“It is always my intention to capture a natural reflection of my subject’s personality by maintaining an informal and friendly atmosphere in my studio. I’m always striving for perfection and true satisfaction from my work comes from creating images that have emotional impact. There is nothing better than seeing the delight in my client’s eyes when they see that perfect image of their loved one. With advances in digital technology my feeling is that many images are ‘over worked’. My preference is to capture natural images that do not need artificial enhancement.”

General Information for your shoot

The Studio…all images are taken using a professional Canon digital SLR camera and lenses. They can therefore be printed in either colour or black and white. In the studio I generally use a white background, but sometimes use black too. My studio is relatively small (approximately 9ft x 6ft), but perfectly adequate for a family shoot.

Clothing…if you are having any group shots taken, it is useful to think about coordinating your clothing. Try to avoid clashing colours and too many busy patterns together, particularly if you preference is for colour images. For the individual shots, bright colours can work really well for the kids, so it’s a great idea to bring a variety of different outfits with you. During the shoot I will ask you to remove shoes and I also recommend that everyone goes barefoot.

Music…it is important that everyone feels as comfortable as possible during the shoot. Whatever your age I recommend bringing some music of your choice that we can play during the shoot. This can be a CD or on any type of MP3 player.

How long?…most photo sessions will last for about an hour however I am very flexible and there is no time limit - within reason. I am happy to carry on shooting as long as everyone else is!

Photographing Children

Younger Children:
Bring…the studio environment can be a little daunting for some young children so please bring a few of their special toys to help them relax and feel comfortable (I have a limited selection here). Large cuddly toys can be great to photograph children with too! In addition to changes of normal clothes, why not bring any favourite dressing up costumes such as fairy or ballerina dresses and football strips etc. Props such as tiaras, wands, hats and sunglasses can also be great fun.

Tip: Even if you don’t intend to change clothes during the shoot, it’s always a good idea to pop some spares in as we all know that with children, anything can happen!

Older Children:
Bring…definitely music and a change of clothes. Other suggestions would be costumes, sports gear, musical instruments (not too large!) and the more obvious hats, scarves, sunglasses, bags & hair accessories work well.

Newborn (up to about 3 weeks) and Baby Shoots

It can be quite daunting taking a newborn out for a photo session, particularly if it’s your first baby. I know that you can’t always predict how long they will be content for, but I’m very happy for you to take your time and stop for feeding as and when you feel it is necessary…it’s always a good excuse for a coffee break!

Bring…as well as cuddly toys, it’s a good idea to bring any special baby blankets and cute little hats you may have. Sunglasses can be great to photograph slightly older babies with too.

Clothes…young babies are probably best photographed without clothes. If you bring some black and some white clothes for yourself to wear (preferably long sleeved), parents can also be used as a prop to hold the baby. If you would like to do some ’au natural’ shots of your baby, which look particularly good in black and white, please bring spare clothes for yourself too. If you don’t come prepared the inevitable is bound to happen!

Maternity Shoots

Before baby comes along why not treat yourself to a photo session to capture that special time…after all it’s not something most of us will go through many times in our lives! The best time to do a maternity shoot is at around 30 weeks, when the bump is big enough, but not too big that you feel really uncomfortable. Although pregnancy is a special time and the changes in the bump as the baby grows are fascinating, we can also feel quite self-conscious about the extra bit of weight that we naturally gain. The shoot can be done showing as little or as much flesh as you feel comfortable with. There’s no pressure and you can just see how you feel on the day.

Clothes…a light weight flowing dress or stretchy figure hugging dress/top will accentuate your shape, if you prefer to cover your bump, or unbuttoned jeans and vest/crop top work really well if you want to expose your bump. If you prefer to be a little more covered up a large shirt, possibly your partners (black or white depending on which background we are using) is great buttoned to just above the bump and allowed to hang loosely around it. In addition, sarongs or light weight fabric can be draped around like a skirt under and over the bump covering as much as you would like to. It’s also a good idea to bring a dressing gown or robe to wear between changes and avoid wearing tightly fitting clothes such as bra’s, knickers, socks and other elasticated clothing that can leave marks, for about 2 hours before the shoot.

Ordering

No later than 2 weeks after the shoot the edited images will be put in a password protected gallery on my website, which will be available for you and your family to view for 1 month. Don’t forget that there is a 10% discount on all orders when they are received within two weeks of the publishing of the gallery.

If you are finding the selection process difficult you are welcome to make an appointment to come and view them on my monitor. Since the images will be larger you will be able to see much more detail and I will be able to advise you on appropriate cropping and sizing for any particular image.

All ordered images will then be digitally enhanced to remove any blemishes. All prints and other products are ordered from a professional lab ensuring that the final products that you receive will be of the highest quality.

Standard prints will be available for posting / pick-up within 2 weeks of receipt of the order, while canvases, gallery prints and any other framed products will take up to 4 weeks.