Natural light and babies

Newborn baby S finally found enough peace to allow a cuddle with big sister L. The girls were adorned in daisy chains by their mum, who was a picture of calmness as she soothed newborn S back to sleep a dozen times

When I booked this newborn shoot at the client's home, new mum V was anxious to let me know that her house was not roomy or spacious. Tiny, in fact, she said. She helpfully sent me photos of the living room and bedroom, which confirmed her concerns about space. What she may not have realised was that I was only looking for good light, and the bedroom had a gorgeous bay window. 

Pretty in apricot, little tiny S wore this headband and wrap combo well. Her little frowny face rarely left her, even when she was sleeping peacefully, but mum assured me this seemed to be the normal expression!

After a fair bit of sweat and jiggery-pokery, the iron bedstead was manoeuvered 90 degrees to remove the headboard cross-bars from blocking the light, and I borrowed mum's perfect ready-made backdrop of a hand painted apricot-coloured bi-fold screen into position. All we now needed was a quiet baby and yes, you've guessed it, she screamed the place down! Food, food and more food please mummy!

Baby S took up a naturally curled position on the bed - she seemed comfortable at last, so it seemed wrong to disturb her nap! A quick headband change and shooooott!!

It was definitely a case of feed, rock, burp and lay-her-down-quickly-so-we-can get-a few-shots on this particular shoot. Very little prop work or accessories were appropriate with S being so unsettled, but I think we managed to do her justice.

Teeny tiny ears, lips, fingers and toes are always the scrummy part of my job.

Twins & more twins

During a week filled with six rainy days (hello, British August), the seventh day was appropriately biblical as the sunshine poured over Ripley All Saints Church for the baptism of 11 month old twins, H & W.

Double the trouble when identical twins are heading for a dip in the Font for their baptism, and double the trouble for the photographer who tries to catch the moments! Picturesque All Saints Church sits next to Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, which …

Shoeless and rocking a comfortable 10.0 on the cuteness scale, the boys were dressed in traditional white blouses and sky blue shorts, with little chubby rolls of baby lusciousness on display for anyone who cared to take a pinch. Both boys have incredible blue eyes and fair hair, and clearly preferred a natural division into 'daddy's boy' and 'mummy's boy' camps.

Taking a sensible 'one each' approach, mummy and daddy grab a twin and a bench each for a few snaps before the ceremony begins

Mummy and daddy sensibly took a 'one each' approach and grabbed both a twin and a bench in a quiet corner of the churchyard for a few snapshots before the ceremony began. The vicar was apologetic about the 'atmospheric' (aka dark) corner of the church where the Font was located, but managed to punctuate his entertaining narrative with some audience participation, which both parents and children appreciated.

An atmospheric corner with limited natural light offered a challenging shooting condition, but the twins kept themselves entertained by hitting daddy on the head with the hymn sheet throughout!
The cake was simple and elegant in dove grey icing with pearly embellishments.

Once the deed was done, the magnificent backdrop of Ripley Castle offered a chance for the guests to let their hair down and enjoy the clement weather. The children were kept busy with games on the lawn whilst the grown ups tested the champagne and readied themselves for a glorious afternoon tea.

For the children there were games on the castle lawn, and for the adults the preferred sport was champagne drinking.

It is rare to go to a Christening event these days, but this one was relaxed and enjoyable and made all the more interesting by the presence of not one, but THREE pairs of twins in two generations of the family. Dad's older boys, pictured here with their little brothers made up the second set, and mum and her sister completed the trio. 

Two out of the three sets of twins present on the day of the Christening. Brothers all four, separated by years, but together and looking handsome for photos to commemorate H & W's special day.

My family (and other animals) on holiday

The annual tribe-on-tour event has taken place. This year's destination - South Western France.

Failed full length selfie of the old couple. Failed as my tummy was unshowable and had to be cropped severely

A mercifully brief (but paradoxically expensive) flight to Toulouse was how it began. Land of sunflowers, mediaeval hilltop towns and above all else, apples. Apples everywhere. Hectare upon hectare of the bloody things. A veritable Scrumper's Paradise and I didn't even pack my cider press. This countryside provided us with a glorious vista from the comfort of our sunbeds, with the grape as our preferred fruit of choice on most evenings. Everyone admired the view.

