Good Devon times!

For anybody that knows Anna and me or read our blogs may have guessed that we have quite an affection for Devon.

Devon / Woolacombe is just about our favourite place in the world and we try and get there as much as possible. One of the six times we managed to make it down last year was for a week’s holiday in October. It was just the two of us and it was a well-deserved break from the wedding madness of last summer. We had a wonderful holiday and the weather was great for October. Anna took some amazing images, I have posted some below but for the full blog check out this link: Woolacombe

I am pretty sure it was around this time that I decided to set up Simon Clarke Video Production. We have already been back a few times this year including a week in June with some of our friends, I will be editing some footage of that trip soon. This is a short film of some of the footage that I shot in October…enjoy :-)

Laura & Jon 27.05.2011 (Marbella beach wedding)

I first met Laura, Jon and their beautiful daughter Izzy on their pre-wedding shoot with Anna in Kenilworth. Laura & Jon decided to split their wedding in to three parts, starting with a Civil ceremony in Warwick, a blessing and reception on the beach in Marbella then another reception in the UK for all the friends and family that could not make it out to Spain. Laura & Jon had booked Anna to photograph the UK parts of their wedding celebrations and I tagged along to second shoot.When Anna and I were on the pre-wedding shoot we got talking to Laura and Jon about their wedding plans. Unfortunately they had already booked a photographer for the Spain part of the celebrations but they had not managed to find a videographer. That’s where I put my hand up and said….errr I think I am available, so after some discussions about logistics the date was set.

I flew out on the Friday morning for the ceremony which was at 6 that evening. The weather was lovely and hot and the whole day was fantastic from the beautiful ceremony on the beach to the outdoor candlelit reception in the evening. Laura, Jon and little Izzy make the perfect family and it was a pleasure to capture a portion of their wedding celebrations. Because I also second shot for Anna on all the UK parts we have all got to know each other pretty well now. Anna will be posting her photos soon so please keep checking in at: annaclarkephotography.com/blog

Hope you enjoy the preview, comments are always welcome :-)

‘Rock n Riot’ – A Punk Theme Styled Shoot…Behind the scenes film

On 18th of May I received a very last minute call to ask if I could get to a warehouse in Birmingham to film a “behind the scenes film” for a punk themed bridal shoot. I jumped at the chance as I knew most of the people that were involved - not least Kat from Rock N Roll Bride - and I could tell it was going to be a bit special!

After moving some plans I managed to get there at around 4pm and the shoot was already in full swing. I dropped my bags and got straight to work. The work that had gone into styling the shoot was breathtaking and everyone was working their little socks off to make sure everything was perfect.

The shoot went on until about 9pm and was great fun. I would like to thank Amy Grzegorzek for inviting me down and everyone else that was involved, it was an absolute pleasure to shoot.

Anybody that follows Rock N Roll bride or Steve Gerrard will probably already have seen the film, but if not here it is!
Your comments would be much appreciated J


Music by: The Clash & Ramones



These are some of the awesome images from Steve Gerrard, the photographer for the shoot!

Full credits:
Photography: Steve Gerrard Photography
Behind the scenes photography: Emma Case Photography
Additional video footage: Pete Smyth for Emma Case Photography
Styling: Ava Event Styling
Flowers: Little a (Amy Grzegorzek)
Cakes: The Boutique Baking Company (Vickie Pritchett)
Product hire & candy bar: Bonne Fête (Amanda Plester)
Dresses: The Wedding Club & Hannah Wilkins-Webb (final year student at the University of Central England)
Headpieces: Sharper Millinery
Jewellery: Terry Terry
Vintage accessories: Top Banana, Birmingham
Fashion Styling Adviser: Patti Bell pattibellnumber1@yahoo.co.uk
Graffiti: Hoakser hoaksah@hotmail.com
Hair & Make Up: Elbie Van Eeden

Conquistadors – Black Swans

All the way back in January this year I was invited to the Conquistadors’ lock-up in Digbeth, Birmingham to film the video for their first release from their new EP “On tape”.
We spent the afternoon/evening filming the boys with an array of props including party poppers monkey masks and the head of Bender from “Futurama”… well you’ll understand when you see it!

