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.

I recently visited Elise and her two gorgeous children for a portrait session.

I first photographed little M when he was 8mths old, he is now 2 years and 3 mths and his little sister is now also 8mths old.
I love re-visiting my clients and love seeing how children have grown. I just remember how they looked in the original photographs so to see them more grown up is always a pleasure.

M looks exactly like he did when he was 8mths old, except with gorgeous longer blonde curly hair.

I had such a lovely time with them both, M was full of fun and T was full of beautiful smiles.

Here are a few favourites....

I was called on Thursday by a nice lady and asked to 'pop along' to her home for an hour or so on Sunday to photograph a large family group plus the little family groups. Something a little different from my everyday norm but still, well within my capabilities so why not?!I charge £75 for a location portrait session (plus travel if outside a certain radius) which is payable at the time of booking.

My fee is broken into different elements:

• My time, which actually means up to 2 hours with you for a portrait session (if we need it)
• Travel to and from location (time and petrol)
• Electricity to charge my camera kit
• Wear and tear on my car and camera kit
• My time (and electricity) editing and processing the pictures so they look they're absolute best for you to view
• A viewing session with me or an online gallery
• Insurance (PI, PL and car)
• Tax
• Accountancy
• Marketing/advertising
• Kit servicing/maintenance

This is without mentioning my 13 years experience and skill involved in taking the beautiful photographs that I take and of course living costs/wages.
When I list it out like this it actually makes me think that I should indeed increase my fees.
All products are additional costs, i.e beautiful frames to display your beautiful photographs, gorgeous desktop acrylic blocks, photographs to display proudly around your home or gifts to send to family.

The lady called me the next day to cancel the session. Why?? She told me it was too expensive so I asked, out of interest, what she was expecting to pay.
She told me that she was expecting to pay around £45 inc CD and just wanted someone who knew what they were doing behind a camera!

There lies the problem. My husband knows how to work a camera, it's not that difficult. BUT he doesn't know about lighting, where the best light is coming from, does the photograph need extra light, how the eyes are looking, where the best background is, group positioning, composition, colour management etc etc.

If you go to a restaurant and had steak and chips....you kind of know the price of the ingredients and how you cook it but you pay a much higher price for it because your paying for quality ingredients and for an experienced chef to cook it for you amongst other things.

I have heard so many stories from clients, friends and friends of friends about how they wished they'd hired a professional photographer - be it for a special occasion (the latest was for a 40th birthday but she thought that at the time it was an extravagance however a couple of weeks after her best friend died and now she regrets that she didn't have a photographer!), for baby or childrens portraits or more commonly, a wedding. 
I find it amazing that some couples getting married choose to scrimp on the photography but yet spend hundreds on things that are thrown away after the day.
I had a lovely couple come to see me for a wedding consultation last week who admitted that they're wedding was going to be 'done on the cheap' but the biggest expense was the photography because they said that they wanted memories captured and beautiful photos of them on their wedding day, together with their children and family that they can look back on at their 50th anniversary! Such a great way of looking at it and one which I think everyone should look at it!

Unfortunately, the professional photography industry has been 'cheapened' by what I fondly call 'weekend warriors' - those who pick up a digital camera and think they can earn a few quid at the weekend!
Most lack basic training. Some do actually know what they're doing and are trying to break into the industry - I appreciate we all have to start somewhere - but can they cope with the pressure, particularly on a wedding day!! I'd like to know how many 'newbies' are still working and established in 10/15 years time!

A few times I have had a bride or groom call me a week or two weeks before their wedding asking me if I am free because the photographer they had booked couldn't make it - once, the reason was because he was called to cover a shift at work!
This is so wrong!! Professional Photography should have some kind of registered trademark. We have the Master Photographers Association, and although the professional photographers who pay to join the MPA are all recognised by their peers and undergo what I call an 'assesment', in which you submit a certain number of photographs of a certain quality for assesment, there is nothing like 'Corgi' or the such like. There should be!

