Helen Pugh Photography bio picture

Hello...

Welcome to my photography blog! It's a chance to show you lots more pictures, share stories from my lifestyle shoots and let you know a bit more about what I do!

I'm a lifestyle portrait and wedding photographer based in Edinburgh, and take beautiful, very natural shots of people. You can see my portfolio of work on my website, please take a look.

If you like what you see then please bookmark this page and please feel free to get in contact - I'd love to hear from you!...

Helen   x

Jo and Dave rock Glasgow…

I was through in sunny Glasgow recently to photograph the lovely Jo and Dave as they tied the knot together in gorgeous style! They were married at St Gregory’s Church in Glasgow, and held their reception at the very stylish Hotel Du Vin, One Devonshire Gardens. Such a beautiful wedding, so many lovely little details, including a VW Campervan as their wedding car – they’re a really fab couple! It was a real pleasure for myself and second shooter Kate to be involved in such a warm and loving day. I photographed them with their stunning little boy Harris a few months ago, so it was lovely to see them celebrate their love for each other with their friends and family.

Thank you Jo and Dave – it was lovely to be a part of such a gorgeous day, especially with my own nuptials approaching fast! Very inspiring…

That’s Entertainment…

I had such fun photographing these two gorgeous wee things – the wonderfully cheeky Sebastian and Chloe at their home in Edinburgh. They kept me entertained from the start – we had singing, dancing, jumping on beds (and that was just me!) and they generally had me in fits of giggles. Thank you all for a fabulous shoot, your children are beautiful and made my day…

Oh my…..

Gosh, sometimes my job is soooo hard. Try photographing these delicious cakes for example, whilst not accidently drooling on them. I’m not kidding, my mouth was watering for the whole shoot! I was in gorgeous cafe Mimi’s Bakehouse at The Shore in Leith, to photograph their beautiful scrumptious cakes and take some interior shots for The Independent newspaper. The girls were a lot of fun to photograph -  a huge thanks to all the friendly staff for their help, and in particular for giving me a wee goodie bag of cakes to take away…..yum…..

ETAG conference 2012

I had a lively and slightly surreal start to the day photographing a whole host of colourful characters alongside ETAG chair Robin Worsnop to promote the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group 2012 conference! The event brought together many Edinburgh businesses  from different sectors with the aim of working together to improve tourism in Edinburgh. The day was a huge success and involved many interesting speakers, including MSP Fergus Ewing and the enigmatic businessman Hamish Taylor, who gave an energetic masterclass in improving business. It was a real eye opener hearing him speak, and it made me rethink the way that I run my business. It was an inspiring day all round…

New little one…

Nearly two years ago I had the pleasure of photographing Calum, a gorgeous wee man who was full of smiles for the camera. Here’s one of the pictures from back then…

Now, in 2012, it was time to meet his new little sister, the beautiful Emma and capture images of her at the same stage. They look so similar, the same smiley eyes and big grin. And lovely to see how Calum is turning into a fantastic wee boy! Thanks guys for inviting me back, it was wonderful to meet the new addition!

Three little girls…

I had the pleasure this morning of photographing three gorgeous little girls, all with beautiful names! Ava (age 4) Lily (age 2) and Rosa (aged just 10 months) were fantastic fun to photograph. The family live in the heart of stunning East Lothian countryside so doing some shots outdoors was a must. However, it was so chilly (brrr!) that we did the majority of the shots indoors in the warm and ventured out near the end for some fun shots of the girls together. Such sweet girls, they made me laugh a great deal! Thanks Nic and Martha, you have a truly lovely family…

An exciting year ahead…

A belated Happy New Year to you all! The best thing about new year is how fresh it feels, anything could happen in the next twelve months and it all lies ahead of us. For me, this new year brings lots of exciting prospects, starting with this wee one here….

Yes, it’s official, I’m due to have my first baby in the summer and I can’t wait until this wee one makes it into the world. Very exciting… My gorgeous man, Greg and I have had a very eventful year together – we’ve had some tough times over the last year, but what we’ve gone through has just made us stronger as a couple. Love him to bits, we have such a brilliant relationship, and this baby will be very loved.

And then things got better again… In December, on a weekend trip to Paris, Greg proposed with his great-grandmothers engagement ring at the beautiful Sacre Coeur, and I accepted! We’re getting married in March, when I’ll possibly be the size of a small planet but very happy. I’m thinking of hiring a small white marquee as a dress. The wedding will be a simple but stylish affair, and I can’t wait. After five years photographing other people’s beautiful weddings and tiny newborns, it’s now my time to experience first hand what life has to offer….

