away, or die, or get stuck in a cupboard.

So I make sure that at least in her finished proofing, the bride gets to see all the details; the flowers, the cake, the favours, the table details.

Because of this, I am regularly contacted by the various vendors of the things I have photographed. And this was the case when Liz Hartley contacted me after I shot Jen and Jon's wedding in St Andrews, as Liz did the beautiful flowers of the day. Liz asked if she could use an image of Jen and Jon in her new leaflet, here is the result;

At the weekend, Liz was exhibiting at the Rothes Halls wedding fayre in Glerothes, which unfortunately as a photographer I am only allowed to exhibit at once a year, rather than the usual twice a year, due to the excessive amount of photographers in the area. So I took a framed image to her of this wedding, and already I am receiving enquiries thanks to Liz at Passion8 Flowers.

Liz's flowers are gorgeous, you can see more images of her flowers in Jen and Jons wedding album, which is on the website at "Best of the Best".