Brian Harte People Photographer

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This year I was invited again to take the official party photographs for the Ilkley Candlelighters fund raising Ball at Rudding Park.

The Ilkley Candlelighters raise funds throughout the year in order to purchase equipment and fund treatment of children suffering from cancer.

The Ball a glamorous event and the committee set the benchmark high.

It’s a time to let your hair down, enjoy the entertainment and of course raise money for a great cause too.

There was a lot of balloons and it quickly became a sport to let them off cause as much mayhem as possible!

Auctioneer Jon Hammond whipped up the crowd in to a frenzy.

with bidding war’s for star prizes happening all around me…

Dancing seemed to be a major theme on the evening

with even a little dancing on the tables going on

The year the band was The Bogus Brothers who were a real party band!

As well as the band in The Radcliffe Room there was more entertainment including casino, multiplayer wii racing and pitch & putt

One of my favourite shots from the evening was an in love couple cuddling and laughing.

In total the night raised over £36000. I donated a prize to the auction which helped raise £800.

Along with taking the photos from the ball I also take the photographs which are used in the brochure to show the good work of the charity. Two of the photos from last year are now used on the main Candlelighters website.

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Last year I took Mike and Rowena Rogers wedding photographs at The Hospitium in York.

This year I sent them a sample of the photographs as a thank you for being wonderful co-ordinators and venue hosts. Looking through my web statistics I noticed a lot of visits from The Hospitium website and was pleased to find that they liked the photos so much they are now using them to advertise the venue!

The two photos they chose to use are Mike and Rowena walking through a glade of trees and Rowena chatting with friends at the reception….

There will be more of Mike & Rowena’s photos to come.

The Ilkley Candlelighters 2009 Ball photos at Rudding Park are now online and a contribution from every order will go to the Candlelighters fund.

The photos can be found at http://brianharte.jambino.com with the password candlelighters2009

Thank you to Andrew McMillan, wedding photographer in Crawley Sussex, who has sent me his photos to place online alongside mine. Andrew has been giving his time to the Candlelighters photos for 14 years and has handed me the reigns after moving down to Crawley.

Thank you Andrew for your help on the night and I’ll hold you to your promise of a guest appearance at the ball in the future!

On Saturday 9th May I dusted off my suit and bow tie (dusted off from all the building work I have been having done lately!) for the annual Ilkley Candlelighters Charity Ball. The Ilkley Candlelighters are a local charity who each year raise thousands of pounds in support for the regional centre for the treatment of cancer in children.

The committee worked hard through the year to make Saturday a night everyone will be talking about for a long time to come.

This years theme was magic and along with magic I also much fun and dancing.

It was hosted at Rudding Park in North Yorkshire, a popular venue for functions and weddings. The committee had spent most of Friday and Saturday morning preparing the table decorations and magic table surprises and as you can see they did a stunning job.

The famous 80′s psychedelic rock band Doctor and the Medics headlined the event.

and even The Doctor commented on the great atmosphere of the event…

As well as raising money the night was a reason to let your hair down and have a bit of fun

My final shot of the night was of Sarah and friends. Sarah, along with her many other roles for the charity, runs the Ilkley Candlelighters website.

Earlier on in the year I made a trip to St James Hospital in Leeds to take the photographs of the children for the Candlelighters brochure. I also donated a prize to raise money on the night.

If you would like to be involved, become a sponsor or make a donation to the charity The Candleighters would love to hear from you.

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The Ilkley Candlelighters 2009 Ball photos at Rudding Park are now online and a contribution from all orders will go to the Candlelighters fund.

The photos can be found at http://brianharte.jambino.com with the password candlelighters2009

…and popped the question myself, she said yes (after a stunned pause) and now I can look forward to planning my own wedding!

I had the ring ready and had spent a few weeks looking around for just the right one. Eventually while looking at engagement rings on the web I stumbled upon Serendipity Diamonds who specialise in engagement rings.

Here is a photograph of the one I chose…

I was having a romantic break at a romantic cottage in Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire, owned by a Peter & Helen Massey who chose me to take their wedding photos in 2007. When I told Helen the good news she told me her good news, a baby girl and now I’ll be taking her Christening photos this summer!

Now, who do I get to do my wedding photos???…….

In March, The Photographer magazine ran a 6 page profile on me and my photography style. I had a great chat with the journalist and was open and candid throughout the interview. As a result I think they capture me on that day well.

Here is the article reproduced with kind permission.

Brian Harte profile – The Photographer magazine March 2008 edition [PDF]

Photobox asked me if they could feature me on their site and I gladly agreed.

If anyone doesn’t know who Photobox are they started in 2001 offering photographs printed and delivered over the web and now have 2 million UK members.

Not only do they print the photos but they serve as a storage space for your photos and your friends and family can log in and order their own copies should they want to.

It was really nice to be asked if they could feature me and a screenshot of the webpage can be seen below.

It seems my gamble paid off

Today I was awarded an Accolade of Excellence at the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International competition in Las Vegas.

I couldn’t stay for the awards ceremony as I had to be back in Yorkshire to shoot a snowy wedding so I’ll have to wait for my Certificate to arrive. It won’t be quite the same receiving it in the post…so maybe I’ll throw a party as I also turned 30 while in Vegas!

It was a big shock coming back from 28c vegas to -3c snowy and windy Yorkshire but I had a great wedding of a young couple to shoot so it made the transition a little easier.

Spread the word….I’m now an International Award Winning Wedding Photographer.

Some of you may already know that near the end of last year I won a photography competition at the national British Professional Photography Awards, held in Newcastle. The prize was a trip to Las Vegas to enter the “world championships” for portrait and wedding photography at the WPPI.

I had taken a break from blogging at the time and hence I didn’t write about it but I’ll write about it shortly.

Unfortunately I have to leave Las Vegas on the morning of the Awards a I have a wedding I can’t afford to miss. I wont find out the results until I get back to England and I’ll let you know if I win an award.

There are 3 things to do in Vegas (4 if you’d like an Elvis Wedding).

1. Eat, and I mean eat! I will be hitting the cross trainer when I get back.

2. Shop, which I have done a lot of….especially Abercrombie & Fitch which has become my new favourite shop. I also bought some Raybans because they are cool, but mainly for the 10 year old in me that wants to be Tom Cruise in TopGun (I am showing my age now).

3. Gamble. I didn’t have time to take the free lessons in gambling and not wanting to hitch my ride home to the Yorkshire so I decided to keep my gambling to a minimum by entering a photograph in to the Wedding category…my little gamble in Vegas.

A photo of me having fun in the M&M store.

I had the pleasure of being asked by wedding photographer Andrew Mcmillan (Keighley) to help him out on taking the wedding photography of Charlie Hodgson, the England Rugby Union star.

Andrew was having difficulty being in two places at once so I covered Charlie’s shots while Andrew photographed Charlie’s beautiful bride Daisy Hartley getting ready. Charlie and Daisy were married at Yorkshire’s Bolton Abbey next to the River Wharfe.

Here is a photograph of Charlie and Daisy as they walked back down the aisle as a married couple.

Charlie and Daisy had been planning a honeymoon at The Peebles Hydro Hotel in Scotland but had to put their honeymoon on hold after Charlie recovered from a long term knee injury and was selected for the World Cup training squad.