Elfies! Long in the planning, my family love Elf on the Shelf!

For those that follow my Facebook page, to watch the video slideshow click here Video Slideshow in high resolution, you will know my youngest has a bit of a thing for Elf on the Shelf, I desperately wanted to do a series of images in 2014 but couldn't source an outfit in time, and this year managed to order two from a wonderful lady in South Africa (link to her page is here Crafty Stuff Baby Props). So they turned up last Friday and not having a clue as to when they would arrive from across the World, I appealed for some little models, and literally photographed children from Monday until Wednesday so it's been a huge huge rush to get this finished for Christmas Eve! My poor family were very supportive in yet another mad rush to fulfil one of my crazy ideas. But I love how they turned out considering the rush!

Can't wait to use them some more next year too. Thank you to all my wonderful clients past and present for your continued support this year, the encouragement from them, and friendships I have formed with the families that choose to use me to create their memories are truly wonderful. I do know how very blessed I am to have worked with so many wonderful families, this year started off with an amazing Rainbow baby, and the gorgeous Jamie at 10 weeks that we still managed to get newborn type photo's. And the rest of the year has been quite literally a whirlwind.

But for now enjoy the wonderful little children and baby that helped to create my Elf on the Shelf themed shoots! All little superstars, and all probably wondering who the crazy lady was that their parents took them to be photographed by. Thank you parents! 

Twas the night before Christmas!

When all through the house not a creature was stirring.

Except those little Elves on Shelves!

Backdrops from the amazing Props for togs

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!

From my family to you all x

Naughty Elf!

Excuse the iphone pictures taken in the dark, but we have a very naughty Elf back this year. She is just so badly behaved, but we just love her. And love waking up to the mischief she causes!

Ipswich baby photos - gorgeous baby Thea.

Last week I was honoured to meet this beautiful new addition to a lovely Ipswich family, the stunningly beautiful Thea. I have known Thea's family for a god 2-3 years but was delighted to be asked to capture their precious memories, I always try to tailor each session to a parents taste, but Thea's Mummy let me have a free reign to be as creative as I wanted, we have lots of lovely photographs of this scrummy baby girl, but sometimes the plain simple ones just show each babies true and simple beauty. Thea has the most kissy lips and is just perfect.
Thea on the other hand decided that she was going to make me work very hard and didn't want to sleep, but as always, sessions are baby led, and Mum and I got to chat, have tea and even some lunch in between the photos, eventually Thea gave in and I got the most adorable photographs for her family.
Thank you for choosing me to record your beautiful little girls first moment Kerry.
To see more of my fine art portrait and baby photos please click here!

Christmas - mini session time - child portraits in Essex, Suffolk.

I love this time of year and mini sessions. A chance to have a scaled back shoot with all the excitement of Christmas. There is something so magical about this time of year, the excitement, I think the build up to Christmas and the joy in children anticipating Christmas Day is just wonderful. 
To see more of my work click HERE.

Suffolk Essex and London beautiful baby photography

These photos are from a standard newborn session, sessions are never rushed,

and we take it at babies pace. With plenty of time for feeding and soothing. I am often told just how patient I am! You have to be these little people can't be rushed. With this Colchester photography session, older brother didn't really want baby anywhere near him, so when he fell asleep, his Daddy quickly positioned him on my beanbag and then held baby in place so we could get a shot of these two little angels snoozing, Dad's hands have been edited out. This isn't something I would normally do in a newborn session, usually we can find a way to composite or maybe a teeny bit or persuading to get sibling shots. 

Mum loved her images from this shoot, in fact she is a repeat customer. And sent me the cutest little baby hats as a gift to say thank you, I truly am blessed to capturing people most precious memories of their newborns. And meeting some wonderful people. The video below shows a few of the shots we managed from this session. Showing just how varied and creative it can be, each session is unique to each client. To see more of my newborn work click HERE

Fine art photography - Suffolk/Essex child and baby photographer.

I had the pleasure of these two beauties in the studio last week during the ever popular mini sessions, usually cuddling is the last thing they have in mind, but I managed to get this gorgeous image for Mum and Dad. They really do look like they adore each other!  To see more of my work click HERE!

Backdrop is from the new fine art range from the amazing PROPS FOR TOGS.
Made the process on the background very quick and easy, which left me lots of time to play with those gorgeous faces and lots of dodging and burning in photoshop.
I love photographing babies, but my other absolute heaven is photographing children.

In August I was delighted to meet this beautiful family. After an unsettled start, we managed to get the most incredible photo's. Mum had a real vision of what she wanted her shoot to turn out like, and I try really hard to incorporate families tastes into the shoot, so ordered this gorgeous russet/burnt orange backdrop specially in if you are looking for backdrops check out PRECIOUS BUNDLES. The black and white images are a matter of taste, I do try to provide a selection of colour and black and white images with each session unless parents don't like B&W. With this families images, there was just so much emotion, and I decided to do an old school b&w conversion. Dodging and burning. And playing around with exposure and levels, the b&w in this blog post took an hour to get to where I wanted but was totally worth all the work. This lovely family travelled from Essex for their photoshoot which isn't far up the road from me, being on the Suffolk border, I am truly blessed to be chosen to capture precious memories. And try to ensure I capture the emotion of that new family member completing your family. Suddenly this little person comes along and turns your whole life upside down. Your heart beats for them. You would do anything in the world for them.To see more of my work click here!

