Blog Love: Lens Ladies

Attention please! I have a Very Important Blog Announcement. I have succumbed to popular demand (ok nobody demanded it but I'm sure you were all secretly longing for it) and.... *drumroll*... created a blogroll! Ta-da! Wait, what do you mean you were expecting something better? A big list of amazing blogs full of clever women and pretty things and all the other wonderful stuff that sucks all the productivity out of your day so you never have to do any work ever again? What could be better than that??

Since it transpires I read far too many blogs, and since the right-hand side of the page is already all cluttered up with Twitter and Rock My Wedding and poetry and whatnot, I have created not just a list but a whole PAGE dedicated to the blog love. It's up there at the top, next to the About tab (which you should totally check out too by the way, if only to admire Fin's awesome jacket).

To celebrate the launch of the new Blog Love page, I thought I would partake in a little... er, blog love, for a very special group of ladies. These particular bloggers all share a talent, one that I would give my right arm to possess (although ironically that would make said talent significantly more tricky) - they're all photographers. Really, really good ones. Oh, and they're all lovely too. Which makes me love them even more.

KRISTEN

The endlessly talented Kristen blogs at What Kristen Saw. She is also, conveniently, one of my best friends and played a starring role in our wedding as Light-Brown-Haired Bridesmaid. I can exclusively reveal that Kristen is one of those irritating people who is brilliant at everything they do, plus she's really pretty, plus she's really nice - I should really hate her. But I don't. Because she takes beeeeyoootiful pictures and lets me put them on the blog (like these ones. Ooh, and these ones), to the point where she even has a label of her very own.

She only took up photography as a semi-serious hobby quite recently, and blogging more recently still, AND SHE'S ALREADY AMAZING AT IT. So if you could all go and show her some love, that would be just dandy. (Look, there are cupcakes!)

LAUREN

I first came across Lauren, a.k.a. Lauren McGlynn Photography, via A Practical Wedding. As well as being a prolific and wise commenter and proud member of Team Practical, she is also an APW-approved wedding elf. She always stuck out in my memory because she moved from Texas to Aberdeen (is she crazy?!) and, of course, because she's crazy talented. She then left a lovely comment on my blog about two weeks after I'd started it so, if you've read my About page, you know that means I'll love her forever.

Lauren and I are now friends on Twitter and she is officially the nicest person ever. She was also one of the two (yes, only two. sigh.) people who actually wanted to come to the Scottish APW meet-up I tried - and failed - to organise. (Don't worry girls - it WILL happen one day.) Her work as a wedding photographer last year was truly amazing, and this year looks set to be even better. She's actually shooting Peacock Feathers & Diamond Rings' sister's wedding this summer, which I predict will be fabulous, if her sister's is anything to go by! Plus, I happen to know for a fact that Lillian and Leonard recommend her, and you cannot get higher praise than that. Go check her out, and say hi from me.

LUCY

I have mentioned the lovely Lucy before but I just have to mention her again. Lucy is just starting out as a wedding photographer and blogs all of her fabulous professional and personal projects at Lucy Stendall Photography. I love her decidedly vintage but distinctive photography style, with the rounded corners and faded colours - just gorgeous. She is also a huge supporter and friend of the Any Other Wedding girls (check out her recent guest post here - so cute!) and recently shot Anna and the Ring's super-stylish birthday-wedding-combo bash. Um, jealous!

I sense something of a kindred soul in Lucy, or maybe a freaky twin - she too is still reading wedding blogs months after her own wedding; we both have a creative streak but spend our days doing decidedly un-creative jobs (yawn); we even studied and lived for a year in the same random French city just one year apart! How creepy is that? Of course, the weird thing about the internet is that she could have just made all that up and really be some kind of weird stalker-type character, but I'm thinking (hoping) not... Anywaaaay, you should still go and admire her gorgeous photos and general prettiness - I foresee big things from this lady. You heard it here first(ish)!

PEN

Pen, she of McKinley-Rodgers Photography, gets an extra-special mention because, as those of you who follow me on Twitter might have noticed, Tuesday was a very exciting day for a safe mooring: I got my 100th comment! Now, I know that might seem quite lame compared to people who get hundreds of comments a day, but when I started the blog I genuinely set myself a target of getting 100 comments, and honestly didn't know if I'd ever achieve it. You just never know, do you, whether anyone will ever look at your random wafflings. But yay, people did! (Obviously I haven't counted my *own* comments towards the total - that really would be lame.)

And the lucky lady who left that 100th comment? 'Twas Pen! (Here it is, if you're interested.) Pen and her husband Cam are wedding photographers - you might have spotted McKinley-Rodgers' amazing quirky VW campervan advert on all the most stylish wedding blogs. It's pretty cool. As is she. Pen found my blog through Lucy (see, it's all connected!) and also left me this adorable comment - how could I not repay the blog love after that? So click here to visit their fab blog. Like, now.

CARA

And finally. No photographer-blogger round-up would be complete without mentioning Cara and the wonderful Peonies and Polaroids. As I think I might have mentioned once or twice, our wedding photographs were taken by the spectacular Lillian and Leonard. I could look at their wedding photography ALL DAY. When she's not busy creating amazingness like this, Cara also somehow manages to produce a beautiful, witty personal blog filled with "photography and beauty and love and stuff" (I would also add bunnies, babies and hilariousness to that list).

Cara was kind enough to mention my blog to her many Twitter followers and sent a whole load of them my way (literally, my pageviews went up by 2500% from the previous day). I'm sure some of you reading this found a safe mooring thanks to her. So thanks for the blog love Cara - right back atcha!