A couple of weeks ago I returned to a family who I first photographed when their daughter was a newborn, after her inspirational breech home birth. It is always lovely to revisit families and see how the children are growing, so I was delighted to be asked back to photograph her as a six month old.

This family is always especially enjoyable to work with because the mother shares creative ideas with me about the session in advance, including that she wants all the images to be black and white. As I became involved in photography before digital cameras my first love was monochrome film, but nowadays I don’t get much opportunity to work without colour. Knowing that is how these pictures will be presented allows me to flex my pre-visualisation muscles and try to imagine the tonal range of the final images.

The beautiful early spring light and the room that we used helped create an almost tactile range of textures and tones: crisp white sheets, creamy baby skin, cascading dark wavy hair and intricately patterned knitted jumper. I remembered what I first loved about image making and felt that I was seeing light and tone as a true photographer again.

I’m currently talking to a journalist for an article about the positives and negatives of photographing the weddings of friends and family. It is something I have done several times and, whilst I have always enjoyed it, sometimes balancing your roles as guest and photographer can be tricky.

Fortunately the same cannot be said of photographing the children of people you know. Doing this, particularly of newborns, is purely a treat and privilege. It’s always exciting to meet a new baby but when they are the child of a long term friend, when I look into their face and see traces of people I have known and loved for years, I think this is the most amazing job I could imagine.

I recently photographed the newborn baby of my oldest friend. Her mother and my mother have been friends since school and were pregnant with us at the same time. There’s a wonderful picture of our mums standing bump to bump – we almost knew each other before we were born. Meeting her daughter and photographing her was probably the most emotional newborn session I have done. As an only child, this is the closest I get to a niece on my side of the family.

Welcome to the world, little one. We’ve been waiting for you.

I’ve recently been getting more enquires about maternity photography, so thought I’d answer some of the most common questions here:

When is the best time to have a maternity photo session?

I recommend around 7-8 months. At that stage the mother to be has a nice large bump but is hopefully not too uncomfortable or puffy-looking.

Why would someone want a maternity photo session?

Pregnancy is an incredibly special and brief time in a woman’s life that it is lovely to record. Many women miss their bumps after they give birth and having beautiful photographs of that time when your baby was just yours and with you all the time can help you recall it fondly. It’s amazing to chart how your body has changed from its normal shape and to remember that the child that you are now holding in your arms or chasing around was once inside you. It’s amazing for the child too – my son loves to look at pictures of me when I was pregnant and hear me tell him about when he lived in my tummy.

Many women have phases during their pregnancy when they feel unattractive or self-conscious. That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t have a photo shoot done. If the mother to be finds a photographer that she really feels comfortable with they can work together to produce special images that she is happy with: which could be close-ups, silhouettes or more creative shots (more on this later).

Do you have to be naked?

Although many of the images I am showing are naked you do not have to be. Even if you are comfortable being photographed naked you may want some clothed pictures to show family/work colleagues and your photographer can recommend which clothes would look best. If you are getting naked your photographer should be able to provide you with a comfortable and private space so that you can relax, or do the session at your home (I have a full portable studio set up I use to make this possible).

Can we do something creative and interesting in the photo session?

I’m sure most photographers would be very happy to do this, especially if the ideas are coming from the parents to be. I have done sessions with bump painting and projecting images on to the bump, which have been really fun and resulted in unique photographs.

Can we involve our older children?

Definitely! I fondly remember a session I did where the mother was pregnant with her third boy. I photographed her two older sons painting her bump and the family wrote “We loved you before you were born” across it.

Where should we take the photos?

All different locations have their advantages and disadvantages.

A photographer’s studio should be a private place with all the necessary equipment and so could be a very good option, especially if you want images with carefully controlled lighting. However, it is a less familiar environment so you may find it harder to relax, although a good photographer will always work to put you at ease.

Taking the pictures in your own home will usually mean that you feel more comfortable and relaxed, and also has the advantage that you will be able to record how your home was before your child arrived (I now find it hard to imagine that I ever lived in a house that did not have a light sprinkling of toy cars over the floors at all times). However, if your rooms are very small, cluttered or with poor lighting it might limit the shots you can take. Photographers can generally make the best of most situations (I can bring backdrops and portable studio lights as well as being very experienced at working with ambient light and throwing cluttered backgrounds out of focus), but your should discuss it with your photographer.

