Well, Happy New Year to you all ! I hope that you had a great Christmas and New Year break. We were very grateful for some time off after a manic final few weeks before the festivities started!

One of the things we were busy with was for the queen of my biggest vice Sarah Jane Chocolates. On a chilly but sunny Monday afternoon in mid-December, I visited Sarah and her lovely family for a pre-Christmas family photoshoot … oh, and some chocolates too!

As the sun was out, we took the opportunity and headed out into the garden, armed with camera, reflector and warm jackets. They were all very good about dropping the jackets for a few minutes at a time, whilst we captured some great family moments. Of course, coffee and chocolate was a must after all that, and I would be lying if I didn’t own up to the fact that I ate rather more than I should – but, oh goodness, how utterly divine! I would highly recommend sampling some for yourself, or even attending one of her Chocolate Making Workshops. I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed!

So, enough of that, let’s look at some of my favourite images from the shoot :

I recently had the opportunity to do some family photography for my friend Sarah, and her very ‘enthusiastic’ family! A very easy and natural shoot because they were all in stitches even before we started photographing – it was a real pleasure to work with them all.

A special little hello goes out to the youngest of our models who both treated me to a Monkey Tree Hug to say goodbye. Total bless.

Here are a couple of my faves from the shoot:

There are many people who you meet in your life who simply pass in and out of your everyday existence and you may pay them no special heed, both of you going about your lives. Every now and then, however, you have the opportunity to meet someone who has a profound and positive effect on everything you do. Someone who challenges your normal, mundane existence and someone who touches you deeply on many levels. If you are very lucky, you may also be fortunate enough to be able to call this person a friend.

Elizabeth, my friend, is just that person. And it is just that which makes this a rather special post for me. As many of our mutual friends and colleagues will know, Elizabeth, and her husband Mikey, have just had a baby – a gorgeous little baby called CJ, and I was so very pleased to have the opportunity to photograph them all last week, at their country retreat.

There’s little more to say, apart from the fact that they all look beautiful together – see for yourself…

Just before my holiday away, around Easter actually, I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting these four monsters for an afternoon of family photography. Sian, their gorgeous mum, is my lovely friend as well as a hardcore Studio Matwork and Pilates Teacher at Cobham Pilates.

This was the first time I had met the boys, but it wasn’t a problem – they were all full o’beans and warmed to the camera without hesitation. All in all, a really fun afternoon – despite the, ahem, tears (hey, boys?!)

Here is a selection of my favourites :

And a huge Thank You for my Easter Egg !!

Just a quick one this time around, and with a new Blog Header format too – what do you think ?

So, these gorgeous identical twins are Annabelle and Olivia, and were my second summer shoot for Baby Surrey Magazine.

Quite a few more coming up, so stay tuned …