Tips for photographing your children on Christmas morning.

Having children makes Christmas magical again for us, there's no doubt about it. I love to see their little faces when they see those gifts under the tree that Father Christmas has left for them :) 

I've put together a few little ideas and tips for capturing those wonderful Christmas morning moments. 

1. Give them new Christmas PJ's the evening before, that way you can guarantee they'll look really cute and coordinated for the morning photos.  It's an idea to get a shot of them all sat on the sofa cuddled up together Christmas eve. Trying to get them to pose together on Christmas morning probably won't happen!  Ask them to show you their most excited faces!  And of course get yourself in a shot too. 

2. Make sure you are stood by the Christmas tree when they enter the room to capture their faces, you don't want to be behind them. 

3. Sounds obvious, but remove distractions. The clothes dying rack or the nappy changing bag don't add anything to a photo! 

4. Capture the details and tell a story. Photograph them checking to see if santa has eaten his mince pie, the crumbs on the table. Did you leave the flour footprints outside? Photograph your children checking. They will LOVE to see these images of their family Christmas traditions in years to come. 

5. Photograph a few from different perspectives, get low down on the ground, take some from above and some close ups.

6. If possible, use natural light in the morning for a few, flash from an iPhone or on camera flash can often give unsightly results, red eyes etc. Having them next to a window with soft light filtering through is perfect. Photography is all about the light! 

7. Us mums are often the ones taking all the photos, hand the phone/camera to someone and get in a few. Your children will want to see you in these photos when they are older. 

8. After you've captured the images you want, put away your camera and be in the moment :) And don't forget to PRINT THOSE IMAGES and get them into an album! 

Hope you all have a wonderful and magical Christmas,

Karen xx

Newborn Photography Session for Hendrix.

Oh how I love his name! And he's gorgeous to match! 

We decided on lots of natural and relaxed posing for baby Hendrix's session. We started on a grey blanket, keeping him on his back and side. We then moved on to the very natural poses on the white blanket. These are some of my all time favourite photos, just so simple and beautiful. We ended the session with a few Christmas inspired set-ups as we're so close to Christmas. He made the most adorable Christmas reindeer that I have ever seen! 

Here's some of my favourite photos from this session. 

Looking forward to catching some more memories for another family and sharing with you very soon!

Karen x 

Harley's cake Smash photo session | Wellington, Somerset.

Another newborn client back for his first birthday cake smash session recently. It was so lovely to see Harley and his lovely mummy and daddy again. 

Harley came with the most adorable little outfits, he reminded me of Prince George! If I had had a little boy I definitely would have gone for this style of clothing - so ridiculously cute! 

Here's a few of my favourites from his cake smash session.

I also do cake smash and splash photography sessions for two years olds.  

I look forward to meeting you one day with your little one! 

Karen x

Cake Smash and splash for Isabelle's first birthday.

Isabelle has been to me a few times now for her photos, firstly in her mummy's tummy, then newborn photos, followed by some sitting up portraits and then for her first birthday cake smash session. It really is a joy to watch these beautiful little humans grow over their first year :) 

Isabelle made short work of her cake smash. I think she may have been the quickest to get stuck in and to totally demolish the cake! Luckily there are a few sections to a cake smash session, so if one part is over quickly, there's another fun part next! 

William's natural newborn photo session | Wellington.

I had two returning client newborn sessions in one week last week. It's so lovely to welcome these families back with their growing families and amazing to see how much the new baby looks like their sibling I photographed years before.

For William's session, mum wanted lots of natural portraits with no props. These are some of my favourite sessions, so beautiful and timeless.

Mum also bought in a blanket that her grandmother had knitted and was tradition in their family, through the generations had been used to wrap each new baby family member in on their first journey to their home from hospital.

I encourage you to bring in family heirlooms like this, it really adds a personal touch to your photos. 

I looks forward to meeting you soon, Karen x

Newborn baby photos for Martha | Wellington, Somerset.

It was a pleasure to welcome back this family with their new beautiful edition -Martha. I first met Martha's parents almost 3 years ago at the beginning of my newborn photography journey when I photographed their first born son. 

We recreated lots of the shots we had originally done with baby James in his newborn session. 

Here's a few from Martha's session. 

 Karen x

Arabella's 2nd Birthday Cake smash session

My granddaughter Arabella turned two recently so of course she had to have a cake smash photography session with her nanny! I also offer cake smash and splash sessions at my home in Wellington, Somerset for second birthdays as well as first birthdays.  

Arabella is a big Moana fan so the decoration colours and outfit were inspired by the movie. We went for tropical colours for the tissue paper garland. I also choose the slightly darker beige/mustard paper backdrop to resemble the sand. My daughter made the named leaf banner above and the crown (Fern is the provider of all of my birthday crowns I use for the cake smash and splash sessions. Check out her little business at https://www.facebook.com/prettybaby93/  ) 

We also got a new sea inspired cake design added to the collection by the wonderful https://www.facebook.com/littlebuttercupcakery/ which we've aptly named 'La Mer' 

Here's a few shots from her session. 

If you have a colour theme in mind for your little birthday boy or girl, please get in touch in plenty of time so I can source and purchase the correct colours for you. All of the cakes can have the colours changed to suit your theme. And you can also order yourself a personalised banner from my daughter store to add to the cake smash session (and then take it home to hang in their room after!)  

I looks forward to photographing your little one's first or second birthday celebrations! 

Karen x

Ruby's first birthday cake smash | Wellington, Somerset.

Ruby first came to me when she was still tucked up cosy in mummy's tummy for her bump shoot, then I had the pleasure of photographing her  (along with her adorable fur brother) for the newborn shoot and then back again to celebrate turning one. It's so wonderful  to see how they've grown and their little personalities that they have developed :) 

We decided on a pink and gold theme and mum & dad bought in some beautiful named bunting that Ruby's grandmother had bought her. I love these personnel touches added to the set-ups.

