Muswell Hill Beauty - baby photography in North London
Oh my, if ever there was a baby to make you feel broody this is it.
This little girl was so cute, with the most gorgeous smile.
I remember the day was a little bit gloomy so we set up really close to the window for most of the session. That's not a problem with this age group as they're not crawling around yet so you can place them right in the good light. I was also really lucky with this little thing as she was full of smiles and laughter watching her mum and dad goof around behind me.
Luckily the post had just arrived when I got there with some cute little headbands that her mum had ordered especially for the day. Being the mother of one 9 year old boy, the opportunity to dress up a baby in pretty little accessories is a dream come true (I remember once putting a princess dress on my son when he was two and I still don't think he's forgiven me).
This is one of my favourite ages to photograph when the babies are able to lie on their tummies and hold themselves up - plus they're easily entertained. The perfect photography session.
A model shoot - Muswell Hill family photography
This family recently booked me because they needed updated photographs for their model and talent agency. Always a dream job for me because the kids know exactly how to behave and seem to have an innate knowledge of what makes a good shot. And these boys were no exception.
In fact, I'd love to photograph them all again but without the model agency 'happy and smiley' brief as I just know that we'd get the most amazing set of images.
These boys actually go to the same school as my son and this is the third family from the school that I've photographed for their respective talent agencies, there are a lot of creative types floating around north London that's for sure.
Anyway, here's a selection of some of my favourite shots from the session which are also up on the Scallywags website.
Cousins
This was such a lovely session, photographing these cousins altogether as a birthday present for their very glamorous grandmother. It was so nice to see the rapport that these kids have with one another, even though they don't get together all that regularly.
Usually the more children there are, the harder the session can be, but because they get on so well that wasn't the case here. They were all really excited about the photo shoot and really sparked off each other which made for some lovely shots.
Such a cool bunch of kids with amazing personalities and an infectious sense of fun. We had a great time running around the garden and posing in the newly decorated kitchen with that gorgeous grey wall. A ready made natural light photography studio - perfect!
Dog Photography North London - WOOF
Meet Bernie. Possibly one of the cutest dogs I've ever met and had the pleasure to photograph.
School of Rock - contemporary school portrait photography
You may remember in 2014 that I was booked by a fantastic school to photograph ALL of their pupils across two schools, for a special project they were doing to give the children confidence in their appearance.
Well, over the summer last year I had the privilege to be invited back to do it all over again, but this time with a brand new theme.
The school had the idea that they wanted the photographs to resemble album covers which got me really excited.
I suggested I photograph all the children on different coloured backdrops and incorporate their slogan for that year 'I Shine, We Shine' onto the photo to look like the album title. I would then have them all printed up in a square format to really finish the whole look off. Thankfully they loved the idea and I couldn't wait to get started.
The children were all asked to bring in their own clothes to give the images some personality, and as each child came up I asked them to strike their best pop star pose.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, these kids are incredible. Fun, energetic and busting with personality, not to mention incredibly polite to go with it. As I was setting up each morning I was inundated with children offering to help - which was a good job really as setting up this equipment really needed more than one pair of hands. So many of the children thanked me for taking their photo and whenever I thanked them for helping me out I would always get a 'you're welcome' in reply.
Photographing around 1000 children in 4 days is no mean feat, especially when you're trying to get the children to pose in their own unique way so that all the photos look completely different. Dealing with lots of different personalities, some outgoing, some shy, some jokers really keeps you on your toes, but it's the bit of my job that I really love.
When the four days were over, and all the photos had been edited and printed, the schools held an exhibition in their halls for all the parents to come and see. And best of all, the parents all got to take their child's photograph home with them. Free of charge.
I'd like to say a big thank you to head teacher Mr Flathers, his project manager Stephanie Moritz and his phenomenal staff for yet again making me feel so welcome and for letting me be a part of such an incredible initiative.
My own school photographs from the 1970s look nothing like this by the way, since when did kids get so cool?
