These are a few of my favourite things

Smiling and laughing.  These truly are two of my favourite things. Smiling, as we all know, is so infectious but also I love how a reciprocated smile, even to a stranger, makes you feel you somehow know that person a bit better. I also adore a good laugh. Best of all when you have one of those rare occasions where you find something so funny that you laugh uncontrollably. For me this manifests itself in the rather unattractive form of my mouth being open abnormally wide while doing the silent laugh/shoulder shake and every now and then gasping for breath (with a strange seal like noise) while normally slumping to one side. But when you manage to regain a form of normality it feels like you have had a sort of rejuvenation tonic! 

To capture those precious moments of joy in a photograph is such a privilege....

* family photography * outdoor photography * newborn photography * Kent photography *

Doors to your memory

I turned 33 last week but if you were to judge my age by my memory for the little things you would probably put me somewhere between 75-80! Ok, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration but being someone who is always thinking 'what's next?' I think I simply forget to reflect and the oh so important things slip from my memory far too quickly. I therefore strive to help myself remember in various ways the little things about our family life that I think I won’t forgot but all too easily do. I thought I’d quickly put fingers to keys to show 3 simple things I do to help me remember in the amongst the busyness of life.

Jot down those memories

Everyone loved the television programme ‘Kids say the funniest things’ that aired in the late 90’s early 00’s and this book is my own version. I write down the cute things my 3 do and say, from when my eldest was 6 months old she used to basically make a noise that sounded like a duck that smoked 20 a day for about 3 months to the simple things like what their current favourite book is.

One of my favourite entries is when I had had a tough day with my two toddlers (at the time age 2&3) and went to the toilet for a quick break to find my eldest had drawn smiley faces on the bathroom floor with a biro. After calling her up to ask for an explanation she said ‘don’t worry mummy. If you scrub really hard they‘ll come off‘. Ha! (and I had completely forgotten about this until rereading it now!)

If you are a parent, or a grandparent, or have little people in your world, and you don't already, I implore you to keep a little note book just like this. It’ll be your best read in years to come. Also if you buy a beautiful note book and a pen to go with it you have your self the perfect gift idea for someone who is expecting!

The boxs of bits and pieces

I’m pretty sure everyone has their own version of this, either a shoe box under the bed, a pile in the top of your wardrobe, a well meaning bundle on the top of your fridge or a purpose bought box. I started by just putting all the bits and pieces that held memories in the top of a wardrobe; from ticket stubs to first family portrait they drew of us all looking like potatoes with arms and legs, from the mothers day card with the tea bag stuck in sent home from nursery to the first pair of shoes. 

I can be quite sentimental about the little things after having children ours quickly filled to over flowing. So I then went out and bought a box for each of the three kiddies and one for us as a family. Sorting out the memories into the new boxes took me so much longer than I’d allocated as I found myself reading every card, looking over every colouring, and before I knew it 15 minutes had turned into over an hour and I was no longer sitting by myself but my girls had joined me, one on either side, as we chatted through our family memories so far.  

And obviously taking a few pictures…..

As the watercolour so wonderfully explains photos help fill in the gaps of your memory. I love to take photos of the everydayness of family life as well as the highs of life (which sometimes are one and the same!). I love capturing those precious moments when the girls have built a den or make a tea shop or a pretending to be baby lambs (or cats) for the hundredth time in a week as much as I love to take photos of our family holiday or an annual family get together. Photos have a unique way of freezing time and therefore opening doors into our memory.

There is a photo in my lounge of my girls’ feet as they run along the beach. If this photo did not hang on my wall their squeals and giggles as they play chase with the waves would soon have vanished from my memory. You can never have enough doors into your memory! 

If you would like to capture some more family memories do have a look at the very reasonable packages I offer by simply clicking here or have a look through some of the family memories I have already helped captured here. 

