Claire & Mark came today to view their maternity photographs – and brought the reason for their bump – Genevieve, who was born on March 5 at one minute to midnight. They had not been able to visit earlier – and I had a lovely cuddle while Claire and Mark chose their images. I couldn’t resist taking a couple of baby portraits of Genevieve before she went home.
I’ve just been visiting Felixstowe, doing some product shots for a very talented woman who makes beaded earrings – as well as capturing her and her family. We were on the beach just up the road from her home this afternoon doing some Suffolk beach portraits – this is Lorna & her partner Toby.
Yesterday, we shot some of Lorna’s earrings in the natural environment which inspires her. Every background was tried – I especially like the matt beaded earrings draped on teasel bushes with the beach behind – even attempting to be a mountain goat to get the photograph I wanted. Lorna has especially strong memories of the earrings hanging, almost camouflaged on wooden beach supports; while she was putting them there, a rogue wave tried to wash the earrings away, but only managed to wet her jeans and shoes; there was no way she was letting go of her precious jewellry!
We also had the chance to capture Lorna’s two children, Maya and Johanna at the beach.
I’ve been in a nursery for the past two days, photographing about 30 children. One of the two-year-olds looked at me yesterday and commented that I had big boobs and she had little ones. I explained that I was a “big woman”, hence the “big boobs”. She then concluded that she was a little woman to match hers – and that was that. Actually, it was flattering that she was comparing us – she has the looks of Kirstie Allsopp and is a natural fashionista, wearing a LBD with long brown socks in the morning, and then later outside a deep red fur-trimmed coat with purple witch’s hat.
Later in the day, the pre-schoolers were sitting at a table, passing around a dinosaur toy before hearing a dinosaur story. They were encouraged to feel its softness and give it a hug before the story started, then asked what name it should have. Instantly, one of them answered “Linda”, as if all dinosaurs were called that. I guess that was that too. Perhaps they could be asked for the answer to life, the universe and everything – they’d probably have better answers than I ever do.
An Oxford college is a great place for family portraits. And I love it when parents have their children photographed regularly. It means that when their children are grown up, they’ll have a full record of them developing and eventually, those photographs will pass onto their family. One client, Aoifinn, booked me about two years ago for her two girls and their first session. We were going to use a park but found a cute cobbled lane instead. Now the girls have a baby sister and I’ve captured them at a birthday party and now at Magdalen College, Oxford, where Aoifinn has been studying. And if you’re wondering how a tiny girl barely able to walk manages to balance on a window sill, Aoifinn was crouching behind holding her up. I can’t wait for the next shoot.