Many people like to have maternity photographs taken on location, often in natural environments. There is something very special about photographing a woman who is growing a baby amongst growing plants and the images can look fantastic. With all location photography there is the potential for issues relating to weather and light especially if photographing in winter, when you may also be wearing too many layers to show your bump well. Unless you have a particularly special and private location then nude photography is usually out (I’m based in London, photographers in more rural locations might manage).

The photographs of my bump and myself are cherished in our family. I hope this information will help you to plan images that capture this incredible time for your family.

Self portrait when I was 11 weeks pregnant and my son was the size of a lime

The pictures included are natural moments rather than from posed photo sessions, to illustrate my points.
1. Don’t try and do too many things at once
If you can concentrate on just taking photos for a little while rather than trying to do it while cooking the dinner, talking to the relatives etc. you are likely to get better pictures. Designate yourself as the photographer, even for 15 minutes, and totally focus on it. In just that period of time the images will stop being snapshots and become more considered.

2. Photograph people doing something
Think about what will look visually interesting and hold your family’s attention. It might be unwrapping presents, playing with new toys, eating Christmas dinner or going on a walk. This avoids having pictures of everyone awkwardly grinning at the camera. Just observe people doing what they are doing and take pictures when the moment looks right. They will look relaxed and natural.

3. Photograph people on their own or in small groups
The more people you have in a photograph, the more difficult it becomes to compose. The image looks too messy and someone is always blinking or not looking at their best. Isolating just one person, or a couple of people who are communicating together works much better. How can you isolate them? There are a couple of ways:

4. Get closer to your subject or zoom in
This helps make them fill the frame and removes unwanted background clutter, which abounds in the average home at Christmas time.

5. Use a shallow depth of field
If you can control the aperture on your camera set a wide aperture, which is a small number (like f2, f2.8, f 4 for example). This will throw the background out of focus, isolating your subject in the most beautiful way. Be careful about your focus point in the image – as everything else will be out of focus you really want to focus on your subject’s eyes.

6. Avoid flash if you can
Built in camera flash is often too harsh and kills any lovely ambient light in the image. Use a wider aperture (see above) or a faster ISO (800+ rather than 100) to take pictures in lower light without flash. Make use of ambient light by photographing next to large windows or lamps, which will add light and atmosphere.

7. Get down to their level
When photographing children, get on the floor with them. Become the same height as them and get into their world. In general, standing at your normal height is the worst position to take a photograph from – everything will look the same as it normally does. Try to use a different viewpoint to make your pictures more dynamic.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

This post was originally published on Van Girls blog.

Last weekend I had a portrait session with a two year old girl in my studio. I really love the excitement of photographing toddlers, but it can be challenging!

Sometimes taking photographs on location can be easier with a toddler as I am happy for them to lead me while I chase after them. A favorite park that a child feels comfortable in often works well for this (such as this photo session). However, the day of this session it was absolutely pouring down. I’m not afraid of a little rain and even think it can add to the atmosphere (as in this session), but this was definitely not a day to be photographing outside.

This session took place at a weekend so my son was home and was very happy to welcome this little girl and share his toys with her. When we made it up to the studio she had a bag of her favourite toys and some of my son’s, which had a novelty factor. I always advise parents to bring a bag of toys to help their little one feel at home and to keep their attention.

Parents often worry about their child’s behaviour during a session but, as a mother who photographs young children every week, nothing has ever concerned me. I have done a children’s fashion shoot with four under three year olds in my studio at once and no family shoot has yet topped that for enjoyable chaos! It is totally natural for children to want to explore their environment and in the studio children are often very interested in my equipment. I find it really helps to tell them what it is for and explain what I am doing with it, even if they are very young. They especially seem to like my “suns” (big lights). This equipment is a bit delicate and I am ready to step in and re-direct any child who is being too rough with it but I have never had to yet. Children also really like to see the photos on the back of the camera after I take them, this little girl wanted to look at every one.

