More familiar faces on the blog today as I had the great pleasure of revisiting Leire and Graham’s family last weekend. I first photographed their gorgeous boys a couple of years ago when they were just 1 and 3 (take a peek at their first family photo session here) so I was really pleased to photograph them again, this time aged 3 and 5.

This time we started the session at home but also ventured outside, first in the garden of their St Albans home and then into the local woods for an adventure with their family dog Flash. It’s one of the first sunny days we have had in ages so we made the most of it, climbing trees and exploring the woods.

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I love revisiting families as the children grow. I first photographed Lisa and Stuart’s family a couple of years ago when their son Ewan was still a baby so I was delighted when Lisa got in touch a few weeks back to organise a family photo session in Harpenden. Not only has Ewan become a proper little boy (due to start school this year! where does time go??) but he’s now big brother to the adorable Lily.

The whole family was very relaxed (even their two family dogs!) and the session went so smoothly, thank you Lisa and Stuart for letting me photograph your family again!

Here are a few of my favourite photos from the photo session including this cute outtake I posted on my facebook page earlier today:

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Just a little sneak peek of my pregnancy photo session with the beautiful Liz in Hemel Hempstead.

Liz booked a Bump to Baby photo session with me and I cannot wait to meet her newborn baby very soon. Liz and her husband Ian are already the proud parents of 5 year old twin boys who were fantastic during the shoot and I am sure they will be great brothers to their baby sister (even if they are not overly keen on the idea yet!).

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Lorna got in touch with me last month to arrange a photo session as a birthday present for her husband Charlie’s 30th. Last weekend I had the pleasure of finally meeting Lorna and Charlie and their adorable daughter Isla who is just 8 months old.

The light in the master bedroom was just perfect for some family photos so we made the most of it. I particularly love the ones of the whole family standing by the window, a nice opportunity to get capture some  baby and parent closeness as it won’t be long before Isla is toddling around the house and is too busy to pose for pictures!

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Damian contacted me last December to purchase a photo session gift voucher, a nice Christmas present for his wife Sophie. This week I got to meet the whole family for a portrait session in their St Albans home.

When I found out their baby daughter was called Elodie I wondered if their was any French connection (I had never met an English Elodie before) but it turned out there wasn’t, they just loved the name! I couldn’t help greeting her with a “Bonjour Elodie” and I think she understood ;-)

The session was calmed and relaxed, thanks to Elodie’s gentle demeanour, such a gracious little baby girl…

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OK, if you are following my photography project 52 you may have noticed that it didn’t take me long to let things slip… I have had so many ideas for photos to fit the past few week’s themes but I am such a procrastinator and let life get in the way.

So this afternoon, as I was lazing in the garden, Emily suddenly announced: “Two ladybirds are giving each other a piggy back in the playhouse!”. On hearing this, I rushed into the house to grab my camera and macro lens, as I pictured a scene which fitted perfectly with Week 11′s theme: “Spring”.

Actually, while I am at it, I reckon this also covers Week 7: “Romance”, and – at a stretch – Week 10: “Underneath”. So here it is, three birds in one stone. Or rather two ladybirds and a piggy back…

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You probably remember Sophie’s pregnancy photo session last month, and as you can imagine I was eagerly awaiting some news from Sophie and Chris’ impending arrival… Baby Amelie arrived earlier this month and I had the pleasure of meeting her for a newborn session last Sunday. Sophie and Chris were so relaxed and clearly enjoying parenthood.

Amelie was such a treat to photograph, so gracious and dainty and posing beautifully for me on her mum and dad’s four poster bed. She is barely three weeks old and I am really pleased I was able to capture some photos of her looking awake and alert as well as the cosy sleepy newborn poses nestling into her mummy.

Here are my favourites from our newborn photo session, I made the most of my new macro lens too, both for close-ups and portraits.

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As part of my photography course, I am often asked for advice on a good beginner DSLR camera so I thought the easiest would be to post some advice on the blog so I can refer people to it.

If you are on a low budget, your best option is to find a refurbished Canon 450D/500D, you can find those on eBay, of course always check the seller’s rating and feedback before you buy. I usually prefer to buy from independent camera shops than individuals.

If you are nervous about buying a second hand camera, DigitalREV are selling new Canon 550D (body only) for a really good price.

The lens that comes as part of a camera + lens bundle (i.e. the kit lens) are usually not very good quality. My advice therefore is to buy the “body only” version of the camera and then buy a good lens separately based on your needs. It is the lens, more than the body, which affects the quality of the final image.

If you are into people and/or street photography (rather than wildlife/landscape) then the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II is a great little starter lens for you. It is light, great value for money, and it is a “fast” lens which means the aperture can open quite wide, letting more light into the camera. This gives you more scope to shoot indoors in low light situations. You just need to be aware that with this lens you cannot zoom in or out, you need to move closer or further away from your subject instead (don’t worry you quickly get used to it).

If your budget allows it, you can opt for a higher spec camera of course, for example the Canon 600D, Canon 7D or Nikon D7000. I tend to ignore the Megapixels figure, nowadays most DSLRs allow you to create pictures which you can blow poster size, and in fact the more pixels you get the more space each file is going to clog up on your hard drive so in my view anything above 12 Megapixels is perfectly adequate, no need to go overboard.

Another thing you may want to take into account is the Video function (not all DSLR have it). Because the image is captured through a nice quality lens, you can use a shallow depth of field (subject in focus and background blurred), the video has a wonderful quality. Here is a little snippet I captured last year with the humble Canon 500D and the 50mm 1.8 lens. I did need a tripod to stabilise the camera.

Now, you may be wondering why I am recommending a Canon camera when I myself use Nikon. This is simply because the Canon lenses tend to be cheaper. I was a Canon user until last year when I decide to upgrade to a higher spec camera, I had the choice between the Nikon D700 and the Canon 5D Mark II. Having researched both options, I was concerned about potential focussing issues reported on the Canon, I therefore decided to switch to Nikon. This wasn’t a huge decision for me because I didn’t own plenty of Canon lenses (if you do, making the switch is obviously a lot more difficult).

I hope you found this useful, please feel free to post a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any recommendations and advice or if you have any other questions regarding camera gear. And of course, once you have purchased your first DSLR make sure you learn how to make the most of  it :-)

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Louis is now 4 years old and for ages he’s been fascinated with reptiles, dragons and most of all dinosaurs. We went to the Natural History Museum in London last year and he was so excited to see the huge dino skeletons (reminiscent of the movie “Night at the Museum”), teeth, plates, claws and of course the animated T-Rex!

So to cover this week’s theme: “Books” I thought I’d photograph Louis browsing one of his favourite books, almost as big as him! He was busy counting the teeth of the Monolophosaurus – a fierce carnivore from the Middle Jurassic in case anyone is wondering ;-)

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of dong a family photo session for my friend Claire from Claire Lane Photography. Claire already has tons of gorgeous pictures of her children but of course she isn’t in many of them – I am guilty of that too!

Getting some nice photos of the whole family is always a challenge and although we as photographers try our best to include ourselves in photos it is a lot easier to get someone else to do it for you. I spent Sunday morning with Claire, Rob and their children Katie and Jack in the lovely St Albans home. Katie and Jack happen to be the same age as my own children and very much used to being photographed of course! I made sure Claire was included in all my shots, I think it probably felt a little strange for her to be on the other side of the camera but she did great and the whole family was a pleasure to photograph.

Here are some of my favourites:

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