Lauren McGlynn Photography

Happy Accidents ~ Rowena In Holyrood Park ~ Diana F+

lauren — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:26:48 +0000

I still need to write the follow up to my last toy camera post, and maybe say a few more things about motherhood and the cakervention.There are so many posts I’d like to write, but Arthur is a little on the high-maintenance side at the moment (as in he is still not keen on napping solo) and there is only so much I can type one handed. Thankfully, editing weddings one handed is perfectly doable, but long expository blog posts not so much. So I’m skipping ahead to these pictures of my friend Rowena because I love them. Rowena is a friend from my former life in Austin, and it was so good to see her and talk to her that when she left I had a wee ache in my chest. I can talk a lot of smack about America sometimes. Watching the political situation unfold over there is sometimes tragic, often terrifying, and always frustrating beyond beliefe, but the truth is that I miss America like crazy. More than I ever thought I could. I miss Americans too. Catching up with Rowena was like a wee taste of home. She’s been living and working in Germany for as long as I’ve been in Scotland, and we marveled over how much we had changed. The roll of film that I shot went a bit funny at the end, but I like the pictures all the same. They feel appropriate to the nostalgia that I felt taking them, and the way that time can erode and shift your memory of things. Know what I mean?

Kerry & Gerry’s Edinburgh Wedding at St Columba’s-by-the-Castle

lauren — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:38:01 +0000

My first wedding of the season and I must say I’m pretty proud of it. Kerry & Gerry made it pretty easy though with their beautiful wedding, and their fabulous taste in everything. They were clearly so happy to be getting married and to be surrounded by all of their nearest and dearest, and their happiness was contagious. Things to note: I LOOOOOVED Kerry’s dress & shoes and she looked stunning in them. Super adorable flower girls! I could not stop taking pictures of them. St Columba’s-by-the-Castle remains one of my favourite venues with such a lovely view out of the back garden. Awesome music with dreamy jazz songs during the reception by Becc Sanderson, and when I left a bumpin’ dance party was underway courtesy of Pin Up Nights. Finally I must mention the FOOD, by Urban Angel. It was to die for. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it either. Delicious. All in all it was a wonderful day, congratulations to Kerry & Gerry!

Venue: St Columba’s-by-the-Castle ~ Make up: Emma Motion ~ Flowers: Rogue Flowers

Cake: Liggy’s cakes ~ Catering: Urban Angel

Music: Becc Sanderson ~ DJ: Pin Up Nights

Edinburgh Wedding Shoot at The Timberyard, A Wee Peek

lauren — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:55:51 +0000

I never would have thought I was a styled shoot kind of a girl, but I did an Edinburgh themed styled shoot last weekend and it was AWESOME. I got to work with Edinburgh’s most talented wedding people, and we all poured a little bit of ourselves into this project. I think the results are fantastic, and I was blown away by all of the talent that went into this. Here is one of the money shots, but there are so many more. So much, much more Edinburgh wedding related pretty to come. You can catch another glimpse over on Kirsty’s blog, and be sure to stay tuned because when the whole thing unfolds I believe it will be different and wonderful and special. We’ll be sure let you know.

Styleing: A Safe Mooring Flowers: I Heart Flowers

Dresses: Rowan Joy Jewelry: Black Box

Makeup: Amy Irving Hair: Milk

Modeling: Kiara (& John) King

Venue: Timberyard

Gerry & Kerry’s Edinburgh Wedding at St Columba’s By The Castle

lauren — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:21:00 +0000

Oh this wedding makes me so happy. It was a perfect start to my wedding season and my new life as an Edinburgh Wedding Photographer. I have photographed a wedding at St Columba’s By The Castle before and it is truly one of my favourite Edinburgh wedding venues. Gerry & Kerry were so lovely and so sweet. Their wedding was so gorgeous with a fabulous cast of vendors, many of whom are my fellow Glasgow Wedding Collective members. I’ll give you all the good info in their full blog post but for now feast your eyes on this very happy couple.

