I don't like having my picture taken

This is something that I hear a lot. So many of us don't like the way we look, or feel awkward in front of the camera. I guarantee that the parts of us that we don't like and focus on when we look at ourselves, nobody else sees or notices. Despite being told this, we still spend our time playing the 'photographer' at family gatherings and happily taking pictures of everyone else instead so that we can avoid being in font of the camera.

"I don't like how I look, so I avoid the camera at every opportunity"

I am yet to meet one mumma who isn't self conscious about their postpartum body, especially that infamous postpartum pouch. We are all guilty of avoiding the camera and taking lots of photos of our children and not so many of us with them (because we don't seem to be able to have enough pictures of our children, right!!) However by avoiding the camera, we aren't giving them photos of us to look back on when they are older. Family photos are more than pieces of wall art or a social media post, they are time capsules and conversation starters; memories preserved in the form of a picture.

I love seeing photos and artwork on the walls of family and friends houses. I love getting a glimpse into a period of their life that is important enough for them to display in their home. I love seeing their faces light up when you ask them about the photo and they tell you all about it.

This is why being your photographer is a huge deal to me. It's an opportunity to help you make memories together. To create images that best capture this period in your life that you can display in your home. To take photos that make you smile so much that you don't even think about your insecurities when you look at them.

Please don't let your insecurities get in the way of having your photo taken, we owe it to our children.

"I'm so awkward in front of the camera"

There is something about a person with a camera that has the ability to make us suddenly forget how to stand and smile naturally. I think we all feel it, some more than others. Having had a few photo shoots of my self over the years (wedding, maternity and family shoots) I understand the reservation about paying someone to take photos and worrying about getting them and thinking "great, they've just captured me looking our most awkward selves!". Thankfully, all of my own photoshoots have given me beautiful photos that I am pleased with. Part of that is down to choosing a photographer who's style you like. I personally am not a fan of the more traditional, 'look at the camera and smile' shots and so have chosen photographers with a documentary style. This documentary style is the approach the photo that I take as I feel it is the best way to get authentic, relaxed moments and avoids anyone looking awkward.

If you have a photoshoot with me, I do everything I can to help you feel relaxed and to have fun. There is always some element of posing/staging the photos (it is a photoshoot after all!) but this is often a starting place to enable me to capture photos that are ones of genuine laughter, real love and emotion. I hope to build trust and a relationship with you so that our time together is fun and enjoyable for everyone (yes even the men, I know many are dragged along for these shoots!!).

If you are unsure about anything, and I mean anything, and you just want to find out a little more before you decide if this is right for you, then please don't hesitate to contact me - I'd love to answer any questions.