Meet baby O:

As it was December, there were still lots of beautifully coloured leaves on the floor. O loved playing in them!

Which naturally lent itself to a storyboard..

O was not yet walking, but he loved to pull up (he was already an expert at crawling) which made for some great cheeky shots:

I love this photo of father and son together:

The light was just perfect, and we easily got all the photos we needed to!

We took the final shots just as the sun was setting – here he is with his mother:

Here’s a few more in a collage to leave you with:

It was a really great and special session – made all the better by the enthusiasm of O’s parents! I suspect a few of the shots may well find themselves in my portfolio at some point

So much has changed in my life since I began my maternity leave back in February. My baby boy is now almost six months old, and full of character. My oldest daughter has just started school, and my almost 3 year old is growing up too fast too and becoming more mischievous by the day. Needless to say I’ve been pretty busy with my camera during the break photographing my children, and at the end of this post you can see some of my work.

So much has changed with the business too. I’ve also used some of the time over the break to update the site with fresh branding and a new look, better photo browsing, some rewording and reworking, new photos, updated galleries (seriously, check them out!) and a bit of a tidy up. Take a look around the new site and see what is new!

I now have a Twitter feed too – not much there yet, but you can follow me at @SilverAshPhoto – you can see my latest posts off to the side as well. The Facebook Page is still going strong – do “Like” it if you get the chance.

On the photography side of things I’m focusing more on newborn photography and outdoors, on-location photography – these are my strongest talents and what I enjoy doing the most.

On the financial side of things I’ve reworked my pricing - there is now NO minimum order with your order! It does mean I have had to increase the session fee, but at least half of that is a print credit so the increase is not all it appears. Due to the increase, a 25% deposit is all that is required for full sessions to secure a booking now.

New for my return are Studio Session Days. As those of you who had me bring my entire studio to your living room can attest, it is often quite impractical and from my point of view, I know I can get better photos in a larger space. I know many of my customers prefer studio sessions or would like the opportunity, so a few times a year I am intending to hire a large space and set up my full studio gear for the day. I will make a certain number of slots available (length and quantity depending on demand) and then make a dedicated page on this site so you can book your slot. The pricing is likely to be similar to my mini-session pricing and all product prices remain the same.

I’m planning on doing a Session Day in late November, perfect for Christmas presents. It would likely take place in the Greenwich (SE London) area, or at the very least not far away, and should be reachable by public transport.

I’d love to get an idea of interest and preferred days before I commit to a venue, so if this sounds like something you would be interested in, please fill in this form as soon as possible as I will need to book a venue soon. Filling in the form does NOT commit you to anything whatsoever.

I will only use your email address for the purposes of Studio Session Days, mailings will be infrequent and there’s a human being (me!) on the end so you can ask to be removed at any time.

And finally I thought you may like to see some of my recent photos of my children. I may have been on maternity leave, but I have not been resting my camera and I’ve been using the time to practice and further improve my skills! Here’s is just one of the ways that my new site makes sharing photos easier:

I love taking photos of my children but truth be told – other people’s children are easier. So I’m really looking forward to booking sessions again and getting out there meeting people and their gorgeous families, and best of all capturing their precious memories forever.

Tempted to book a session with me? You can book months in advance (with newborns even a rough due date will do) and my calendar is wide open right now so here is a chance to get the date you want. I book no more than one session a week, so my calendar fills up fast. Looking forward to making that first proper return booking – who will it be? Contact me to get things started or to ask questions!

It was a high risk pregnancy and we weren’t sure how things were going to turn out, so it was kept very low key all round, hence no announcements on here that I was expecting. I started my maternity leave at 29 weeks at the end of February although I stopped doing sessions at the end of January as due to SPD (back and pelvis problems) I felt I was no longer able to give my best for customers. It took forever to get up off the floor after this shot with my children!

End of April, this little man was delivered via c-section:

Here he is at just four days old:

And here are a few more of him at 12 days old – firstly being prodded by his big sisters:

Trying out my new cocoons:

As you might expect, given I won’t really be working now until probably November, there will be a lot of this little fellow and his big sisters to come over the next few months!

I will probably start taking bookings for future work in late November (no guarantees for Christmas) by August/September time.

In the meantime I can do a few urgent sessions here and there in special circumstances and/or subject to quite a high minimum order (payable in advance) as I can only take a few limited days out of my maternity leave by law to work, so I wish to use them carefully which I am sure you can understand.

If any existing customers wish to order prints/products etc from a previous session, they can do so at any time – please contact me to reinstate your gallery.

I am looking forward to getting back to work though, and photographing all your amazing and gorgeous families again!

Greenwich Park is a wonderful location, and this great family live right next to it – how envious am I..

They’ve recently had their first baby, S, who is just three months old and a complete sweetheart. He was a little grumpy in the middle of the session but it was plain to see he’s normally a very cheerful chap and he gave so many cute smiles!

This was only a mini session, so time was short, but we managed to fit in a good variety of locations in the flower garden.

