One of the most common things that I hear as a photographer is "what a lovely job you have".
Yes, I have the best job in the world and I am so lucky that I do the job that I do and even luckier that I still love it as much as I did when I first started as a photographer 15 years ago!!

One of the best things about my job is that I get asked to photograph the most special times in people's lives such as weddings and I get asked to photograph the most precious things in people's lives, newborn babies, children and families. For that I am truly priviledged, honoured and thankful.

Back in early 2011 I met Kate and Craig who came along to see me about photographing their wedding in the forthcoming November. As soon as we met I instantly liked them, I liked the way Kate made herself comfy in my home by kicking off her shoes and putting her feet up on my sofa! We had a cup of tea and talked about their wedding. A few days later they booked me and we met up a couple of months later for their pre-wedding shoot with their 3 young children.
Forward to November and the day of the wedding. We all met at Brandshatch Place Hotel and started with the preparations of both the bride and groom. I met up with Craig and their eldest son who was Best Man whilst they got ready and then made my way to see the bride who was very calm and relaxed as she got ready. The initimate family ceremony was full of love, smiles and emotion, with their youngest son giving his mum a cuddle as they signed the register.
The rest of the day just flowed beautifully, we had a few pictures, had dinner and then guests started to arrive for a big party. Kate, Craig and their 3 children started the dancing off with the cutest first dance I've ever seen. Everytime I hear 'their song' it just reminds me of them!

Kate and Craig were over the moon with their wedding photographs, I delivered their album a couple of months later.

Fast forward to early this year. I had an email from Kate asking me about a family photo shoot. I was delighted. I love it when my wedding clients get in touch with me about photographing their babies or their families. And besides, I like to know what they're up to so it's nice when we stay in touch.

We discussed options but what I didn't know, and what came as a shock, was that this was to be a very special family shoot. I remembered Craig hadn't been well during the album design stages. Kate had explained to me in a further email that Craig had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that was in fact terminal just 6 months after the wedding.
As I read Kate's email, tears rolled down my cheeks.

I offered to do a 'day in the life' shoot with the family to capture all the precious family moments such as playtime, bath time, story time. And so we set a date.

The date was last Sunday. I spent the afternoon and early evening with Kate, Craig and their 3 young children whose ages are (almost) 6, 4 and 2.

We had a fun day, the children were play 'wrestling' with daddy - the highlight of my day, because I have a young daughter and I'm surprised by how much energy the boys had!! I learnt all the names of the wrestlers!
The children were great! Despite having broken her arm a few weeks earlier, their young daughter joined in with the wrestling and then made me (pretend) tea and read me a story.

Once the children were all in bed, Kate, Craig and I had a coffee and a chat. I then took a few quiet photographs of them together...and some fun shots of Craig on his own, despite feeling a bit of a wally doing so it was  worth it, we got some great fun pictures!

Throughout my time with the family I didn't do many 'posey' photographs, I just stayed in the background and captured everyday memories, for the children. In years to come as the children get older they will appreciate the photographs that they have with their daddy and will treasure them.
Kate and Craig are a true inspiration, they've coped phenomenally with everything that has been thrown at them within their first year of marriage. The love they have for each other is special.

This is why I do the job I do. I love to capture memories. Every day is a memory and every memory should be treasured.

With Kate and Craig's permission, here are a few photographs from the day.

Homework time, Daddy building a dinosaur!

Enjoying a cuddle in front of the tv...

Bathtime...so precious!

I'd like to thank Kate and Craig for having me in their home and allowing me to capture precious memories for them. I wish them all the very best!

xx

A couple of weeks ago I met up with some previous clients of mine who I have been photographing for years, since Charlotte was 6 months old.
It's been so lovely to see this beautiful little family grow, I'm so lucky to have such loyal clients, it's means so much to me as a photographer.

I met the two beautiful girls and their mummy in the bluebell woods. The weather played nice with only one quick shower during our session - the girls had fun keeping us dry with their umbrellas

The girls always give me beautiful smiles, this time we had fun singing songs and dancing which meant we captured beautiful natural photographs of them both together.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from our portrait session.