Today, Oliver and his mummy returned to the studio for another portrait shoot (they last visited just before Christmas). Wow, Oliver has grown so much and now has a couple of teeth – he’s still as cute as ever!

As you can see from these pictures, he can now sit up. During the shoot, he really enjoyed playing with a pull along duck but wasn’t too interested in the Iggle Piggle that resides in the studio.

So sweet

Don't fall!

He's so cute

It was great to have you back in the studio and you were a real pleasure to work with!

Babies, High Key, Studio news Berkhamsted, Mother and baby, photography, Portrait

Nick and his three wonderful children arrived at the studio from Aylesbury this morning for a photo shoot. Naomi, Hannah and Liam were great fun and followed my directions very well. This was their first visit to a studio, but after 5 minutes in front of the camera, you would never of known! Here are a few pictures ahead of the viewing.

Don't fall over

Lovely smiles!

Looking relaxed!

Many thanks for your visit and I’m looking forward to showing you your pictures at the viewing!

Children, High Key, Studio news Aylesbury, Children, Fun, photography, Portraits

Roof abstract

Today is the last day of William’s Easter holidays – back to school on Monday! I spent today with William and his brother Jamie. Late this morning, William decided that we should go to the aeroplane museum (as he calls it) – I think his favourite part is the shop on the way out . So we loaded the car with the essentials; Jamie’s changing bag and our camera equipment. After a smooth journey to the museum we squeezed into the car park (even though the sign said it was full – the parking attendant waived us in).

Lunch at Wings and then into the main exhibition halls (it’s free to get in). It turned out that in addition to the usual display, a large number of vintage cars had been brought into the hangers and squeezed in, under and around the planes.

Bombs away

Planes, no trains but automobiles.

As usual the boys loved wandering around – William taking photos of the photos on the walls, the LCD screens and even the odd plane or two! Jamie enjoyed pointing at the planes. Attached to one of the halls is a children’s educational area with interactive exhibits which teach youngsters about various aspects of the theory of flight and related topics. (Jamie is a bit young for this, but never mind he seemed happy).

Exited through the shop, a few pounds on another toy plane and we were in the car on our way home. I’d highly recommend the museum, especially if you’re looking for something to do when the weather isn’t too good. It’s free, educational and fun (and a chance for me to do some photography out and about with the children).

Children, Out and About, Toddlers Children, Museum, photography, RAF Hendon

Karen is having a tough time deciding which of these three high key portraits is the one!

Which picture would you pick for a framed portrait?

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Please leave a comment with your vote. Many thanks for your views.

Babies, Family, Studio news Baby, Family, Newborn, photography, Portrait, Radlett, Studio

Greg and Adam

Opening hours at the Studio are pretty flexible, usually 9am – 6pm, 7 days a week. Last evening I had a late shoot , an 8pm start. If you are interested in a shoot and need an early or late shoot, just let me know.

Mum, dad and their two boys, Adam and Greg, arrived from Watford. For mum’s birthday, Adam and Greg had agreed to pose for portraits, they were in their early twenties and it had been many many years since they last visited a studio!

We started with the group shot, with the two young men taking direction very well and not seeming to mind too much. After a change of shirts we then moved on to individual poses by which point both Greg and Adam had mastered posing and quickly titled their heads positioned there arms and shoulders for each set of shots. Mum and dad watched intently and glanced over at the monitor to see the shots appear on the screen (I shoot tethered where images are downloaded from the camera straight onto a computer – this allows me to accurately and quickly check exposure, lighting etc).

A great smile!

This is fun!

It was a pleasure to meet the family, and work with Adam and Greg. (I look forward to seeing you again at the viewing!)

Family, High Key Boys, High Key, photographer, photography, Portrait, Watford, Young men

Newborn baby

This weekend I had the pleasure to meet a wonderful young couple with their new, new baby. They arrived from Watford on Saturday morning proudly carrying their 3 week old beautiful baby girl. After a chat and having reviewed some example newborn pictures, the shoot commenced, little M didn’t seem to mind, she was still asleep and so I took advantage of this creating compositions with her lying down on her own, still and peaceful.

A beautiful moment

After a while, M woke, a little hungry; I remember those days, newborns asleep apart from when they are feeding … after a feed, we continued and mum, whose valentines surprise this was, joined her daughter on the stage. It was a pleasure to be working, seeing mum and daughter enjoying each other’s presence, seeing the happiness in a new mother’s eyes; who can call this work?

A proud father

As the studio session progressed, dad, who arranged the shoot as a Valentines present, joined the rest of his family on the stage, there were some wonderful intimate moments the emotion of which I hope I have done justice in the images I captured.

Another feed, a change of tops and another backdrop – I set up the studio with a black backdrop and a different lighting configuration, gone were the soft boxes and out with the brollies and a snoot. This section of the shoot followed a similar shooting plan as the first half (oops, yes I usually like to have a plan for a shoot), but the compositions were a little different to make the most of the directional, moody lighting.

Babies, Family, Studio news Cherub, Family, Newborn, photographer, photography, Shoot, Valentine's, Watford

Mum having fun with her sons in the studio

Mum and her sons recently visited the studio. Mum was very organised (as most are!), she came prepared with a couple of maching outfits for her two boys and a favourite toy for each which meant they had a full complement of Planet Protectors. The eldest was about 4 1/2 and the younger about 18months old and as usual at this time of the year they had runny noses! Mum has ordered lots of prints including two larger ones of the shots below to go either side of her mirror in the lounge. They were a fun family to work with and this definitely came through in the portraits!

Toddler

[caption id="attachment_75" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Playful boy"][/caption]

Children, Family, Studio news Berkhamsted, Boys, Mum, photographer, photography

A proud mum to be showing off her pregnant tummy!

Once upon a time, pregnant women covered their bumps in large frumpy maternity clothes but that’s all transformed. Ladies now show their pregnant tummies with pride; even celebrities, concious of their public image, show off their bumps for all to see.  With such changes, maternity or pregnancy portrait shoots have become a popular event for mothers to be.

I’ve put together a maternity / pregnancy portrait page for the website. I hope you will find the information contained useful should you be considering having a pre-birth portrait now or in the future. The page details what you might expect if you were to visit my studio for a shoot, provides some food for thought regarding clothing options and displays some recent examples of pregnancy portraits I’ve produced.

Babies, Maternity/Pre-birth Berkhamsted, Maternity, photographer, photography, Portrait, Pregnancy, Watford

A  young man was in my studio a short time ago for a photo shoot. It was a day or two before his first day at school and he arrived proudly wearing his brand new uniform. His mum wanted a record of him starting school for the first time, his school is a local one here in Berkhamsted.

This young chap was a joy to work with, he really enjoyed posing for the camera, he did want to check the LCD on the back of the camera every few shots though, but that was no trouble. Sessions like this with children are so much fun; this was one of those shoots where everything worked out perfectly and it was over from start to finish in under 45 minutes!

Children, Studio news Berkhamsted, Children, Hemel Hempsted, photographer, photography, Portrait

A snowy day here at the studio in Berkhamsted

Overnight there has been 3 or 4 inches of snow! None of the local roads have been gritted and our eldest son’s school is closed for the day. I’ve cleared the path to the studio once already and the snow is starting to cover it again. Just as well I don’t have a busy shooting schedule today.

I’ve been summoned to help build a snowman!

Studio news Berkhamsted, photographer, photography, Snow, Studio