Headshot session with Janne Ford from My Heart and Home

I was really pleased when Janne from My Heart and Home booked a headshot session with me as I knew she hated having her photograph taken, and I love showing women how great they can look! We're so used to seeing very unflattering photos of ourselves taken in dodgy light with compact cameras, that we think that's what we really look like. But once people see photos of themselves in the right light, with the right background and taken with a flattering portrait lens that actually shows your features how they really are, they are always very pleasantly surprised. And of course you need a friendly & experienced photographer to make you feel at ease too. :-)


Look how great Janne looks in her headshots....

Janne has been a fantastic supporter of my business since we met on Twitter last year. I did a commercial shoot for My Heart and Home last summer with some gorgeous girls wearing beautiful nightwear (and it was one of my favourites shoots of the year) and she also came on my photography workshop for creative business owners last autumn. And we have something very exciting that we're planning for later this year....I can't wait! 

Saturday's photography workshop for parents at The Medicine Garden in Cobham

On Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of teaching these 8 lovely mums how to take great photographs of their children. 

It was freezing cold so we didn't spend long shooting outside, but luckily it was cosy and warm in the studio! I can't take any credit for the image on the left hand side of this montage. Polly, who is the lady kindly modelling for the headshot on the right, borrowed my camera for the shooting practice and this is one of the shots she took...very impressive!


It seems they all had a great morning judging by the comments from the feedback forms:

"Friendly, fun and I've learnt so much in one morning. The best thing is that it's not confusing but it works! I'll be sure to tell all my friends. It's the best £100 I've spent in a long time."

"It's been a fantastic way to spend a morning. Thanks so much much. I can't wait to get started."

"Really inspirational workshop..."

Thank you ladies for being lots of fun to teach! 

I'm really excited that my new workshop website is very nearly ready to go live....watch out for a blog post all about it very soon!

A lovely Storyboard Frame

I managed to grab a few shots of this lovely frame before it went to it's new home! I never got round to blogging this family shoot which took place at the end of November in Esher Common, so I thought I would share this Storyboard Frame with you as it really shows the story of the shoot. From the beautiful mist on the common when we first arrived to the lovely laughing Rufus at the end of the shoot. 

Storyboard Frames are without a doubt the most popular product I sell, which is fortunate as it's my favourite too! I love knowing that the families I photograph have the story of their session up on their walls to make them smile every time they walk past it! 

Business headshots of Robyn & Neal Hatley

I had the pleasure of meeting Robyn for the first time last summer...she is full of energy and smiles and describes herself as a serial mumpreneur! Just hearing about all of her businesses and projects makes me feel quite exhausted! One of the businesses she runs is called Mums the Business which helps mumpreneurs to promote their businesses and attract the right clients. If you are a mum in business do check out her website. She booked 2 of my headshot sessions, 1 for herself and 1 for her husband. 


Here are some of the headshots I took of Robyn at Harts Boat Yard in Surbiton. The b&w shot on the left is right at the end of the session as we were having a coffee and a chat. I love the fact it is exactly how she looks as she's chatting to you! 

Robyn's husband Neal is a well-known rugby player who used to play for London Irish and now coaches their youth academy. Unfortunately it didn't mean much to me but Karl was very impressed when I told him who I had been photographing that day! Apparently he is the most capped player of the premiership ever...I don't know much about rugby but even I'm impressed with that statistic! Neal only had professional photos of himself in his rugby kit, and needed some headshots of himself looking a little more formal now he's a coach, but still relaxed and natural. I think these fit the brief! 

And then, as couples never seem to have any photos of themselves together since their wedding day, I took a few shots of them together. We can't quite remember what I said to get such big giggles in the left hand shot! 

What a lovely happy couple they are! The eagle-eyed amongst you might spot that Robyn was also on the photography workshop I ran a few days after her headshot session, she certainly overdosed on me that week!