Without sounding like a cliche, this is my passion but is also my full time job. My clients come to me because they want me to produce beautiful photographs for them. Many of them become lifelong clients and friends which is an honour for me. I love it when my wedding couples come back to me for me to photograph their babies, children, families....who knows, maybe I'll be photographing the children's weddings in years to come. I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I visit a clients home and see my work proudly on display!!

I have huge respect for my clients; past, present and future. They are investing their hard earned money in me and expect me to produce photographs of exceptional quality and with a level of service and professionalism that they both expect and deserve.

My work will be remembered by families for generations. I still look at my parents and grandparents wedding albums and wonder who the photographer was and what was s/he like, obviously my parents and grandparents can still remember what the photographer was like - my mum's had to stand on his box to take the groups as he was a short man.  I wonder if me and my work will be remembered and admired in future years, I certainly hope so!!

A few weeks ago I went to visit Justine and Chris at their home to photograph their beautiful 4 day old baby girl, Matilda.

Matilda is taking part in my Tiny Moments package which is where I photorgaph your baby 5 times from newborn to their 1st birthday, including a maternity session for mummy to be.
After baby's first birthday I design a lovely book containing your favourite photographs throughout baby's first year.

Matilda seemed to like having her photograph taken, she was awake in between milk top-ups but fell alseep during her feeds....I love milk drunk babies, so easy to work with.

Here are a few of my favourites...

Meet Jemima, 5 days...

Here is baby Sophia,11 days old...

...if you would like to book in for some un-forgetable photographs of your baby please call Claire on 0845 0711178 to book your session.

Baby photographs, especially newborn, are so important to have as they capture the expressions and character of your little baby.
Newborn photographs are best taken in the first 10 days. Capturing the newness of your baby, the soft, scrummy, curled up, amazing little creation that you have made - treasured memories that pass so quickly.

Claire travels to you so that you can relax without the worry of packing every possible baby necessity into your changing bag...and being a mummy herself to an 18mth old little girl, she has personal experience of 'baby time' - things happen naturally, which means the session can be finished in under an hour...or perhaps 3 hours!

For more information on booking your baby portrait photography please contact Claire.
If you are pregnant and want to book in for your baby bump session...or would like to schedule your newborn shoot please call Claire so we can pencil a date in the diary.

Claire is looking for pregnant ladies who would like their beautiful baby bumps photographed for a very special campaign.

We are taking part in www.countthekicks.org.uk calendar competition. Count the Kicks is a non-profit organisation working to make expectant mum's, and dad's, more aware of their un-born baby's movements and developments in order to reduce the number of still-births and neonatal death, which is currently 6500 a year!
This is a bit of a taboo subject, no-one really wants to talk openly about it but it's so important. Motherhood is a worrying journey that starts from the moment you discover that you are pregnant. You are warned about all the other 'risks' but yet it seems that no-one really wants to discuss the 'what if's' regarding still-births and neonatal deaths. This is where www.countthekicks.org.uk comes in....they want to raise awareness of the risks surrounding the later stages of pregnancy.
Check out their website and facebook page for more information.

Claire is offering a complimentary* baby bump shoot and a 8x6" photograph which will be chosen for the competition. (*a small fee may be charged to cover travel over 15miles).
The rest of the photographs from the session will be available with 10% of any purchases being donated to the charity.

A few weeks ago I met up with Susie and Paul for their pre-wedding shoot.

They decided to have thie shoot at a Priory Park in Reigate, which is local to them. The park was great, with an old mansion house, art deco style cafe, beautiful lake....and more which made for great portrait photos.

I can't wait for their wedding later this year which is taking place at a beautiful hotel in Sussex.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Amber and her family to photograph her gorgeous 3 children.

I have been photographing Amber's lovely family for over 5 years and feel very lucky that they choose me to take their portrait photographs.

Here are a few of my favourites...