Sheila Sim - Congratulations Helen! What lovely news. And it's great to hear a bit more about the woman behind the camera ;-)

Denise McDonald - Oh Helen - Wonderful news on both accounts....Dx

Claire - Very exciting news Helen, congratulations to you both!!

Storms hit the Botanic Gardens…

Last week saw 102mph winds hit Edinburgh, and The Royal Botanic Gardens was hit hard. I was called in by the Botanics to record the storm damage – they’d suffered their worst damage to the gardens in fifty years. Over forty trees were felled by the winds, some over 150 yrs old, and hundreds of panes of glass were smashed in the glasshouses, showering the plants inside with shards of glass. Despite the bad news, it was a really interesting job, being behind the scenes as the clear up began, and getting to see inside the areas shut off to the public.

Here’s a shot of me with one of the fallen trees… loving the hard hat…

Elizabeth & Ross

I had a fantastic time shooting the wedding of Elizabeth and Ross, held at St Mary’s church and the Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel. Such a beautiful winter wedding, Elizabeth was stunning, Ross was handsome and the wedding was filled with lots of seasonal details, Christmas trees and twinkly lights. As Elizabeth was about to leave for the church the heavens opened, but she kept smiling and was met at the church by a barrage of protectors weilding huge umbrellas! My fab second shooter Kate and I were soaked through, and our poor damp cameras steamed up as soon as we entered the church, leading to some gorgeous weird lighting effects for the first few minutes (see below!)

Lovely couple, a fantastic day and a great show of fireworks to start the evening reception off with a bang!

Happy Christmas!

It’s Christmas day, and hopefully you’re all having a grand day with your friends and family! Happy Christmas everyone! As there’s no snow this year, I have no pretty snow pictures to share with you on this festive day – so I thought I’d share some pictures from a recent shoot with Father Christmas and others at at Deep Sea World instead!

I love my job. There are so many days when I’m grateful for being a photographer – each commission is unique and my job takes me to all sorts of different places. This particular shoot was for the fantastic aquarium Deep Sea World in North Queensferry, Fife. This two day shoot started with me waiting in a dark underground shark tunnel,  camera on a tripod and desperately trying to avoid flash bouncing off the curved glass ceiling!

The first person in front of my camera was Father Christmas, swimming with sharks and frankly, showing off! I was much amused at this point – there was lots of frantic arm movements from me (inside the tunnel) trying to communicate where I wanted Santa in the water, and what I wanted him to do. It ended up with me leaping around like an idiot to show him what to do, whilst laughing my head off, and taking pictures in the meantime, whilst a school party looked on in awe! Not my finest moment but we got some great shots and Father Christmas behaved wonderfully….

Next along was the Easter Bunny – cue more fits of giggles and frantic jumping around. I’d like to thank the Mr Ray for getting himself into the right place at the right time too….

Then onto more shots – showing the many activities available to the public..And some of the weird and wonderful creatures that live at the aquarium!

One of the highlights of my visit was photographing the first rare Angel Shark pup, born to mother Anne at the aquarium. Angel sharks are an endangered species and Anne went on to give birth to a further 18 pups over a three week period, a first for angel sharks in captivity in the UK, and possibly in the world! I was suitably kitted out in waders to get into the nursery tank, to photograph the first wee pup just after birth… A great experience..

There’s a new man in my life…

Don’t worry, Greg knows all about him, and is just as besotted as me… Meet Loki, the gorgeous wee bengal cross kitten belonging to my sister Anna. He’s a real character – we named him Loki when we first met him at 5 weeks, as Loki was the Norse God of mischief, and we could see him being trouble even then! He’s beautiful but sometimes lives up to his name – as my office is at home he’s often found asleep purring on the desk next to me, or biting my feet under the table while I edit pictures.

It’s long overdue, but here are a few shots of him from around 6 weeks ago…

And here’s a few more from the last couple of weeks – as you can see, he’s now able to climb everything (he lives in the Christmas tree, and regularly walks along the top of the door) and is such a curious wee thing. Love him…

janeto and dodds - We have agreed that he is officially the cutest kitten in the world and are very impressed by his ability to walk along doors! Also the best Christmas tree decoration ever. Amazing photos!

