Tony Fanning photography blog bio picture
  • Welcome to my Blog!

    My name is Tony Fanning and I am a husband, a father, a chocaholic and a professional photographer based in Colwyn Bay in beautiful North Wales. This is me with my family on a rare day off:)
    I specialise in contemporary wedding photography and relaxed portraiture.

    This is my blog. This is where you will find out what I`m up to, see sneak previews of wedding shoots and portrait sessions and even personal family stuff.

    I am a respected member of the SWPP, the Society of wedding and portrait photographers and I hold the Enhanced CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) cetificate.

    Follow me on TWITTER or on my FACEBOOK page.

    Feel free to leave comments on the posts, I love getting feedback on what I do so don`t be shy.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Tony.

North Wales wedding photographer- Joanne and Gary`s e-shoot in Bodelwyddan Castle

I met up with joanne and Gary in Bodelwyddan Castle yesterday for their engagement/ practise session before their may wedding.

It was absolutely freezing so we didn`t actually hang around long. Just a few piccies then we ran off to the warm of the cars.

The inside of the castle is such a cool place., but because it is a museum and gallery you are not allowed to take photos. The only exception is on the actual wedding day and then only the official photographer (me) is allowed to snap away:)

Here are a couple of images we got in the short time we were outside. Jo and Gary were such fun, real kids at heart and I`m sure the wedding will be just as much fun.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you want to. Click “leave a comment”.

Conwy wedding photographer- Congratulations to……..

… Sarah and Rory, a lovely couple from Sheffield who are getting married in June. They have very kindly agreed to me photographing their big day for them. It`s always nice when couples from outside North Wales get in touch. See you soon for your engagement session guys.

Colwyn Bay photographer- First aid training

As a member of the Friends of Ysgol Pen y Bryn I organised some first aid training for the Friends so that we always have trained first aiders around whenever we hold events at the school.

There was eight of us there to be trained last night so we should be OK for a while.

A local company called Medic 1 kindly donated their time to help us with the training. Mainly because I`m good friends with Stephen Knight, the head of human resources at Medic 1. His wife Laurel Knight, the Chief of operations at Medic 1 and the brains behind the company (sorry Steve, it’s true;)) also came along to the evening to share her considerable knowledge.

It was a very informative evening and to be honest, a little scary too. Practicing CPR on a baby sized resuscitation dummy really gets you thinking about life. It must be terrifying having to do it to a real baby! With any luck I`ll never have to do it for real.

The four hour lesson absolutely flew by , a real testiment to the teaching skills of Steve and Laurel. I can recommend them to anyone who needs medical training. They also do medical cover for events and sporting fixtures. Their list of clients and event coverage is very impressive. They have secured The 2010 Ryder Cup golfing event this year so they do know what they are doing.

Please visit their website for further details.  MEDIC 1

I took a couple of photos while I was there (with Steves permission). I was so into the lesson I only took about ten shots all night which is not like me at all:)A few of Stephen Knight do his thing and Robbie, the Chairman of the Friends commitee practicing on “George”. Please excuse the messy background, it`s not a studio:P

Llandudno wedding photographer- St. Georges Hotel wedding brochure shoot

I was phoned by Nathan Cousins at North Wales finest 4 star hotel, the St. Georges Hotel on Llandudno promenade last week to be told that they loved the images I produce and would I come along and shoot some images for their new wedding brochure. Of course I said yes. Who wouldn’t?

So, on Monday I arrived shortly after 9 o’clock and spent a couple of hours shooting various set-ups that the hotel wanted. I was assisted by Amy, the beautiful bride (really the hard working receptionist in the hotel) and Bogdan, the groom, (really the hotel duty manager).

Getting two work colleagues to look all loved up was a feat in itself. Slightly awkward moments and lots of embarrased giggling by all of us, but to their credit they soldiered on and we got the shots we needed.

Here are a few of the images we created. To see some more , get married in the St. Georges Hotel in llandudno.

Feel free to leave a comment if you wish after this post (click “leave a comment”).

It looks like they are kissing here but I can assure their partners that I carefully arranged their heads so it looks like a kiss but if you look from another angle they are actually quite some distance apart;)

Conwy wedding photographer- Tales from a bride who chose the wrong photographer

Last week I was contacted by a lovely lady who got married last year. She originally wanted me to photograph their big day but one of her relatives decided to choose a different local photography company because they were cheaper!

The wedding went well and the anticipation to see their wedding images was growing.

So, a short time after their wedding their images were ready, and the photographer delivered a DVD disc of images, not in a nice case but in a budget plastic floppy sleeve. The alarm bells were ringing!!!

Sitting in front of their PC, the disc was put in and the first of the images came up, silence from the bride and groom, as image after image of badly composed, badly exposed, massively over sharpened or out of focus, devoid of all creativity, photographs came into view.

To say they were gutted is an understatement.

This lovely lady phoned me, nearly in tears, to ask my advice. Short of saying “you should of had me”, I said I`d have a look at the images and see if I can help at all. I saw her today and took her wedding photography disc to my studio and was shocked at just how poor these images are. It really does show that not just anyone with a half decent camera can be a good wedding photographer. No wonder we are looked down on by a lot of people. I have a good mind to phone this Colwyn Bay company and demand this lady`s money back for her. I feel really bad for her that her big day, the chance for her to strut her stuff and be a princess for the day has been ruined by this charlatan of a photographer.