Holga 120N vs Diana F+ ~ Test Shots ~ Edinburgh Wedding Photographer

lauren — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:44:57 +0000

I decided to start taking a Holga and a Diana to weddings with me. Before I just had a Holga (as well as of course my other pro gear) but I found that the Holga often failed, and I was having to buy multiple Holgas each year. My first Lomography camera was actually a Diana F+ and once I finally figured out how to use it I didn’t have nearly as many problems with it. I only switched because I met a girl who told me that the Holga was so much better, and for some reason it also seemed like the camera that “The Artists” were using whereas the Diana was the camera that the hipsters were using, and I wanted to be the real deal now didn’t I? Well five Holgas & way too many unusable rolls of film later I’m reconsidering. I brought both cameras to last weekend’s wedding (come back tomorrow for a preview, it was amazing!) but before that I wanted to make sure that they were in good working order and see if I could tell any difference in the images that they produced. When I first scan the images in they look very different, but when it comes to the final product I personally think that there are differences, but that they are slight. What about you? Can you tell that the pictures in this post were taken with two different cameras?

Then I thought I might resurrect Thursday Tips one last time and show you guys what the images look like coming off the scanner and then give you all of my secret tips that I have discovered through years of trial and error for how to get the most out of your Lomo camera. Anybody interested? Can you tell I miss blogging?

Some Updates ~ My Hasselblad Portrait Project ~ Edinburgh Wedding Photographer

lauren — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:40:10 +0000

I’ve been doing a little spring cleaning around these parts. I updated my front page slide show, my about section, my FAQs, my pricing, and portfolios. Now that Arthur is on the scene I’m cutting back on travel and hoping to shoot most of my weddings in and around Edinburgh. I can still be lured to gorgeous and remote locations if you want to tempt me, but I now charge travel fees.

I never thought that wedding photography packages were the type of thing I’d get excited about, but believe I’ve finally hit upon the right place for my prices and packages to be and I genuinely do feel excited to be offering these services. My basic coverage now starts at £1200, but I’m extra special pleased with package 2 which includes 10 hours of coverage, an engagement shoot, AND a wedding album for the very, very good rate of £1800. Basically I consider package 2 to be the perfect wedding package, and it is the service that I want to provide so I have done my best to price it to be accessible to all of my clients. I think that engagement photos make for a lovely keepsake, and if you’re camera shy they are an excellent way to ease into feeling comfortable in front of my camera and to get to know me (your photographer) before your wedding day. I am also so in love with my new wedding albums that for the first time since I started photographing weddings I actually want people to order an album. I used to hate ordering and assembling my old albums, but the Folio Albums are so gorgeous that they are a joy to design, and I think it’s a shame for you not to have one. Of course if you’d like to go whole hog than there is always package 3, which includes 12 hours of coverage, an engagement shoot, a 2nd shooter, and an even bigger album. The choice is up to you.

Updating my portfolios was fun. It’s always nice to look back at where I’ve been these last few years and all of the lovely couples that I’ve been privileged to meet and photograph. I get an obsessive pleasure out of spending hours painstakingly attempting to create perfect flow within my side scrolling portfolios, so I hope that everyone will check them out and tell me what you think.

Good ‘flow’ was actually the hardest to achieve when I updated my personal work portfolio because of the influx of so many portraits from my Hasselblad portrait project. While I was working on it, I realized that though I did post each model’s shots individually I have never blogged the culmination of all of those shoots. For those that don’t know, a bit over a year ago I put out a request for people to model for me and my then new Hasselblad, and I got a really great response. I took pictures of one of my client’s grandparents, I photographed a few established friends, and made new ones. I even got my husband in on it and he became much less reluctant to let me take his picture. I love that photography can be a vehicle for bonding with people and making friends (this is why I want to do more engagement shoots!) and I truly gained so much more from this project than just the pictures. Though – I think that the pictures are rather nice too

Katie & Peter on A Practical Wedding ~ Edinburgh Wedding Photographer

lauren — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:20:22 +0000

This gorgeous couple is over on A Practical Wedding today. Wordless Weddings are perhaps my favourite way to have one of my weddings featured, but it’s a strange experience to see the images that they choose. They never pick my favourites, and yet the wedding still looks lovely. It’s like seeing it all again through different eyes. If you haven’t seen it already, you can view my edit of their wedding here.

