Happy Half New Year! That’s right; half a year is already gone. It’s going to be Christmas soon, at this rate. My Half New Year resolution is to blog more, so here is a timely post about Wimbledon.

As you probably know, our studio is based in Wimbledon. For two weeks, every year, Wimbledon becomes the centre of the sporting universe (unless of course it’s a World Cup year). Tourists are everywhere and the true Wimbledonians try to avoid the centre of town like the plague. James and I are going to brave the crowds on Friday, when we’re going to queue for tickets. It’s our fifth wedding anniversary and we want to have a picnic on Murray Hill. Wish us luck.

Julia Boggio Studios has recently formed a partnership with our local David Lloyds. Being so close to Wimbledon, this David Lloyds has a strong tradition of tennis talent. People move to Wimbledon from all over the world to take advantage of the amazing coaches at our David Lloyds.

We have a number of exciting projects coming up with them. One of our first was photographing their tennis pros in action. Of course, while we were photographing them, James and I were propositioned for taking tennis lessons, so guess what our new hobby is? I’m happy to report that I am kicking James’ butt in the tennis stakes (then again, I played tennis when I was young and James has picked up a racket about 6 times, so perhaps I need to give him some time to ripen).

In honour of Wimbledon, here are just a few of the shots we’ve taken of some of the pros.

Last year I had the pleasure of photographing Dhafer L’Abidine (pronounced Thaffa), one of Tunisia’s best exports. You’ll have the pleasure of meeting him, too, in the much-awaited sequel event of the year, Sex & The City 2. We spoke with Dhafer to find out where he’s been, where he’s going, and why you should never park your car near his garden fence.

JB: What made you want to be an actor?

DL: I have always been interested in acting and films. After I stopped playing professional football I started looking for ways to become involved in film and TV productions. I started working as a trainee assistant director to learn about the business. My first acting jobs were in commercials and then in an Italian film filmed in Tunisia. After accumulating a few acting experiences, I wanted to learn more about acting so I decided to go to England to study.

In the beginning it was difficult since I spoke only a little English, so my first challenge was to learn the language. After that, I joined one of the leading drama schools in England, the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, where I completed my acting studies.

JB: What was your first big break?

DL: Before leaving drama school, I auditioned for the Sky TV series ‘Dream Team’ and was offered a two-year contract playing the captain of the team, French footballer Marcel Sabatier.

JB: Do you find that being multi-lingual comes in handy with acting?

DL: Of course, it gives me more opportunities to work internationally and it also gives me the option to play characters from different nationalities. Beside working in England for the past eight years, I have been involved in Middle Eastern, North African and European productions using my Arabic and French.

JB: In your showreel you have a good mix of comedy and drama. Which do you prefer?

DL: Every project brings a new challenge and I enjoy the variety, which comes from alternating between comedy and drama.

JB: Do you have a favourite project you have worked on in England?

DL: I have a lot of affection for ‘Dream Team’ as it was my first show here and a fun cast. I really enjoyed working on ‘Spooks (MI5)’, ‘Wire in the Blood’, ‘The Whistleblowers’ and also being part of the BAFTA award-winning ‘Mark of Cain’.

JB: We’ve heard you called the Arabic Brad Pitt. How did this come about and would you say that is a fair comparison?

DL: For the past two years I have been involved in a TV series in Tunisia called ‘Maktoub’ which has a massive cult following. Comparisons to other actors are made which are flattering, but it’s not something I focus on.

JB: Has being a celebrity in Tunisia changed your life?

DL: The attention of the public shows that they appreciate my work, which gives me great satisfaction. However, I don’t choose to live a celebrity lifestyle and I enjoy having my private life.

JB: Do you get a lot of fan mail?

DL: I receive mail, which I try to reply to where possible. There are also a few Facebook fan sites, which have been set up by fans themselves, but I don’t use these to interact.

JB: You hosted “Prince of Poets” in Abu Dhabi. What is it?

DL: Poetry is highly respected in the Middle East and the Arabs are incredibly proud of their history and the classical Arabic language. ‘Prince of Poets’ is a TV reality show where contestants from all the Arab countries compete by delivering their own compositions on any chosen subject. I was invited to host the live show every Friday evening for ten weeks. The average audience was 20 million per show. It was a great experience and I enjoyed being part of such a successful and popular programme. I also enjoyed being in Abu Dhabi and I have some very good memories from my time there.

JB: How do you think that a programme like this would go down in the UK?

