Royal Terrace Hotel weddings

Well last weekend I had a great photo shoot at the Royal Terrace Hotel in Edinburgh. I’ve photographed many weddings at The Royal Terrace Hotel and I’ve also done a few shoots for the hotel, too, so I know the hotel very well and knew we’d get some great photographs. The Royal Terrace Hotel is looking to update it’s portfolio with fresh images so I spent two days here doing a variety of photography from room layouts, table set-ups, hotel rooms, guest bedrooms and a few other things and we also brought in a bride and groom for some brand new wedding shots. I really enjoy this kind of work, it’s probably the next best thing to a real wedding itself. The photographs you see here are mostly from the bride and groom session. In putting together the shoot I have to say a big "Thank you" to Lyn from Edinburgh’s Pretty Woman bridal wear for supplying me with my dress (don’t worry, I didn’t actually wear it myself lol) and Rhona from Flowers by Rhona for the bridal bouquet. And of course the biggest thanks go to my models Gillian and Gary! A lot of Edinburgh wedding photographers would book professional models for a shoot of this nature, but this is something I tend to shy away from for a couple of reasons. Firstly, when looking through a venue or Hotels brochure you can always spot immediately if the 'couple' in the wedding photographs are models. I much prefer my couple to be totally natural and look 'real'. So I use a real couple. I photographed Gillian and Gary’s wedding at Craighouse in the summer of 2010 and asked them if they’d like to be a bride and groom again for a hotel shoot. Every time I get opportunity to ask a couple if they’d like to do this they jump at the chance as it’s quite exciting getting to be a bride again and getting into a gorgeously expensive wedding dress for a second time - and the groom doesn’t mind it too! So it’s nice to be able to invite my previous couples to do it all again. It also ensures the natural, relaxed photographs that I’m after, too as I’m working with a genuine couple who are genuinely in love which of course gets conveyed in the photographs.Very similar to a wedding day I’m after a nice mix and variety of shots from traditional style wedding images through to contemporary. I’m also working to a brief provided by the hotel who have some specific things they are looking for as well as some idea’s of my own. One of the important things with this job is to ensure plenty of photographs that feature and promote the Royal Terrace Hotel itself, which is one of the main purposes of the shoot. So I did a variety of photographs at and adjacent to Hotel main entrance which is very recognisable and also meant I could feature their signage in some of the images. You’ll notice this in the first photo where I have carefully positioned the bride and groom between two of the hotels sign boards. The red carpet running up to the doorway on the left hand side balances the image nicely together with retaining the wedding feel.If you’ve ever been to the Royal Terrace Hotel you’ll know that they have the most beautiful private gardens at the rear. In one of the gardens is a striking stone gazebo. I always use this for real Royal Terrace Hotel weddings, as do most wedding photographers in Edinburgh, so it was also on my 'must do' list. Doing this shoot at the beginning of February I didn’t want to keep Gillian, in her off the shoulder dress, out in the cold for too long so I made sure I worked fairly quickly whilst we were outside. I’m not one of these photographers who takes an excessive amount of time anyway, as Gary and Gillian know from when I photographed their wedding, as I prefer instead to just work smoothly and comfortably so within just a few minutes I had everything I needed and we went back inside.One of my favourite photographs from the whole weekend was taken when we went along to the honeymoon suite. I did a variety of images while we were here, particularly utilising the grand bay window, and also photographing the room from several differing angles on behalf of the hotel. But it’s the high level shot I like the most! I love the way the light just pours in from the bay window and wraps itself around the couple as they enjoy their champagne on the luxurious bed. The ultra high level angle capitalizes on this and ensures the image is given extra impact.I finished up with Gary and Gillian around 4pm by which time the Royal Terrace had set up The Balmoral for an evening reception which I photographed before wrapping things up for the Saturday. Over night they would redress this room for a Wedding Breakfast which I photographed the following day.

Sunday was an even busier day! The Adam Suite and Balmoral rooms were to be photographed dressed and arranged for a wedding and then the chairs and decorations were to be re-arranged in different colours and photographed again. There were three colour changes in all which allowed me time for three coffee breaks! :DKeep an eye on the Royal Terrace Hotel website over the next few weeks and you might spot some of the new photographs going up. Their Showround Book should be ready soon, too, so if you’re looking for a wedding venue and pop in to check out the hotel you’ll be able to get a flavour of how beautiful the function rooms look and feel when dressed for you big day. And if you want an Edinburgh wedding photographer who knows the Royal Terrace better than anyone else please give me a call or an email, I’d love to meet up for a chat!