Shot of the best friends admiring the apple-encrusted countryside view from the family's holiday home

I love my family holiday. I love my family, of course, and they are 50% of 'family holiday' after all, but the actual 'holiday' part where I get to read a book and not wash up is, without contest, a very close second.

The camera is never far from my side, and since this area of France has more mediaeval bastille towns than one can throw a stick at, it was easy enough to capture the atmosphere as the sun went down and the corks started popping.

Photographing a local gourmet night market as the sun went down was no hardship

I was struck by the sense of community here. A festival of light in Lauzerte required the co-operation of every single village resident to plunge themselves into darkness at dusk. If one stubborn ex-pat had refused to turn off Eastenders or close the fridge door, the whole event would have been a write-off. 

Mediaeval towns are ten-a-penny in this Labyrinth inspired part of France. Photographic manna from heaven

But what of the animals, I hear you cry? Well, our ever-present lifeguard came in canine form. This adorable but highly strung beauty was our constant companion. She was the seeker-out-of-food-scraps-that-she-was-allergic-to and saw her most important role as pool intervention - woe betide the child that attempted to effect a dive or jump in without her consent as she formed a canine shield with her large body between the offender and the pool.

Our family's adopted pet for the week. The canine lifeguard.

Tradition dictates that no vacation pass by without a visit to the local 'Accrobranche'. Our 6 adrenalin junkies can't get enough of the high ropes harness hell, and this year the added attraction of a nearby close-contact monkey sanctuary proved too much to resist. See? Animals! The hand-feeding of the monkeys, which roamed freely amongst the visitors, was very much encouraged. They will happily take popcorn from you without so much as a by-your-leave, but there was no sign of a Multiplex anywhere.

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Lest we forget that homosapiens are animals too, too many late nights will bring us back to earth....

Tired and emotional offspring will happily remind us that it's not only the furry animals that can be wild.

104 things to photograph

Truly the most interesting birthday present I've ever received, and only £12.99 according to the book jacket!

I am busy making a start, but every time I'm out and about with my camera I seem to struggle to get my brain to hold on to the 104 things that grace the list. I've posted them on my Facebook page in case you want to join in (find that here), and this Blog post may also inspire you to have a go.

Here's the list itself, and my first handful of offerings. I'll update regularly here as the book gets filled. (Hey, just noticed there's an item called ' a list' on the list! Got that covered then!)

A vintage forest-themed wedding shoot

I expected it to be cold. I expected there to be a lot of waiting for my already-gorgeous model to be beautified. I even expected the weather to disobey. What I didn't expect was the emotion I felt when I saw the final images of Anna in my mum's 1957 wedding dress.

Anna has never modelled before, but she was a total natural, requiring little direction. Those enormous brown were enhanced with perfection by the equally gorgeous Rishu Puri using Arbonne cosmetics.

The wellies seemed to somehow set off my mum's wedding gown perfectly, and a nearby forest provided the perfect romantic backdrop for our antics.

The final embellishments were provided by lovely Louise, who created a soft and timeless look for our bride's hair.

Thanks ladies. Mum would be proud.



Bluebells

Sunday in our house is never as I envisaged it. Other families seem to manage outings, picnics, long walks or lunch at the pub. Calmness. 

Yesterday, between homework hell and a Kilimanjaro of ironing, I craved calmness so badly that I sought it out. I grabbed three of the kids, two of the pets and a camera. Respite came in the form of bluebells and swings.

Celebrations

40 is a great celebration. It's partially a 'goodbye' to youth, and partially a firm and fantastic 'hello' to the rest of your life. You are generally a bit more secure both emotionally and financially, and absolutely slap bang in the PRIME of your life. I truly believe it.

And look at K - she looks fantastic! Those legs aren't 40!


First Snow

 

Saturday night brought me two unexpected items of note:-

1. A drunken teenager (less said, the better here).

2. The first snow of the year.

So, as Sunday broke, the boys set to with white warfare and the wee one explored (her second ever encounter with snow) with her fingertips.

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The mutts were unconvinced about the whole affair, it seemed.

Little Missy, however, was quite sure. She no likey dat snowballs.