McKay Family Shoot - Facebook Fanpage Winners

For those of you that follow me on Facebook, you might remember that I said I will pick one lucky fan from the first 100 fans to receive a Free Lifestyle shoot and framed print as a thanks for signing up to be my stalker ;-).

So about a month ago I reached 100 fans, and the winner from the first draw was Rebecca McKay who was delighted to win!

The shoot was scheduled for Good Friday and I can't tell you who looked forward to it more, me or Rebecca ;-). We chatted a few times in the weeks leading up to the shoot, and discussed everything from clothing choices to ideas for the shoot.

I've known (and adored) William since before his first birthday, as he shared my daughter's nursery class since she started nearly 4 years ago. (He started school recently and unfortunately our paths don't cross all that often anymore.)

I was also amazed at how much little Isabella has grown since I last saw her at a birthday party, sometime before Xmas. She is only 6 months old, but appear alot older than her age.

I loved photographing the McKay family and as always, below are a few of my favourites from the day...





















PS: I have decided to do another draw for fans between 100 and 200, so there will be another chance to win soon. Just sign up to be my fan here.
Lx

Lifestyle shoot with Hannah and her family

Two weekends ago I finally went to go and photograph the gorgeous Miss Hannah Lane and her family. I've been waiting a little while for this shoot to come around, and some of you might remember that I have taken photos of her before, (sort of) when I photographed her Mum at 39 weeks. ;-)

I was amazed at how strong she is for her age! Normally when I photograph young babies I prepare myself and the parents that the little ones will not last very long on their tummies as their heads are very heavy and the strain of picking it up to see what is happening takes it's toll fairly quickly. This was not the case with this little madam, as she was by far the strongest little girl that I have ever come across and she took all this "posing for the camera lark" in her stride.

I had her two stepbrothers on hand to make her smile on demand, and they were absolutely fantastic with her. You could see the pride in their eyes for having such an adorable baby sister.











Talking about her two lovely step brothers... It was not the first time that I've photographed them either. I photographed them at their Mum's second wedding back in 2008, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to have these two trendy boys in front of the camera again. Click here to see how much they've changed.












And finally with Mummy and Daddy - Can you tell that she is half asleep by now? ;-)





Thanks guys, I had a fabulous day and I'm looking forward to the next time ;-).

Lx

Newborn Baby Photoshoot - Video

For those of you that follow me on Twitter or are a Fan on Facebook, you'll remember that I got really excited about a newborn baby shoot that I did recently!

Here is a short video to show off the adorable Gabriella, and I will do a proper blog post with my favourite images soon.

Lifestyle Family Shoot with Finley & Isabel

I had the great priviledge of being asked to photograph the Page Family a few weeks ago.

I went to see them back in January when little Finley was only about 5 weeks old and we scheduled in this session for early March. They had photographs done of Isabel when she was 6 weeks old and had bought a lovely acrylic multi-frame that is now the focal point of their lounge. They wanted to know if it would be possible to replace some of the images of Isabel in the frame, with ones of Finley. They also wanted some nice ones of the family and each little one individually. We discussed albums and other choices and I drove away really looking forward to their shoot in the not too distant future.

Fast forward 6 weeks, and finally it was the day of the shoot. We had a lot of fun playing inside, running outside, kicking the football and generally being silly ;-). We watered the bulbs, played hide and seek and explored down the side of the garden shed. All in all I think we had lots of giggles.

I will be showcasing a couple of the page layouts from the album in the next week or two, as I've just got too many favourite images to show them all here!

Here are a few of my favourite images from the day...

Guillaume & Family - Lifestyle Shoot

This is a post that has been loooong overdue, and I have got no excuse apart from the fact that life took over after Christmas...

So at the back end of November I was contacted by Guillaume's Mum to find out about doing a family shoot with the adorable Guillaume and his bigger sister Claire and brother Mathieu. I was absolutely delighted but also at the same time a little nervous ;-). I have met other French families abroad and know that they are very good at speaking mostly french at home, and although it is high on my list of things that I want to learn, my french doesn't really get me any further than ordering a hot chocolate in a cafe ;-).

We had a couple of false starts due to the snow and flooding that occurred before Xmas, and the fact that Mum works in the insurance industry and was called away to go and see to clients.

When we eventually managed to get together, all my nerves proved to be for nothing as the older children where fantastic with helping me communicate with Guillaume if he didn't understand what I wanted.

Between us G and I managed to have long conversations about animals and the noises they make, and I even managed to learn a couple of new words.

We did a series of portraits around the house before we headed out to go for a walk next to the river in Maidenhead. Unfortunately Bolter's Lock Island was still deemed to be unsafe due to the fast moving river and before mentioned flooding.

We did have fun feeding the (fast moving) ducks and geese on the river and I adapted a couple of precarious angles to capture some of the images through the railings... All in a days work ;-)

Here are a couple of my favourites from the day...

A Beautiful Poem for a Wedding Reading

Below is a little poem I came across today that really resonated with something deep inside me.

I don't know if this is an extract or if this is the whole poem, but I love it, and I think it would make a fabulous reading at a wedding!

What do you think?


"Darkness may fall, murmuring softly
Or crash like a bolt from the blue
But I'm living in grace
If night finds me in a place
Where I'm still loving life
And loving you...

My dreams of the morning may shatter
My best plans for noon may fall through
Still frustration never binds me
If Every evening finds me
Still loving life
And loving you..."

~ Dr. Maya Angelou

A farm wedding in the "Vrystaat" - South Africa

Back in 2007, before my blogging days, I had the priviledge to take photographs at a good friend's wedding on a farm in the Free State. (for those of you that don't know where that is... it's the middle, rather large, rather flat bit, in South Africa) ;-)

It was a lovely day, filled with family and loads of friends, and it all happened on a family farm (what felt to me to be) in the middle of nowhere. Just to give you an idea, it took me 9 hours by car to get there... I rest my case.

I was amazed at the level of detail at their wedding, from the little bunches of lavendar that was everywhere to the trio that played before/after the ceremony. It was magical and I think you'll have to look long and hard to match the atmosphere at a South African wedding.

The ceremony took place on the lawn in front of the farm house and the reception was in an ENORMOUS marquee in an open field not far from there.

I have recently been working with these images again and wanted to share it with you, so have a look...















I had an absolute ball at this wedding, and I wanted to say thank you to Lynn and Johannes for having me!