Wow! Who turned on the lights? Today, for one day only, we’re shooting in the most beautiful light again. Mind you, I’ve just stuck my head outside and it’s already drizzling again so it clearly was just a brief respite.

We went up to Coombe Hill this morning, which continues to be one of our favourite haunts. It’s a great location for different backgrounds and textures – though admittedly, they’re all very much soft natural ones rather than the more urban look which is also great to shoot. It wasn’t exactly warm, but Tina & Stephen, with baby Tristan (“little man” – almost exactly 1 year old) looked amazing.

This was a fantastic session (though me kneeling in a little present from one of the local canine fraternity wasn’t ideal – a risk of always trying to get down for those low eye-level shots!) and the images from it are stunning. Can’t wait to show everyone all of the others.

Cold. No other way to describe it – except maybe damp. And cold.

Still, we were shooting a real set of characters today – they’re cousins and all under the age of ten (and one only 7 weeks old!)

With this mix of very young ages and the weather doing its utmost to intervene. I have to admit that I was very much expecting the odd curveball or two.

Shouldn’t have worried though as Connor, Ieuan, Ben, Phoebe, Tabatha, Rory and Aoife were absolutely brilliant and, as long as we didn’t stand around for too long – as you just felt like you would freeze to the spot – they were very much up for being photographed. That and a constant stream of cakes and hot drinks also helped!

We shot this set in the garden which is not unusual for us – you can pretty much get a shot anywhere provided you have a) willing subjects and b) a little bit of light and the results are really lovely. We did have the studio rigged and ready just in case, but everyone (me included) was happier with braving the weather and getting those natural looking shots that are so much easier in the great outdoors. Anyway, the results here really speak for themselves – they’re just great (and my frozen fingers didn’t take too long to come back to life!)

Tuesdays are not really known for their excitement levels. True, they’re better than Mondays (if you work a five day week that is) but somehow even a Wednesday feels better than Tuesday.

However, today was a good Tuesday. At least, photographically. Izzie (8 months) and mum Jo (21 again) came for a session in the studio. Now, where babies are concerned, I think it’s true to say, that you’re never entirely certain how they’re going to react to being photographed – particularly when using a studio and lights (the weather is still pretty grim so it’s nice warm Elinchrom lighting again). However, Izzie appears to be a true pro. She was polite (no burping or bad language), had an admirable work ethic (happily posed – er, played? – for nearly two hours), utterly cute and, well, if it’s at all possible for someone who’s age you still count in months, the consumate professional!

Hopefully the images capture some of these most admirable qualities in one so young (though it’s mostly the cute part that leaps out at you!) particularly given how quickly babies of this age change:

Hmmmm. So we thought yesterday wasn’t great weather. Today it snowed. Even I had to admit defeat and resign myself to not getting any outdoor shots – every time we tentatively stuck our heads outside to see if we could shoot it was stupdily cold, wet and all in all, pretty miserable. A heady combination, if ever there was one, for maybe filming sea-faring movie or for testing out your latest all-weather gear, but not, we felt, much good for lifestyle photography.

Still, we did what anyone would do in such circumstances; made a pot of tea and cracked on regardless.

This was a great family to shoot ’cause they were up for anything (except for, possibly wisely, standing in the sleet and rain!) and so we just ploughed ahead until we ran out of time. I particularly like the slightly edgy look we’ve captured from the younger members of the group (note to self: must stop calling anyone under the age of 15 a ‘kid’) and Harriet, my nine-year old agrees. On seeing some of the images she said, with a most unnusual degree of understatement, “ah. cool!” ‘Nuff said.

OK, so it’s looking like Mother Nature has temporarily withdrawn support for outdoor photography. I think today may be the last chance we grab for a while as it’s already pretty damp’n'cold and, though i think it makes for great photographs, the actual process of capturing them is not quite so comfortable as it was. Bring out the studio lights…

Had a load of fun today capturing images of some really good friends (and clients!) of ours. The weather did change our plans to a degree – so we fired up the studio lighting and generally had a good (dry) time. We did manage to grab a few outdoor shots (which I love btw – I can’t help myself, I just love shooting outdoors) and I think we’ve some really beautiful shots to choose from. Hopefully some of these will end up on the website. Brilliant!

We’re going to be shooting Kathryn & John’s wedding at the end of December and this was their pre-wedding session where we just have some fun and capture some really informal images ahead of the big day. This is doubly beneficial as it makes sure everyone is comfortable being photographed and we also get some really lovely images (the couple pick out one of the images and we take it along on the day for all the guests to sign the mount – just a lovely thing to have as a momento!)

This was a fantastic session, though there wasn’t a lot of light around so we grabbed a load of images in the studio instead. Having said that, the images we did capture outdoors in the late autumn afternoon are full of atmosphere which I find really appealing. This was a session that really stuck in my mind as everyone was particularly up for it – including John. Without wanting to stereotype – though managing to do so nonetheless – it’s usually the guys who are just a little less than enthusiastic!

I really love the images we captured:

You just know that this is going to be a great wedding to shoot as it will be full of energy and laughter which always makes for the best images (at least, I think so!)

Ah wow! What can I say about this session?

It had everything you could want – amazing late summer light (Coombe Hill often comes up with the goods in this respect), warmth (not usually so good in this respect though!) and a really lovely family who are all unbelievably photogenic.

This session was just a ball as the girls mostly just wanted to run around – which means me trying to keep up with them for a couple of hours!

You do have to laugh as you find yourself lying in the grass, trying to ignore impending hayfever or climbing trees and trying not to drop your Nikons (again) but it’s the only way to get the shots. My insurance company are very tolerant!

I do love doing sessions like this, though, as we usually take a selection of drinks (there’s nothing quite like that moment you stop for a cup of tea!) and various cookies and fruit to keep the energy levels up so it’s really social – more like a picnic than a photographic session which keeps everything nice and relaxed. Oh, and it gives me a chance to get some breath back!

Life is good you know? This is the most fantastic way to earn a living – even at midnight as I’m typing this, it’s impossible to consider it work – though at the end of a session I do feel like I’ve done several rounds with Tyson and unsurprisingly came off worse. Fetch out the Radox…

Today has been a good day. We spent some time capturing images of Donna, Rob, Emily, Claire and Harry. Brilliant fun.

I really like it when there’s plenty of banter and laughter as it just it a pleasure to capture relaxed and informal images – even though we did much of it in the studio given the time of year (cold and damp – by which I’m referring to the weather, not the studio or my clients!)

These are a really lovely set of images that swung from serious to enigmatic to straight entertaining. Thank you for a very productive and hugely enjoyable Sunday morning!

Maddison’s party was just fantastic: pop, professional makeup, food, cake, music (well, mostly High School Musical 2 soundtrack). What more could a nine-year-old wish for?