17/10/2011 by Anna.

Now that my blog is up and running again it’s time to put some new pictures on. Remember those lovely, hot days in early October? Luckily I had a photo shoot planned so we really made the most of it. Deb, Ben, Amelie and Ethan and Simon and I strolled around West Kington for a couple of hours, enjoying the sun.

The sun was still strong for late afternoon, so we found shade behind a huge tree.

Making the most of the sun for this one!

Ethan was very excited about his 4th birthday the following day!

This really doesn’t look like October 2nd, does it?!

What a lovely couple!

I wonder what Amelie’s pictures turned out like?

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon - thanks guys!

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22/08/2011 by Anna.

What better way to spend a summer’s morning than taking a walk in Westonbirt? Well, maybe the walking wasn’t too energetic as we had young children in the family group, so a better description would probably be a play in Westonbirt!

The wild flowers in the field leading down to Silk Wood are at their best at this time of year, I think.

Getting down and shooting from a low angle really brings them into the picture.

A lovely family grouping.

Although it wasn’t very sunny, the light is still pretty strong and so the shade under one of the huge trees was very welcome and gave a good light.

I can’t remember what was so funny!

This expression came about when the bubbles came out!

This one I managed to get a picture of… most of them I missed!

I think a model is in the making…

Poor little Jake fell over within 5 minutes of the beginning of the walk and grazed his nose!

What a great place to be!

It looks quite autumnal already, doesn’t it?

Emily and Jake managed really well on the walk, thanks to plenty of shoulder rides and snacks and treats - as usual I took far too many pictures! But there are some lovely images from summer 2011 for future memories.

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30/05/2011 by Anna.

Last Saturday we made the most of the sunny afternoon weather for a children’s clothing fashion shoot in a neighbour’s garden.

http://jollyandhodie.blogspot.com/

Jodie and Holly have just started this range of clothing for children and they wanted some photography done to make some ‘look books’ to take around retailers.

The idea was to take some fun images of the children… which is just as well as it’s not easy to direct 4 year old children! It’s much easier to let them play and choose my positioning and the moments for pressing the shutter!

Some of the clothes are made from vintage fabrics and have a lot of detail in them

This little shirt looked gorgeous on Barney!

And I love the detail of the kite in this dress.

The design for this printed t-shirt came from spirograph drawings - I want one!

Again, some lovely detail.

I wanted to do a few pictures indoors which have a completely different feel from the ones taken in bright sunshine.

What rascals! Thank you so much to Ruby and Barney for being my models and also to big brother, Wilf and sisters Maddie and Esme for also joining in. And thanks, of course to their parents for helping us and to John and Henny for the use of their lovely garden and staircase.

Posted in Commercial, Fashion, Children | 1 Comment »

04/05/2011 by Anna.

This session was done a few weeks ago when the dandelions were in their prime. I know they are only weeds, but I love them…. provided they don’t take over my garden! They are certainly great to use in photo shoots when the weather is good and the grass dry.

The children were allowed to do their own thing in the field which kept them happy.

Because the sun was so strong I kept it behind the children for close up portraits.

This picture was the best of several that we took of the children jumping. They make a nice sequence.

Here, a bit of panning with the camera following the bike has given the illusion of real speed…

A lovely window lit portrait given a special colour treatment by me.

The blue carpet makes the perfect background for a baby with blue eyes!

I’m now looking at the countryside and thinking that the time is nearly here to take pictures amongst the buttercups. They were amazing last year and will probably be the same this year with all the dry weather we’ve had… any takers?

Posted in Family, Children, Family gatherings | No Comments »

21/04/2011 by Anna.

Can you believe that it’s only April? Such beautiful sunny, warm days. Jodie and Leighton agreed at short notice to make the most of the good weather and have their pre-wedding shoot one sunny late afternoon. We went to Birds Marsh woods - so close to Chippenham and yet in a different world.

The fields still had quite a few dandelions which the children enjoyed playing with.

And the buttercups of course… Leighton loves butter apparently!

I thought I ought to concentrate on the soon to be married couple!

This must have been one huge tree!

Here we were trying to make noises with blades of grass…

Aren’t these images just SO different from studio shots?!

Still having trouble with the grass positioning.

The woods were quite luscious with all the fresh new foliage.

The laurel flowers have quite a strong scent. I reduced the clarity in Lightroon to get this lovely soft effect.

Just as we were leaving the woods I noticed the low sun filtering through the trees and got this shot of the family with backlight and long shadows.

I look forward to taking your wedding photos in June, Leighton and Jodie.