Another reason I love photographing young children is that the parents are always up for getting involved and these parents were no exception. Dangling a child upside down, throwing them in the air and giving horsey rides makes the session much more familiar and fun for children.

So, in addition to a mix of familiar and novel toys, letting the child explore and getting the parents involved what is the key to having a successful portrait session with a toddler? Work quickly! They don’t have the longest attention span: get as many good photos as you can before they decide they’d rather be somewhere else. Once they decide the session is over, it’s over.

As anyone who has spoken to me or seen my social media will know, I was recently honoured to tie for the silver Brand Amplifier award. Everyone has been congratulatory and then asked “what’s that then?” So this is an attempt to explain what I’ve been up to for the last couple of months, what Brand Amplifier is and why I’m so excited to have been part of it.

When I heard about Brand Amplifier I was intrigued. It promised free training in branding for female entrepreneurs, which sounded great to me as I try to establish myself in a pretty crowded marketplace. I was successful in the online application and didn’t really know what to expect next.

The first session at JPC studio in Brixton, was overwhelming – so much to take in and the terrifying task of giving our elevator pitch to a room full of strangers. But it was exciting. JP, the project founder, was infectiously enthusiastic about everything she said. The key points I took away were the importance of your business having values and not to be scared of taking risks. These have had a massive impact on my recent decisions. I was also in a room full of supportive women with a fantastically diverse range of businesses, a network which I soon realised was going to be one of the most valuable parts of the program.

Being cheered on by the always enthusiastic JP.

Over the following three weeks we had sessions on PR, social media, viral video marketing, press releases and business survival. Each session was absolutely packed with information and we had homework every week. It was a challenge to manage it all alongside running my business, part time teaching and motherhood, but the more you put into the homework, the more you learned from it.

I got so much out of the course, including Sylvia Marshall helping me define my “sizzle”, Jasmine Birtles explaining how to approach journalists and Jeanette Whiting turning me on to Instagram. When the month was over I felt satisfied that I had been given an arsenal of tools that I could now put into practise to promote my business.

There was just the small matter of the pitch………

I just got involved in BA for the training. I never thought I had a chance of winning an award. I didn’t think I had the “right” type of business. To be honest, I wasn’t very confident about whether I was entrepreneur material. I’m confident about my photography skills – it’s my passion and what I have been doing since I was sixteen. I’m confident about interacting with the people I photograph – I know I can put people at ease and work with them well. But being a businesswoman? It’s just what I have to do to make a living out of this – or so I thought. I’d gradually come to realise how creative and exciting running your business and building your brand can be. Still, preparing a pitch for a Dragon’s Den style situation was very stressful, especially when I was so sure it was for nothing more than my own satisfaction of doing my best.

The nerve-wracking five minutes of presenting my pitch to the panel of Yolande Leroy, Georgie Bingham and Sarah Kohn.

On the day the judges were much more friendly and smiley than any dragons and the pitch flew by in a blur – I did actually enjoy myself when I got going. I was amazed to tie for the silver award “given for a great brand story, a compelling pitch and renewed focus in your business growth” with Doriana of Mind the Flat. The seed funding that I received will enable me to carry out some creative promotional activities in 2015. I received lots of wonderful feedback on my images and brand identity. In addition to everything I have learned from the program the main reasons I’m so excited to have been involved are the increased opportunities to promote my business and the amazing network of people I have met. I now have people I can contact with whatever crazy need I have (including sourcing seaweed as a photo shoot prop – thanks Atlantic Kitchen) as well as a network of alumni that can partially take the place of colleagues, very valuable to a freelancer working on my own.

It has been an exciting, daunting, exhausting, reassuring, inspiring and surprising experience that I will be referring back to for a very long time. Mainly it has been a massive confidence boost. After the awards ceremony I sat on my own on the South Bank looking out at my favourite London view and thinking “I did it! Maybe I am good at this.”

Many thanks to Elena Zlatanoska for the use of her pictures.

