My Favourite Photographs from 2011

As I didn't get around to doing many blogs last year I thought I'd post some of my favourite images from the year instead.  So here they are.

This image actually came about from my attempt at getting all the puppies in a row.  Unfortunately they wouldn't co-operate.  They just wanted to huddle up together.  I took the picture more as a test of the lighting but when I viewed it on a larger screen it seemed to be in the shape of a heart.  So I helped it along. 

This is actually our own kitten, Tiger.  Since I was a little girl I have wanted to own kittens so it was a dream come true.  They have been so much fun.  And the two we kept are amazing pets, so affectionate and loving.  They're like our babies.  I never realised cats could be such lovely pets. 

This year I became very interested in colours and textures.  I feel this will become part of my signature style.  For me it gives the image so much more depth and really takes it away from the typical studio portrait.  Unique portraits is really what I am after and this is a way I feel I can get that. 



This image has a little of an Audrey Hepburn feel to it for me which is probably why I love it so much.  Her eyes are so wide and her hair is so elegant. 

With this one I just love the eye contact I've got with baby.  Its difficult to get this which such young babies. 

I've managed to get it here as well which is even more amazing considering I'm actually just holding the camera out in front of me. 

I love this image.  I love baby's pout, his hands, the textures and the tones of this image.  I love it so much it because my new canvas sample this year. 

Looking back on these images from this past year has made me even more inspired and determined to come up with unique ways of photographing my clients.  This year I've even given myself the challenge of 12 shoots over the course of the year that are for me.  These shoots will be ones that take me a little out of my comfort zone and force me to try the ideas I have bouncing around inside my head. 

So watch this space, hopefully some beautiful portraiture will be coming this way soon. 

New Year, New Look

I know its been a while since I've blogged.  I got out of the habit of writing and just couldn't get back into it.  Well all that is going to change this year.  Lots of things are going to change this year. 

Thats one of the things I love about the new year.  No matter what happened in the previous year you can sort of draw a line under it and start again.  So that is what I am doing. 

So far I've had a great start to the year.  Spent a wonderful week in London at the SWPP Convention where I had my first opportunity to take part in the judging of the annual print competition.  It was such an incredible experience to be a part of choosing this year's very worthy winners and I feel very honoured for having been invited. 

Along with this I again had a couple of speaking engagements which also went very well.  As always I panic before hand (and even say 'never again') and as always I come away on such a high that I immediately offer to do it all over again. 

The best part about the whole week though is the incredible friendships I've developed over the years (6 years in total so far).  Its like going home to a family reunion each year.  I sincerely hope this carries on for many years to come.  What a great way to get January out of the way too.  There is no time for that lull after Christmas and before long it will be spring. 

Now to mark one of my changes for the year ahead I've decided to give myself a little challenge.  I've read of people doing a 365 challenge where they are meant to take a photo every day of the year.  For me that is just madness.  Then I read of someone doing a 52 challenge, taking a specific photo each week of the year.  Well knowing myself and my ability to fail at such challenges I set myself the target of 12.  That's one special photoshoot a month where I try to create something unique while at the same time stretching and perfecting my skills. 

And here are the photos I created in my first special photoshoot of the year.  I hope you like them as much as I do (although I am a little biased as this is my daughter). 

Introducing Jacques Bakes Cakes!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a very interesting woman named Annaleise Jacques, of Jacques Bakes Cakes, a newly formed cake company.  I've been intrigued with the whole cake industry of late.  The artistic merit in many of the creations often catches my eye.  It made me want to photograph them (in truth it made me a little hungry too - unfortunately the cakes I got to photograph were all cake dummies and therefore inedible).

Her cakes are gorgeous and I can see that with Annaleise's character and drive she will have a thriving business in no time.  So as part of my new initiative of creating business links within the community I decided to join forces with Jacques Bakes Cakes to see if we could help each other out. 

To start things off I invited Annaleise to the studio with some of her recent creations so that I could photograph them properly for her.  Photographing products without the knowledge or equipment of a professional can result in incorrect colours along with dull and flat images that are less appealing.  If selling products to a public who can't see for themselves the real thing it is well worth paying to have the images created professionally.  It makes the business look more professional and it gives potential customers an accurate view of what they may be purchasing. 

I really enjoyed photographing these cakes and would love to do this again sometime.  Maybe next time I can get Annaleise to bring a cake we can actually eat next time. 

Intruducing Baby Dolly!