Gorgeous Mummy, newborn and sister. Baby photos in Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge and London

I love my repeat clients, the ones that pop back over the years when their family grows and gets bigger. Such a gorgeous family, I am truly honoured to be chosen to capture peoples treasured memories.

What I do know is how very blessed I am to meet so many wonderful families and be invited to capture their special journeys. As a job goes, what more could you ask than that?

To see more of my work click HERE.

Beautiful Mum and baby photos.

One of the best parts of my job is seeing families come back to me as they grow, and in the studio this week returned this beautiful Mama, with her newest addition to her family. I am due to see them later in the week to capture the whole family, but wanted to share this, beautiful Belle even smiled for me but secretly I think it's because she know how much her Mummy loves her. Suffolk and Essex baby photos to see more of my work click HERE.

Arrggh! When you realise you haven't blogged for months!

Wow, it's been forever since I caught up, I didn't offer bluebell sessions, I just took my kiddo's out and got them to tread carefully. Bluebells are protected and I visited the beautiful Arger Fen, sadly going back a week or two later, and seeing them squashed flat made me a bit sad.  I guess most people don't realise the damage they are doing. If you do happen to do a bluebell shoot, respect your environment, farmers fields of wheat look glorious, but that section of wheat you trample is a loss of a farmers livelihood. 
Now one day, I am going to have fields and flower fields to shoot away to my hearts content - when I win the lottery! 
To see more of my work or follow me on facebook please click HERE.

A little snippet of a gorgeous session filled with laughter, love and golden light

I shared some blog images but this shoot is just gorgeous and gives you some idea of the sort of thing that can be achieved in a session, beautiful fun filled images of your precious family. I travel all over Suffolk, Essex and London, providing newborn baby photo's, maternity photography, and children's photography.To watch the video click here.

Increasingly frustrated with the lack of choice for props and drops, decided to try my hand at making some designs, to see in full detail click HERE.
Available from the wonderful Props for Togs their link can be found HERE.
Beautiful lavender halo from the amazing Kitty's Boutique the link to Kitty's is HERE.
Feeling very inspired!

Gorgeous themed child shoot, Suffolk, Essex London based photographer

Now the spring is finally here, hoping to get out and about more for themed or lifestyle shoots, just love this session gorgeous girls. Crowns and headpieces by Kitty's Boutique

To see more of my work click here.

To see more of my work click here.

Family photographer, baby photographer covering Suffolk, Essex, London, Ipswich Photographer, Bury Photographer, Colchester Photographer, Bury Photographer

 I found the MOST gorgeous headpiece from Kitty's Boutique and I just knew the colours would bring out the colours of Henry's eyes, so the shoot and styling started from there, Henry is now one! And he really loved splashing! To see more of my work click HERE!

Breastfeeding Mum's

I thought I would share this wonderful organisation, providing invaluable support to breastfeeding Mum's, especially those struggling. To find out more information contact F.A.B. http://www.familiesandbabies.org.uk/suffolk/

Ipswich baby and newborn photographer

This little girl came to visit me with her Mummy, Daddy and big brother. She is a rainbow baby, and her family had given up hope after losing 8 babies, so this little girl is very treasured and very loved. She slept like a dream and her family dote on her. 
If you are looking for baby photography it is best done at under 14 days, whilst baby is still able to curl into the beautiful womblike poses. I live in Sudbury, Suffolk, but am within easy reach of Colchester, Chelmsford, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Clacton, Cambridge and London is about an hours drive. If you would like to see more of my work click here.

Newborn smiles

Something just melts in your heart when you capture a cute little smile like this.

A glimpse at the person they will become, to see more of my work click here.

Essex family photographer, Suffolk family photographer

The beautiful newborn Elizabeth came to visit me with her equally gorgeous Mummy. Such a gorgeous family. To see more of my work click here.

Safe newborn photography

Safe newborn photography must be a priority to see more of my work click here.
I am now an approved member of BANPAS, photographers are not regulated in our Country so it is down to individual photographers to ensure they are safe and insured, by joining BANPAS I believe is the only way to move forward, all too often photographers see unsafe practices involving newborns, whilst this may look cute and fairly easy, it is actually hard to master certain poses. Babies can jerk even in a laying position. I know fellow photographers that make all the excuses in the world why they haven't got insurance, I have gone without to set my newborn business up properly, I had insurance from the word go, and I know there are MANY other likeminded photographers across the Country and in this area who are devoted to baby safety. Sometimes you may save £50 or more by going to someone cheap but you have to ask yourself, is it worth the risk?

