Baby photo session in Greater London

Photographing little ones at this time of year takes me right back to having a newborn baby myself.

Both of my girls were born in Winter. The weather is bitterly cold, there's threatening snow and cold winds. It's the perfect time to cosy up indoors, safe in the knowledge that the glorious walks through Spring blossom are just around the corner.

The Saturday morning of this particular photo session was freezing cold with lashing rain. I was welcomed into my client's home with a hot cup of tea and introduced to baby Eva, who at just over two months old was so contented, relaxed and full of smiles.

When I arrive at a client's home for a photo session I always scout out the best locations for pictures with good natural night.

In this case an upstairs bedroom and conservatory were the perfect spots, the conservatory in particular welcoming in the daylight from all angles.

I always think around 2 months is a great age to for a family photo session. The hectic first month is behind you and babies are producing their first smiles.

From my own experience, I was a little bit less emotional two months along than in the first 8 weeks of having a baby. I was also in more of a rhythm with feeding.

I look back on photos I took myself of my girls around Eva's age and also images taken by a good photographer friend. I'm so glad we took pictures of this special time as the days whizz by so fast!

Here are a selection of images taken from my latest photo session. 

Cloud mobile (above) by Velveteen Babies

And you can click here for more information on baby photography sessions at your home.

5 tips for great family photos (with a self timer)

As our baby turns 6 months, I've realised we don't have a single photo of the four of us.

Getting some professional pictures taken is definitely on my to-do list but we've just not got round to it. Life has been busy.

Last weekend I was determind to get a picture - the four of us, our little family, my camera and a self timer. Easy right? 

It took patience, a lot of patience with a toddler running into the garden after every shot and being dragged back to the sofa for 'just one more!'  We got there in the end though.

Here are some of my tips for getting that family shot:

1. Choose your weapon - you may have an SLR or compact camera and a tripod. You may be looking to balance an iPhone on a pile of books. Choose what works for you and work out how to use the self timer function.

2. The set-up - my advice (particularly if you have young children) is to decide on your location in advance (ideally close to a window with some natural daylight). Clear away clutter and any distractions. Use an adult to pose for a trial shot and see how it looks. If you have everything set up in advance, you just literally need to bring the children in and get going.

3. Patience- we bribed our toddler with a biscuit and entertained her with songs. She was not playing ball but we just kept persevering with the self timer, taking numerous shots.

4. Eyes to camera? Do you want everyone looking at the camera? We tried shots some looking at the camera and some away. The image I chose was less posed and more natural. This is the style we prefer but the beauty of the self timer is that you are in charge and you can try lots of different options.

5. Editing - my editing for clients is done on my desktop computer with Photoshop software. Increasingly for day to day family pictures of our life at home I upload my pictures straight to my iPad using an Apple card reader. I then use the VSCO or Snapseed apps to crop, tweak colours and contrast or change to black and white. 

 

Before & After

Before

After

As you can see I chose to be close to a window with plenty of light. I had originally tried to include a painting we have in our kitchen but in the end decided the painting was a little too distracting and cropping in closer would work better. I also decided without the painting, I preferred the picture in black and white form.

Using the self timer is definitely something to try out. It takes a little planning but great to have a family photo ready for framing on your mantelpiece. 

The magic of stories

Bedtime stories are a big deal in our house.

Stick Man, Not Now Bernard and Giraffes Can't Dance are just some of the favourites on loop each evening. They take pride of place at the end of our 2 year old's bed. 

Some of her books are gifts, recommendations from friends and their children (Goodnight Moon).

Some are stories I loved as a child and have tracked down on eBay late at night (There's a Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake).

Then there are some new discoveries that caught our eye in a local bookshop.

Stanley's Cafe by William Bee I found when pottering on a lazy Sunday morning in Wimbledon Village. This particular morning I put myself in charge of the book selection, refusing to be sucked in to buying another book with a certain pink pig on the front.

It was the beautiful illustrations that first caught my eye.

The book tells the simple tale of Stanley the Hamster and his day to day life working in a cafe.

Setting up the cafe for the day, cooking breakfast, baking a birthday cake, washing up and home to bed. Stanley's routine was quickly picked up by our 2 year old. It wasn't long before she knew the character Myrtle (regular customer) likes 'a nice cup of tea' (much like mummy).