It was really lovely to meet you all, you were great to work with and I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

He was born just a few days before the new year, to absolutely thrilled new parents K and C:

He was by far the sleepiest baby I have ever photographed, much to the surprise of his parents as until now he’d not been a big fan of sleep at all!

He slept through anything, including posing with his dad:

He is a complete sweetheart and his parents were very enthusiastic about the shoot so I ended up with so many great photographs. It’s been really hard work narrowing them down!

Congratulations H family on such a beautiful baby boy! I hope you have enjoyed your sneak peek and I am very much looking forward to working on the rest of your images.

They are one of two Holiday Mini Sessions I did this weekend. These are quick sessions (30 minutes shoot time, with time on either side for setting up and taking down) in the customer’s home, and fewer proofs to choose from. I use a black background for these sessions, because it is so much quicker to set up for the session.

The two boys did a great job of posing in the short time available – we even managed a hug!

The big boy pulled so many great expressions it was really hard to narrow them down for the proofs.

And the littlest one was such a sweetheart playing with his toys too.

I hope you enjoy your sneak peek, G Family, and have a lovely Christmas!

They are one of two Holiday Mini Sessions I did this weekend. These are quick sessions (30 minutes shoot time, with time on either side for setting up and taking down) in the customer’s home, and fewer proofs to choose from. I use a black background for these sessions, because it is so much quicker to set up for the session.

Meet the baby! Isn’t he a sweetie?

He had had a busy day, and probably wanted to rest a while but obviously with a mini session there isn’t quite the same amount of time to wait for moods to change but he did a wonderful job considering!

I leave you with a final shot of this brand new family, who are excitedly waiting for their first Christmas with a child!

Happy Christmas, J and Family!

If this little stunt baby looks familiar to you, that’s because 7 months ago he looked like this!

Yes, Baby Alexander was the first ever newborn I did. You can see the photos and original post here. He was six weeks early, and the photo above was taken on his due date.

Wow, how he has grown!!

He’s now a strapping young lad, and didn’t stop smiling for most of the session!

Here he is in a very cute Halloween bear outfit with his mum:

And finally, posing with one of the blankets from the original shoot!

Alexander’s parents did a fantastic job keeping him smiling and Alexander himself was a wonderful model. Honestly, I have too many happy photos to choose from – it’s going to be a pain to edit them down to a manageable level!

I had such a lovely time at this session – thank you N and J for inviting me back to photograph your handsome little man again!

Even if it’s too late for newborn photos, or if you just want more photos later on, this session proves there is still plenty you can do with a slightly older baby! Not fancying driving (or parking!) in Central London, I was fortunately still able to carry my baby poser and blankets in on public transport which meant we had the best chance for some great photos.

Their apartment was blessed with fantastic natural light, which makes my job a lot easier!

I love taking photos of baby feet

We got through plenty of dress changes and poses – including this fabulous fun outfit:

Family shots were important to the family, so finally here’s M and his gorgeous family all together:

It was a very enjoyable shoot with a fun and creative family, and I am looking forward to processing the remaining images!

Newborn Baby Z having an interesting dream

It was also a chance to try out my new baby poser, which is suitable for children from newborn until they can sit unsupported. It was very easy to use and a worthwhile investment, along with the sheepskin rug I used for the photo below:

Newborn baby Z contemplates life on a sheepskin rug

He also got to try out my new basket too!

Newborn baby Z in a basket

I also took some photographs of Z with his parents. These have come out very well – here is one with his gorgeous mother.. I could not believe she’d recently had a baby!

Newborn baby Z and his mother

We did some family photos as well (he has an adorable older brother S who is two and a half who did brilliant “cheese”s for me!) which I will maybe share at a later date. The family were very enthusiastic and had lots of great ideas – it was great fun working with them.

In the meantime, I leave you with a photo of a very sweet Z in this gorgeous hat. Handmade by Jo at Halobaby (take a look, she has some fabulous stuff!) it really suits him!

Baby Z in a hat made by Jo at Halobaby.co.uk

Despite the gloomy light (thank you British summer!) we managed to get a lot of great shots, which I am very much looking forward to sharing with the family soon!

Josh is full of smiles

Josh’s mother wanted some breastfeeding photos; memories of a very special time. As is my policy, I won’t post those images here as people might be reading this entry at work, however I will be creating a separate breastfeeding gallery soon.

Josh being held by his mother

Josh was really not in the mood for a jolly good feed, however I did capture some which have turned out well.

The session took place in two places – indoors (the photos above) and outdoors in a garden. Josh lay down on a blanket and loved the shapes of the leaves against the sky!

Watching the leaves

I also took the opportunity to grab a few shots of Josh with his mother too.

Josh with his mother

I do enjoy taking breastfeeding photos – as someone who has been breastfeeding babies/toddlers for nearly four years now, I know how special it is.. and I also know how easy it is to not have any photos of that time at all. It’s so easy to forget to and then it is too late.

It was lovely to meet Josh and his mother Suzi – Josh is a very well-behaved and extremely cute little man who gave me the biggest smiles!