Here's a few from the day 

Have a little look through my cake smash gallery, guaranteed to make you smile! 

Karen x

Fun walks to do with children in Devon & Somerset.

I've began compiling a small collection of walks in this area that we have enjoyed as a family. These are not in any particular order.

1. The Mortehoe loop including Rockham beach.

Approx 5.6km | Dog friendly | Pushchair unfriendly | 

We decided on this little adventure as we were looking for something to fill half a day. We did this walk in mid May, clear skies but there was a strong breeze around the headland. 

To get to the start of this walk drive into Woolacombe and then take the coast road to Mortehoe ( approx 3 miles). Drive through the village and eventually find the public carpark on your right. This is pay and display.

Follow the lane opposite the entrance of carpark, 5 minutes along the lane, you'll find a signpost for Rockham beach on your left. Follow the footpath to Rockham beach (approx 10 minute walk) 

The steps down to the beach are fairly steep, but there are hand rails all the way down which I needed two hands firmly on, as I'm not a great lover of heights! 

The beach is fab for exploring with lots of rock pools and it looked safe for paddling and swimming too. We'll definitely come back again in the Summer.

After some fun exploring, we headed back up the steps and turned right and followed the coast path towards Morte Point. This is a beautiful stretch of rugged coastal path, stunning views and pretty patches of bluebells, wild garlic and thrift. Do make sure you hold on to the little ones as the path winds past a few sheer drops along the way.  

It was along here that we had the absolute pleasure of watching seals playing in the sea ( this is where I kicked myself for not bringing along my zoom lens!) 

We continued to follow the coastal path along to Morte Point, rounded the headland and followed the coast path back to the main road (when you see the main road, take the left path. 

The road takes you back into Mortehoe village and the end of this adventure.

This took us a little over 3 hours, which included lots of playing, exploring, snacks and drink breaks (if you're like me, a lot of snack breaks!)

Please note, that if your little one's are getting tired there are lots of opportunities to shortcut back to your car.

Fun walks to do with children in Devon & Somerset.

I am compiling (very slowly) a small list of walks in this area that we have enjoyed as a family. These are not in any particular order.

1. Littlecombe Shoot

Approx 4.5 miles (full walk) or 2.5 (shorter version) | Pushchair unfriendly | Dog friendly |

*I must point out for this walk, depending on the time of year, the paths can become overgrown with stinging nettles and some brambles. It's a great adventure but by the middle of summer I'd highly recommend a large stick or something to chop your way through! This only relates to a couple of small sections* 

For this walk we drive into Branscombe village and park in the village hall carpark ( £2 parking fee to be tossed into the well).

Walk out of carpark and turn right up the hill until you reach the church yard. Walk through the church yard, over the small bridge and follow the path up into the woods. As you get to the top of the hill you'll find a track junction and turn right. 

After around a quarter of a mile along the track, turn left onto the Western mouth track. This will lead you to a clearing (you may see a car or two parked) take the path that leads straight ahead. 

This leads you onto the Bill Perriman path. This path winds its way down to Littlecombe shoot beach. Beware, there a plenty of steep sections, make sure you hold onto your little ones!

As the beach nears, there are steeper sections of path and hand ropes have been attached to help you down. As you get to a point around 8feet from the pebbles, the path drops and some make shift ladders have been provided to get you down. With a bit of bum-shuffling and bravery you are onto the pebbles feeling like you've already had a great adventure!! 

This pebble beach has a lonely rugged charm. And if you can time it with low tide, the rock pools are brilliant and well worth a paddle. 

When it's time to carry on, walk down the beach (to your right if looking toward the sea) and eventually you will come to a footpath sign which takes you back up the cliffs.

Once again this has steep sections and some ropes have been provided for your convenience. When you get to the top it opens out into a grassy field and you will see straight ahead a sign post.

Follow the sign towards Berry Barton. This leads you across the field to a gate, go through, turn left, follow the track, past a caravan park and Berry Barton farm.  

This takes you onto a road junction with the main farm in front of you, turn left and right at the farm gate to the side of the farm, there is a foot path sign. Follow the footpath around the back of the farm house , pass an old WW2 jeep, through to the next field, go straight ahead and you'll see a post with a small yellow arrow turning you left, up the side of the field to a stile under an oak tree. Once over, this is the first point where your stick may come in handy! Follow the short path through the trees to the next stile. Over the stile and proceed down the hill to the road and civilisation. (This field can get very overgrown, don't be put off). 

On arrival at the road, you have the option of turning right back into Branscombe or turning left and continuing your adventure. 

Turning left as we do, follow the road up the hill, keeping a keen eye on your left for a footpath sign that looks as if you are walking through someones garden! The footpath does exist, you haven't taken a wrong turn and may be the thinnest path in the world. Proceed through he gate, up the steps and onto the next section where your stick may be necessary. The path winds up the hill and comes out onto a farmers crop field.

Follow the edge of field away from direction you just walked, you will see a wind sock high up ahead of you. Follow the fence to the opening and cross into field on your right and walk to the  next stile. 

Cross over stile but make sue you stop and check for aircraft! this field is an airstrip that dates back to WW2. Go over the stile and you'll come to a lane, turn right, follow the lane as it winds its way down the valley and you'll start to see the sea in the distance. Eventually the lane turns a very sharp left back on itself, at this point, you'll see another lane that turns right (feeling like you're walking straight on). Follow this right hand lane, takes you into village, past the school and eventually onto the main road where you turn left back to your car. 

Your South-Devon adventure is complete!