Recently I had the privillege of establising an affiliation with Baby Dolly, specialists in Antenatal Care. Baby Dolly, based in Hinckley and run by founder Lucy Dolly, carries out antenatel courses for both private and NHS clients.  They also conduct baby massage classes.  Their services include such things as TENS and birth pool hire and an online shop for a multitude of useful products for both during and after pregnancy.  They even offer a cool Pick and Pack Labour bag.  It almost makes me wish I could get pregnant again.  Well actually I could get pregnant again but my husband would kill me. 

I was lucky enough to find Lucy through the schools work I do and we just seemed a natural fit.  We can both help each other out by passing on referrals and I can of course also help Lucy with her photographic needs.  So the first task at hand was to provide some much needed team photos which I was all to happy to provide.

Estabilishing relationships such as this is the aim for us in 2011.  The more relationships with local business that we can establish the better off we will be.  This will help us not only to increase business but also by providing us with a new network of people we can call on to fulfil our needs as well.  I'm really looking forward to creating more of these useful and hopefully fun, links in future. 

If you have a business you feel could have a mutual benefit for us both please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.



My New Column in the Burbage Advertiser

This year I've joined up with The Advertiser and starting from last month I'll contributing with a regular column.  Here I will be providing simple tips and tricks to help the average person improve their personal photography.  Topics will include Understanding Apertures (f-stops), White Balance, Improving Your Exposures (when the camera can't quite get it right) and so much more. 

Here is the first tip from the March issue on finding good light for taking portraits.  And by portraits this doesn't need to mean anything formal.  Looking out for good light is useful even if you just want to take a couple of quick snaps of your kids playing in the garden or out at the park.  This can be useful when on holiday with family or friends.  All too often I see photos on Facebook that could be improved if just a little thought was taken before taking the photo. 

If there is something specific you'd like to learn about then please get in touch and let me know and I will do my best to cover it in an upcoming issue. 

My Images Used at Focus at the NEC!

I was very lucky this year at the SWPP convention.  I met a number of suppliers and a few of which have turned out to be great contacts.  Two of which have chosen to use my images for their samples for display at Focus at the NEC for this years event.  And I must say it was an honour as well as great fun to see my images on display in such lovely products. 

The first company is Artvue Canvas who chose to use one of my images as a cushion canvas, one of their new products.  The image looked stunning if I do say so myself.  I've been planning to use their services for my next canvas order as I've recently been looking at changing suppliers. 

The second company is an album manufacturer called nphoto.  I had already planned on using this company for the portrait albums I am adding to my offering when I received a phone call asking if they could use my images in two of their sample albums.  In return they are giving me some samples for my studio.  I can't wait to receive them. 

I have been searching for the right album to fit in with my product range for years and it is so wonderful to finally find the perfect product.  These are albums that look contemporary without looking like this weeks fashion statement.  They have a timeless quality without looking boring.  They have a feel of quality without looking like they need to be wrapped in tissue paper, never to be looked at.  And finally, they look nothing like a typical wedding album which is very important to me since I won't be displaying wedding photos in them but portraits instead. 

When I first started out, just 5 years ago, I attended many events such as the SWPP convention and Focus and only dreamed of being one of the photographers who had images on display with the various suppliers.  Well now finally I am one of those photographers and it feels great.  So thank you so much to Artvue Canvas and nphoto for the privillege of appearing on your stand this year. 

Freddie Returns!

I had another fantastic shoot this week.  We spent an hour or two trying different looks with some different props I recently found at an antiques fair.  I love antiques fairs by the way.  Its a bit of a treasure hunt.  You never know what you're going to find and each prop gives something different to my portraits.  And with each prop is a little inspiration. 

This session was with an existing client so I took the time to do a little experimentation.  I have an old backdrop that I kept meaning to use although never found a way to use it effectively.  But the antique props got me thinking that maybe this traditional backdrop would be the perfect match.  If this didn't work it was being put away for the foreseeable future. 

In this session I used both natural light and studio light.  Our studio has some lovely light coming in through our tri-fold doors.  I always get great results using this light which works very well for young children. 

And then came the processing.  I don't want to produce just snaps.  I want my work to develop into a unique style that is my own so much of the results here comes also from within the computer.  For some of these images the background was heavily worked on to give it more of a feeling of art and less of a photograph.  This idea of producing art has always been our aim.  Anyone can snap a photo and cameras are a plenty amongst almost everyone.  So we put so much more into our portraiture which helps differentiate us from others. 

At the moment the jury is still out on the backdrop.  So I would love to get some feedback from anyone reading this.  If you have an opinion you'd like to share either leave a comment below or click through to my Facebook page (link on the right) and view the images individually where you can comment on specific photos.  I'd love to hear what you think of the Photoshop treatment and overall style as well.  Thanks.