Photo Magic

Well I’ve had lots of portrait sessions booked since writing last weeks blog with clients wanting to get shoots in before the wedding season kicks off in April. January is also a busy time for taking wedding bookings, too, so plenty meetings with future bride and grooms. It’s always nice as an Edinburgh wedding photographer discussing couples wedding plans. I’m often able to help with suggestions and recommendations for other aspects of the wedding day planning as well as I know most of the leading wedding suppliers in Edinburgh and can point folk in the right direction and to the best companies and people. Funnily enough I get many couples contacting me for advice on venue choices. The date and venue is of course the first thing to get booked when planning the wedding, so usually when the couple start turning their attention to a wedding photographer the venue has already been chosen. However, I must say I really enjoy being asked for input on venue recommendations, it’s quite an honour! When I chat with other wedding photographers in Edinburgh it’s apparent that I get asked for venue recommendations far more than what is usual. I’m not altogether sure why this may be case. I have been commissioned to do a fair amount of venue reviews over the years for the likes VisitBritain, North Country Guides and various magazines so I’m not sure if that has any bearing. Anyway, in the light of this I am soon going to start work on a Wedding Venue section on my website with information that may help couples in deciding where they want to tie the knot. But that’s all for sometime in the future of course.Another important aspect of my job is album design and also photo manipulation. When designing albums photo manipulation where necessary and appropriate is a normal part of the work but I also periodically get special requests, too. Just this last week I’ve been working on a number of these so I thought I’d share the results with you. There is of course a plethora of task we can achieve with photographs from airbrushing, blemish or scar removal, slimming people down, removing objects (and sometimes people, lol), improving the weather, etc, etc. But here are a few recent jobs that illustrate some of the results that can be achieved with a little time and skill.The first two photographs here are Melville Castle. The first shot is the original, taken in the summer. However, the client later wanted an image that had a winter feel to it, but with no people in it. Most of my photographs of Melville Castle in the winter have been taken at Melville Castle weddings and so on this occasion didn’t really fit the bill. So, I fiddled about with the original photo you see here and after doing a tricky little black and white conversion produced the second image which has a nice wintery look to it.The next two photographs from Morag and Alastair’s wedding at first glance may seem to be identical. The shot was taken on the marble staircase as part of their bride and groom session at their wedding at Craighouse last year. If you look closely you will notice that the shoulder strap of Morag’s dress has come out of place over her left shoulder. At the request of Morag’s mother I “fixed” the strap so it went it back to exactly how it should have been.

The other image I’ve been working on this week, in fact only just finished it lol, is also from Morag and Alastair’s wedding and on behalf of Morag’s mum (she enjoys thinking up challenges for me!). The two photographs on the left hand side are from Morag and Alastair’s group shots. A couple of weeks ago, having been suitably impressed with my ability to fix Morag’s straps, her mum contacted to me to ask if it would be possible to create a new group photograph of specific people that she hadn’t thought about asking to shoot on the wedding day itself. So the picture on the right is the result. If you look closely you no doubt can work out that I’ve taken Morag, Alastair and Morag’s sister (Maid of Honour) from the bottom photo and then Morag’s mum and dad from the top photo and combined them together to give the new family group photograph.The last example I’m using is the two photographs of Floors Castle. The original shot is the top one which is a good image in its own right. However, at the time I took the photograph I also zoomed in on a deep, saturated portion of the sky where the colours were very rich and vibrant and took an additional shot with the idea of switching the skies later in the post production. The lower image is the result. Personally, although it does look more dramatic and punchy I think I prefer the original, but having the two gives me more financial options so I’m not complaining, lol.

