Les Hester Photography, Forres

2010-08-23T20:28:00.003+01:00

I love taking pictures of babies.....cause they grow up so quickly ......or is it me getting older!!!
Heres a pic I took the other day of Sophie... What a cracker!!!!!!
and here is the compliment from Mum.... can't ask for better.

Hi Les my husband is now home from the Falklands and was very pleased to see the portrait of Sophie above the fireplace he said how beautiful she is and that you were a true artist in your field as you have captured every detail of her lovely shaped face and stunning big blue eyes. Thanks again. Steve & Sarah and little Sohie x

On the Beach

2010-08-23T20:19:00.004+01:00

Findhorn is a great place to take the kids and it was no exception to take Jack,Owen,Adam and Kayla.
It was a present for Granny and Grandads 4oth wedding anniversary
It was a pleasure to present the picture
Great fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Year ............ Happy Birthday!!!

2010-07-31T12:44:00.004+01:00

31st July today and 33 years ago I had the priviledge of setting up our photography business with my dear wife Alison here in Forres, North of Scotland.. Thank you to all our many customers

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

World Champion

2010-07-31T12:36:00.003+01:00

Its not every day I get a World Champion into the studio for a picture..

Well done and congratulations to Lewis Maclean (10years old) for winning his weight in the Kickboxing championship held recently in Greece . Heres a picture showing his gloves are nearly as big as him.

Heres a delightful note from Lewis's Mum... Thanks Mum!!

Mr Hester thank you very very much ,for the 10 years you have photographed my son, daughters ,grandchildren and family you have been exceptional every time quality photographs of wonderful memories we will treasure forever.

Millie the Bridesmaid

2010-07-08T09:51:00.004+01:00

Heres another pic

Millie the Bridesmaid

2010-07-08T09:46:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Debbie and Johnny who got married in the Golf view Hotel nairn on 3rd July

Unusually the their bridesmaid was Millie the family pet labrador
She was exceedingly well behaved and performed her duties without a whimper!!!!

Small wedding at the Knockomie Hotel..great day!!!!

2010-06-24T11:40:00.002+01:00

Hi Les,

Thank you for taking superb photo's on our wedding day, 12th June. We had a truly relaxing, hassle free & most enjoyable day with many thanks to all at Knockomie & yourself.

Many thanks

Colin & Kelli Taylor.

Harley Davidson Wedding Loch Morlich Near Aviemore

2010-06-17T09:40:00.002+01:00

Hi Les,

Wow, these are lovely and a wonderful surprise, thank you so much for sending them to us, we can't wait now to see the rest of the photographs.

We have just returned from our honeymoon at Loch Lomond today, so yeah, coming back down to earth slowly. We had a fantastic time in Aviemore and our wedding day was perfect. Thank you so much for doing our wedding photographs, you made us feel at ease, and you manged to get pictures of wee Aiden which is rare thing ;-)

Thanks again Les,

Lynne and Paul Goode.

Praise indeed

2010-06-10T17:36:00.001+01:00

Hi Les,

I just wanted to thank you very much for the excellent job you did with the photographs for my grandparents diamond wedding anniversary. We are all very pleased with the prints ordered but more importantly my grandparents love the album that you did.

Thanks

Siobhan

2010-03-19T17:41:00.001Z

check out

http://www.local-photographer.co.uk

2010-01-27T10:18:00.000Z

Thought I should share this with the world

Les

Just a note of thanks for the photographs. After a trying period when I was starting to wish I had bought Sandra slippers she is well chuffed with the pictures and the main one now hangs in the lounge and has drawn many favourable compliments from friends and neighbours. As much as anything Sandra felt that the time up in your studio was the most fun we have had as a family since the kids left home.

Cheers

Tom

Miaow?

2009-12-15T13:15:00.003Z

Sometimes my customers are not entirely........human!

I am also happy to photograph your pets and was delighted to have this handsome fellow in the studio recently. His name is Cheeko!

Should have done this years ago!

2009-12-15T13:13:00.013Z

This lovely lady had put off getting her photo taken for around fifteen years. She finally plucked up the courage to come in and get a portrait done as a Christmas gift to her husband. I thought i'd do something different and incorporated her necklace into the border. I phoned to let her know it was ready and had to do a bit of quick thinking when her husband answered......I asked him to tell her her jewellery was ready to be picked up....not entirely untrue!

After waiting all that time to get her photo done, the end result brought a tear to her eye.

Pencil Sketch

2009-12-15T13:13:00.012Z

No, I haven't put my camera down in favour of a pencil! After photographing this young lady I decided to play around with the editing and thought this sketch effect was quite striking.

I'd really be interested to hear your thoughts on it.....do you like the effect....not like it....what do you think? Please use the comment box!

Happy Customers

2009-12-15T13:13:00.008Z

Feedback is very important to me and it's always lovely to hear that a customer is happy.

After taking this couple's portrait I was delighted to get this email from them...... "Thankyou so much for the photos. They're fantastic. We wish your family merry xmas and we'll see you again!"

Thanks Phil and Connie, I look forward to it!

TLC

2009-12-15T13:11:00.004Z

A recent project I was asked to do was a spot of restoration work. This couple were approaching their 25th wedding anniversary and the photo had been in a frame since then, gradually becoming faded.

I was able to breathe new life into the photo by digitally enhancing it.

