Well after only 3 weeks here is our muchly anticipated behind-the-scenes peak at the photo shoot at which we shot all the fabulous images you can see on this website and, indeed, throughout the house when you visit!

If the above link doesn't work for you  you can also see this brilliant little film by BeFreeMedia over on our Facebook page

We hope you love it as much as we do!

Having celebrated that fact that I had filed my tax return , an annual dread and chore, I decided to enjoy the luxury of spending the afternoon in town, well the big City of Truro, that is! Living so close and shopping for clients, rather than myself, I spend surprisingly little time popping in and out just for a peek.

Luckily, I had the perfect excuse, as I was going round delivering invitations to our launch at Princes House Cornwall in Truro on 7th February. So, armed with a pile of invitations and reasonably comfy boots I headed into one of the few snowless towns in the UK!

Timed with yesterdays’s announcement, on the news, that Christmas hadn’t heralded the shopping revival, as first predicted, this proved an enlightening experience!

Let me first take you back a bit! Do you remember what Christmas Shopping used to be like before the advent of the internet! Perhaps you remember it as I do, with the bustling excitement of anticipation, the cheerful lights, the buzz of frantic shoppers and the joy of playing and prodding and poking! Or, are you the person who remembers the cold, or freezing conditions, shops packed  full of coughing, sniffling and argumentative people, the battering of other combative shoppers armed with their loads and then the struggle of getting on the bus or carrying it all back to the car?

Of course, depending on which of these shoppers you are will have determined whether you spent your time on-line or out in the colourful, real, touchy feely world of shopping! I think you know which kind I am!

It is true to say that on-line shopping has taken on such a mantle that Parcelforce has increased its workload immensely, and,  it would appear that, on the whole, people get what they expected and return no more of their internet purchases than their “real world” equivalents! By 2016, it is estimated that at least 25 percent of all shopping will be on-line, but talking to retailers and friends, I am surprised we haven’t already hit that figure!

So back to the lovely high street retailers! I am sure Truro reflects many towns across the country. I visited shops that are new, shops that have been around for 25 years and shops that have been family run for over a century and all of them were reflecting how quiet things are for them. I talked to people whose hours have been cut, who don’t know whether it is worth them reinvesting, who don’t know how to read shopping moods any more and who have changed their buying patterns in anticipation that they will have that vital something to offer! I even walked right past the recently closed Jessops whose curtains have already fallen which was the reality check, and will be, for all those retailers walking past the boarded up facade.

It is true to say, that some people seek out ideas on-line then head to the shops to feel and test the items, whilst others feel and test the items then head home looking for an internet bargain, at the expense of the retailer who has to account for stock.

The world is a changing place and judging by the feedback on the High Street, they are all feeling deflated, nervous and reticent to invest, which, of course, will not boost the economy!

What will life be like if we lose our towns to boarded up frontages, broken glass windows and tatty facades. Where will we meet and mooch? Shopping is a whole social experience of touching and feeling and conversation and aspiration and engagement and I, for one, hope that the “Real World” wins and that Truro and all the beautiful towns, villages and cities survive to enjoy a more vibrant future.

Excuse us while we squeal with excitement but did you know two weeks from today Princes House will throw open its doors to everyone for an exclusive launch event?

There's a fabulous draw with some incredible prizes on offer from members of the collective -  behind the scenes peeks into all these gloriously creative studio spaces and a chance to meet the faces behind the business.  And all that with a glass of bubbles to send you on your way!

To RSVP simply fill in the form on the page here, or email us at [email protected]

How could you resist...?!

It has been a whirlwind start to 2013! If I thought that I was going to be nicely eased back in to work after my two week break over Christmas I was very wrong!

My regular clients have been keeping me busy and a couple of new customers have ‘come on board’.

Superfast Cornwall are busy bringing faster internet to the county and the other day I went to Zelah near Truro to photograph BT Openreach Engineers cheerfully disappearing in to holes in the ground  to replace the aging cables.

