One thing that I have definitely had to learn is to push myself out of my comfort zone on a regular basis.

You see, its not enough to just be a really good photographer and be able to create creative and beautiful family portraits for people. It’s also not enough to genuinely and absolutely love working with children and enjoy meeting new people (although I can’t stress how important this is!).

The biggest challenge for me personally, has been to shout about myself. When I say shout, I don’t mean actually yelling very loudly… (although there have been times when I have been tempted!). It means really putting yourself out there, letting people know what you do, why you love it and what you can bring to them. Some people are naturally ‘shouters’. But, for me it hasn’t always been that easy – I have had to really push myself and take deep breaths and yes, sometimes it feels slightly terrifying. I know that I will never be a natural shouter or a pushy salesperson. But what I do know is that I create something really special for people, they really enjoy the whole experience and that I am both passionate about it and am really good at it. And that is something worth shouting about.

So, in the spirit of having a ‘shout’, here is my recent interview with local radio station Brooklands Radio – I was really delighted to be invited onto their talk show ‘Fabulous Women’. I was interviewed by some rather fabulous women themselves: Celia Jones and Jackie Mitchell and asked to talk about setting up and running your own business. I have to say that it was a great experience – I was made to feel completely at ease and it was a buzz to be interviewed live on air! If you would like to find out more about Brooklands Radio, then click here. Hope you enjoy the interview.

Kx

Firstly, I get to document their little ones growing-up and provide them with a beautiful reminder of each special stage. Secondly, I actually get to enjoy watching the children grow up, which is always rewarding – and especially so when a child opens the door to me, remembers me and is really pleased to see me again. (Those sort of moments make my day!) And thirdly, its always so lovely catching up with the parents, hearing about their lives too. Quite often, if they live locally, we discuss the schools, the best soft plays and classes and quite what you do when you discover your child has stuck a smallish pebble up their nose. Apparently they wanted to see what it ‘felt like’.

So, this was the second time I met this little boy. First time I met him, he was a chubby-faced little baby with whom I played peek-a-boo. This time, he was sitting up, which is one of my favourite stages to photograph. We spent some times indoors, where he showed me all his new-favourite toys. And then we went out in the garden, and he showed me his very favourite ball pool. We played ball pool games (which involved him throwing the balls out and me putting them back in), blowing bubbles (who doesn’t like bubbles?) and throwing a ball for their lively little dog (who knew he was onto a soft touch with me).

Hope you enjoy a few from our morning together. And if you like the idea of documenting your children as they grow in some creative portraits, then do get in touch.

Kx

So when I was asked to cover their launch party a couple of weeks ago, I knew it was going to be busy….. especially when I found out that the one and only Iggle-Piggle and Upsy-Daisy were going to be making a guest appearance as well – they are almost like celebs in the pre-school world!!

Even though it was bucketing it down outside, it did indeed turn out to be a extremely busy launch party, with champagne flowing, cake samples (I can officially confirm they were delicious), craft activities for the children with Act One Adventures and free treatments available. Below are a few photos from the day which give a flavour of the party. And if you have little ones and live locally, I would definitely recommend a visit – it really is a wonderful space and venue, situated in the centre of Godalming, with a car park a few steps away. You can click here to find out more.

So, after the constant rain of the weekend, when that sun came out for almost a whole hour on Sunday early evening, they were out there like a shot. They couldn’t get their wellies on quick enough in anticipation of the definite huge puddles they were going to find in the cul-de-sac where we live. In the one hours respite that we had that day they absolutely made the most of it. Jumping, splashing, seeing if they could actually get their wellies stuck in the mud (yes, they could and yes, it was messy!). And of course, experimenting with various objects to see if they would float in the deepest puddles.

Yes, I had to peel off their filthy wet clothes from them as soon as they walked in the back door.
Yes, it was straight into the bath to wash off the mud.
But it was an hour of pure, childhood fun.
Hope you enjoy the images.

Kx

When I plan a Bespoke Family Photo Session that involves children in this age group, I always have a good dose of imaginative play interwoven into our time together. It makes it such a fun experience for the children, and they quite often forget that I am actually capturing portraits of them. (And quite frankly, I secretly love being able to pretend that I am really on a rocketship/gruffalo-hunt/princess castle on a regular basis.)

So when I met Joanne McGowan of Act One Adventures, who specialises in imaginative play classes and parties for children, I knew we were going to get along. She was looking for someone to be able to capture some of the magic she weaves with preschoolers, in preparation for promoting a new class that she has just started at Mummas and Beans in Godalming.