Lots of portraits

This time of year is when I do most of my portrait sessions. Between December and March all Edinburgh wedding photographers experience a drop off as less couples get married this time of year so it’s always nice to be busy doing portraits and I’m usually able to fit in some commercial work, too. It’s particularly enjoyable to do portrait sessions with former brides and grooms whose wedding I photographed when their first baby comes along. Here’s a few shots from some recent sessions.When it comes to portraits, especially children, smiles are always what parents are hoping for. But it doesn’t always have to be about looking at the camera and smiling. The opening photograph here illustrates that. This is Emily. I did a variety of different of photographs with Emily and she was a delight! I also became one of her best friends, too, so feeling very honoured! For this particular image though I asked her to turn away from the camera and look up into the light. She is almost in profile but crucially you can still see both of her eyes which are the focal point of the photograph. A back light (also known as a hair light) helps separate her from the background and the overall effect is quite dramatic and timeless, especially when converted to black and white.By contrast the last photo here is totally opposite. This was shot at the end of a family session where I had time to try something experimental. A high key white background had been used throughout the shoot for the two girls and their baby sister. For this shot however I deliberately over powered the lights and allowed it to flood in and around her from behind. I love this shot! The experimental lighting gives it great impact but at the same time it’s caught the nice, natural expression on her face. Again I’ve converted to black and white. This often works very well with children and babies.All these photographs were taken in the clients living rooms. I don’t need much space to set up my mobile studio and as you can see from the results we are able to achieve that distinctive studio look whilst remaining in the comfortable environment of your own home. For babies under 6 months I use a specialist baby poser that moulds around the baby keeping them both comfortable and secure whilst being photographed. The baby poser can be manipulated into several different shapes and options all the while keeping the baby safe and happy.If you like the look of these pictures and perhaps thinking about booking a portrait photographer in Edinburgh why not give me a call and I can book an appointment with you?

This weekend I am doing a shoot for the Royal Terrace Hotel. Lots of interior photography for their showround book and I also have two models coming in as a bride and groom on the Saturday afternoon. I’m really looking forward to it! We’ll get lots of typical wedding shots but also it gives me the chance to do some more experimental stuff as well. The photos will be on here in due course.

I’ve just been invited to attend the next Wedding Weekend at Ocean Terminal Debenhams. The dates are February 25th and 26th if you wanted to pop them in the diary. I’m the only wedding photographer in Edinburgh invited along together with a few other selected wedding companies. So if you are looking for high quality wedding photography but haven’t yet booked a photographer I’d be happy to chat with you, answer all your questions and show you the very latest albums. And of course I’m always available to meet with you at any mutually convenient time, too. Just give me a call to make an appointment. Remember the Royal Wedding album offer is now into the last week!

Some magazine articles

Well I had a lovely time on Sunday at the Malmaison wedding fair. A really nice mix of visitors from couples due to get married in only a couple of months time to newly engaged couples just beginning to collate information and idea’s. As anticipated my Bellissimo wedding album generated great interest and it looks like I’m going to be designing quite a number throughout 2012. There were only two wedding photographers in Edinburgh invited along (this was an invitation only event, not one where exhibitor spaces are sold) and the other Edinburgh wedding photographer was carrying a different album range so it was nice for couples to be able to compare the differences.

The weddings for this year won’t really kick off for me until April and I’m really looking forward to it. I have some fantastic couples and weddings lined up this year and can’t wait to get going! In the meantime I try to fit in as many portrait sessions as I can up until the end of March as well as some commercial and magazine work. I don’t do as much magazine work as I once used to as I started cutting it back a little a few years ago so I could cover more weddings but there are a few publications that keep asking for me so I try and cover these during the winter months when there are less weddings around. Just for a change on this weeks blog I’m popping a couple of articles up so you can see some of things I do. It can be quite varied and much of it requires me to do some writing to accompany the articles, but it’s interesting and it’s always nice to see your work in print. I’ve scanned two recent articles so I hope the lower resolution of computer monitors allows the text to be readable, if not just enjoy the the photos, lol.




If you click on the pictures it should open up as a larger version should you wish to read the text.