If I could name and shame them without being unprofessional or being sued I would.

I`m not even sure that I can salvage their photographs for them and create a nice album that I have been asked to do if possible.

Unfortunately, like most things in life, you do get what you pay for. So by saving a few quid this family member has totally screwed it up.

Sorry for the rant, those of you that know me know that I`m the most easy going bloke around but sometimes you have to let it out.

The moral of the tale is, If you have to cut the wedding budget anywhere, cut the flowers, the drinks, even cut the honeymoon from two weeks to ten days, but do not cut the photography budget! It`s THE one lasting reminder of your wedding. The photos that you will show your children and their children in years to come.

Do it right, do it once. Get a good photographer.

End of rant!

If you agree, click “leave a comment” and let me know your thoughts.

March 1, 2010 - 6:25 pm

Simon - It happens all to often …. instead of trying to produce a substandard album taking hours …. get her to get the dress on again and take some of your great portraits – so she will at least have something quality to remember

March 1, 2010 - 7:02 pm

steph - totally agree! and not just cos i’m a photographer ;-) even with a low-budget wedding, a good photographer can make it look like a million dollars, and capture the atmosphere and mood of the day, rather than just make a flat record. even news photographers have to be experienced and talented before their photos get used on the covers, and news is literally here today gone tomorrow; a wedding day is so much more important to the family!

March 1, 2010 - 9:03 pm

Tony Fanning - You know what Simon, I will do that. She`ll be so pleased to get a few decent images.

North Wales wedding photographer- Jenny and Huw`s engagement session

A drizzly damp Saturday afternoon in Lanfair TH isn`t normally the best place to be on a Saturday afternoon, but it was yesterday as I had the chance to get Jenny and Huw on their own to have their engagement/practice session before their wedding in May. They are getting married in Bodelwyddan castle and having their reception in Northop Hall.  Cool!

Huw isn`t around much because of his job so it really was the last proper chance to see him and so we made the most of it, regardless of the weather. A real fun couple- lots of giggles and laughs.

I`ve added a few of the images we took below so if you feel like leaving a comment after this post please do. (Click “leave a comment”)

February 28, 2010 - 9:12 pm

Jenny - Pictures look really great, thanks Tony!

North Wales pet photographer- Sukie

This is a re-post because for some reason the original post has disappeared! Really odd!

Anyway, Here is Sukie, she was brought up to me by her doting owner to have a few images taken.

She behaved really well and so did Sukie, lol;)

Please feel free to leave a comment if you want to. (click “leave a comment”)

February 27, 2010 - 6:29 pm

johnlo - cute dog. nice job w/ the lighting too. very well shot.

March 2, 2010 - 12:59 pm

Cath - The photos of Suki are gorgous she looks so well behaved. Friend, Sian, has seen them and wants her black lab, Poppy, to be photographed but doesn’t think she will sit still for you for very long – she is a typical lab!

March 4, 2010 - 9:37 am

Tania Parker - Oh my god…LOVE these photos!!! :)

March 4, 2010 - 10:52 am

Tony Fanning - Thanks guys, she was a very well behaved doggy. Hopefully more dog portraits coming soon :)

Cheshire wedding photographer- Nicola and Davids engagement photos

Nicola and David are getting married next month in Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, and as I am photographing their big day for them we thought we`d get some practise in and have an engagement session in Erddig park in Wrexham.

I left Colwyn Heights with 3 inches of snow, expecting Wrexham to be worse but to my surprise it was just a bit damp!

Nicola and David took their big brute of a dog, Louis with them for his daily exercise and we spent some time dodging the puddles and mud to get these images for them.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you want to (click “leave a comment”).

February 21, 2010 - 7:03 pm

Nicola and Davids engagement session in wrexham | Tony Fanning … | 01978 Information - [...] See the article here: Nicola and Davids engagement session in wrexham | Tony Fanning … [...]

Conwy wedding photographer- Congratulations to…..

….Joanne and Scott, from Menai Bridge who are getting married this summer in Plas Maenan.

They have kindly agreed to me photographing their big day for them. With such a great venue, we are sure to get some awesome images.

Llandudno wedding photographer- Susan and Michael`s wedding in St. Georges Hotel

A Friday evening wedding this week. A rather classy affair at St. Georges Hotel in Llandudno.

This was Susan and Michaels big day. A really, really nice couple who are so obviously in love.

After the ceremony, they had organized a casino  and a magician for the guests to enjoy.

Congratulations guys, you were awesome!

Please feel free to leave a comment after this post if you want to. (Click “leave a comment”).

The young lad who was the ring bearer.

I seriously love this shot of Susan.

These three next shots- started off very classy, they then went for a smooch and then Susan said something that I won`t repeat but it was hillarious!;)

I just had to do this shot! Chips and rings.

February 25, 2010 - 5:45 pm

Ginny - its very obvious Mike & Mrs Jones “have a thing going on”,it was a really super day thanks for inviting us to share in such a truely special day, love you both Ginny & Penny xx

March 3, 2010 - 12:54 am

Lyndsey & Kev Holland - What can i say…..absolutely stunning! You both looked lovely! Looks like you had a fab day, sorry we weren’t there to enjoy it with ya’s!

Love from Lynz and Kev xx

March 3, 2010 - 11:53 am

Sue Riddle (Jones) - Tony, it was a wonderful day and you have taken some lovely photographs. Cant wait to see the full album now !!!

A big thank you from me and Mr Jones !

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