DL: I don’t know how a poetry show would be received here in the UK, but the same format of show is very successful with the likes of ‘X Factor’ and ‘American Idol’ which use music rather than poetry.

JB: What do you love about living in the London?

DL: London is one of the most vibrant cities in the world and I love its cultural diversity and richness. For film, TV and theatre productions, London is the place to be.

JB: What’s next for Dhafer L’Abidine?

DL: I have just completed filming my role in a series for Sky TV in South Africa called ‘Strike Back’ and I’m currently filming on “Sex and City 2’ which takes me to New York and Morocco. I have a few projects due for release early next year.

Some fun facts about Dhafer

What makes you happy?  Being surrounded by the people I love and enjoying my work

What makes you upset? Injustice

Two words to describe your character? Perseverance & passion

Qualities you wish you had  Organization when it comes to tax returns! (it makes me anxious thinking about it)

What would you do if you weren’t an actor? Sportsman

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Collecting dirty glasses in a pub when I was a student

What would your dream job be? A film with action, comedy, romance, horror, sci-fi and of course a multi-million pay cheque!

Who would you most like to work with? The list is long, but I think Al Pacino would be a dream come true

Hidden Talent? Cooking

Something you’re not good at? Driving in England without taking someone’s wing mirror off

Something you did recently that you’re proud of? I managed to paint two things at the same time. Not only did I spray the garden fence a lovely deep brown colour, but I managed to spray the neighbour’s silver BMW the lovely brown colour at the same time. I only realized I had done so when they arrived at the front door to show me my handy work. Who says men can’t multi task?!

Check out Dhafer’s website.

(NOTE: Photographers in the US, please make sure to read my challenge to you at the end of this post.)

I am very proud to tell you a story about my old chemistry teacher, Sr Mary Beth Lloyd, a.k.a. the Running Nun. She was always one of my favourite teachers, even though I sucked at chemistry. She always used to tell me that I’d be sitting on the beach one day and suddenly I’d understand what she was talking about in chemistry class. That never happened, by the way. She also told me I should be a lawyer. Ahem.

Even when I was in high school, Sr Mary Beth was running. Trust me, there is nothing more amusing to high school students than seeing a nun running in full habit around campus. But the great thing about the Sisters of St Lucy Fillipini was that they were always fun and quirky. (I’m not even going to begin telling you the story of the sister who tried to explain the etymology of the F word to us in history class).

After hanging up her Bunsen burner and after a stint working at the Vatican, Sr Mary Beth dedicated herself to helping orphaned children around the world, especially AIDS orphans. She wrote a book called AIDS Orphans Rising, which talks about the daily lives of children whose parents have died, leaving them to fend for themselves. How do they survive? How do they live? There are presently over 25 million AIDS orphans in the world. Left to themselves, these children will grow up uneducated, angry and the perfect targets for radicalization.

So what’s she doing about it? Sixty-one year old Sr Mary Beth has teamed up with Lisa Smith-Batchen (49) to help her run 50 miles in 50 states to raise money to help AIDS orphans. Lisa used to be a track coach at our high school, but that’s the least of her achievements. According to ESPN, she was the first American to win the Marathon des Sables - a 6-day race in the Sahara Desert. She also won the Badwater Ultramarathon twice. She’s raised over $4 million for charity in her running career thus far.

They started running in New Jersey on Monday, April 19 and have already done New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They’ll be tackling Pennsylvania tomorrow. You can view their running schedule here. That’s already 350 miles. It makes my knees ache just to think about it.

My Challenge to Photographers in the USA

Sr Mary Beth and Lisa need your help! They are encouraging people to come out and run with them, or even just to cheer them on. I want you to go a step further. I am asking you to do what you do best and PHOTOGRAPH them. Put the photographs on your blog along with details of how to donate. Get the word out there! This is an amazing cause and we as photographers can do something to help. Aside from donating, this is one way that I can help them out from my new home in the UK. Please send me your links and your stories and I’ll put them up on my blog and Facebook page.

Finally here is some footage of Sr Mary Beth and Lisa on Good Morning America.

Good luck!

On March 28, some of the top wedding suppliers in the UK put on the Absolutely Beautiful Wedding show at Claridges. This SOLD OUT event was brimming with newly affianced brides, their mothers and a groom or two, as well. (Yes, we saw them looking avidly at our Vintage Boudoir images :o)  We’re already looking forward to the next show - coming soon! Here are just a few images from the day. We will also be putting up a little film we made of the event in the near future. Enjoy!

