The Christmas trade is picking up nicely; we do like this time of year. It also means the Christmas Lights Switch-On, and I have to say that the display from the top of the Guildhall was pretty spectacular. I for one felt like a child again as I gazed with rapturous glee at the pretty lights!

Someone enjoying the occasion!

We've had a productive week, with me finally getting my desk cleared and my second screen up and running. We've had a sitting and a viewing, a Christmas Fayre and a location recce, and lots and lots and lots of processing. Where would we be without computers now? Technology is a blessing and a curse, allowing us much greater freedom and creativity (although I'm sure there would be purists who would argue against this point!), but at the same time, everyone's got a digital camera so everyone's a photographer. But this isn't a rant, honest! The main jist of it is that we've spend a lot of time sitting in front of computer screens this week. The fruits of our labours will be with us in a week or so. And our big advent calendar will be live as of the 1st - of course. Be sure to check out our fb page for each new prize...

Life is always interesting when you're self-employed, and particularly when the service you provide isn't a vital one. Photography isn't quite a luxury item but it's not too far off. Obviously we think it's actually pretty important to document those all important times and events, and we're especially glad we're not the only ones. Capturing events for posterity is something which has always happened; people sat for their painted portraits or sculptures; great happenings were immortalised on film or vinyl and so on. This week has seen us capturing families on in the studio. No longer on film, but the idea remains the same. We saw one family last year who happily returned this year. The two boys change so much over the course of 12 months that it's amazing to see the differences from one year to the next.

Above is an image from the recent Freedom Of The City Parade by 4th Battalion The Rifles. Presided over by local dignitaries as well as their Royal Colonel HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, this was another event that made us proud to work in this business. To be asked to cover such an event for posterity - for the council, the people of Salisbury and the soldiers themselves - is a great honour.

We also photographed a beautiful baby boy - at only 2 weeks his grip on his dad's hand was extraordinary. Some stunning images of this little cracker have hopefully made his parents very proud.

It's been a humbling week in a way, making us look at what we do we and why with fresh eyes. Yes it may be a bit of a luxury, but memories and emotions are powerful things and we're proud to play our part in photographing the making of them.

Scarily an amazing amount of time has passed since last I wrote. Not through lack of interest or deliberate avoidance, more a pressing amount of work and an element of forgetfullness! Thankfully I'm not as tardy with the rest of the marketing work. In advance of the new year and the resolutions that always abound, I'm staking mine in the sand now... The whole social networking thing is great and we are trying as a business to use the various platforms out there to our advantage. This hasn't really included the blog thus far, and so I'll be trying to push this out there a little more as of now.

So what have we been up to in this autumn of discontent? Well, things are definitely a little more difficult than they were 18 months ago but that's the case for a lot of businesses. We're still here, we're still trading and we're still bringing in new custom, which is great. The first half of this month has seen us doing a corporate shoot in Mere, viewings for a couple of portrait sittings, a 2-week-old's first photoshoot (all together now – ahhhh!), a winter fayre and a wedding meeting. A great selection of jobs, meeting new people and – hopefully – future clients, and raising brand awareness. We had a quick trip to the Wilton Garden Centre to see our TV ad for real, and were pleased to see it twice on our meander through the Christmas decorations. It's strange where ideas can come from – our Christmas offer led off directly from that visit. The details will be up here before the end of the month but in the meantime, enjoy the images from our last few months here at chez Trinity.