Gillies and Innes…

Check out these two beautiful wee boys – Gillies and Innes are cousins, just a few months apart, and a great deal of fun to photograph. They were very sweet despite wriggling around everywhere or hitting each other in the face during their shots together! The perfect shot came up in the end, with them both laughing and giggling. Thanks Emma and Fiona for a fantastic shoot, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your families…

FreeAgent…

Well, it’s been a good while since I’ve had time to blog so I’m running behind! The run up to Christmas is my busiest time of the year, and I’ve been scooting around like a good elf delivering many frames, albums and prints in time for Christmas. All done now so time to update you on what’s been happening lately…

I had a cracking two day shoot with Freeagent, a young, cool and professional comapny who design and provide online accountanting software in a very personable way. I was blown away by how easy they make it to keep a check on your books, and it would certainly make my admin life a lot easier!

I had such a good laugh on this job and got some great shots in the process. They were really open minded about the style of photography they were interested in, the brief was a range of relaxed team shots, candids around their gorgeous office to show how they work as a company, and various portraits of employees.  The minute I walked into the door at FreeAgent I could tell they were a happy company, well run and forward thinking, who provide an excellent service. I enjoyed every minute of the shoot, thanks to everyone at FreeAgent and I’ll look forward to working with you again in the future!

Baby Erin….

I was very excited to meet baby Erin, brand new daughter of friends Lee and Andy. I had the pleasure of shooting their wedding a couple of years ago and was delighted to complete things with a newborn shoot with much loved baby Erin. Such a gorgeous wee thing, lots of smiles despite her tender age, and she was obviously very chuffed with her toy giraffe! Thanks Lee and Andy for a great shoot – she’s beautiful…

Carol Watson - I'm her great aunt so I might be biased! She is gorgeous, and has grown so much since I saw her in September

Blackford Hill…

I hiked up Blackford hill recently with the very beautiful Anna and Zoe and their parents Sarah and Andrew (also beautiful!). Such gorgeous weather for the shoot – clear, crisp wintery day, perfect for shots. The girls were very sweet, they both have such gorgeous curls and they spent the shoot clutching their wee cuddly toys and giggling. Thanks guys for a fantastic shoot, I can’t wait to show you the rest!

Jumping Beans…

It was my second shoot with these two gorgeous boys and they didn’t disappoint. Freddie and Ludo were on great form for the shoot, full of beans and possibly the most wriggly children I’ve ever had the pleasure of photographing! Great shoot, the boys were great fun…

Tis the season…

It’s been crazy busy recently, so the blog hasn’t been kept as fresh as usual, sorry! It’s that pre-Christmas rush time, when everyone is wanting gorgeous photos to give as gifts this holiday season, so I’m rushed off my feet in true Christmas elf stylee… So let’s catch up with what’s been going on…

I had a great shoot last weekend with the fabulously dressed Julianne and her parents (also stylish!)  She’s only a year old but already a style icon! It was a beautiful day so we headed up Calton Hill for the shoot in glorious wintery sunshine. Halfway through the shoot Julianne was not too happy, and I thought we’d had our chance,  but I persevered and she came back with a lovely second round of gorgeous smiles to complete the shoot. Fantastic. Thanks guys for a fun shoot, can’t wait to show you the rest soon…

Happy wee boy…

Yesterday was a really fun shoot with baby Nathan – a gorgeous happy little boy, with lots of smiles and beautiful dimples, he’s just at that lovely cheruby stage… Thanks Claire and Gavin for a great shoot – I can’t wait to show you the rest!

Brona & Dave

Brona and Dave are due to be married in Ireland next year but wanted a portrait shoot together in Edinburgh to celebrate their engagement! Such a lovely couple, they threw themselves into the shoot with lots of enthusiasm and we had a good laugh up Calton Hill taking some gorgeous autumnal pictures…. Thanks guys, I’ll look forward to showing the the rest of the shots soon…

Autumn sunshine…

It may be mid October but today was a gorgeous day, far more beautiful than the majority of days this summer. I was delighted to be spending it shooting pictures at Yellowcraigs Beach in East Lothian, it was a wonderful day. The shoot was a celebration for Isobel’s birthday, and we had the whole clan together for fun at the beach. The three grandchildren were beautiful and there’s lots of fab pictures of everyone to choose from. I’ll look forward to showing the family the rest in a few weeks time…

Andrew - Wow, love these photos! Can't wait until we get to see the rest of them. Thanks for a lovely relexed photo shoot on our favourite beach.