We had a gorgeous lab puppy in the studio a few months ago and the shoot was lots of fun. Sparky kept on bouncing over to me and sitting on my lap, which wasn't very useful but incredibly cute!

After Sparkie's crazy half hour, we turned down all the lights and wrapped him up in our fluffy blanket. He slowly calmed down and thats when we got our favourite image. We submitted it to the Pets section of the SWPP International print competition and was awarded a gold merit. It will go through to the final at the end of the year to compete for Pet Photographer of the Year.

Its the first picture displayed below, but I have also included some other great moments from the shoot.

Hannah

One of my recent weddings at the Berystede Hotel in Ascot saw a fantastic turnout (150 guests).

The Bride and Groom had a great sense of humour and after seeing a sample piece at our studio, requested our pop-art style montage of all the groomsmen and all the hen-night girls, which we gladly sorted. We got some fantastic faces from everyone involved and it made a really great memento of the day.

We also got some great shots of the Groom in his mates Aston Martin DB9 (who generously volunteered it for a few photos). This proved a very popular moment in the day with a lot of the lads (and me!) and the Groom got to take it for a little drive too. Fantastic Day!

Hannah

I didn't know if the bride could pull it off - keeping the wedding day a secret for just under a year, but she managed to do it!

Pete, the groom, thought he was just having a 40th birthday party until he was called in the morning (he had been convinced to go out with the lads the night before his birthday) to say that he had to get to the Registry Office to get married!

He said that he was absolutely stunned, but so so happy - I really wish I had been there to get a photo of that first reaction! I did get the first moment they met at the registry office though, which was lovely!

Here are a few photos from the day of Julie, Pete and the kids.

This was a great wedding at Tynley Hall in Hook. The day went perfectly as the rain held off for all the outdoor shots.

Chris, the groom, told me towards the end of the night that they had decided just three weeks before to choreograph something for there first dance. I caught them practicing their moves a couple of times, and the bride even changed into socks for the event! They needn't have worried as they were great.

A great part for me was at the end of the night with a modern barn dance called a 'Ceilidh'. It really got everyone up together dancing and caused loads of laughter as the whole group were learning the steps. Once they got it down, I got some brilliant dancing pictures!

Kat

One of our recent weddings was at the beautiful Chiswick House in London. The Grooms large Italian family perfectly matched the Italian inspired architecture.

We set up a unique group shot utilising the large pillars at the front of the house. We also made good use of the large gardens and grand interior of the house for the bride and grooms shoot. The small details of the whole wedding really came together to create some stunning photographs!

Kat

Our other Wedding on 7th June was at the beautiful Runnymede Hotel and Spa situated right on the Thames. We all got to enjoy fantastic weather on the river banks and the ushers had some fun threatening to throw the groom into the river!

The bride and groom were really up for trying something different and trekked out of the hotel into some nearby long grass for some really lovely shots, despite the grooms (and my) hay fever!

Hannah

One of our weddings on 7th June 2008 was at the beautiful Aldermaston Manor, Berkshire. The couples theme was 'British'. This included arriving in a vintage Morris Minor, a cake made completely of cupcakes topped with a Union Jack flag and all this hosted in a classic English country house.

The cupcakes were a big hit (I know I loved mine - thanks Claire!), even though one of them managed to get all over the grooms face by the end of the evening!

Kat

As a surprise for the dad's 60th birthday, this family came down from London to do a shoot. We started off with some really casual relaxed family poses, but then the daughter really wanted to try out some dancing photos! They turned out brilliant - got some great laughs and great poses out of them.

Right at the end the son wanted to do a couple of model shots - as he'd been working on his abs! The dad, also wanted to get in on these and do a couple of Samuel L Jackson poses with his kangol hat!

Kat

This was one of those weddings that we knew would be something different from the beginning! Lisa and Jez had hired out a luxury villa in Ibiza for their friends and family to come and celebrate their special day with them.

It was great fun to photograph - so many beautiful locations and backdrops, and one of the rare opportunities Hannah and I get to shoot a wedding together. It was a really busy day with lots of running around - climbing on the villa roof and avoiding the pool!

The whole day had a really chilled out, relaxed feel and the photos definitely show what a great time everyone had. We were so excited about the images we had edited half of the wedding by the time we flew back the next day!

Hannah and Kat

Luckily we were blessed with sunshine for our Open day on Saturday 26th April, resulting in a steady flow of adults and children through the Studio doors.

Inside there was a hive of activity where visitors enjoyed seeing retouch demos - especially discovering the secret of how the Bassett Hounds ears stand on end! In the Studio children had fun making faces at the camera and being able to take their own photos.

Our gallery of new work received much admiration - especially our latest contemporary, iluminated range.

So the Open Day was a great success in re-launching the business and generating awareness in the area that Artis Studios is here and ready!

Rowena

Back in December last year we collaborated with 'Your Berks & Bucks Wedding' magazine to run a competition where one lucky couple would win one of our wedding photography packages.

After being inundated with entries the lucky winners, Lisa and Paul, recently got married at the beautiful Northcote House. There are great locations both inside and outside for some lovely couple shots, and even with the weather against us took full advantage of this!

Kat

My wedding on 12th April 08 took me to the sunny beaches of Kent. The bride and groom had previously got married at the Ice Hotel in Sweden so were having a blessing at the gorgeous St Leonard's Church in Hythe.

After braving -30º temperatures in Sweden, a windy day on the beach in Kent was nothing! The Bride's fearless attitude mixed with dramatic clouds and wind, meant we could get some really amazing shots!

They later had an idea to get a shot queuing for ice cream (despite the cold temperatures). We persuaded a few passers by to appear in the shot which made for a comical image!

Both the bride and groom were fantastic. They were really up for getting some great photos and the ice cream was a nice touch (despite the bride being lactose intolerant)!

Hannah

These are a few pictures from a recent wedding reception at Basingstoke County Hotel. We were very lucky with the weather as although it looked set to rain just as Georgina and David left the church, the sun actually came out for some lovely church picture.

It did start to rain at the reception, but fortunately at the hotel there was this gorgeous glass hallway, and they had laid down the red carpet especially! It worked really well for some lovely bride and groom and wedding party shots - even managed to get a big group shot in there!

Kat