* family memories * Canterbury, Kent * 

When the love began

In a time when to see a photo you had to take a whole film of pictures, manually rewind the film, open the camera (and hope you rewound it properly or you lost the whole lot!), take it to the nearest camera shop and then after a week only then could you see the final result….a Polaroid camera was a dream come true! (well for a child in the 80's it definitely was). It was as instant as you were going to get!

My beautiful Nanna with my older sister and I holding our Keypers (one of my favourite childhood toys!)

My Grandad had a Polaroid camera. It was beautiful. When visiting my grandparents as a kiddie my adoring Grandad would happily let me and my siblings snap away, and snap away we did. 

Even now in my thirties I can remember the pure joy as a child to hear it coming out the bottom, to hold the milky white image in my hands and to see it slowly develop before your eyes….magical!

Me wearing my Mum's wedding dress. My brother and I playing in the garden. My sister and I being read a story by my Nanna.  

My Grandad’s Polaroid camera is where my passion for photography began. The Polaroids I have are so much more than just images of a time gone by but are crammed with so many wonderful memories spent with my Nanna and Grandad. Although cameras have changed drastically over the last 30 years my childhood excitement for capturing a memory that you can keep for forever has not. 

Photo of my Grandad by me age 5(ish)

| passion for photography | family |

The Davis' Family Shoot: Canterbury, Kent

I met Sara in my first year at Uni (some 13 years ago) and Mike managed to whisk Sara off her feet in 2005. Being such close friends it has been an utter joy to share parenthood with Sara and Mike (both having our first child early 2011). Joel is their eldest and he is the best 4 year old drummer I have ever met and Millie who is 2 gets cheekier and more beautiful day by day. The day of our shoot we were going to head to Tankerton but the weather was a bit grizzly so we donned on the wellies and we headed to the woods to make the most of the last autumn leaves.....

Falling for the fall

I wonder if it is an age thing being the ripe old age of…hmm…am I 32 or 33…never been too good at remembering my age! Anyway ….growing up my preferred season  has always been the summer. Just the sun beating through the curtains from 5am, paddling pools in the garden, sausages on a bbq, sound of lawn mowers, hanging your washing on the line, swimming in the sea BUT this year I have completely fallen for the fall! Particularly the colours of the trees, the majestic reds, oranges and golds creating a magnificent natural carpet.  

Having three little people means getting out and about to take family photos when the light is perfect, or stumbling across a stunning view is somewhat challenging. This autumn on the school run each day the sun beating through the canopy of colours teased the photography lover inside and made me desperate to get some shots in the woods. Life had been busy, so thought this year it just may not be, but wonderfully when having a week away from Canterbury we had a fabulous walk in the woods. Sadly there was no autumn sun and there weren't many leaves left on the trees but oh it was stunning! The kids adored the need for wellies, and were quickly picking up the compulsory stick and weaving in and out the trees, and I was in my element joyfully following closely behind with my camera.

Taking photos of my family is where my desire to ‘go pro’ has come from and lifestyle photography enables me to capture the essence of the people I love. Just watching them wander freely through the woods, rather than trying to manufacture the perfect picture, just letting children be children, be muddy, be adventurous, be cheeky, meant I managed to capture some shots that I will look back on for years to come (and probably feature in the personalised family calendar for 2016!)

* family photography * outdoor photography * 

The Harrington's Shoot: Blean Woods, Canterbury

Both Ruth and I were watching the weather all week as, in true British style, the weather was not set to be good for our shoot. But after a quick text exchange in the early hours of the morning we all decided to brave the forecast and head out to the woods and I’m so glad we did! The amazing Harrington's are not shy of a bit of rain and came totally prepared for a wonderful autumn walk in the woods. I loved the shoot from start to finish. Getting to be with these guys as they just enjoy being family. Precious Ben, being 2, was obviously drawn to all the puddles and spent most of his time picking up stones and getting generally muddy and lovely Abi, although shy at first, completely warmed up to the camera and happily peeped round trees, hid in dens and kicked leaves to her hearts content. I do hope you enjoy looking through a few of my favourites from the morning…..