Russell Neal Photography Hertfordshire

Quendon Hall AKA Parklands in Essex

2011-02-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

Quendon Hall AKA Parklands, on the Essex Hertfordshire border, is an idyllic setting for a fantastic wedding venue. It has an authentic history of more than 900 years.

Parklands can be the perfect setting for any wedding venue and reception, it is is a world apart from the bustle and rush of ordinary life, set in over 100 acres of deer park which can be clearly seen from the house.

Working professionally at Quendon Hall as a wedding photographer, and having my own wedding held there in 2008, I am more than confident in saying that this is one of my favourite venues in the Hertfordshire, Essex region.

The interior of the main house is spacious compared to other venues in the area, it has a bright Banqueting Hall overlooking the south lawn and is typically used as the ceremony room for larger groups and doubles as a dining room in the afternoon.

The smaller Billiard room can be used as the ceremony room if there are less guests which also doubles as a bar in the evening.

While the rooms are being rearranged, guests can sit and relax in the reception room which can also be used to take smaller group photographs if the weather is not so nice outside.

Upstairs is mostly decorated in a rich red colour and as you would expect has amazingly beautiful bedrooms.

Any wedding photographer will love the exterior boasts some beautiful trees, shrubs and on the south lawn is a impressive fountain which will always make a perfect background to any group shot.
There is a white gazebo on the lawn with wild roses growing around it. This makes for a truly scenic ceremony if the good old british weather holds out long enough – the staff are on standby during the day to change the seating plans form outside to inside if the needs arise.

If you are looking for a Quendon Hall - Parklands wedding photographer, please contact me for more information.

Chelsea's 13th birthday

2010-08-11T10:33:00.001-07:00

Subject: Chelsea's 13th birthday

Chelsea is having a great time on her 13th birthday.

Sent from my iPhone

100% FREE Portrait

2010-05-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted a nice photo of your children or 2.4 family?

I am looking for Mums and Dads in the Bishops Stortford area with their children to do a fun and casual photo shoot.

I am currently trying out some new equipment and ideas for families to add to my portfolio.

For your help I am offering a FREE session plus a complimentary 8x10" print.
This will be a limited offer and we are expecting a lot of enquiries, so please contact us on the website.

The offer will be on a first come first served basis so if you are interested in this fantastic promotion please use the contact form on http://www.dovestudio.co.uk/ and let us know your details.
Remember to tick the "Families promotion" in the details box.

Julie and Kieran at the Chesfield Downs Golf Club in Stevenage

2010-05-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Julie and Kieran had a perfect wedding reception at the Chesfield Downs Golf Club in Stevenage. Kieran had the pleasure of driving his golf buggy down to the lake with his beautiful new bride, where we photographed the shot below.

This perfect shot was toned on post production to reflect the relaxed mood of the day, and as a wedding photographer I must say, I am very proud of capturing this special moment. A very thoughtful shot, as the new bride and groom have a bit of quiet time together.

Julie decided not all of the fun is for the boys and so she took the driving seat and raced back up to the reception with the young children trying desperately to keep up and then pleading with their parents to let them have a go themselves.

Once the fomalities of the big day are done, there are three things a wedding should always be
- fun, fun, fun!! Hopefully these shots taken off the cuff show the more informal side of the wedding day and will bring a smile to Julie and Kieran's faces for many years to come.

Fish N Kids

2010-05-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

This was a photograph taken from the studio a couple of weeks back. The child was taken out of the room while the shot was set up, we placed the bowl in the middle of the room and set up the lights so when she came back we were ready to shoot.

The bowl had water in it but the fish were added later digitally, as you can tell she was happy as Larry playing with the water, after a few photographs were taken at different angles I chose this one to add a little twist. A couple of rare breed goldfish added by photoshop and the picture came to life.

There was another photograph created but that was too gruesome to show

Kids, you got a love em !

2010-03-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

Dove release at wedding brings tears to brides eyes.

Magic only happens for a split second, once its gone its gone forever.

2010-03-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Portraits are a wonderful way of capturing your infants personality, this cheeky little chap gave us the perfect picture on the first shot we took, not all shoots are as easy as this.