If you would like to find out when you can expect to have Superfast Broadband check this site http://www.superfastcornwall.org/line-checker.html

Fifteen Cornwall are having a major refit at the moment, re-opening on the 11th February. As part of their marketing campaign we have been working on a series of adverts. One has already featured on this blog and we have shot a couple since then including this one. They say never work with children and animals but this bunch of mini chefs behaved impeccably . I can’t wait to see what http://wearesuperfantastic.com/ do with the pictures!

While I was at the restaurant I took the opportunity to update their sommelier Gordie’s publicity pictures. Hope you like this one! www.fifteencornwall.co.uk/

Lillicrap Chilcott were the first to use my new studio. Their three new recruits came in to Princes House for their Corporate Portraits. It was good to see my clients making use of the new facility which is very handy for Truro businesses and if you’re coming in from out of town there are plenty of conveniently situated car parks to choose from. www.waterfrontandcountryhomes.com/

I’ve been working with two hotels this month. The Alverton in Truro which is under new ownership is having a massive makeover courtesy of the brilliant team at www.designbyfriends.co.uk

The work is well underway and their new website is just about finished thealverton.co.uk

I’ve also been spending lots of time at The Tregenna Castle Hotel, St Ives where I’ve been shooting refurbished bedrooms and some of the 70 luxury cottages and apartments. The main bulk of the work is nearly finished with just the occasional seasonal update to do. The website is under construction by the wonderful www.creativenetwork.co.uk

It’s not hard to see why the hotel won Best Kept Secret 2012 for ‘Best View’.

I had a blast from the past the other day when The Times Picture Desk called me to shoot a feature on tea at Tregothnan near Truro. I’m more used to working in the Commercial Photography world these days! It was a pleasure to with Abby their Marketing Exec who modelled beautifully and Commercial Director Jonathan Jones who also modelled for me!

The feature was about fighting back against the proliferation of coffee houses which seem to be taking over the world!

Although Tregothnan only produces 10 tonnes of tea, its quality has attracted so much attention that almost half of it is exported to areas including India and China – the centre of production of the world’s tea. That’s quite a boast! tregothnan.co.uk

There have been other jobs this month, too many to mention them all here and a couple which haven’t been published yet so check back in the next few weeks.

Finally the project that has been taking most of my evenings and weekends since last September…..Princes House, Truro where I have my studio and office. I’m proud to share this fabulous building with an incredible group of Cornwalls finest. Check out the website and if you can make it to our launch on the evening of 7th Feb we will be very pleased to see you. www.princeshousecornwall.com

Today I went along to the Liberty open call, an event where Liberty open their doors to all designers who would like to showcase their work in this prestigious London department store. Everyone has just three minutes to convince the panel to take them on so it was important to get my pitch right - Kathy Morris a specialist in this area gave me a helping hand before I went so I felt confident that they would understand what Holly Young Headwear was all about!

I had a long wait ahead of me so I made the most of it by meeting some other designers to seeing what everyone had to offer. The very first people I met were also from Cornwall (small world!)... Richard Vasey and his wife make bespoke yacht sculptures and Trophies, they currently have work in Harrods and have made trophies for the Olympic British sailing team! From Liverpool was Ilsa Parry, a 3D designer of innovative products, she is pictured below with a walking aid that helps the user to get up from a seated position, so clever!

Also in our queue from Belfast was Emma Majury of Longshot Press with her unique set of illustrated card designs.

After two hours of chatting and swapping stories we reached the inside of the building, little did I know there would be a further two! At least once inside it was warm! We then got divided into our specialist areas and I went to wait in the accessories area where I met Johanna Fleming a talented silk scarf designer from Scotland and Marie Hayden a hair accessories designer all the way from New York!

After a nail biting wait it was eventually my turn to see the panel.