Hailstones!

I had been itching to make time to do a shoot with my littlest kiddo, and the light was just amazing, so with £5 in my pocket  as bribery and a school disco ticket, we headed to some rather muddy fields an were engulfed in a hailstone storm. It seems increasing the blackmail to £10 and a disco ticket didn't inspire a smile either, and I didn't get the shot in my head, but I kinda like this. And one day (just maybe), she will love our mad adventures out in the mud and bad weather with a smile on her face! My little mad helper!
Check out my other work here.

Some unshared images from recent shoots

Clearly I adore photographing babies, but I also love photographing children. The very mild winter meant I had a chance to take some beautiful lifestyle and outdoor shoots quite late on. This was our local Country Park in Suffolk, but I also cover areas in Essex and London, as I am so close.
To see more of my work click HERE.

Canvas options for your family or baby photo's.

Canvasses don't need to be just one photo, this gorgeous 20" x 30" canvas montage is so beautiful.
To see more of my newborn photography and family photography in and around Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge and London please click HERE.

WHY are photographers SO expensive!?

Oh no! Another photographer whinging about people not understanding pricing!

I was prompted to write this post after someone I knew a bit, called my pricing ridiculous. I was a bit miffed and indeed felt very insulted at the time, that she couldn't see that I don't just snap a photo and out it pops, she didn't understand how I felt it is my art, she certainly didn't know what I have invested into my business to create that art. 

Another remark frequently made is - why can't your pricing be like school packages? I can understand - £10 for a photo is indeed a bargain, school companies photograph a child in most cases under a minute. Oh I wish I could get 300 newborns through the studio door in a morning with their siblings and earn all that money by charging £10 per photo. I would be super rich!

Most people will look at my photo's and either love my style or look elsewhere, if they decide they love them, they may further look at pricing and then no doubt lots will be put off. I get that not everyone can afford my £200 starting price for a newborn shoot, but let me tell you why I need to charge at least that.

So, if you divide the £200 between the average session length, I am earning £40-£50 an hour! Except I'm not, I have already spent another two hours at least planning your session, so okay maybe it's more like £33 an hour, EXCEPT! Every time I push the button on my camera, whether I charge for it or not, is another day closer to when I need to outlay another £2,000 to buy a new one. To get to the point in my career where I am turning around a gallery for each session, I have undertaken through choice to attend workshops, pay for online courses, in everything from Newborn Safety, producing art, understanding composition, posing. I also invest many hours editing the photo's. I admit I am a bit ocd about my editing, I take each image into photoshop and make sure it's properly composed (I joined the Guild of Photographers as I wanted to be in a professional body and improve my work further) I pay for this each month too. I don't blur out all the baby acne and blotches, I colour correct each patch of skin! I spend a good 2-3 days sometimes longer on producing a beautiful selection of photographs. It's not quite £33 an hour, I really wish it was. 

I could go on, but I specialise in photographing precious newborn babies. They are tiny and helpless and vulnerable, I safely and carefully sooth these little wonderful beings, safely into sleepy curled up poses, like when they were in their mothers womb. The parents sit and watch and treasure the experience of watching someone gently handle their gorgeous baby and turn the fleeting newborn moment, into a tangible record and piece of art to last a lifetime. Longer than that icandy pushchair or the latest mobile phone you will keep for a year or two!

I could go on the list is endless, I have hundreds of pounds of props, headbands made from organic materials, handmade hats from the finest yarns. Blankets, buckets. I have stuff everywhere, I am also fully insured. And always trying to grow into an even better photographer. I also can only photograph a small amount of babies or children each month, so I can invest my time in editing their galleries. I could possibly work in a shop or office and earn way more money. My family would get to spend more time with me, as I wouldn't be working all the time. I also wouldn't get requests at 1am in the morning to produce something further for a client or at 10pm on a Sunday evening. This all goes with the territory, but ultimately I do this job because I love it beyond words, I buzz after a session. My clients may not always understand the depth of just how much I put into my sessions, or that one photo may have taken 4 hours to edit, but every client walks away being moved by the experience. And treasuring what I have produced. I know there are lots of people either with new camera's, or charging very little as the public drives them to be cheap, time invested in editing is time away from your own family and children, many photographers are up until 2am editing and then right back at it at 6am. Or worrying about the new photographer up the road charging £50 for a disk and a canvas taking their hard earned clients. 

Sooner or later if the cheaper photographers continue improving, and start to work out they may be earning less than a pound an hour, they also put their prices up or give up. It's like the great circle of life I guess with photographers, without a doubt whoever you choose to capture your images the photographer will be doing it because they love it, and love the connection with people. But eventually they also realise to feed their family, pay the bills that they need to charge a reasonable amount to live. 

Lovely Mya from Colchester, Essex, beautiful Christmas baby photos

Beautiful little Mya, just before Christmas and so many cute little photo's, super star sleeper, I love photographing babies and children so much, blessed to do this job. Halo by Kittys Boutique, to see more of my work, please click here