Christmas orders

2009-10-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a bit slow at blogging latley and I want to catch up and keep you up to date with whats happening.

Christmas is fast approaching now so if you want to place christmas photography orders please let us know as soon as you can as dates are limited.
Popular christmas photo gift are:

Calenders
Cards
Portraits of the children for grandparentsMugs
Mousemats
T-shirts
Fridge Magnets

Our prices are still very competative, just drop us a line and ask for an up to date price list.

You can still order phtography vouchers as gifts for loved ones over the christmas period, just let me know the amount and I will post it out to you first class or even drop it off if your local to bishops stortford, thier is no charge for postage.

So give us a call on 01279 504787 or visit the website for fore information http://www.dovestudio.co.uk/ or Office@dovestudio.co.uk

Sam and Jonjo's big day at Parklands

2009-07-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

Sam and Jonjo have a fantastic wedding at Parklands in Hertfordshire.

Drifting at Norfolk Arena

2009-07-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday was hot, sticky and very noisy too.

Dove Photography was hired to promote the upcoming motosport "Drifting" at Norfolk Arena, for those of you that have not heard of it before its a mixture of racing, rally driving but also requires a skill based on controlling a speeding car with precision accuracy...well that's that aim apparently.

Here are a few shots for your eyes only.

Rochelle & Greg's Wedding at Forty Hall

2009-06-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

Weather forecast for Enfield -Monday 25th 90% chance of rain.......

It was 4 days before the big day I was regally checking the weather forecast in the Enfield area, I visited the location twice to find areas that had potential to be indoor shots that the couple could have as their group shots that they wanted so dearly.

The day came, the morning had a bright sky but was due rain at 16:00, you can guess what time the bride and groom had panned to have their groups shots done....

Lucky for all the weather stayed bright an dry for the most part, Rochelle and Greg had a great time with the live band and good friends.

Rod and Kerrys Photo shoot

2009-05-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Rod and Kerrys Photo shoot was a great day, fun for the kids fun for the adults because that's the type of memories that we want to be reminded of in years to come, and that folks is what the purpose of a family portrait is all about......memories of great moments.

2009-05-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

Mupe Bay, Dorset

Sunday 10th May 2009,was a special day for me, I was given the opportunity to accompany Stoo Batchelor and Michael Paynton on a journey to photograph one of the most beautiful sights on the Dorset coast.

The day started very early, (it seems this is standard practice for landscape photographers) at 1am we met in Hertfordshire and drove down to a little place called Lulworth in Dorset.
We arrived at the pitch black coast around 4am, we then had to trek across to the place that we were going to photograph which took about 40 mins, this was hard work as it also seems that landscape photographers need to be fit, and i am far from that.

When we arrived at Mupe Bay, we were all in amazement as rolling across the edge of the cliffs was a huge wall of fog just sitting there as if it was admiring the view.

Stoo helped me set up with Graduated filters and take spot meter readings to give me the correct set up i needed.

Then something quite wonderful happened, and for me, a once in a lifetime opportunity. The fog bank rolled over the edge of the cliff and slowly started to make its way towards the sea.

As you can see in the shot below I captured the fog just starting to make its way across the sea with the sun awakening behind it.

I took the shot below a few short minuets later, by this time the fog was falling from all around us and the sun was breaking through giving me a beautiful glow

I converted the first picture to black and white as one of the photographers I was with shoots black and white only.

The shot below was taken a few hundred yards down. Michael Paynton pointed out the wonderful location.

Again I wanted to you to see what a desaturated finish would like like.

This is possibly my favorite photograph as I love the way the foreground rocks lead you to the wave that is at an angle to lead you to the land in the background and finally the unusual clouds in the sky.

Micheal and Stoo are right when they say that no two days are the same, I can say one thing.......What a wonderful day and what an eye opener for me.

Will i be doing it again, you bet.

Russell Neal, Wedding, Portrait and Landscape Photographer?