Above: The event was sponsored by Wedding magazine, with editor Catherine Westwood and fashion editor Jenny Swire on hand to talk weddings.

Above: No, this isn’t just an over-eager bride. This is one of Sassi Holford’s gorgeous dresses on display.

Above: Kaz Fernando gives tips on perfect make-up application.

Above: Hayford & Rhodes provided flowers for the event and the Rhodes sisters gave demonstrations in modern flower arranging.

Above: Any self-respecting bride makes a bee-line for Luella’s Boudoir in Wimbledon Village. They offer everything from wedding planning services, to accessories, to bridal dresses and bridesmaid dresses. Go!

Above: A tip for the boys: you can NEVER go wrong with giving the gift of Magpie Vintage. Never. Check out their amazing cufflinks while you at it. I gave a pair to James for his birthday.

Above: The Utterly Sexy Cafe was on hand to talk cakes, catering and vintage china hire. They are catering our upcoming studio opening party. Yippee!

Above: Carrie Bradshaw would approve of anything from Emmy Shoes.

Above: And finally, you can always rely on the boys from Tenors Unlimited to put on a good show.

As you may be aware, I recently did a Vintage Boudoir shoot with Kat from Rock ‘n Roll Bride. Kat and I met last year, when she featured some of my wedding images on her blog. Since then she’s become a friend, as well as a fellow columnist for Photo Pro where she explores the best of blogs across the world.

It was a lot of fun coming up with the ideas for the shoot with Kat. I had one major thing I had to keep in mind when designing the different looks: Kat has brilliant pink hair. This meant either I had to choose backgrounds and outfits that didn’t clash or ones that deliberately clashed. For example, I shot the maid image on a lilac background because it goes nicely with her hair, but decided to shoot the cigarette girl on a red background, which was an intentional “candy clash” as it’s called.

Kat put the images up on her site in mid-January and we were thrilled with the results. The comments were great. Here is a selection of my faves:

“I’m dunking biscuit in my tea, and have just lost most of it whilst looking at these fabulous images.” – Az

“I did a vintage themed boudoir shoot with another photographer but your pics are out of this world!” – Becky Williams

“Spectacular! These are some of the best Boudoirs I’ve seen!” – Jacquelyn

“Yep, the BEST boudoir shots to date. The bar has been RISEN!” -Alison Kelly

You can read more about my shoot with Kat and the art of posing non-professional models in my regular column in Photo Pro magazine in May. In the meantime, here are the images. I hope you like them.

We have been invited to exhibit at the new and fabulous Absolutely Beautiful Weddings show on March 28, 2010 at Claridges. We are obviously thrilled and honoured, as this show redefines exclusive; only 12 of the top wedding suppliers in the UK have been invited. We’ll all be on hand to answer brides’ burning questions about their big day. Sponsored by Wedding magazine, editor Catherine Westwood and fashion editor Jenny Swire will also be available to chat about upcoming trends and to offer wedding planning advice.

This event is going to be different from other wedding shows, which can be overwhelming and impersonal. ABW is all about personal service and having the time to get the information you need to make the best choices for your wedding day. And Claridges offers the perfect location for ABW: luxurious, but not imposing (and if you get a chance, have a hot chocolate while you are there. It is to DIE for!

Other exhibitors include Emmy Shoes, Sassi Holford, Luella’s Boudoir, Tenors Unlimited, The Utterly Sexy Café, Magpie Vintage, Hayford & Rhodes florists, Edwina Ibbotson Millinery (who has no website, but has made hats for Madonna), Chartula stationers, Nicki MacFarlane Bridesmaids, and Kaz Fernando make-up artist. We are definitely in good company!

Also in attendance will be Annabel Beeforth from Love My Dress, a new and exciting blog about all things vintage and wedding. She is currently running a competition to win 2 complimentary tickets to the event. However, if you aren’t lucky enough to win them, you can buy them at www.absolutelybeautifulweddings.co.uk. Tickets are £15 and each ticketholder will walk away with a scrumptious goody bag worth £50. You can make your appointment for either the morning session or the afternoon session and walk around chatting to exhibitors with a soothing glass of bubbly. The perfect way to spend a Sunday, if you ask me!

Wow! Another crazy year is over. In fact, a whole decade has rolled to a close. The first ten years of the 21st century have been exciting, traumatic and life changing for me. At the beginning of the decade I discovered my love of photography and, by the end of it, I’ve grown my business to become one of the top wedding and portraiture companies in the UK. I married the love of my life, an event that accidentally landed us on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in Patrick Swayze’s arms.

