Portrait Photography By The Sea in Winter

I did a portrait photo session in Llandudno last weekend with Niall Irlam. He and his mum, Gina, go to The Gathering each year, so it gave us the perfect opportunity to meet up. Every year fans of The Alarm descend on North Wales for an amazing weekend of music, and this was the 26th year in succession the event has been held.

The weather was cold, wet, windy and bitterly cold, so poor Niall had to put up with me directing him, but he was a real trooper not complaining once. The overcast skies actually made for a interesting backdrop to the photos.

Once we moved back inside the venue, I took a photo of Niall with the bowel cancer tie by the merchandise. I wonder if he knows that most members of The Alarm have posed for photos with this very same time...

The portrait photo sessions are available to order on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website. There are two packages. A standard one for £25 or the deluxe version for £35. All proceeds raised are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. My Mum passed away in 2016 following a 4 year battle with bowel cancer involving five major operations, and she remained dignified, determined and courageous throughout. Bowel cancer is the 2nd highest cancer killer in the UK, but if caught early it can be successfully treated in 90% of cases. Raising awareness and improving the early detection rates is vital in the fight against this awful illness.

A Wedding in North Wales

Rich & Ceri Starkie-Roberts

I didn't think when I started offering the portrait photography sessions that I would end up doing a wedding! A few months ago Rich & Ceri contacted me, and asked if I would do their wedding photographing in Llandudno. They had arranged their wedding day to coincide with The Gathering, the annual weekend where fans of The Alarm come together from around the globe to see Mike Peters and the band. I didn't want them to give me anything, but they wouldn't allow that, and kindly made a very generous donation to my fundraising for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the whole weekend was superb making it a great start to their married life.

As we enter the final weeks of winter, now is the time to think about maybe booking up a portrait photography session for the spring. There are two options, the standard or deluxe packages. Full details can be found on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website.

The support for all my fundraising from everyone has been quite staggering. Over £3700 raised to date since the Lives & Times fundraising book was published, so the next milestone is £4000. My Mum passed away 18 months ago following a 4 year fight with bowel cancer. All my fundraising is now done in her memory.