The Andersons - second time around

On the bank holiday weekend, I went back to the Anderson house to photograph the new arrival, almost 18 month after I did her brother and cousin.

Ok she's not so new anymore as she will be 1 in a few weeks, but this was arranged months ago when me and Catrin found ourselves giving birth a couple of days apart.

It was one of those glorious spring days and we decided it would be a shame to spend any time inside.

We put a blanket outside on the still wet grass and got the bouncy castle out. Of course trying to photograph little miss muffet on the blanket meant that I was sitting on the grass and got the wet bottom to prove it.

I think she is one of the most photogenic little girls I've come across so far, and as always her brother was a delight as well.

Here are a few of my favourites:

36 Weeks - We're in for double trouble

In March, (after the bumps seminar I attended a few weeks earlier), I tried something outside of my confort zone. I photographed a pregnant lady for the first time.

I really didn't know what to expect or how to go about it, so I enlisted some advice from my good friend Nikki Hill (who's somewhat of an expert in this field). Armed with all the knowledge that she imparted in me the night before, I felt ready to try anything.

I have to give all credit to my client/model (whose name I won't mention here for privacy reasons) for being up for trying most of the poses I suggested although it must have been fairly difficult to achieve them - she was within days of the end after all (with TWINS, did I mention that??). Everytime I suggested that we could stop now for she must be tired by now, she replied that she only needed 5 minutes to stretch her legs and then we could get going again.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and look forward to meeting the little ones once she's ready to receive visitors.

Here is a little panel I put together from the day...

The Fabulous Baker Boy & Girl

It was one of the first nice mild days that we've had this year, with the sun shining, and it made me want to go out and play... so that's what we did!

With naps out of the way and a nice cup of tea with their mum finished, everybody was ready to get down to serious playing.

So after lots of car racing, rolling around on the floor, throwing dried leaves and eating breadsticks, I left the house feeling confident that everybody had had some fun on that beautiful Sunday morning.

(The Baker's loved the images, but has kindly requested that they not be displayed on the web. Therefore, I have removed them from this post. Sorry you missed them! Lx)

New Website

Today my new website went live after months of planning and weeks of hard work!

My brilliant designer Sarah Sikuade pulled out all the stops (frequently in the early hours of the morning) and I can't thank her enough for the fantastic result.

If anybody ever needs a website, I would personally recommend that you look no further!!

I've attached a screenshot of the homepage, but please have a look here - http://www.liezlcroft.com/

Meeting Ruby, a full two weeks old

Last week I went to photograph little Ruby, at the ripe old age of... 2 weeks! She is the youngest little person I've ever photographed, and I was looking forward to it, as well as being nervous about it at the same time.

She slept so peacefully when I arrived that I didn't have the heart to wake her, so me and mum had a cup of tea and a nice chat.

When she eventually woke up, I was amazed at how alert she was! She was staring at the camera with fascination for most of the time.

She did really well and coped with everything we asked of her. She thought, however, to leave her mark on my sheet, as a token of appreciation for being woken up, undressed and made to do unnecessary things on a Wednesday afternoon. Oh well, never mind, that's what washing machines are for!

Here are a few images from the shoot.

Lara & Iwan - Engagement shoot in South Africa

On Saturday 31st January I had the honour and pleasure to photograph a very special couple all the way out in South Africa... my sister and her fiance.

It was a very warm afternoon, almost too hot to be out in the blazing sun taking photos. We tried to stay in the shade wherever we could, and looked forward to a long cold drink when we returned home.

After initial nerves and lots of giggles, they found their stride and was soon very comfortable in front of the camera. Having never done anything like this before, they acted like real pros, very natural!

I loved spending the time with them and am very pleased that they love the results. Afterall, having a sister that's a photographer, means you get perks like this!

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS you guys!

We are looking forward to seeing you soon, so get on and plan this wedding

Feature on one of my Weddings

The Spring 2009 edition of Weddings Etc magazine has featured one of the weddings I photographed in July '08.

It is one of the Real Weddings that they cover in their magazine, and my images are spread over three full pages. Very exciting!!

I've attached a copy here for you to have a look for yourself.