​I also photographed the ballet school where both of my daughters attend - Marlow School of Dance - and it was so lovely to watch the pre-school and primary girls dancing so elegantly and gracefully.  My girls have loved this ballet school and started as soon as they were old enough - age 2.5 - and both have continued doing this every week for the past few years.  I've had so many comments about my daughters posture and people telling me they can tell that they do ballet just by the way they sit/stand.  I hope they continue with it as it is such a wonderful talent to be able to dance!  I believe Miss Carrie who heads up the dance school will be updating the website shortly (and you'll be able to see all the pictures I took), but do join the Facebook page as well! (https://www.facebook.com/marlowschoolofdancelimited)

So, looking forward to 2018 this will be another year of doing more professional training, for both outdoor children's photography and newborn/baby photography.  Even though I have gone through the Guild of Photographer's Newborn Photography School in 2016 I always look to improve and develop the art of my photography - one of my residential's is for a week so that will be a big step for me leaving my little brood!  I'm taking bookings now for outdoor sessions from April onwards so please do not hesitate to get in contact if this is something you're interested in!  

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2018!

​I’m so excited to launch this new product in 2018!!  This session is short and sweet - literally!  It’s 30 minutes and during that time I try and capture as many different expressions as possible in order to show your little ones personality.  This is such a lovely set up for a birthday or a big milestone/occasion and after the session you get a fabulous 24”x24” white bevelled frame with 16 mounted images - all for just £250!  
 
As you can see from Eva’s session below (which marked her first birthday), she had a wonderful time as we sang songs, played peekaboo and got some bubbles out - much to her delight!
 
My top tips to help a session like this to go as smoothly as possible and to be as fun as possible are as follows:

1. Book the session at a time after your little one has had a nap (not before they need one!), so they are feeling fresh and bright eyed.
2. Give them a little snack and a drink before we start.
3. I’ve got my trusty singing peekaboo elephant which is a great assistant for me, but do bring your child’s favourite teddy who can then join in!
4. Bring some spare clothes, and ensure the clothes they are wearing are pale with no writing or bright patterns on.
5. If you are able, have some of their favourite songs on your phone so we can have a little dance as well.
6. If baby needs a dummy or comforter then do bring this along so that we can have all smiles on the day.

 
I hope that you find this blog helpful and gives you all the information you need, but if you do have any questions or queries then please do not hesitate to contact me.  If you would like to book in for this session then please email me – [email protected] 

Today is the perfect day to start my blog!  Today (has been amazing because it has been snowing!) is the 10th December and is my little family's Thanksgiving Day for my daughter and what was, four years ago, the trigger to start my newborn photography.  The 10th December is three days after my youngest daughters birthday, so this may seem an odd day to draw a line in the sand and start a business, but four years ago today was the hardest, darkest day of my life.

So, let me explain the background as to  WHY I specialise in newborn photography.  Four years ago today, I carried my 3 day old daughter down the corridors of John Radcliffe Hospital, with tears streaming down my face into the anaesthetics room.  She was so tiny and we kissed her and walked away.  We left her in that room, having to trust the doctors with our precious baby, which was incredibly hard.  As we walked away the crushing in my chest was almost unbearable and I could hardly take a breath.  I was weak from birth and tired to the core of not sleeping for three nights, but my focus was on my little one undergoing surgery on her twisted duodenum and intestines (called malrotation).  The days that followed were hard.  She had cannula's in both hands and feet, an epidural in her spine and tubes everywhere.  My husband and I took turns to sleep at the hospital, always at her side.  The third day after surgery I was able to hold her, which felt amazing but also petrifying at the same time, so worried I might hurt her.  In the days that followed we were in a bubble in hospital, but she healed amazingly and after two weeks were able to come home, just in time for Christmas! 

So in all of this I wasn't able to have any 'normal' photographs of my newborn without some tubes or something unnatural coming out of her.  This triggered something deep inside of me, where I felt I had missed out on something that I so wanted to have, something that was deemed normal, to take photos of my little bundle in her first couple of weeks.  So it was from there that I decided to give others parents something that I don't have and to have something tangible that they can cherish forever. 

I want to capture these memories of your little one for you, that will last a lifetime and will be of a time in your life that is so incredibly precious.