Looking at the pictures it’s strange to think that Arthur was there too, just nine weeks away from being born. Every time a photographer I follow posts a new wedding I feel such a strong pull to be out there photographing weddings again. My next wedding is just shy of two weeks away and I feel a little guilty about how excited I am about going back to work. Serendipitously my first wedding this year will also feature a beautiful pregnant bride, and somehow it feels like coming full circle in a way. So, here’s to diving back in!

Edinburgh Instagrams ~ Edinburgh Wedding Photographer

lauren — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:04:08 +0000

So confession time: I only actually figured out that Instagram is a whole social network unto itself like a month ago. Before that I just thought it was for taking pictures on the go, with quick filters, that you could easily share places like twitter and facebook. While you can do those things, it turns out that Instagram is like a million times more interesting than I first realized, and I have forsaken all other social networks in its favour. I follow some of my best loved peeps there, Cara of course takes gorgeous photos and so does Laura, but I’ve also got sucked into the feeds of complete strangers, as well as National Geographic. My newfound Instagram addiction means that I’m looking at photos constantly and hopefully improving my ability to think in squares. Yes I know that facebook owns Instagram now, and yes I know that facebook is the devil, and yes I know that the filters are cheap and cheesy but you know what? I DON’T CARE, BECAUSE IT’S FUN. Three years ago I would not have believed that possible. But yes. I heart Instagram, cheesy cheap filters and all.

The pictures in this post were all taken using Instagram though they do not include any of the filters. I exported them off of my phone and cropped them down to the original squares they were composed in, but then just did the normal stuff I do to my photos which is not much. I took almost all of these pictures while either wearing Arthur, or pushing him around Edinburgh in his pram. They hint at my other new found crush, which is Edinburgh. I love it here. I love my life here. When the weather cooperates and I am able to get out of the house and take Arthur for walks, I feel as though I have miraculously stumbled into a utopian existence. Part of that is the city itself: it’s so darn impressive looking with all of its old buildings and beautiful parks. The are the obvious eye catching attractions like the giant castle and Arthur’s Seat, but there is also the feeling that there is so much to left discover, that I could spend years exploring back alleys and little parks, which is exactly what I intend to do. And of course I’m very fortunate to have a job I like, a nice husband who puts up with me, and a really cute baby. Check, check, and check. But for me it’s also important to take personal photographs that aren’t just of the baby. It makes me feel like myself. It is the part of my identity that I refuse to surrender.

When Arthur was born I felt like I had to learn how to do everything again in a whole new way. Just basic things like sleeping and showering and leaving the house. Never mind higher functions like say shopping, or blogging, or taking pictures. When I got my new iPhone camera it allowed me to indulge that side of myself again. It showed me a way forward where I can carve out a place for that part of myself too. I like these pictures, but they aren’t ultimately the kind of work I want to be doing. They feel more like brainstorming or practice. I’ll get there eventually, but for now it’s babysteps.

Happenings ~ Edinburgh Wedding Photographer

lauren — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:35:06 +0000

Soooo after the smashing success that was the Glasgow Weddign Collective ‘Save The Date’ Fair, I’ve been invited to participate in The Vintage Wedding Show , this Sunday March 17th, in Edinburgh. Kirsty has kindly consented to design my booth yet again (don’t ask me why she’s so nice to me, ’cause I don’t know) and this time we will be going for something a little different but just as show stopping, so stop by, won’t you? To that end I have two free tickets to offer to anyone who’d like to come along, so leave me a note in comments and they’re yours! Can’t wait to see you. In the meantime keep your eyes peeled for yours truly on The Vintage Wedding Show tumblr page where I will reveal such titillating tidbits as my favourite decade and my most prized possession. Clearly you don’t want to miss that, now do you?

3 Months ~ Edinburgh Baby Photography

lauren — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:46:56 +0000

So remember last time how I talked about how hard it all was in the beginning? Well it’s not so hard anymore. It’s pretty great actually. I’m not going to lie, I currently think having a baby/being a mum is pretty much the best thing ever, though that might just be the hormones talking.

