We had a great day on Sunday, raised £80 for Millvale through our raffle, and all the photos are now online in their own galleries. If you can’t find your own photos, check your email spam folder as all owners have now been emailed the link and their personal passwords. If you still don’t have the details, please email us and we will resend them.

Isn’t Muffin GORGEOUS????

Don’t I have lovely clients?

Thank you very much Tracey :)

Paula Chambers has spotted my recent work, especially the Mini Sessions, and loves my style, and so has approached me to collaborate on this venture.

So far I have prepared 7 prints for this, but could be doing with another 5.

The criteria is along the lines of bright / colourful / children / cute, and preferably with cute clothing as well. If YOU have a favourite from your recent shoot, why don’t you let me know – I may very well include it in the exhibition.

Wanna see some?

All procceds will go to Millvale Animal Sanctuary, which I am proud to say, is where we got our Bailey.  The organisers are particularly looking forward to saying hello to as many of their rescued dogs as possible.

Please try to come along, it ought to be great craic :D

Just for good measure, here is the montage of our Bailey Dog enjoying himself in the water recently. AGAIN. You can never have too much Bailey Dog in your life :D

A while back I had the complete pleasure of restoring a photo for Mildred. When she first showed it to me the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I have to admit looking at it today has had the same effect on me again. It is a fantastic photograph in its own right, but the story behind it is rather special too.

It was taken by a newspaper photographer in Ramsgate, England, after the Dunkirk Evacuation. It shows soldiers reaching through a train’s windows and receiving gifts from the local residents.

Not only is it a superbly composed photo in what must have been a very hectic day for the photographer, but the only man in the photo wearing a helmet was from Banbridge. Friends of his parents who lived in the Ramsgate area spotted the photo in the paper and sent a copy to the Banbridge family. The photo was then gifted to the town’s British Legion. I can only guess at how emotional it must have been for this man’s parents to see their son like this.

He was Mildred’s father in law. She borrowed the original photo from the Legion to have me scan, restore, and reprint it.

I thought today would be a good day to share this one with you. It is one of my all time favourite photographs.

I could chat on to you about how important photographs are, how we ought to document our times, how it is more important to take the photos NOW when your children have no front teeth than it is to wait until they grow in, how it doesn’t matter what camera you use so long as you press a shutter, don’t  tell yourself that you have to wait until that weight drops off . .. Do you think times will change so much that society will not share photographs (rather than any other media) in another 70 years having passed them down the line to our grandchildren?

I’ll leave you with the thought that you don’t need to be a newspaper photographer, or a professional with a studio, or someone with the latest technology. YOU are the one in your family who will take the most important photos in your life.

You see my favourites here,  I would love to see yours too. Would you take the time to send me your favourite photos, with an explanation of why they are so important to you? I will create a special place on here for all the photos I receive.

In the meantime. . . get the camera out!

There has been a lot of interest on our Mini Session albums on Flickr and Facebook. I have decided that I have to have at least four bookings in the day, so if anyone can rustle up friends, family, or colleagues to take the other slots I will open up more days for these special sessions.

Wanna see some montages?

We are now taking bookings for our brand new portrait shoots: Mini Sessions!

The first date is:

Sunday May 23rd

with more dates becoming available over the summer months.

New! Mini Sessions

Mini Sessions cost £10 per 20 minute time slot. About a week after the session day you will be able to view and order your images. There are special packages linked to these sessions, at discounted prices.

Can we bring grannies, aunties, and cousins too?

The Mini Sessions are aimed for children of all ages from about 9 months to 99 years! It is best if the children are at least toddling. These sessions are not suitable for newborns or for pregnancy shoots etc.

But! There should be no more than 3 people included in each session and all must be of the same immediate family. If you have a larger family or would like more children photographed you are able to book 2 time slots one after the other at £10 per time slot.

Why would we do this instead of a full studio session?

These mini sessions are great fun, much faster than the full session, and produce completely different images than studio shots. If you are a past customer, this is the chance to gain fresh photos without having to pay for a full session. If you are a new customer, this is a way to have a taster of what our style is and whether or not you might like to book a full session later in the year.

What happens afterwards?

Before you leave on the day, we will make an appointment for you to come back and view your images at the studio, and make your selection. The viewing day will be around a week after the session at your convenience.

Ok! How can we take part?

Contact me at the studio to provisionally hold your time slot. I’ll arrange for you to call in and pay your session fee, which will then book your session. (I will remind you about your shoot the day before the Mini Session, but if you fail to arrive on time for your time slot, it may not be possible for us to hold it for you.)

New! Mini Sessions

Many, many thanks to Katie and Mia who brought along Mum and Dad for our first Mini Session shoot – they kept on smiling, even when the rain threatened to stop play!

“Sighhhh. Do I HAVE to?”

“Groan, do I have to move from the couch?”

“I have to go OUTSIDE?”

Don’t try to make me smile – I know all your ploys.”

“Mummmmmmmmyyyyy I am BORED with this now.”

“Is it over YET?”

Oh So Bored

Now you know why I photograph YOUR children, it’s because I simply can’t get a smile out of my own.

Watch this space for more details about the new Mini Sessions that we are launching next week.