20
On my return to England at Christmas I was blessed to have my old friends from various parts of the world come to my home in Shipton Oliffe, in the Cotswold Hills. To those of my American followers, the Cotswolds are a beautiful, must-see area two hours west of London. To give you an idea of where I grew up, here's a satellite image. That's the village, just in between the sheep, the cows and the combine harvester:
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Anyway, I digress. So my good friend Tom and his lovely lady Michelle came along (with among 10 others) for my 30th birthday a couple of days before Christmas and announced they are now engaged! Cool news! Tom and I met in 1997 when we first went to University in Swansea, Wales. We (and most of the other people at said party) were all in 'halls' (that's student accommodation) on the same floor. Years later we still lived together and as our friends drifted off to get married or settle in with their ladies, the bachelors Tom and I were left in our house in Balham, often twiddling our thumbs, or more often than not eating fried breakfasts. One afternoon we were headed into Shoreditch (trendy part of East London) for a few beers for a birthday and to cut a long story short, the (at that time unknown) Michelle turned up with our friend from uni, Holly. The rest is history and they now live in Sydney, Australia.
They are getting married near to where Michelle grew up in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (that's a few hours north of London - everything is always in reference to London, its just easier). So I'm going to be shooting their day in August and very much looking forward to getting back into a UK wedding with all the hats, fascinators, wild partying and hopefully the odd pork pie, which Melton is so famed for. If you've never had one, the next time you're in a good deli, go looking for one - they are very, very tasty.
Anyway, here's a few photos of Tom and Michelle taken on Christmas eve during / after a nice fry up and a cup of tea, oh and a few of Tom from yester-year...
View Larger Map
Anyway, I digress. So my good friend Tom and his lovely lady Michelle came along (with among 10 others) for my 30th birthday a couple of days before Christmas and announced they are now engaged! Cool news! Tom and I met in 1997 when we first went to University in Swansea, Wales. We (and most of the other people at said party) were all in 'halls' (that's student accommodation) on the same floor. Years later we still lived together and as our friends drifted off to get married or settle in with their ladies, the bachelors Tom and I were left in our house in Balham, often twiddling our thumbs, or more often than not eating fried breakfasts. One afternoon we were headed into Shoreditch (trendy part of East London) for a few beers for a birthday and to cut a long story short, the (at that time unknown) Michelle turned up with our friend from uni, Holly. The rest is history and they now live in Sydney, Australia.
They are getting married near to where Michelle grew up in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (that's a few hours north of London - everything is always in reference to London, its just easier). So I'm going to be shooting their day in August and very much looking forward to getting back into a UK wedding with all the hats, fascinators, wild partying and hopefully the odd pork pie, which Melton is so famed for. If you've never had one, the next time you're in a good deli, go looking for one - they are very, very tasty.
Anyway, here's a few photos of Tom and Michelle taken on Christmas eve during / after a nice fry up and a cup of tea, oh and a few of Tom from yester-year...