The hardest bits involve me trying to keep the house clean, do laundry, take care of the baby, brush my hair, get some work done, and get some exercise all in one day. This is a slippery slope that I have yet to conquer. Most days I’m lucky if I get three out of six, but it’s getting easier. Slowly. My friend and fellow wedding photographer/mum Caroline told me that the work/life balance is “all in the art of not getting frustrated that you can never ever finish anything.” So true. Arthur will be getting grumpy and I’ll be working on something and I’ll say “just five more minutes kid, five more minutes!” and he will up the volume on his grumpiness without paying any heed to my requests until I set aside my laptop feeling like I’ve failed as an entrepreneur and a mum. It wasn’t till I saw those wise words from Caroline that I realized that my life tasks will be completed in little nibbles here and there for the next long while and I just have to keep moving and make sure to get enough sleep.

Actually my biggest downfall since Arthur was born has involved cake. Having been banned from cake while trying to conceive and mostly banned from cake while pregnant, and then totally banned from cake during my third trimester, after delivering my baby (who was 10 lbs, 1 oz in spite of my abstinence from cake) I figured the world owed me some effing cake, and I have taken my due. And then some. And then some more. Turns out cake is really great. I am totally against getting freaked out about my post partum figure. Should I ever return to my pre-baby weight I will not be bragging about it on twitter because that is just annoying. The fact that the number one thing on people’s minds after a woman (especially if she is a celebrity) has had a baby is what her body looks like, and weather it is skinny enough, AND HOW DID SHE LOSE THE WEIGHT???? is just plane depressing. It doesn’t make me feel bad about myself, it makes me feel bad about humanity. However, I AM a fan of being healthy and enjoying a long active life, and I’m guessing that the amount of cake that I’ve been eating is not helping me to that end. I need a cakervention. Seriously. I keep trying to quit, but everywhere I go there is cake and it wants to be in my mouth. I’ll keep on fighting the good fight though and I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’ve heard that many women worry about losing their identities when becoming mums, and I get that. Perhaps it’s easier for me as my identity has been shifting ever since I moved to Scotland, and becoming a mum just feels an extension of that. Three years ago my favourite things to do were take pictures, ride my bike, go swimming, go to yoga, drink whiskey, read books while laying out in the sun, eat hippie food, eat mexican food, stay up late doing some combination of the above with my friends while also drinking beer. When I moved to Scotland I had to reconcile myself to most of those activities being non-options* other than taking pictures and having the occasional wee dram, though I had to forgo even that (and coffee!) when I started trying for a baby. Now even taking pictures has taken on a whole new level of difficulty unless I am taking pictures of Arthur. I got really excited about getting a new iPhone just so I could have a better camera to take quick snaps with. It’s not my preferred medium for photography, but I can take pictures on the go while also wearing Arthur, or one handed while giving him a feed. Thank you Steve Jobbs. I grapple with wanting to do more serious personal projects though, and I want to go back to shooting more film. I’ve been taking Arthur on mini-hikes up the Salisbury Crags and I keep thinking: maybe I could bring my 35mm Nikon up here (I should really get that fixed), maybe I could turn this into a long term project somehow. So this too is something I must figure out how to juggle.

As for the good bits: there are many. Arthur is beginning to reveal his personality to us. At three months he already has a sense of humor! When he makes a pouty face, and then we make pouty faces back at him he thinks it is hilarious. He likes to be snuggled A LOT. He will only sleep either in his pram, or snuggled tight in our arms and we indulge him in this because while it is not the most comfortable way to sleep, it is the sweetest, and it won’t last forever. When he is upset nothing soothes him so well as the sound of a hair dryer on high, or Aidan making loud shushing sounds in his ear. He likes his baby gym, a good bath, a good feed, talking, being sung to, being read to, being smiled at, going for walks, a good puke, and a good poo, having his nappy changed, and kicking, but not necessarily in that order. He dislikes being tired, having his arms put into clothes, getting into his snow suit, being cold, the sun in his eyes, and dummies.

So that’s the latest from fake-maternity leave** what’s the latest with you?

*Aberdeen had one yoga studio and it was expensive and not so amazing, and we won’t even talk about the disgrace that is Scottish-Mexican food.

**I say “fake” maternity leave because I don’t seem to have ever actually stopped working…