Yuliya is a creative writer and her ability to connect the reader with how she presents the world in her pieces has been a refreshing and somewhat enchanting experience. Whilst I read her narratives on nature and the supernatural, I immediately felt I could relate what I’m reading to whatever I wanted. I felt light because her form of writing is so easily interpretable. I haven’t read many narratives like hers and I hope I’ll be receiving more in the future. Just a hint here Yuliya ;) 

I met Yuliya during one of the hot and beautiful evenings and we decided we’d choose the local fields and paths for the photoshoot. Strangely, although very close to where I live, I hadn’t been to this part of our estate… There was an idea in mind and we both knew what we wanted to achieve from the images: that warm yet atmospheric look that captures the golden hour light, and of course the expressions to go with Yuliya’s creative writing. 

Looking at the pictures we both feel we managed to capture exactly what we were after: a free spirit enwrapped in natural light. Exactly the way Yuliya’s creative writing is.

June 2021 Update

And we’re back to a looong-awaited (kinda) normal! As the vaccination programme extends now to cover the younger demographic, the wedding rules become more and more clear these days, something we’ve been so keen to see happen this summer. And what a come back it has been! With some engagement shoots as well as weddings already in the oven - that’s my way of saying “editing” btw - I’m very keenly awaiting to shoot more this summer.  Keep an eye out on those stories on the blog. And, as always, if you’re here and looking for documentary wedding photography, let’s chat! Click here to ask your question.

For official rules and government updates, click here.

2020 Blog entry

It’s fair to say that COVID-19 and the lockdown measures have initiated a new norm that we try our best to apply in our day to day lives. As of the 4th of July, the wedding industry has been restarted with the new rules issued by the government. I’m listing these below and also describe how venues will be taking them on board to provide their service. 

 From the 4 July, marriage and civil partnership ceremonies in England and Wales are allowed to go ahead. 

Only venues which are able to support social distancing are encouraged to host ceremonies and no more than 30 people may attend (including officiants, photographers and the couple) and everyone must observe social distancing, standing one or two metres apart. 

If either of the couple getting married have symptoms of Covid-19 the ceremony should not go ahead. 

If anyone who was planning to go to the ceremony feels unwell they should not go. 

Weddings are encouraged to be as short as possible which means that only the legally binding parts of ceremony and celebration are encouraged to go ahead. 

It falls on the venue to decide whether the ceremony can happen safely, but the officiant must also agree that it is safe to proceed. 

You won’t be able to eat or drink while getting married unless required for the purposes of solemnisation. 

If you’re exchanging rings all those involved should wash their hands before and after, and the rings should be handled by as few people as possible.
Post-ceremony receptions are not allowed, and only small celebrations of up to two households indoors, or up to 6 people from different households outdoors, are permitted. 

If you’re planning on involving any children in your ceremony, someone should be holding them at all times. 

As water droplets in our breath can spread the virus, there should be no singing, shouting or raising of voices at the ceremony. This also means there should be no loud music which would encourage people to shout over it and any crowd participation during the ceremony should not be done in a raised voice. 

There should be no live instruments that are blown into, or singing to accompany them. 

Seating plans which involve guests sitting opposite each other should be re-worked and measures should be put in place to stop guests from different households touching the same items (such as books or orders of service) or each other’s property. 

If a wedding ceremony is expected to involve washing or submersion in water, this should be done before and not at the venue. 

The government is working on a way in which receptions could go ahead in the future but in a safe way. 

 For full disclosure, the above have been sourced from the Stylist magazine and further read can be accessed via the link here.

I reflect on myself when I look into my 11-year-old son’s eyes. I see him thrive, make friends, challenge his condition and it gives me strength and energy to soldier on. Like he does. Like I never thought I would be able to…

We recently received news that the organisation which was to provide a power wheelchair for Milosz won’t be able to due to inevitable shortages after the COVID-19 pandemic. The wheelchair, as Milosz moves onto secondary school in September is to provide him with independence and let him move by himself. Plus, his old manual wheelchair isn’t suitable for him any more and Milosz is too weak to self-propel himself. 

So then, and as we often do, we decided not to give up and fight for one with the help of family and friends and received an amazing response for which we remain forever grateful! I want to thank everyone and each who donated individually for your amazing generosity and help! Where would we be without you? 

