My life, my family, and a cat called Tommen
Hey, I’m James.
I live on the Kent Coast with my wife, our daughter, and my two sons.
Oh, and our feisty cat, Tommen (he got onto our fifth-floor windowsill in our GoT era, and the name stuck!)
I’m basically just a big kid in a tall body. I grew up with Blink, beach parties, and disposable cameras. I love rollercoasters, surfing, and falling-over-snowboarding. I’m part of a years-long, horrendous darts competition with my mates! I love films (Interstellar makes me cry every damn time!)
I love running too- finding a little quiet from my hundred-mile-an-hour mind. Oh, and this is a weird one, but I’m obsessed with heart-rate training. My resting heart rate is down to 40 now (handy for 12-hour weddings, but my Apple Watch used to think I was dead!)
And I know it sounds cheesy, but I really do love weddings. Soaking in all that lovely oxytocin; chatting to happy people, being part of the family. They ground me, lift me up, recharge me. And honestly? I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Meet the family
Katie (absolute diamond, amazing wife, and even better mother). Max and Harry (hilarious, almost-teenagers. Relentless boy-energy). Pippa (two and tough with a heart of gold). Oh, and me (creative genius supermodel).
It all began in 2014…
Snapchat was big, Pharrell was happy. Corona was still just a beer. And my two baby boys were toddling around the house.
And in a moment of madness, I bought myself a camera- excited for all the heartfelt, hilarious, “look how small they were!” photos I was going to take.
But as it turns out, toddlers don’t like having their photo taken. They refused to sit still, they’d never smile for the camera. Slides were fun. Swings were fun. Photos just…weren’t.
So when they got a bit bigger, I took them to the park. I got photos of them on the swings, going down the slide. Playing tag, laughing, getting excited about leaves.
They didn’t need to pose. I just needed to let them breathe.
And when I started shooting weddings, it felt weirdly familiar. Giving people space, and catching them as they are. Letting them have fun, be free, be themselves.
I don’t want to make you smile for the camera. I’d rather just let you smile.
