There is a thing which slowly happens over time which I was kind of aware of but haven’t really done enough about it. As a working Photographer all to often I am focused on what my clients want, what packages, ideas and concepts I can offer up and although I can get creative with these projects I rarely take the time to just play anymore with my own stuff. When I say play I mean to play with my camera to have fun and not to focus on the end result but more concentrate on the process, to experiment without limits and rules of expectation and responsibility of a paid job. It’s like any job when you do it for work over time you tend to do less of it in your own time, which I don’t want to happen as there were times when I would go everywhere with my camera to document, play, and experiment with and I love some of those old images I took of friends, family, random stuff like puddles and piers. I think some of it is because I take pictures as a job, some of it is about having my phone and sometimes using that instead and some of it is just about not really bothering. If I was really honest I think there is also an element of opening Pandoras box, there is a fear that if I start doing crazy wild stuff people might not respect me or take me seriously anymore I will just be seen as that mad old cat lady that takes pics of crazy shit. The thing is this nagging feeling is not going away there is something in me that wants to go there and as the years pass the feeling gets stronger.

So there are times when I take pictures of stuff in my own time but am reluctant to share for fear of ridicule I suppose, I am not sure why I should really care what people think as they don’t have to look at my images its a free country after all. In light of these thoughts  I am sharing this image which I recently took in the studio, I have decided to ‘go there’.

I have my own ideas behind the concept of this image mostly around oppression, violence towards women, online bullying and the pressure from our media for women to look a certain way yaaay I hear you cheer all fun stuff! It is stuff that I feel strongly about, there is a huge pressure on young women and also young men to look and live up to a certain unachievable vision. We now have kids in their 20’s having botox and fillers, kids full of anxiety and afraid to be themselves for fear of rejection its utter madness destructive and out of control, I see it in the kids close to me but also in young people I take pictures of.  I’ll stop ranting…it’s up to you as the viewer to make your own mind up about what if anything this image conjures up.

I used to do a lot of Prom photography for schools but most of the time this felt a bit like a factory line and the process was always rushed to get the images finished in time for the main event. I was always left with the feeling that I wanted more time to really get the best from the youngsters to make the images more personal to them. So each year I offer private exclusive portrait sessions to young people either at my studio or outside at a location in Colchester (usually somewhere away from dog walkers) they can choose to either come and have shots of themselves or bring along a handful of friends. Most of my clients like to have paper prints from these sessions so they can surprise their grandparents or give a print as a gift to another family relative, I love to hear how some images are sent off around the world to send to a parent who is in the armed forces or working abroad. If you would like to know more about these session please call or email me for more information or book through my website.

This is me up a ladder over the weekend taking pics of the village grass, why you may ask? I got a few looks but was armed ready with a story should anyone ask!

Clients sometimes ask me if I can put together a composite image (made up of disparate or separate parts or elements), this week I am working on an image which is advertising a football agility tool so I needed a background image of good healthy grass. The grass at the football and rugby club are a bit worn and sparse this grass from Bentley Village green looked perfect. It’s always useful to collect images of the sky, clouds and textures to use for backgrounds so whenever I see something I get my camera to shoot it to add to my background collection.

At Boudoirvous we pride ourselves on being an all female team, with a highly skilled hair and make-up artist you can choose to have your hair and make-up styled before your photoshoot.

The shoot is very personal and tailored to creating the kinds of images you want, we discuss styles and types of poses and clothing and before the date of your shoot. There is no need to be nervous you can call in for a cuppa beforehand or you can bring a friend with you on the day.

Find out more about my Boudoir Photography for women at Boudoirvous.co.uk

Simon turned up telling me he felt a bit nervous, he wanted some headshots for his website for another project he is working on and for his personal use. The first image is the one I took when Simon first sat down, I told him not to worry about posing I asked him to tell me a bit about himself and what he has been up to lately, to relax and ignore me as I didn’t want him to focus on me I was just checking the lights. He started to tell me a funny story we both got the giggles, his nerves had subsided so we could then start to take some more serious pics. About half way through Simon asked me if I would mind taking some images of him in his grandads hat (of course I was delighted I love using props) he told me about his grandad and how smart he often used to look he remembers his grandad wearing this hat. I think you will agree the hat suits him…

These products are shot from above cut out and placed onto a transparent layer so the client can place the products onto any background.

To find out more about my family photography just click on the image below…

Bobby needed some commercial shots for Winmau Darts brochure, what a pleasure to meet his wife and granddaughter too.