On the down side of this decade, there was September 11, which is a day that will be ingrained in my memory forever. I have never cried so hard or felt so much sadness. It has unfortunately become a day that set the political and emotional tone of the 21st century.

Hmmm…this post has taken a bit of a maudlin turn. I’m supposed to be talking about my top ten wedding photography memories of 2009. Let’s start over again…

Welcome to the 2009 Boggies, where I, Julia Boggio, reveal my personal top ten wedding photography moments of the year. I’ve been very lucky to photograph some amazing weddings throughout my career. I’ve decided to start sharing some of my favourite moments and some of the suppliers who helped create those moments. So please grab a glass of bubbly, sit back and enjoy my ramblings.

MOST ADVENTUROUS

There was no contest on this one. Lisa and Neil win it hands down! I could tell from their Sex & the City-style pre-wedding shoot that they would be fun to play with. For ages, I had wanted to do a wedding where I could get the bride and groom jumping on a trampoline. Lisa and Neil were completely up for it, but, unfortunately, couldn’t get their hands on one before the big day. They really did try! So imagine my delight when I pulled up to the bed & breakfast they had booked me into and saw a huge trampoline in their front garden. Score! The owners were more than happy for me to bring Lisa and Neil back for a bit of bridal bouncing.

They also indulged my group photo idea, which was based on a film set. The idea was that Neil would be the director and the groomsmen would be fighting over the bride. I brought all the props with me except the Chihuahua (stage left in bridesmaid’s arms).

FYI the bride is wearing Caroline Castigliano. You can read more about this wedding in Bride’s magazine next year.

MOST INSPIRED MUSIC CHOICE

As you would expect, I’ve been to a lot of wedding ceremonies. Nothing in all my years made me smile and tap my toes as much as Steve and Louise’s wedding at Babington House. They hired the ACM Gospel Choir to sing during their ceremony. If you haven’t been to the chapel at Babington House, it’s a small, intimate chapel (where the vicar won’t let the photographer to the front of the church, but that’s another story). As the choir started to sing, it brought all the guests to their feet, singing along and clapping their hands. It truly was a joyous occasion and I couldn’t help but feel completely uplifted by it.

In a close second, I have to mention Nadene and John, who hired Chas from Chas and Dave to play at their pub-based wedding. Being American, I had no idea who they were, but I will never forget all the guests dancing along to the rabbit song.

MOST ENTERTAINING CAKE CUTTING

Personally, I consider the cake cutting to be one of the most anti-climatic moments of a wedding. The couple pose with the knife, I take a few pics, and then they push the knife down a little. The couple always looks at me after as if to say, “Is that it?” Which is why I’ve become an advocate of Cake Smooshing, as I call it. It’s the norm in America, where the newlyweds feed the cake to each other after cutting it. Some couples do it sedately, nervous of getting cake on their clothes; some GO FOR IT! I had three couples this year that happily accepted my suggestion of cake smooshing. All of them WENT FOR IT, but Nick and Chris really take the cake. Ha ha.

When I suggested it to Nick, he said, “Only if Chris says yes,” thinking that there was no way that Chris would have said yes.

Little did he know that Chris already had agreed to it. Enthusiastically. [Insert evil laugh here].

So Nick and Chris win best cake smooshing. FYI Chris is the gleeful one on the left and Nick is the one with cake all over his face.

BEST TRANSPORT

The wedding car is always a big decision. It fits in with the tone of the day and says a lot about the couple and they kind of wedding they want to have. We had a classic 1950’s Chevrolet because I wanted a few American touches at my Wales-based wedding.

There is a two-way tie for this one. I think the top one has to be Nick and Emma. The bride had a long-abiding love of all things green. So they hired a bright green, classic VW campervan. I don’t know exactly who they got it from, but here is a link to the company that James and I hired one from for our holiday in September.

In a close second place is Chris and Charlotte. The funny thing is that they didn’t actually have a wedding car hired for the day. They were getting married in his parents back garden (read more in this blog post). I asked if they had a car so we could go off and do some photos. I didn’t expect much. Thankfully, one of their guests happened to have this immaculate car.