Posted in Engagement, Family, Children | 1 Comment »

15/03/2011 by Anna.

Last weekend we flew up to Edinburgh to spend a few days with family and friends. Here are some of March 2011 images:

Saturday afternoon outside the National Gallery - lovely sunshine with a dramatic sky!

Some lovers in Princes Street gardens…

Some lovely friends outside their home in Dunfermline.

I’m always amazed when I manage to get the pets in the picture too!

All these are taken with window light - it was already getting late and the light was starting to fade, but we managed!

Back in Edinburgh, these girls got used to us as we stayed with them.

Thank you for letting us stay, John and Fiona.

Posted in Family, Children | 1 Comment »

14/12/2010 by Anna.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed a local family that I’ve worked with over many years and it was lovely to see how the boys had grown. They wanted some individual portrait shots to go in a big ‘grandchildren’ picture, so I took along my portable background so that we could get some nice neutral backgrounds.

We used natural light from the large french windows with a reflector to fill in any shadows under the eyes.My background has a black side and a white side and it’s amazing what a difference the background colour makes to a scene!

When a white background is lit less than the face it becomes grey, so when this is the effect that I want then I just move the background further away from the light.

We had to have a fun one with a favourite toy and…

… I promised that if the boys were good I’d make some funny pictures of them!

A nice one, not a funny one!

You would think this was a studio shot, wouldn’t you?!

We finished off with some of the whole family together. We moved the sofa in front of the doors so that everyone was evenly lit.

I hope the grandparents are pleased with their pictures.

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20/08/2010 by Anna.

This christening was a lovely excuse to have a weekend in London! It was a lovely sunny summer’s day (maybe a little too bright for photography… we’re never happy!).

I took some pictures in the bedroom using some lovely window light just before Harry was getting dressed up.

He is such a photogenic little chap…

… and is also very smiley.

All dressed up in his finery.

With his proud mother.

The ceremony was in the local Catholic Church in Wimbledon - St. Winefride’s Church - a very impressive building with lovely light inside.

A nice record shot of all the guests.

Cousin Anabelle was fascinated by all the candles…

… and on the walk home she was happy to show off her scooter skills!

We used the only bit of shade in the garden to take some family group pictures.

Three young cousins - the mothers were very close at hand in case one of the little ones decided to leave the bench!

Posted in Christening, Baby, Family, Children, Family gatherings | No Comments »

29/05/2010 by Anna.

A few weeks ago I went to a local family’s home for a very relaxed portrait session. Libby, who is only 3, was very keen and helpful and absolutely charming!

Libby was very keen to show me her chickens who all came charging over from the field when they heard us coming with food.

Can you hear a chick in this egg?…

I’ve forgotten the name of this chicken but it is the friendliest one in the group and seemed to enjoy being stroked. I love the expression on Libby’s face!

I brought some bubbles along which are always popular with children and adults alike.

Inside playing with toys I used the lovely big window to flood the image with light, exposing the scene for Libby’s face to get this high key image.

Libby didn’t sit still for long but joined her parents here for this lovely natural shot.

I took out my huge collapsible background and Libby posed in front of it.

A rather contemplative shot.

Fooling around on a bed.

This is just a few shots from so many lovely ones that I took on the day; with a  gorgeous location, lovely weather and subjects like this to shoot, then I can’t really go wrong, can I?!

Posted in Family, Children | No Comments »

03/05/2010 by Anna.

Apart from the fact that the weather was awful, with non stop cold rain, and that the baby being christened was ill, it was a lovely christening!

I arrived at the house at 8.15am to get some pictures of Georgia and her big sister before the service and while the house was still quiet.

Georgia was at her best being allowed to kick around on the sheepskin rug that I brought along.

Big sister Anabelle was much happier and easy to photograph.

The baptism

The ‘children’s corner’ at the back of the church

Georgia was asleep by this time which was the best thing for her.

This is grandfather with one of his other grandchildren

Because of the rain all the family pictures had to be taken indoors, which was such a shame as the garden looked so beautiful. I brought lighting with me and ended up bouncing my flash gun off the ceiling for most of the group shots, which made them look more natural than direct flash.

Anabelle refused to be in most of the group pictures but I got some lovely pictures of her absorbed in a book.

Isn’t this just the best thing to do when you feel unwell?!

Nearly forgot to get a picture of the cake, made by one of the grandmothers.

I hope you are better now, Georgia, and are back to your normal smiley self!

Posted in Christening, Baby, Family, Children, Family gatherings | No Comments »