When our little girl wakes up in the morning she will often be heard (on the baby monitor) reading Stanley to her toys in a kind of gibberish language but with the intonation of an adult narrator.

A few weeks ago I discovered Stanley's Colours. It's a smaller in size board book introducing little ones to colours through modes of transport. Our little girl would listen intently and I could see the penny drop as she gradually started to pick up and repeat the names of the colours in front of her.

The end of the day always feels the toughestThe exhaustion of having two children under 3 kicks in, the caffeine has worn off and my bed is calling. But storytime and watching our toddler devour the words and stories in front of her is magic.

Before you know it that 'just one story' has turned into five and a happy little girl full of imagination has nodded off to sleep.

Baby one-to-one time

I had been feeling like a guilty mum.

When we had our eldest daughter (now aged two) there was a lot of baby/mummy one-to-one time.  I joined my NCT friends in weekly baby sensory classes and we had frequent coffee dates while the babies rolled around amongst the brand new, brightly coloured Lamaze fireflies. Alice, like the rest of the population, had a brand new Sophie la giraffe - who looked fresh as a daisy and still had her squeak (alas, no longer).

Our second daughter Lara (now aged four months) is very much coming along for the ride, fitting in with our 2 year old's schedule. Of course she doesn't care, she loves the sound of her sister's voice, beaming when she sees her each morning.

Let's face it, there's a lot less one-to-one time with baby number two (aside from feeding). I have the two of them together for most of the week, so new baby classes and endless coffee sessions are a no-go.

One of the things I enjoyed the most with Alice when she was small was baby massage. Along with a few NCT friends, I attended a baby massage course and Alice really responded to it. It was a great bonding experience. I was determined to find the time to do the same with Lara and, a few weeks ago, managed it.

I called on our baby massage teacher from 2 years ago. Jo from Home Spa London was able to come to our house and do an hour's refresher session. Her sessions are very relaxed and very much geared around baby's needs/mood. There's no rushing and plenty of time to stop/feed/change.

As I hoped, Lara has really taken to baby massage. We manage a little bit of mainly leg and tummy massage after nappy changes. The smiles and giggles say it all.

Jo from Home Spa London provides baby massage to addresses in London and Surrey-  www.homespalondon.com

Photo Box Project

Recently I have been dealing with an angry, frustrated toddler. Like a caffeine addicted commuter being denied their morning fix, she's not happy. 

The thing is, I know what will solve the problem in the short term - Peppa Pig.

After a recent 5am start and Peppa Pig on loop again while I prized my eyes open, in search of that first precious morning cup of tea, I realised the pink snorting pig needed to become a less frequent guest in our home.

It was time to close Netflix and launch into a new distraction for our buzzing, energetic toddler -  the Photo Box Project. 

Our daughter was recently asked to bring family photos into nursery. As I scrabbled together what I could find, I realised I'd become guilty of hoarding images online and rarely printing them.

So one afternoon, I collected together lots of family pictures and did a mass print of 50 plus images using a simple app on my phone.

I then spotted a cute mini suitcase online at Zara Home and dispatched my husband to Regent Street to pick up the goods.

Our daughter loves photos. She'll wander around at home clutching pictures of family tightly as if she has unearthed some special treasure.

As well as being a little memory and learning game, I hope the photo box will be a worthwhile distraction. The photos now live in her special case (which is covered in superheroes - daddy's choice). 

So far it's proved a hit. It's reminded me how important physical copies of photos are. We can add to the box all the time and if it means being Peppa free (even one less episode per day), I am a happy mummy!

 

Newborn photo session - Baby Joshua

They say babies can't properly smile until six weeks old, I'm not so sure.  At two weeks old, baby Joshua already seemed to be giving his parents the first glimpse of a smile as he perfectly settled into his London home. I spent several hours with the family on a Saturday morning recently, taking relaxed shots of the three together. Joshua, contented with the background sounds of classical music, was happily taking in his new surroundings. As well as photographing the family, there was also an opportunity to take pictures of some lovely and thoughtful gifts to welcome his arrival, including boxes of personalised biscuits from Biscuiteers, such a great idea!

Two weeks after having a baby can be an exhausting (but also exhilarating time) and photographs can be far from some new parents minds, but it's a great time to be photographed as a family and have some special images of your baby's early days which you can treasure forever.