MOST CONCENTRATION WHILE PUTTING ON A RING

I love this photo. I love how the bride’s tongue is poking out of her mouth in concentration as she pushed the ring onto her groom’s finger. This picture of Kevin & Marisa is one of the prime reasons that I think it’s important for photographers to be allowed to the front of the church. I get so angry when celebrants relegate the photographer to the back, as if we are somehow trying to steal the sacred nature of the ceremony. No, we’re just trying to capture heartwarming moments like this for the bride and groom because the day goes so quickly and their memory of that sacred moment is going to disappear if we don’t help them out. Some of my favourite images from my own wedding are from during the ceremony. Okay, climbing down from my soap box now…

Here’s another fun one from their wedding:

BEST MONSOON WEDDING

Although this is an award that I’m sure most brides would hope to avoid, the rain played a real part in the Cardiff-based wedding of Andrew and Rashmi. Both raised in Wales, they still had two different cultures to satisfy at their wedding. On the Friday they held a traditional British wedding in Monmouth; however, there was a real feeling of anticipation from all the guests for Saturday’s Indian celebration.

Never have I seen so much rain on a wedding day. We also did the wedding film and, by the time Simon the Cameraman and I reached the groom’s hotel from where we parked the car, we were soaked through.

We were meeting the groom to capture his processional from the hotel to the Town Hall in the centre of Cardiff. As tradition dictates, he could arrive at the wedding on one of three animals: a horse, an elephant or a tiger. He had never ridden any of them before, but chose the horse nonetheless.

The procession consisted of a band, the groom on his horse, his dancing groomsmen (lots of lightbulbs were screwed in), and the groom’s family and friends.

My favourite part had to be when we were caught at a red light. We patiently waited for the light to change and then continued on our way. When we arrived at the wedding, the women of Rashmi’s family gave Andrew certain traditional gifts, while his crazy groomsmen continued to dance behind him.

And here is Andrew’s beautiful bride, Rashmi, who demurely awaited her prince to arrive on his very wet horse.

YUMMIEST FOOD

My assistant always jokes that her favourite part of weddings is the food. At least I think she’s joking. We work extremely hard on a wedding day, which is why it’s important for us to be well fed.

Sophie and James had a wonderful London wedding in Clerkenwell. They chose Portal, one of their favourite local restaurants, for the reception. The food was amazing, so much so that I brought James back there another time.

Some venues treat the other suppliers who work at their weddings with very little respect or courtesy, which is a real shame because WE PHOTOGRAPHERS MAKE A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS. Portal was lovely to us and took really good care of my assistant and me.

If you go, have the Bisaro. It is to die for.

BEST GROUP SHOT

Those who follow my work know that I love my quirky group shots. The ideas come to me from all sorts of places. I could be watching a TV show or looking through a book…I get my inspiration from all around. Most of them are born with the words, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

With this group shot, I had obviously been listening to Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Louis Armstrong. As an American in Britain, I can’t tell you how many times people sing at me, “You say tomayto, I say tomahto”, etc., etc. I thought it would make a fun group shot. The bridal party, of course, had no idea what I was up to with this one, as the pieces of paper I had them holding were blank. I drew the words in later using Photoshop. Ah, Photoshop. I love you.

Ben and Penny had an amazing wedding at Lulworth Castle. You can read more about their wedding on this blog post. They were also featured in Cosmo Bride earlier this year.

BEST BRIDAL ENTERTAINMENT

It’s not very often when the bride and groom get up to entertain the guests. Chris and Amy, both lovers of swing music, hired the Rat Pack Boys to croon on their big day. They are very dear friends and I love them both dearly, so they won’t mind me saying this: both are tonally challenged. But hitting the notes wasn’t what was important; the guests all loved the fact that they put the effort in and I’m sure that in a few years’ time, it will be the abiding memory for many of them. Chris sang his karaoke stalwart, “That’s Life”, and Amy, who actually took singing lessons to help her hit the notes, sang “Things”.

BEST USE OF ME AS INSPIRATION

What does this mean? I hear you ask. Well, I often get couples who say they’ve seen images that they like that they’d like to try on their wedding day. Andrew and Lisa had loads of images they’d like to try…mostly inspired by images they had seen on my website. We gave each of them their own twist, so that the images were different.

For the Bride and Groom in the window image, they actually went around Brighton beforehand to find a window and ask permission for us to use it. I love that we used Fired Earth and got them in the bath tub. Hilarious.

THEIR IMAGES:

INSPIRED BY:

For the KEEP image, they wanted to involve their best friends in the image. Luckily, the KEEP they found was also in front of a restaurant called FOOD FOR FRIENDS. Happy coincidences…

THEIR IMAGE:

INSPIRED BY:

You can see more images from this wedding on the Rock n Roll Bride website in the New Year.