I am so happy we have you and want to give a special mention to Stanley, Milosz’s friend who decided to run his own “gofundme” page in order to raise funds by running a mile per day for the next 26 days. Stanley, you’re our hero! We are so grateful Milosz has a friend in You! Thank You and Your family so very much! 

The power wheelchair Milosz requires costs over £11000 and we’re amazed to see we’ve received over £1000 already. But we must keep going in order to reach our goal. 

If you’d like to help and contribute please note:

I’LL BE TAKING YOUR PHOTOS FOR FREE! 

Whether family, friends or documenting something, I’ll be there to deliver your memories in return for your contributions, which you decide how much they will be.
If you’d like to take up on this offer please get in touch with me by clicking here. And to learn more about Milosz’s condition, his bravery and our fundraiser please click here. 

Thank you all in advance for doing your bit! We send our love and eternal appreciation! 

Yours, 

Michael, Monika, Lena and Milosz. Oh, and Sherman, the dog:) 

Intro 

It’s always somewhat tricky to leave what you’re so used to and jump into something new. This is usually associated with a different learning curve and a set of challenges. And then there comes quality; something one can be either positively or negatively surprised with.
Software is no different and perhaps even more so it serves as a good example of why habits are so difficult to break. So, I’ll talk about the SAAL design software first as I think it’s where we should start looking at the company and praise its efforts for the numerous changes implemented. 

Design Software - choosing the product line and options. 

Upon opening the desktop app for your design you’ll be presented with the logo and then templates to choose your preferred product line: photos, photo-book, wall decors, card, poster/fine art, calendar, photo gifts, sample set, protective wall and finally, business products. All are presented with a clean and attractive preview which radiates good user experience. I liked how clean and minimal yet informative the selection of example photos and graphics are. Thumbs up here! I also like the layout with its left-hand side panel where you can see information about (,at the time of writing this,) the cover-19 delivery as well as ongoing discounts SAAL currently has. Again, lovely, clean, separated by an elegant dark colour, the panel stands out enough yet doesn’t detract from the screen’s overall presentation.
Upon choosing the photobook as the desired project, I’ve been presented with new options, sub-choices if you like, and they are shown in an elegant form with lovely previews of themed covers. I’ve chosen the one from the professional line and decided to go with the 30x30 format. The next screen is one of my favourites. First, it shows all the options for the finish of covers, spreads and pages of your book on one page. A professionally edited and colourful portrait is chosen as an example and it suits the page well thus giving you the impression you’re about to design a quality product. My choices have been acrylic and leather cover, leatherback and glossy paper. Normally I choose matte paper for my photographs and I’m happy with the execution from my usual photo books provider, therefore, I wanted to see how the glossy option pans out. I did read a recommendation of another photographer being happy with the glossy option and decided I’ll try it myself on photographs I shot in Iceland during my recent trip in February.
The final screen before moving onto the actual design would please those who prefer a quick option of the designer completing the spreads for them. You can decide to choose between three: an empty layout, where you’ll be designing the book yourself, a one-minute photo book where templates are applied and finally an auto-fill option where you can see your photographs being filled onto the pages via an intelligent assistant. I’ve decided to choose the one-minute photo book to see how the auto layouts work, to test them if you like. Plus, this option still gives me the opportunity to adjust spreads if I’m not happy with them. Moving onto the next screen in the designer, you can choose styles and they’re great if you’re new to photo book designs or do not have time to create extra graphics to adorn your book. For my project, I go with “simple”, basic as I want my images to stand out clean against the white pages. 

Layouts/filling in pages and text editor 

At first glance, the layout of the designer might seem overwhelming, especially to those who aren’t familiar with photo books design. However, all the options and elements of the UI are visible and I find them all necessary. I think that what we see is actually very useful and the positioning of the blocks makes sense, too! As usual, the organisation part sits conveniently on the left-hand side of the screen with the top panel being occupied by the tools and options. Everything is nicely separated by thin lines which unclutter the layout. The middle and main part of the screen is, of course, your book and it has enough white space around it to focus on properly. Finally, the right-hand side includes options for the layout types depending on how many images you’d like to place on the spreads. I find this feature extremely helpful and actually one of the most frequently used as I always put my layouts based on personal preferences. Thus, this option made it super easy.
Text is edited with the addition of a text editor which is also very intuitive, responsive and handy to use. The number of options and fonts are good, with good preview. Now, I don’t usually like to compare products naming better and worse ones but if you have ever used Blurb’s text editor and wanted to pull your hair out simply because of its quirkiness and inability to adjust to how you actually want things to look, then worry no more. Saal’s text editing is done just right and I have no complaints here.