Arthur & Albert

A warm sunny day and two young brothers happily giggling together made for a perfect afternoon photo session. Baby Albert, clearly in awe of his big brother Arthur was highly amused by a game of 'Peek a Boo' and it was adorable to watch the boys cuddling together, already perfectly used to each other's company. 

Top 10 tips for photographing your baby's first year

So much happens in your baby's first year and it's a hectic and incredible time. I'll be honest, a huge amount of the photos I have taken of our little girl have been on my phone as it's quick and convenient. However camera phones have limitations and it can be worth dusting off your compact camera and playing around with the settings to get more from your images. 

Here are ten tips for how I think you can get more out of photographing your baby's first year:

1. Birth

So it probably won't be at the top of your hospital bag list BUT whether it's your camera phone, a compact camera or DSLR, make sure you pack a camera in your hospital bag. Chances are you will be pretty busy with a new baby on your hands breastfeeding, sleeping and not knowing what day it is but there will probably be the odd moment where you will be wishing you had a camera to hand. I was in hospital four nights and there were times (bleary eyed) where I just couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of our new baby snoozing away in the bassinet beside me.

2. Location, Location, Location

A photo shoot on a bed with natural light streaming through a window on the left

Think about the room which has the best light in your home. Think about what time of day it has the best light - a bedroom might be a good option. Clear some space, avoid a messy background and if needs be cover a sofa or bed with a cream or white (or plain) sheet. This creates a nice, clean, light backdrop for which to photograph your baby and your mini shoot can commence.

3. Ditch the flash

Flash can be really ugly. If you have a room with good natural light, you can avoid using flash and your pictures will look so much better. If you have a compact camera play around with the light sensitivity (ISO) and push it up to a higher level. If you have an iPhone, an app such as Camera+ will allow you to have control over your settings and change the ISO. This is something definitely worth experimenting with.

4. Detail shots

Close-ups of tiny hands and feet, eyes, nose, ears, and baby's first smile make great images. These are all pictures to treasure and worth having in the family album. Many cameraphones and compact cameras have a macro setting (usually a flower symbol) and this will allow for close-up shots. Be prepared to put in some time as you will need your baby to be very still but these are great shots to have.

5. Relationships

Family relationship shots are great to have in the family album

It's incredible watching a special relationship develop between your new baby and their father, mother, grandparents and siblings. It's even better when you can catch those special moments through images. It could be dad simply holding the baby or rocking him or her to sleep, bathing them or reading the baby a story. I'm always trying to capture those relationship shots.

6. Using the seasons

As your baby starts to move around and explore their surroundings, it can be a perfect opportunity to use the seasons in your photographs. A drab, grey miserable day can be brought to life with a pop of colour - it could be your baby wearing a bright coat or mum or dad carrying a colourful umbrella. Autumn provides a wealth of warm, golden colour and can be a great backdrop for photographs, as can Spring with blooming pink and white confetti-like cherry blossom.

7. Baby's firsts

Hard to resist those pictures of baby's first taste of food!

From their first taste of food to their first birthday - have your camera at the ready as there's bound to be some great moments. For our little girl's first birthday recently we bought balloons and bunting. Not only was she excited by them, they provided a dash of extra colour to the photographs.

8. Editing

Adobe Photoshop is the editing software of choice for many photographers who choose to pay monthly or annually to use it. If you fancy dabbling  to see what it's all about you can download a free month's trial through Adobe. There's also a fantastic free app for iPhone called Photoshop Express which allows you to do quickfire editing on the move. A great tool to have particularly if you use social media and fancy sprucing up your images before posting.

9. Printing

It's all too easy to take lots of pictures these days, upload them to a laptop or computer and forget about them. The best advice someone gave me recently was to print my pictures and keep them in a box  - old school maybe but really worth doing. Photo books are great value these days and the printing quality continues to improve. The Printspace, a London company are my go-to printers of choice for images. Beautiful, quality images,  available in a range of finishes and quick delivery.

10. Investing

Get professional images taken. I realised early on after our daughter was born that I wasn't going to be appearing in many of our pictures of her early years as I was the one behind the camera. We chose to have a photo shoot at home. We were exhausted, new parents but I am so glad we had those images taken as they are very special to us.