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The Journey Begins……..

Today is very special to me. 2 years ago today I went live with my business. Its been a very incredible 2 years. Ive learnt so much about the business, the industry and myself. Ive found balance with my family and work life. Ive worked and trained with the amazing Kate Hopewell Smith. Ive met some wonderful people in the business who have become firm friends and Ive made some fabulous friends in my clients. I cant wait to see what this year has in store.

This year has started off beyond what I could have expected. So many enquiries and also booking to go to the SWPP Convention in London which is just a short 2 weeks away. Very excited. Im looking forward to seminars with the amazing Kevin Mullins, Tracey Willis and doing a super class with Damien Lovegrove. Its sure to be a jammed packed 3 days. I cant wait.

So these highlights are also very special to me. Children and families are where I started my journey. I have always been obsessed with taking photos but this became more apparent after the birth of my son Bailey. I had a vision and knew what I wanted. I was also into Art and painted a lot before Bailey was born. I sold quite a few of my paintings. I think being creative has always been a huge part of who I am. I had lots of ideas and I was never one for studio images. The plain backdrop just didn’t sit well with me. Taking pictures in natural light was what I loved. It always struck me as having more of an impact. I always knew I was going to have a second child so it was’t until after the birth of my daughter Olivia that I finally put my money where my mouth is. January 2012 I upgraded my camera to a Professional level and went straight back to college. My first training in photography in my 20’s was on the old SLRs so this was a whole new ball game. I did 2 courses at college which spanned over 22 weeks. This still wasn’t enough. Yes I could work a camera and knew what it could do but I wanted more. So I found Kate Hopewell Smith at Aspire and made a 3.5 hour car journey for training with Kate. Kate’s work spoke to me. I loved her images. She was incredible during that training session based on photographing children in natural light. I left there totally buzzing. I remember I was about to leave and Kate looked at me and said ‘Did you enjoy today’ I had the biggest smile and replied ‘Are you kidding, that was incredible’ she laughed – Her response ‘I know, look at you you cant stop smiling’.  When I got back I couldn’t wait to put my new found knowledge into action. I offered friends and family photo shoots and was getting more and more into it. I set up my FaceBook page to get more attention. I knew I wasn’t done training. I needed to know more. So took myself back to Aspire in November to train with Kate again on her Yummy Mummy course photographing a beautiful pregnant lady called Rose followed by a newborn baby. It was amazing and once again I came away buzzing and excited about my new found knowledge. In January 2013 I felt ready to go live with my business so I did. It was quick to take off with a couple of indoor sessions and 2 wedding enquiries. The enquiries were from 2 people I knew well but I am one of those people that has to know everything before I go in guns blazing. So I booked a 1:1 session with Kate on weddings. We took a gorgeous couple around Oxford and went through everything do to with weddings from images to branding to marketing and the business side of it. I instantly felt excited and couldn’t wait. I didn’t take on anymore weddings that year I threw myself into children and families. My children were still very little at this point so it was very much a juggling act.

In October 2013 I joined The Guild Of Professional Photographers and submitted a panel of images. That month I became Qualified with them gaining my QGPP qualification.

Ive also received to date 28 Bronze Awards for my images on weddings, children and boudoir.

I went back to Kate in December that year for a course on Winter Weddings and learnt all about light and off camera flash. It was fantastic and I started January 2014 with a bang. 2014 was my first full year of weddings and I photographed 32 of them. I also assisted Kate Hopewell Smith on 4 of her weddings including a stunning Hindu wedding at Blenheim Palace gaining a wealth of knowledge from her. October this year I had her go through my wedding portfolio and was completely over the moon with her comments to me. Ive come a long way since January 2012 when it all started. Its truly a dream come true and this year is so exciting 🙂

Here is such a small collection of my children and family shoots but I hope you see just how much I love what I do 🙂