Features I didn’t use
Located on the right-hand side you’ll find “Articles”, “Layers” and “Clipart”. As much as I appreciate the option of having the latter, I didn’t use it and I can’t think of a scenario in my professional delivery where I would. Perhaps an album from a children’s birthday party? Still, they’re there if you want them. We then have the “Articles” and “Layers” and although I didn’t “use” them I actually like that these options are there as they allow you to adjust your final finish and select extra options such as an elegant box set which I really must praise Saal for. To say the least, they match my usual professional printing lab for their quality and if anyone is looking for an extra elegant touch, they should consider this option. I recommend it. Preview 

The preview button is easily visible and conveniently located on the top. Upon clicking it initiates the preview of your final design and as with any other software, it ensures to give you exactly the product you’re about to order. Scrolling through the pages is easy and it’s done with the use of left-right buttons with the “deactivate preview” button placed in the top left. What I like is the overall conclusion and house style design of the user interface which carries onto the preview process and thus feels consistent. This isn’t difficult to use, clogged and buggy software I’ve had an experience with when designing albums with other brands. Saal’s is clean and pleasant to use and although I won’t be switching to it anytime soon due to my long and well-established successful relationship with my current printing lab, I would recommend them if you’d like to try out something new, especially in the design process of things. Plus, the quality of the finish is actually very good indeed! 

Quality of the final product 

 As mentioned above I’ve decided to go with leather and acrylic finishes for the cover and leather for the back. I chose black as my colour for the photobook as I wanted to match it to the photographs from Iceland I came back with at the end of February. And because the photographs are often moody, gritty and portray Iceland in a somewhat mystical manner, I thought it’d be a good idea. It was, however, an experiment and you never actually know until you run a test print. I’m glad I did choose the finish and the colour mentioned as the final photo0book which arrived in just under 2 weeks (, due to the current pandemic situation,) actually surprised me in a very positive way. The materials feel and are solid with good touch responsiveness to them and I’m guessing they’ll last. At least that’s my first impressions.
Onto the pages and the choice of paper. I also experimented with this and I’m glad to say I’m not disappointed with the quality the glossy paper provides. I can’t speak for another line of Saal photo books but I can say with my hand on heart that the pages and print quality are amazing! I wasn’t expecting this and actually when investigating the pricing offered by other printing labs, Saal is both competitively placed and better on the quality front. Greatly impressed by the paper here, the sheen on the finish as well as the lay-flat option which can be executed badly sometimes.

Final thoughts
So the question is “Is SAAL’s new line of products worth it?” Absolutely! And again, although I’m solidly placed and tied by a very good relationship with my printing lab, I wouldn’t mind recommending SAAL services to photographers both professional and enthusiasts who want to try something new and premium. The quality of the products is great, the design process intuitive and communication with the support, if needed, very good indeed. What’s not to like? 

 With huge thanks to SAAL for letting me try their new pro-photo book product line.

Michael,

Wedding photographer

You can try SAAL Digital products and services by clicking here.

It’s hard to think it was so normal and easy to get out there and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee, a trip to a cinema, a stroll with our kids and a dog or simply go for a drive. We miss it a lot as I’m sure many do.
On the flip side, we embrace Cover-19 lockdown situation and discover our kids’ worlds, something we would otherwise miss rushing and trying to make ends meet. 

Every day I remind myself how busy we are (, or should I say, have been not that long ago,) and I try my best to reconnect with the loved ones: friends and family, to re-establish and strengthen connections with people I’m guilty of taking for granted.
My family and I are already starting to talk about ”now” as if it was some kind of an event in history, like a UFO landing, when things were strange and you weren’t able to do stuff you’d normally do. This helps and steers them away from the horrible news we hear every day. And I think we’re getting better at being together, stronger, more appreciative of each other. 

 I really hope all of you out there, both in Market Harborough and beyond, stay safe and take advantage of these times to discover new things or re-discover some that were lost in the rush of an every-day carousel and juggling tasks. This situation will end. Imagine how great it’ll be again knowing you got there safe and sound with new bonds.
We know we will. 

Stay safe everyone! 

Michael