Ahh, the wonders of modern technology!

2009-12-14T12:31:00.000Z

Spreading some festive cheer as Santa appears at MacKenzie & Cruickshank's garden centre, accompanied by his trusty elf and with Moray Concert Brass providing the soundtrack of cheery Christmas tunes.

Santa's grotto will be open this coming weekend, Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th December between 1-3pm. Why not bring the children along to tell Santa what they would like for Christmas and get a gift and a keepsake photo?

Catching Up

2009-11-11T15:22:00.010Z

It's been a while since my last post, so what have I been up to lately? Well......

I was delighted to help an old friend at a recent wedding. Paul, from Aviemore Photographic was shooting Suzi and Dairmund's big day at Insch Church, by Kincraig.

About an hour before the ceremony we encountered an epic downpour making conditions very slippery........however, that didn't phase the bride who arrived wearing wellies!

************************

Congratulations to Nellie Mowatt who has just celebrated her 80th birthday.

Nellie's party at the Golf View Hotel in Nairn was attended by all her family, including her five grandchildren- all boys, and her one great-grandchild- a girl!

Many Happy Returns.

******************************

I was recently asked to take a casual photograph of all the staff at MacKenzie and Cruickshank, here is the present workforce gathered in the coffee shop.
Incredibly, the last staff photo was taken in 1930 and includes Messrs MacKenzie and Cruickshank. Even more bizarrely, the group was snapped in front of Singapore House, which is now my house!

The above photo was recently seen in the book 'Forres Past and Present' which was the inspiration for the new staff picture. Strange to think that in another eighty years or so the new one may appear in "The Way We Were" and someone else will be photographing the next generation of MacKenzie & Cruickshank employees!

This is a great opportunity for other companies to have staff group pictures taken!!!

*******************************

These photos are now available in ready to frame prints.

Above, the Red Arrows perform a spectacular aerobatic display over Forres and below, an aerial shot of beautiful Findhorn Bay.

Both prints are £35 each and would make a great Christmas present, please email for more details.

Wedding of Dianne and Alan

2009-08-05T12:52:00.005+01:00

Fantastic wedding at the eightacres elgin lots of magic going on
A pleasure to be asked to take the pics
the bride Dianne has responded as

"hi lez absolutely love the photos . thankyou so much for everything !!!!!xxxxxxxxxxx"
and some of her friends were also over the moon.

"Just had a sneaky peek and the pics look FANTASTIC! Great memories from an absolutley brilliant day. x"

"Lez the pics look fantastic!!!! I second that mel!!"

i also had a sneaky peek they are wonderful photos of a wonderful great day..x"

"The Photos are absolutely brilliant, alot of great memories! Fantastic day! . x"

2009-04-27T11:24:00.002+01:00

Wow!!!!.......wheres the time gone
Had no idea it was last July i entered up a blog
I am now on Facebook see me there

Have taken a great family picture at the Laichmoray for Nancy's 70th birthday

Happy Birthday Nancy

Anniversary

2008-07-31T16:51:00.002+01:00

31st July 2008 It just seems like last week we started in business at Express Photo Services, Gordon Street, Forres. 25th July 1977 Hey! That's 31 years WoW!! We changed to Hester Photography in 1981

Very exciting... We moved in on the Saturday and opened on the Monday I particularly remember the front door. It was rigged up in a way that when the door opened a loud buzzer went off and stayed on until the door was shut again.

Daughter Jane would have been 22 months old and she thought it was great fun going up and down the stairs.

A lot has changed since then, its been a pleasure to make someone happy with a picture that you have created, no matter how you achieved it. Photography must be way upon the list of jobs that give most satisfaction..

Testimonial

2008-07-23T11:23:00.004+01:00

There is no better way of advertising than word of mouth, it was great to receive this email a few months ago as a way of thanks, so I share it with you..

'What an excellent photographer'
Les captured our wedding day exceptionally, from church to sunset.
The quality and range of photographs were fantastic.... and Les's sense of humour and
ability to make everyone feel at ease and relaxed went down well.

Thanks to Sharon XXXX

Here's another..
Just a wee note to say thank you so much for the wonderful job you made of our wedding photos. We are delighted with them and have enjoyed looking at the album over and over again.

A big thank you also for all the fun you brought to our special day.
Love from Glyn and Shirley XXx

Les Hester

2008-07-22T15:36:00.004+01:00

This is me.
Taken by my dear wife Alison, to celebrate our thirty years in business
A photo exhibition of Forres personalities held in the the Forres Museum back in March, for a month and then another month in the Forres Library.
You can see them all on my web site, just click on the events section, and look for exhibition.
Pictures were taken over a two year period, and it was great fun doing it. The difficulty was deciding who we should include... we decided on just showing 30 pictures.

2008-07-22T09:27:00.001+01:00

I love deadlines...

I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by!!

Rick and Liz

2008-07-21T13:06:00.002+01:00

Great Fun at the wedding of Rick and Liz at the Mansefield Hotel Elgin

They have chosen a beautiful Album to preserve some wonderful memories of their wedding day

Rick's daughters Lisa and Alison had me in stitches most of the afternoon

Lots of Love and Best wishes
Les

My first blog

2008-07-17T17:55:00.001+01:00

Hello brand new world

what an mazing experience becoming a new blogger

there is definitely no F in blog