It was a joy to watch Joanne in action – she captured the children’s imagination right from the beginning and led them on a Very Exciting Adventure based on a book that a lot of you parents will know off by heart….’We’re going on a Bear Hunt’. So, there was, of course, lots of swishy-swashy grass and thick mud to get through, plus an unseasonable snowstorm. You could really tell how much the children were entranced by becoming part of the story and I don’t think they even really noticed me scuttling round photographing them.

It was a pleasure to work with Joanne and I can highly recommend her new classes – if you think your preschooler would enjoy them, you can contact her here

As always, I pre-advised the parents-to-be that we would need to do the Photo Session within the first 2 weeks, if they wanted to capture the really sleepy, lovely, newborn stage. And a few weeks later, on one slightly snowy morning, I set out to Horsham, feeling very excited to meet this little baby boy and girl.

As with all my Photo Sessions, my aim is always to capture a little slice of your family – your life how it is. And, as you can imagine, with newborn twins, life is pretty well turned upside down! I always reassure parents beforehand that I will work around both the baby’s and the parent’s needs and I allow plenty of time, especially for newborn Sessions. This makes for a relaxed, stress-free and enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I love to capture not just beautiful portraits of your baby, but also the connections between baby and new parent, the little details that you may well otherwise forget as time goes by. My style of newborn photography is not about trying to create a sometimes unrealistic image of the ‘perfect’ baby, but instead to tell a little heartfelt and genuine story of your brand new family.

It was incredibly difficult to pick my favourites from this Photo Session! I will leave you with the lovely feedback I had from the parents – feedback like this is what makes it all worthwhile for me.

“OH MY GOODNESS! My heart is melting!! You are SO clever – these are so beautiful…  I don’t know how we can ever thank you for these!“.

Enjoy… K x

Disability Challengers are an Independent Childrens Charity that deliver projects across Surrey and provide safe and inspiring places for disabled children and young people to play, make friends and have fun. Aside from the fact that they are an AMAZING local charity, I particularly love the fact that they use the power of play to help children, something that I also feel strongly about. Play is so important for children – it helps them learn and grow and allows their imaginations to fly!

I also knew that my approach and style of photography would work well within their environment – because I work in a very relaxed way and capture images naturally, the children do not have to ‘perform’ or ‘sit still’, they can just be themselves whilst I interact with them.

I was invited to spend a morning at their Farnham Centre, with their preschool group, which is an inclusive playgroup for both disabled and non-disabled children. It was a delight to be there and observe the children having fun, playing together, and interacting with the wonderful, dedicated staff.

It made my day to receive this email from Mady when the staff saw the images: “Thank you so so much for these!  They are absolutely incredible, everyone here has been glued to them since you sent them!  I can’t tell you how useful they’re going to be to us, as you’ll know photos engage people more than text and words ever does.  I’m really pleased you enjoyed seeing the pre-school in action, as you probably guessed we’re pretty proud of it so it’s lovely when people really get what we’re trying to achieve.”

There are so many amazing organisations out there that are striving to make a difference and I am really proud to be a small part of one of them now. If you would like to find out more about Disability Challengers and perhaps how you can help them, take a look at their website : www.disability-challengers.org.

I am very much looking forward to working with them again in the future. It really is a special place and I hope that these images have captured a little bit of this for you to see.

Kx

Kx

Here are some of my favourites….. and Happy Valentines Day - wherever there may be love in your life, cherish it.

Kx

In the spirit of fresh starts and aspirations, I am running a Special Offer for the month of February & March only. After a month of the January detox, its a great time to think about having a portrait done – whether for your business profile – or just for you. I really believe that everyone should have a great photograph of themselves, one that you actually like yourself in and are proud to show off – it can make a great difference to both your confidence and your business!

As with all my Photo Sessions, I aim to make it a really enjoyable experience, no matter how much you really dislike having your own photograph taken. People often say to me afterwards how surprised they are how much they actually enjoyed themselves and how relaxed they felt! I allow at least an hour for these Photo Sessions – which gives us plenty of time to have a coffee (and cake of course) first and to get to know each other a little. My aim is to produce natural and engaging photography that shows the ‘real’ you in a wonderful way.

This Special Offer price for February & March only is just £99.00 (usual price £135.00) including the Photo Session, your own private password-protected Gallery with 15-20 images to choose from and a disc with three high-res digital files of your choice.

Here are a few from Photo Sessions last year, which were commissioned both for businesses and personal use. And if you would like to start 2012 with a ‘new you’, then just get in touch – I would love to help.

Kx