I first showed them my photographs which were taken by both Andrea Pennington and Sarah Falugo. They absolutely loved them and especially liked the styling from Sarah Falugo Nordic/woodland shoot. They liked my vintage inspired bridal accessories and said that my strength was also in my sculptural fascinators. It was very friendly and informal and they gave me some really useful feedback. They said they were looking for something more crazy and Avant Garde but they thought my style would suit Fenwicks!

It was a great experience and would recommend it to any designer.

Next stop Fenwicks!

I was lucky enough to have an appointment with Dan Jaffe of Jaffe et Fils Ltd at his factory situated in Aximinster. The buildings are affectionately known as ‘the feather factory’ by the locals. The company is the last surviving feather works in the UK.

It was started by his parents, Lois and Eric Jaffe after the war and is now run by two of his sons, Ben and Felix. They import all kinds of feathers from all around the world (where the different birds are farmed) as raw material. They then dye, cut and treat the feathers ready for the fashion industry to use in all kinds of creative ways.

As you can imagine, I was very excited to be there and it was a pleasure to be shown round the whole factory. There were boxes upon boxes of different feathers all labeled up. There were orange ostrich feathers, black peacock feathers, turquoise spines you name it, they had it. They also do all sorts of feather mounts to be used in military regalia and feather Scots Pipers Bonnets for the marching bands. Dan was happily showing me The Hat magazine in which various well known milliners use their feathers. He then took me around the rest of the factory to show me how everything was made.

First he took me to the courtyard where on a series of washing lines were bunches of ostrich and peacock feathers hung upside down to dry in the sun. They had been treated and dyed ready to be turned into something magical.

In the warehouse there were bags of Turkey Marabout feathers (soft and fluffy) in every colour of the rainbow. These are used for trims and boas. They were like giant multicolored pillows you wanted to jump into (I had to stop myself). There was a room with some ladies sewing strips of feathers into fringing to decorate costumes with, edge headdresses, trim cushions….whatever you can think of! And there were other ladies upstairs trimming and cutting feathers into arrowheads. It’s fantastic that everything is done by hand on the premises and for the consumer buying from this company supports British industries and saves on air miles.

We went upstairs and there was a warehouse full of all the raw materials, with huge bags full of natural plumage from guinea fowl, partridge, turkey, goose, duck, cockerel, Ring Neck, Lady Amherst and Reeves pheasant. On this floor was a lady stripping and cleaning ostrich feathers. She looked very content surrounded by all the fluffy waste from feathers. Dan explained to me that shortly after the war his father had found a bag of feathers that had been thrown out and that his mother who was very artistic turned them into brooches and sold them at a market. It all started from there. Dan explained how the business went from strength to strength. However the increased use of cars with a closed top the car saw the decline of people wearing elaborate hats. He said that the buses and trams gave more space for a lady to wear large hats with feathers on and when people started traveling in cars they began to wear hats that were more practical for the smaller spaces. However business is still going strong for the family who have recently expanded to a brand new building.

I ended up staying for over two and a half hours just chatting and learning about the history of feathers and the millinery industry in Briton.

You can find out more about Holly's work here and the feather factory here

Wowsers - after nearly 6 months of talking,  planning,  painting,  moving, shooting, planning a bit more, tweeting and rennovating we are delighted to announce that Princes House formally opens its doors to the public on Feb 7th at 6pm. 

Its all still in development but we can tell you it's going to be a very swish event, in the luscious surroundings of this beautiful Georgian mansion house, and we are SOOOO excited to share it with all you festive newly-engageds (not to mention soon-to-be engageds as valentines day is just round the corner!) If you're already married you're also welcome to come and join the celebrations - as we offer a host of services designed to show you off at your very best year round and not just for the Bridal market.

Keep checking back here for up to date news on the launch, details of the special prizes on offer, and don't forget you can register for an invite by clicking here or emailing [email protected]

Don't forget you can also follow our progress and get behind the scenes peeks inside the beautiful studios by following us on Facebook or Twitter.