It was a fun shoot and the boys were great to work with and a special thank you goes out to Matt Gilespy for second shooting on the day.

I hope you enjoy the song and video.



For more from the Conquistadors please visit:

http://www.conksmusic.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/conquistadorsmusic

They are playing at the Birmingham HMV Institute next Saturday with some other awesome bands.
Go check it out!

Wedding Preview: Michelle & Jon 19.03.11

This is it! My first ever wedding preview movie! After all these months of telling people that I am shooting weddings now I can finally prove it!

This wedding preview is of the awesome couple Michelle and Jon. If anyone has looked at my blog before you may have noticed their engagement movie I shot back in September last year. I met Mich (as everyone calls her) and Jon through Anna my lovely wife as she was booked to photograph the wedding. I had recently decided that I wanted to get into shooting weddings so I sheepishly asked Mich and Jon if they would mind me filming them on their engagement shoot with Anna. They agreed so off we went and my first ever engagement film was produced. Mich and Jon never intended to have a videographer at their wedding as they are a super cool couple and didn’t want a cheesy traditional two hour video with heart shaped transitions and soft focus! After seeing the movie I made of the engagement shoot they changed their minds and asked if I would shoot their wedding and I jumped at the chance.

Mich and Jon had an amazing day but it was not without its drama. Michelle and her father got stopped by the police for speeding on their way to the church in the bright yellow London cab they had hired to get them there. The police were not in the wedding spirit as they fined the driver a fixed penalty. Anyway they finally arrived at St John the Baptist church Ault Hucknall for the service which was lovely. Afterwards it was on to Blackbrook House for the reception in the same cab but this time making sure they were driving at the correct speed the whole way.

Anna and I had a great day photographing and filming their wedding and despite a brief run-in with the law it did not detract from a beautiful and fun day. Mich and Jon are the cutest couple and are absolutely made for each other. Editing their wedding movie made Anna and I cry more than once.

I hope you enjoy the preview, I would love your comments

Anna will be blogging the best of the awesome photos from the day. Check in soon at: annaclarkephotography

Engagement: Kate & Mark

I met Kate and Mark through a recommendation from Lee Allen photography. They really wanted to get their wedding filmed as Kate's granddad was not able to attend the day so wanted to be able to show him the best parts and emotion of the day on DVD. Plus they wanted something a bit different and cool!
As Kate and Mark both live and work in London, we arranged to meet and talk about their plans at the same time as their pre-wedding shoot with Lee, I thought it would also be good to take my camera with me and film an engagement movie for them.
Kate and Mark are a lovely couple and clearly very much in love. We met up at their house which they're currently renovating, they are both architects so as you can imagine it's super cool! We went out for a walk to the park by their house and stopped off on the way for a coffee and a quick interview about how they met.
Their wedding was a few weeks ago and I am currently working on the film, all I'm going to say is it's going to be a good one, Vivienne Westwood dress, Kilts, a big red bus and Camden town! Need I say more?!

Hope you like the movie!


As I mentioned, it was all thanks to Lee's recommendation that I got this wedding. Lee is an awesome photographer and also a good friend, these are some of the amazing images that he got on the day.

Please check out his work if you haven't already Lee Allen Photography

This is the backstage view of the shoot :-)

Kate and Marks wedding movie will be coming very soon....watch this space :-)

A quick little Wednesday afternoon blog

I am exhibiting at my very first wedding fair on Sunday 8th May, it would be great for people to come along and say hi! It’s pretty exciting and scary for me as this will be the first time I will be showing any of my wedding films.

It’s at the very swanky Malmaison Hotel in Birmingham city centre and it’s free to get in.

This week Anna and I have been working hard getting things ready for the fair. I've had some of my favourite stills printed from my wedding and engagement videos to put on my stand on the day. These images have not even been seen by the couples yet so it will be a sneak peek of what's to come.

Hope to see you on Sunday.