Baby Eleanor

Eleanor, like Alexander was born prematurely, in Eleanor’s case she was born at 33 weeks back in April. So although she’s actually a few months old, she’s very close to newborn age gestationally.

In a basket!

Despite this, she’s doing absolutely fantastic – she’s doubled her birthweight and starting to build up some adorable baby fat!

Sleeping

Eleanor was ever so good. Not only did she sleep for most of the session (I’m sure the hot weather helped with that a little!) but she graced us with lots of wonderful expressions when she was awake as well.

What's going on?

It was a real pleasure to meet mum Jacqui, and photograph sweet baby Eleanor, and I’m very much looking forward to post-processing the rest of the photos from the session!

I’ve done a few sessions in Greenwich Park over the last few months – Mofette and her friends and a very cold session with James just two months ago. This session was a lot warmer!

Prakriti and her children

Kail has just had his third birthday very recently, and Simran was 7 months at the time (5 months adjusted as she was premature) and both were absolutely cute as a button!

Simran

Kail

The children were very well-behaved and were great fun to photograph too.

Playing with their mother's sunglasses!

Kail from above

Joe is the father – here he is with Simran:

Joe and Simran

The family were good fun to shoot and had a great sense of humour. It was lovely to meet them!

Family in front of the Royal Observatory

And that concludes my free sessions, aside from any maternity/newborns which I still have a few slots left on. More about that in my next post!

Before I left, I did two more sessions on the weekend before, but until now I have not had a chance to upload them!

The first of these was a newborn session with handsome Percy, who was born two weeks past his due date – what a contrast to Alexander who was born 5 weeks before! Percy is just a few weeks old for this session.

Percy in a basket

Percy was not all that keen on sleeping, despite being so new!

But he was a good sport even whilst awake, giving lots of good poses.

Playing around

Watching the world

Trying to roll already

He spent a lot of time feeding, as newborns tend to do! So when he wasn’t feeding, he was making his thoughts quite clear..

Percy tries the taste of his arm

Percy has a full head of hair too.

Head shot!

Finally he fell asleep, and I managed to get some of him in the basket!

Sleeping in a basket

It was lovely photographing Percy and meeting his mum Chloe (and the rest of their family!) Percy is a gorgeous little chap and it was a real privilege to be asked to photograph him!

It went very well – Lewis was great for the camera (it’s true what they say about photographing other people’s children – it is much easier!) pulling faces and dancing, and I managed to capture some great expressions!

As he’s only little, I ran out of time to try different backdrops so these are all on my Arctic White paper.

So.. meet Lewis!

Lewis

Lewis pulled some fantastic expressions!

Lewis dancing to his musical drum

Lewis with his daddy

Lewis with his mummy

Playing with his blankets and cushions

I love this one in particular - Lewis and his heart cushion!

He loved playing Peekaboo

Peekaboo!

One final photo

Once again, it was a great pleasure to take these photos – thank you to Claire and Ian for letting me borrow their sweet little boy for an hour!

If you like these photos, you can see the full gallery of twenty on my Smugmug site here.

I breastfed both my children (B to almost 2 years when pregnancy complications forced me to wean her, and I am still breastfeeding C at 15 months) and I am a strong supporter of extended breastfeeding, so nursing photos are something I really enjoy doing and can understand, and I look forward to doing more in the future. It’s something nursing mothers often overlook and later regret not having photos of.

Anyway, on with the photos! For obvious reasons I’m not going to post any revealing nursing photos directly here to my blog as they may not be suitable for viewing in a work setting, however you can view the entire gallery here:

* Tandem nursing session with Jessica

All were taken with natural light on a bed with white sheets and a white wall – so I didn’t even need any of my studio set up!

Here are a few safe-for-work photos of her beautiful children and one nursing photo:

C, age 4 months

C, giving a big smile!

Jessica feeding C

T, 3 years

T having just finished a feed

Always willing to do more nursing photos – so if you’re interested, please let me know!

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]]> http://www.silverashphotography.co.uk/2010/02/tandem-nursing-session-with-jessica/feed/ 2 http://www.silverashphotography.co.uk/2010/01/first-time-with-seamless-paper/ http://www.silverashphotography.co.uk/2010/01/first-time-with-seamless-paper/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:59:43 +0000 Silver Ash Photography http://test.nihilistic.org.uk/?p=30 Some photos of the children, and my first time using paper instead of cloth as a backdrop. Wow, what a difference! A ton of post-processing is no longer needed.. bliss!!

The paper I bought was called “Silver Birch” and is a warm grey.. almost beige. I also experimented with the flash gels (coloured plastic) I got for Christmas from my sister.

Anyway, children alert!

1. B, my oldest (she is 3)

2. C, my youngest (14 months)

3. With a red gel

4. B keeps mum

5. “Now, look here..”

6. B protects C from.. something.

7. C laughs

8. My new Facebook icon

Paper allowed me to finish 50 photos in the time it would usually take me to do 20. Such a difference!

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