Royal Wedding Album

Well I can hardly believe we are already close to half way through January! I had a nice break over the new year holidays and now getting back into the swing of things again this week. On the photographic front I’m busy with portrait session and also a little commercial work. On the design side of things it’s predominantly wedding albums and venue showround books.January is also a busy month for meeting future bride and grooms who are looking to book their wedding photographer. I’ve had a few more enquiries this January than usual mainly generated from the magazine articles I had published towards the end of last month and the beginning of this year and so I am looking forward to an even busier year than 2011 was! As an Edinburgh wedding photographer around 60% of my weddings are in and around Edinburgh and the remainder covering the rest of Scotland and north of England.For all bookings taken in January I am running a special Royal Wedding album offer. You may recall back in June of 2011 in my Royal Wedding blog article I let you in a little secret regarding the wedding album that Prince William and Kate Middleton had chosen for their wedding photographs. Well the news was confirmed just a few weeks ago and the Royal couple have taken delivery of their new Bellissimo wedding album. The Bellissimo is the undisputed market leader having recently been voted Wedding Album of the Year and winner of numerous awards in the wedding and photographic arena. I have always believed that high quality photography deserves to be showcased at its very best and so in the range of albums that I offer my clients the Bellissimo is my flagship. My normal price for a Bellissimo is already one of the most competitive, but this month I am offering couples a 40 page, 100 photographs Bellissimo album for the amazing price of just £495! It is so far proving to be one of the most popular offers I’ve ever ran! For more details click my Royal Wedding album offer link.The pictures in this weeks blog are some of the photos and spreads from the wedding books and brochures I have just finished working on. The opening shot is from a Harburn House wedding last summer and is one of a selection used in their new wedding brochure. The next two pictures are double page spreads from the new Melville Castle Weddings showround book. The line running down the middle indicates the page crease by the way, just in case you thought there may have been a mark on my camera lens, lol. Likewise the next is a double page spread from the Beautiful Weddings at Norton House Hotel book. Last shot up is from a commercial shoot I did at the highly fashionable Point Hotel, another of my favourite Edinburgh wedding venues.Finally for this week I will be at my first wedding fayre of the year at Malmaison Hotel in Leith on Sunday afternoon. If you haven’t yet got your photographer booked and/or if you’d like to see the just why the Wedding Album of the Year is so impressive come along and see me. The above Royal Wedding album offer will apply and if you bring me along a medium coffee (white, two sugars please) from the nearby Ocean Terminal’s Costa Coffee I’ll give you a further £50 discount (terms & conditions - it must still be warm!!!) Now there’s a good deal! ;)

How to choose your Wedding Photographer - Top Tips and Trade Secrets

I'm going to cheat today. Hope you don't mind. I have been asked to write an article for a wedding magazine on the above topic. As it's a subject I thought would be of interest to many of my blog readers I'm simply going to publish it here first, which of course saves me some extra writing. The final version may of course get edited, altered or even spiked! :O Fortunately none of these affects my fee, lol ;) So here goes with the original and full 1200 word version...



On October 5th 2009 newly weds Mark and Sylvia Day made history by becoming the first couple to successfully sue their wedding photographer for "woefully inadequate" service. No doubt you will recall all the news and media coverage this generated both in the UK and across into the USA, too. After seeing this item headline the BBC news I decided that I’d write an impromptu blog article that week on the subject. To be honest because it was done on the spur of the moment it wasn’t the best article in the world and it wasn’t really intended to be. It was simply a few brief thoughts on the hot topic and some comments that I thought may help other couples in the future from booking the wrong kind of photographer. However, somehow google quickly found and indexed my article and it suddenly started appearing on the first page of their results for "couple sue wedding photographer". My visitor stats for the next few weeks went through the roof! The piece very soon became my most read article by a country mile and continues getting many hits even now, over two years later. Of course if I had known this was going to happen I wouldn’t have thrown the feature together so quickly!

What is interesting though is despite all the publicity generated and subsequent advice that proliferated wedding magazines, websites and blogs we’ve seen at least three more couples since then sue their wedding photographer and according to what you read in online wedding forums there’s many more couples preparing to do likewise! So what exactly is the problem and how can you avoid experiencing the same disappointment?

The first thing I must say is that there are a great number of superb wedding photographers out there! Sadly, however these are greatly outweighed by the poor wedding photographers. Why is this? Well the wedding photography industry in the UK is un-regulated which means that quite literally anyone can buy a half decent camera and then declare themselves to be a professional wedding photographer. It is estimated that in the UK well over 60% of those purporting themselves as wedding photographers are in fact Weekend Warriors (part time Saturday snappers). With so many excellent online resources it is possible for a first timer to instantly create a very impressive and business like website, too, which can make it quite hard initially to determine exactly who or what they are. How then can you separate the wheat from the chaff?

