‘Three photographers, two cameras and a glorious Cornish beach’ …

‘Three photographers, two cameras and a glorious Cornish beach’ … Olivia’s style of photography and post production is eye catching. Her work is captured and presented in a way that immediately allows you to imagine what is possible, as in enjoying the luxury of having your very own family favourite framed print, take centre stage in your home. Simon and I have known of, and respected Olivia and her work for a few years. As colleagues, we’ve worked in the same industry here in Cornwall but despite this, we had never met. It’s surprising how few photographers meet face to face, simply because we’re all busy attending different weddings over years and years. With a gaping hole in our own family photo album, there was no doubt in our minds, that we would approach Olivia and when we saw her advertising her mini photo shoot packages, it was the prompt we needed to not leave it slip another year. Olivia’s Mini Sessions … perfect we thought … a short and sharp photo shoot experience, producing a handful of images for us to enjoy, in as short a time as possible on the ‘wrong side of the lens’ and before we get any older. In no time at all, Olivia had responded to our enquiry and we were all booked in. The shoot location was confirmed, Gwithian beach .. a white, sandy beach on the North coast of Cornwall which boasts a long seashore and an iconic lighthouse on the eastern end. One of our (many) favourite Cornish spots. We had chosen a date in spring and as the weeks began to fly by, my mind started to wander towards what to wear, how will my hair behave if it’s a little windy, if the weather wasn’t great on the day what backup options would we both need for a nicely styled, wrapped up autumn option … Never mind, there was still a few weeks to go and that would all work itself out nearer the time. I promptly booked a ‘hair up’ appointment for the morning of the shoot which would deal with the hair thing (and make me feel a little more girlie!) and set about starting a little gentle exercise (also to make me feel a little easier when seeing our finished photo in our home every day).

Simon, gave his outfit choices and pre-shoot planning practically no thought at all. At least not until the morning of the shoot. He picked a short sleeved shirt as the weather was nice, ironed it, put it on, turned up, enjoyed the experience and loves the photos. I’m so envious of his ‘lacklustre’ planning, particularly as it seems to work perfectly well! On the day, the weather was great and we had lots of fun at the beach. There was laughter from beginning to end and the experience itself was seamless and relaxed. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Olivia invited us to have some input into which areas of the beach appealed to us as backdrops, which fed into my thoughts once again of .. ‘what background I would like to see on our wall?’ Simon, being a little on the shy side had previously thought that he would become a little self-conscious about being photographed at the beach. A thought he completely forgot about until he was back at the car afterwards, thanks to Olivia’s personable and friendly approach.

Being photographers, we thought we would be an absolute disaster to photograph, simply from over-thinking the technical details but what happened on the day was the complete opposite. We all had a lovely time and we now have the wonderful photos we’ve wanted for years! We both thoroughly enjoyed the fact that we had the day off and knew that Olivia had everything under control. A little part of us had wondered if photographing two photographers much older than yourself would make you self-conscious Olivia but if this had been the case, we weren’t aware of it in the slightest and relished in the opportunity to enjoy your mini shoots just like anyone else. What bliss! We absolutely love the images you have created for us. Partly, for the beautiful images they are but also for the fond memories we have, from our time with you at the beach. The excitement of receiving the images kicked in from the moment we said our goodbyes so receiving the photos a few days later was a really, really great day for us. We’ve looked at them lots and lots since, in the absolute amazement of .. ‘that’s us!’

Our time at the beach flew by and as we navigated, chatted and laughed our way from the seashore to the rocks and on to a large pool left by the tide, you created a beautiful collection of very personal images for us to enjoy. The session was so easy and comfortable and if we can lose ourselves in the self-indulgence of having beautiful, private photographs of us for just a moment, I can absolutely say without hesitation, that these images are some of the most precious possessions we have as a celebration of all things us, at this time in our lives. Thank you Olivia xx