What a beautiful couple of days we are having! It’s hard to believe it is late October. Weather like this makes me feel that I should be out taking photos or swimming at the Lido. Unfortunately today I have admin work to do so I’m not doing either, but I can see the golden light bathing the trees from the window of my studio.

Sunny autumn days produce some of my favourite light, as seen in this old blog post. However, with photography, sunny is not always best. Middle of the day sun in summer can be way too harsh, washing out the pictures and leaving everyone squinting – a nightmare of wedding photography. A bright but overcast day might not give that beautiful blue sky in the pictures but can provide much more flattering light for the people being photographed acting as a huge softbox – like taking the biggest and best studio lights on location with you.

With this in mind I want to share some pictures from a session I did earlier this month. We planned to shoot in The Rookery on Streatham Common (one of my favourite and most local locations, check out another shoot I did there) as it was a special place for the family, but said we’d confirm depending on the weather. When Saturday came it was very grey, drizzling and with the weather reports promising much worse. After a quick discussion with the family we decided to go ahead, with them bringing raincoats. I was confident that the light would be right to take some really nice photos, my only concern was that they were comfortable enough.

It was a really enjoyable shoot. The kids were happy and expressive in an environment that they obviously felt comfortable in. As the weather worsened we got the park to ourselves and sheltered under a tree. I captured some beautifully tender moments between the two children, which was what the parents had hoped for from the session. I was even given a flower by the little boy which made my day – the photographer never normally gets a present so I am treasuring that! I was also happy to get some unique pictures of the family group in brightly coloured raincoats.

So my point is: yes – run out and take pictures on glorious days like today but don’t be put off by the rain and cold. By understanding light and knowing your locations you can take successful photos in any circumstances and those taken when the sun isn’t shining might be more interesting. I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing – so while I’m enjoying today’s sun I’ve got my waterproofs and warm clothes ready and am looking forward to photographing outside all winter.

J was just about to turn one when his parents asked me to come and take some portraits of him. Luckily it was a beautiful late summer day and he really enjoyed crawling about the garden and showing off his new standing skills. Despite the best efforts of their cat to steal the limelight we got some great pictures.

I’ve previously said that toddlers are my favourite age to photograph but I had forgotten how amazing this pre-walking stage is. J was flexible and fearless, somersaulting over his walker without blinking an eye. I also had to regress to crawling to be able to take the photos so was muddier than him by the time we had finished.

I’m really looking forward to the other photo shoots of children this age that I have coming up.

Every child’s birth story is special and unique, but the story behind this session was especially interesting for me.

The mother booked me months ago early on in her pregnancy for a newborn shoot, with the baby due just when I was returning for my summer holidays. I arrived back ready for the shoot but the baby was not quite ready to come out. We kept in touch and a couple of weeks later I was finally able to go and photograph this family and hear all about the birth. I’ll let the mother tell the story in her own words:

“We always planned a home birth but, when we discovered our baby was breech at 40 weeks + 2 days, we were told an elected C section was the safest option. After a lot of research, we hired independent midwives with experience in vaginal breech and elected to remain at home for the birth of our daughter.

A home birth was very important to us as we believed it allowed me to feel safe within a calm, familiar environment. Following natal hypnotherapy, I had come to trust my body’s ability to give birth and I therefore trusted my instincts to achieve the outcome we desired. I managed to have a natural birth with no drugs. Instead, I used a TENS machine, massage and deployed my hypnotherapy techniques.

Being at home with independent midwives offered more flexibility as the process was not governed by NHS policies/guidelines. This was important as it allowed my body to give birth in its own way without interventions of any kind. The midwives we hired and who attended the birth were Andy Parker from Maya Midwives, and Kathryn Weymouth and Liz Nightingale from UK Birth Centres.

Ultimately we believe the birth experience allowed our daughter to enter the world naturally and in a safe, calm, loving environment. Our daughter is a calm, generally content baby which we attribute in no small part to the manner of her birth.

One other added benefit of a home birth was that we got to remain at home together as a family without my husband having to leave us, as he may have done with hospital delivery. Some of those moments I will treasure forever.”

Many thanks to the mother for writing that for me. It was a very inspiring photo session and gave me lots to think about.