Driver of the year 2009 Depot Challenge

2009-04-13T12:36:00.001-07:00

Driver of the year depot challenge was held at a disused supermarket site in Hertfordshire, On April 5th 2009 five of the best drivers were in a competition with each other to see who was the greatest.
These were adjudicators on the site to ensure all went to plan, this photo was taken from one of the respected instructors who looked over the entire operation to ensure all went well.

We even had a visit from Stigg's brother who skillfully manoeuvred the truck into the tightest of angles in order to impress the drivers.

Some of the Marshall's were sooo impressed by the stiggs driving skills that the St Johns Ambulance had to rest them.

Just for fun, there was a smelly armpit competition between the adjudicators....

Seriously naa... maybe later

Ok serously, Can you guess the safe speed you would need to be driving to have a gap of this distance in front of you?

Whats wrong with this wheel??

Get round a complex course as fast as you can without loosing too much water.

Sue and Ray's Wedding

2009-03-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

8th March was the day that Sue and Ray were married at Parklands in Saffron Walden was the venue.

Parklands is a beautiful house set in the countryside about 15 mins north of Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire.

Here are a couple of teasers from the day

Parklands has many beautifully decorated rooms making ideal photographic backgrounds, This makes the photographers life a lot easier.

A picture tells a thousand words, This shot was totally unexpected as we were told that a member of the family has arranged for two doves to be set free immediately after the ceremony, Not bad considering the set up time.

I would like to give a special thank you to all the guests that brave the cold winds so that Sue could have a group shot ourside. well done guys

Any then of course the main attraction at any wedding .....the PARTY

Samson & Rosevita wedding at Waltham Abbey Church

2009-02-25T05:33:00.000-08:00

What can I say, a lovely couple that I photographed in Walthem Abbey Church. At the back of the church there are soe realy nice grounds to work on.

I love this shot of the bridge. The bride was asked to hang back on the bridge so I could Photograph the Groom. I gave some more shots where thier little boy was running in between them.

Happy Christmas everybody ! ! !

2008-12-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Friday 12th December is the last day for Christmas studio orders.

I would like to thank all of the people that I have worked with over the past year.

This has been a frantic couple of days. A young lady phoned me in a panic yesterday as she could not find anything to buy her mother for Christmas, as I had a special offer on the website and it was Christmas I agreed to visit her at her grandmothers house with the new mobile studio set and shoot her sister and brother. In the space of an hour the job was done.

The second part of the agreement was that I had agreed to enhance and place the photographs on a CD slideshow and get the package back to her in time for her to wrap it and put it under the tree for Christmas day.

The price of this package was £10.00 yes that right, that's the price that was advertised and that's the price that was paid, even on Christmas eve.

New studio equipment

2008-12-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dove studio has now invested £1000's in new state of the art mobile studio equipment so that customers can relax in their own home or local venue and have studio quality photographs taken of their loved ones, This seems to be particular popular with children who are shy and act more natural in their home surroundings.
I will still go outdoors when we have the good weather as I find photography in natural light so much more pleasing.

Dove Studio freephone

2008-12-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

Any client that wishes to make a lengthy phone call to discuss their wedding arrangements can now do so in the comfort that they will not be charged for the phone call.
It is a initiative that has been put togather in conjunction with yell.com
I feel that if i can offer a better service to customers by supplying a freephone service. This is just one in many ways that I intend to push the customer services boundarys that little further than everyone else.
As always anyone can contact me by the landline or mobile or they are burning the midnight oil they can always leave a message on the site and i will return the call as soon as I open the email in the morning.

Dove Studio launches a wedding photographer service to the UK

2008-11-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Dove Studio is proud to announce that we are now taking bookings for weddings in 2009 in the Hertfordshire, Essex and Cabridgeshire area. We will be travelling further distances in the future as word spreads.

Dove wedding & portrait photography has been set up with the customer in mind, with very competitive prices and absoloutly no compromise on quality or service Dove Weddings will be working very closely with future brides and grooms.

I have had a small but successful history of photographing weddings in the past and I am now looking forward to showing the nation how talented and creative I can be.

If you need reminding of the website its http://www.dovestudio.co.uk/ Please visit me and feel free to post your comments on this Blog.