It is most important that you learn to develop a discerning eye for quality. Many people make the mistake in thinking that all photographers are very much the same. This is far from true! Just as a perceptive person can distinguish between Banana Split Delight and Chanel No.5 if you learn what to look for you can do likewise when comparing photographers. Here’s a few tips...

Study the photographs carefully. What is your first impression when looking through an album or gallery? Are the photographs eye catching and pleasing or are they lacklustre? Do they have impact and do the people in them look good? Now study them more closely.

In the reportage type photographs (also known as photojournalistic where the couple have been photographed unknowingly) has the photographer consistently made the couple look good throughout the whole day or is he a 'warts n all' snapper? Do these images tell a story in their own right or are they merely candids that could have been taken by anyone? Can you see clearly the reason why the photographer has taken each shot or do some images leave you somewhat mystified?

In the staged or posed photographs, particularly the bride and groom set, are these photographs fashionable and stylish? Do the people in them look good? Does the lighting and angles used make the couple look flattering? How are they posed? Do they look natural and relaxed or stiff and awkward? Remember, if a lot of the couples look ungainly and frumpy it is highly unlikely the photographer is going to suddenly learn a whole new style and skill set for your own wedding.

You can also learn a lot about the photographer from his main portfolio or his adverts. The photographs that he has chosen are the shots that in his own mind are his very best photographs. Look at them carefully based upon the questions considered above. If you feel these images do not meet the criteria then there is probably no point looking any further. Just an aside, I often get asked about unusual photographs such as where everyone is asked to start jumping up and down, all the guests being asked to charge across a field, or all the ladies kicking their legs in the air, and similar. If you look through the portfolio’s of the top wedding photographers in the country you will find that virtually none of them do this type of photograph, which may reveal something about their creative merits.

In addition to the above there are a few other 'tells' that can help you avoid post wedding disappointment. One of these indicators can be price. In the UK the average spend on wedding photography is approximately £1500. All photographers set their own prices so they will do so generally based upon where they perceive themselves to be on the market ladder. If the photographer himself estimates his own value as low as say £500 obviously that does not reflect well on his competence or skill levels. Another necessary consideration is insurance. All bona fide professional photographers will be fully insured. The account of a wedding photographer who slipped while taking a shot and stepped backwards into the cake is of course a rare occurrence but one that emphasises its importance. For a wedding photographer insurance is a very expensive item yet one that many part-timers decide they can do without. Make sure your photographer has both Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance.

I don’t want to bore you with talking about equipment but here’s something you may never have thought about previously. Your wedding day is of utmost importance and to ensure we capture it to the highest standard possible we invest in the very best equipment costing several thousands of pounds. We have to have two or three of every item for backup purposes. This also includes our hard drives where we store your wedding photographs after and during their editing and our monitors and printers which are carefully calibrated to make sure that our albums and prints are perfectly and accurately produced. Again, problems of a technical nature occur very rarely but it is worth while checking your photographer has everything covered just in case.

I hope some of the above is of help in weighing up and choosing your photographer. Whilst some couples have been successful in suing their wedding photographer that can never alleviate their disappointment or bring back their precious memories. By contrast there is nothing more thrilling than when you see your photographs or album on your return from honeymoon and seeing just how stunning you look and what a fantastic job your photographer has done in capturing all the magic of your special day! Choose your photographer wisely and you’ll never ever regret it!

A Melville Castle wedding

Well I have no more weddings at Melville Castle this year but no doubt will have many to look forward throughout 2012. There will be a new team in place in the new year and this beautiful wedding venue will be taking bookings once again for weddings and events.

Lynne and Alasdair booked me for their wedding at the beginning of 2011 and their original wedding date was May 2012. However, when the Aurora Group made the decision to pull out of Melville Castle at the end of this year they moved some of the wedding dates they had booked for 2012 forward into 2011 and so Alasdair and Lynne ended up tying the knot several months sooner than they had planned. Although that of course generated a lot of frantic work and effort for them, in the end it was such a fantastic wedding I’m sure they didn’t mind one little bit!

