I met up with Neve, her mum Nikki, and Harlow the dog on a crisp, sunny morning last November.  We went to the Dhoon beach, as I knew it was a great place for kids but it also had lots of shady areas I could take advantage of, as it was such a glaringly sunny morning I would need this balance.  Once we had arrived, Nikki and I set down the props we had brought along with us and then spent about half an hour running around after Neve as she decided she was just going to do her own thing.  Looking back on it, we must have looked so funny chasing around after this little dynamo, who had us trying every persuasive tactic we could come up with.  Just as I felt we were starting to break ground, and Neve was starting to slow down,  I managed to get a couple of lovely shots of her on the beach, but unfortunately the poor little lamb then fell into the mud as she waded out a little too far.  With this, a cold and damp and very upset Neve meant that the session was over!

I had never been in this position before, whereby I had come away from a session with hardly anything to show for it.  I offered Nikki another session, this time suggesting that we go to the park instead of the beach, as it is a less open space with lots of things for Neve to do.  Nikki agreed, and so we gave it another shot on another lovely day to follow.  Although I was feeling a little apprehensive  initially, the second session went like a dream.  As we had hoped, Neve enjoyed the swing and slide, but all the while she still remained firmly in control of the situation, guiding me from one place to the next as if to say ‘I’m still the boss’ :).  She then walked up a hill to a little bit at the top of the park, at the foot of the woods, which was full of gorgeous Autumnal coloured leaves.  Up here she had a blast, playing with the leaves, her tea set and some bubbles, we even managed to get some fairy wings on her for a little time.  Finishing off at the park again, and feeling so much relief at how well it had all gone, Nikki produced a little wind up plane from her bag, telling me it was one of Neve’s favourite toys. I couldn’t resist capturing her playing with it before we called it a day….I think that little momentos like this are the things which will be cherished when looking back in years to come.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from both sessions.

Another catch up blog from last November, and once again this session was along the Dee on a very sunny afternoon.  My reason for choosing this location was simply that the glare from the sun was so great, that I knew the boat was always a reliable bit of shade, never minding the fact that it’s a fantastic backdrop.  It’s no wonder that this boat is so important to the local painting and photography community, and there was so much protest at the suggestion of it being removed a few years ago, that it now remains as a permanent fixture.  Not only this, but the walk along the Dee offers so many beautiful backdrops, from the reeds which glow when the sun comes down, to bridge along the walk and much more.

I agreed to meet this family at the harbour so that we could walk and shoot along the way.  As Rhys was so young and Mia so shy, I handed out bubbles as soon as we got to the boat, as this is always a good way of getting the kids to relax and forget they’re here for a photo shoot.  This certainly did the trick, and I snapped some of my favourite shots of little Rhys laughing, as his dad blew bubbles at him, as well as some more pensive shots of Mia.  Once they had relaxed, we carried on for a while, although I think we may have walked too far on this occasion in my enthusiasm to find new locations, but these two kids were such troopers.  As with all full sessions, you can have as much or as little as you want of the two hours you have booked me for, and in this case little Mia wasn’t feeling well, so we called it a day as the sun was coming down.  I got some great shots of these two kids, and know that their mum is delighted with the images.

Here are a few of my favourite images

In the lead up to last Christmas, I had a few late bookings for parents who wanted to give photos as gifts.  This shoot was one of them, and we were lucky enough to have a few lovely days in November which I took full advantage of.

The organisers of Kirkcudbright Art & Craft Trail had erected some fabulous beach huts at the harbour square which I’d had my eye on for ages.  The colours are rich and vivid, and always remind me of a place I used to live called Hove in East Sussex, where these colourful huts line the promenade.  I decided to meet the two sisters here, and as anticipated, they made great props, particularly as the November landscape is less colourful than I would like.  After this, we took a quick wonder up Dee Walk to my favourite boat wreck, which as it turned out, was actually owned by the grandad of the two sisters.  It’s so nice to have a bit of history to make a location so much more meaningful.

Here are a few of my favourites from this shoot.