AND FINALLY…

Yes, I know this is more than ten now, but I wanted to give a mention to my favourite cufflinks of the year. Steve generously got these great Vivienne Westwood cufflinks for each of his groomsmen and I fell in love with them on the spot. So I bought them for James for Christmas!

And now I will leave you to your final celebrations of the year/decade. As I write this, the snow is pouring down outside, there is a cat next to me, and a glass of wine waiting in the kitchen. Here’s to a fabulous 2010 for all of us and may we not be doing the below on January 1.

Check out another one of our real life weddings in the latest issue of You & Your Wedding. Elizabeth & James’ wedding took place at the lovely Highclere Castle, the family seat of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. From my point of view, Highclere has amazing light to photograph by, starting with the room the bride was getting ready in to the ceremony room - a rare treat indeed!

Elizabeth’s inspiration for the colour scheme started with a pair of purple shoes that she saw at LK Bennett. She bought them even before she bought her dress. The colour purple was then used for accents and details throughout the day.

Here are some more images from the day that weren’t in the magazine:

Last night I attended a fabulous women’s networking event, organised by Women Unlimited, a company started by my good friend, Julie Hall. She also happens to run Springmedia and built this website that you are on right now.

I am a big believer in networking because you never know who you’re going to meet. Through networking, I’ve made so many great connections, like Britain’s Next Top Model judge, Louis Mariette. Women Unlimited, in partnership with the British Library, organised last night’s Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Evening in honour of Women’s Enterprise Day. A well-known female entrepreneur headed each of the eleven tables, including Karen Hanton (founder of Top Table), Saira Khan (past Apprentice and founder of Miamoo), Kanya King (founder of the MOBO Awards) and Laura Tenison (founder of JoJoMamanBebe.co.uk). I was lucky enough to sit at Rachel Elnaugh’s table. Rachel was the woman behind Red Letter Days and a former dragon from Dragon’s Den.

Rachel’s story was fascinating and I couldn’t help but admire her as she told it to us. She started Red Letter Days, which was a great idea that caught the imagination of the public. I remember going into WH Smith and seeing the Red Letter Day boxes neatly packaged on the shelves, with the offers of scenic balloon rides or racing days. The idea for Red Letter Days sort of took off at a gallop, leaving the marketing team to catch up. Without even a business plan, Red Letter Days grew to over a £100 million pound turnover business. Then Rachel and her team decided to expand. Within a few years, the company was in £7 million of debt. The company turned insolvent. This all happened, of course, just after she had been on the original series of Dragon’s Den, so the media really dug into her. She had also just had a baby.

It takes a lot of strength to claw yourself back mentally from an episode like this, but Rachel has done it admirably. Now Rachel is a highly successful business coach, mentor and speaker in the SME sector. From the advice she was dishing to the female entrepreneurs at our table, I could see this was a woman who really knew her stuff. She had an uncanny ability to see what each person’s underlying business issue was and suggest a way forward. The markings of a great business coach indeed!

You can read further about Rachel’s story in her book, Business Nightmares. Also, read Rachel’s blog on an evening with Sir Alan Sugar.

If you are a female entrepreneur, I highly suggest signing up for the Women Unlimited newsletter. It’s full of great hints and tips, as well as stories and advice from others.

In my efforts to be a good blogger this week, I am doing a post per day. Do you know how much time it takes to blog? The answer is a lot! First you have to write all the content; then you need to choose pictures, cut them to size and then upload them into the post. I’m feeling masses of respect right now for people who blog all the time.

Anyway, today’s subject is little girls. I find little girls so fun and easy to work with. They love playing dress up, which is great because I have an ever-expanding closet full of cool props and costumes.

As the Mother Goose nursery rhyme goes:
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That’s what little boys are made of.
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And everything nice,
That’s what little girls are made of.

I seem to be going through a sepia stage with children right now. I like how it softens the image, makes it more timeless and really focuses us in on the subject, instead of the colours and other distracting details. Here are today’s blog starlets:

These are a few images of the girl who recently won our Merton Abbey Mill’s Kidsfest photography competition. Each child was given a disposable camera and sat through a quick lesson in photography. After getting them developed, they had to choose an image to put into the competition and explain why they thought it was a good picture. The prize was a shoot in our studio.

To see more, go to www.juliaboggiostudios.com.