Lynne and Alasdair had booked me for just about the whole day, starting with pre-wedding photographs through until the first dance. When they booked me they were both living and working up in Aberdeen and came down to Edinburgh one weekend to do some wedding organising. After using the internet to search for and then compare wedding photographers in Edinburgh they finally narrowed down their shortlist to three and thereupon had made appointments to meet with the three of us over the weekend. Unknown to me at the time I was the Edinburgh wedding photographer who had the first appointment on the Friday afternoon with the other two photographers scheduled for the Saturday. However, Lynne and Alasdair phoned me later on the Friday evening to say after meeting and chatting with me and looking through my albums they had cancelled their meetings with the other two photographers for the following day and were going to book me. Well I just LOVE clients like that! :)

I was due to start the photography from 12 noon at Melville Castle. So I duly arrived in good time to find I was actually there ahead of the bride! It’s not often that happens! lol Lynne had gone into the city to get her hair and make up done and ended up running a little late. She arrived at around twelve thirty and we went down to the bridal suite where upon I began doing some dress, shoes, flowers and other detail shots. As Lynne had already had her hair and make-up done there wasn’t opportunity to get this type of 'getting ready' shot but instead that gave a little extra time which I used to do some pre-wedding bridal portraits. If you read my blog regularly you will be aware that I am currently competing in the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers - Photographer of the Year contest. Each month the SWPP runs a monthly image contest across the main wedding and portrait categories where all professional photographers can enter one photo per category. These are then judged and the results announced the beginning of the following month. So far this year I have managed to win awards in one category or another every single month, which I am absolutely delighted about! One of the photographs from Lynne’s pre-ceremony set scored me a 'Bronze' in the Traditional Portrait category. Little did I know at that point that I would end up entering four more photographs from this wedding with all five of them winning awards! (The categories I entered were Weddings Traditional, Weddings Photojournalism, Weddings Contemporary, Monochrome and Traditional Portraits)

The first photograph in today’s blog is the one from the Weddings Traditional category. All the other shots today are all reportage or photojournalism shots, as I promised last week that I would use more of this style in my next blogging. I did a tiny bit of cheating with the girls on the staircase photograph as I quickly asked them to pause for one second when they had all reached the perfect spot so that I could see all their faces at the same time in the picture. Strictly speaking this doesn’t classify as a photojournalism image as the SWPP contest rules are quite rigorous and state that a 'photojournalism' shot must have no intervention whatsoever by the photographer. Knowing this of course meant I wouldn’t try and enter this particular photograph into that category but it wouldn’t stop me shooting it nevertheless as it still is good Storybook photography. All the remainder of today’s photos definitely do fit the photojournalism criteria and as you study them you will see how none of them have been staged, faked or re-created. Personally, I never try to re-create or stage a supposedly storybook moment as I believe to a discerning eye you can always tell that it isn’t really authentic. On the other hand a truly genuine spontaneous moment is absolutely priceless!

The second to last photo shown in this blog is the shot that won me the award in the Weddings Photojournalism category. It occurred a split second after the first kiss and capturing it was purely down to experience and timing. As the ceremony is progressing towards its conclusion most wedding photographers are readying themselves for the first kiss photograph. You never know for sure at what exact point this will occur as every officiate differs as to when they will utter those immortal words "You may now kiss the bride". Some of them never say them at all which makes things all the more harder for us! lol You also never know for how long the first kiss will last. Some couples will linger their kiss for several seconds which is great for us photographers allowing us to shoot several photographs possibly getting both full length and close ups. For other couples, particularly if they are feeling quite nervous, the first kiss can be the briefest moment imaginable and then we have to really be on our toes! So you’re doing your best trying to anticipate when the moment will come and then of course making sure you are in the right place at the right time and fire the shutter at the perfect instant. This happens very fast and there is a natural tendency for a photographer to instantaneously check the back screen on his camera to see if he caught the moment or not. However, from experience I have noted how on many occasions immediately following the kiss the couple will share a warm, intimate gesture which is often more emotional than the first kiss itself. This may be an embrace, a touching of heads or the whispering of some private words. For this reason I never lower the camera but instead am more alert than ever. I think the shot here from Lynne and Alasdair’s ceremony really illustrates the rewards of this and shows the difference between simply a nice wedding snap and an award winning image. It has captured the full gambit of emotions - happiness, joy, contentment, love and excitement that the couple have for one another and that they are feeling at this exact, precise second. This instant in time lasted for literally a split second and will never ever occur again. I can tell you it is exceedingly rewarding capturing these never to be repeated, fleeting moments and one of the reasons I love my job so much!