www.mimsaxl.com is back

I've been putting together a new website over the last couple of months, and it's pretty much there, just in time for autumn (phew).  You can find it here - have a browse - and please share the link with your friends.

It has exciting new pages, detailing the photography services I offer:

• portraits, including
• baby & child portraits; 
• adults (including headshots for professional use); 
• family portraits (& other group portraits, including photo shoots for bands);
• event photography;
• wedding & partnership photography;
• and details of my special deals on portraits for internet daters (yes, have a look!) and for groups of babies & children. 

And here's a favourite of mine from one of my 'baby group photo sessions' - these little ones were 8 months, so it was great fun watching them interact.  You can see the whole session here.

Nicole - portrait session

Last week I spent an hour one evening photographing Nicole at her home.  It was a good session - we had lots to talk about - and once again I felt grateful for the way in which this job allows me to meet and connect with all sorts of interesting people, and in a very interesting way - through a lens.  Tonight Nicole came to see the results of the session and went away happy, leaving me feeling happy too - it's great giving people pictures of themselves that they really like.  Here are a few of our favourites.

My favourite from the session

Really like the light by the back door

 

Joe - baby portrait session

This little man is one year old, and gave me an hour of his time for a photo session on Friday afternoon.  It was a hot afternoon and we played outside for a bit (making grass soup in a bowl, that kind of thing), and then he showed me some of his favourite toys inside.  At one point, when his mum was upstairs, he toddled off to a cupboard and started playing with a bottle of brandy and a car, which was a great opportunity for some fun shots.

It was hard to chose favourites from this shoot (I ended up with several hundred edited pictures!), but here are a couple I really like - enjoy!   

Joe welcomes me to his home. 
I love the unsteadiness of early steps, and shot a whole sequence of Joe walking around here.
Note Joe's mum in the background, making tea - I wanted to include her in the background as he was very aware of where she was at every moment

Making grass soup

Beautiful eyes!

Marrow!

Brandy or rum??  Note the toy car he put in the cupboard when he removed the bottle - bet mummy will be pleased when she finds that...

His keyboard - a real favourite (not so much for his mum, who is a music teacher!)

Bike lights - Joe's most recent discovery

That's more like it!  Joe on the piano

Playing in the garden

Nice light and a pensive Joe

King of the castle!

I love this one! Joe and his mum Sara

Thank you Joe and Sara for a fun shoot in the sun!

Dinner time baby

Mealtime can be a great time to get some good pictures of babies and children.  Watching little ones eat is good fun, and offers the opportunity for some really funny shots - you can watch them getting really messy (perfect photos to embarrass them as a teenager or at their wedding), plus, in general, they are tied to one spot, making the whole process easier for the photographer.  If lined up carefully, you can get a set of action shots that work well as a series, and could make a good card or framed as a group - perfect for the kitchen wall - in amongst the spaghetti.

I often take pictures of the Bee at dinnertime - she shows such enjoyment of her food, and a wide range of emotions can pass across her features in a very short space of time.  Below are four of my favourites from a shoot I did of her eating spaghetti for the first time at nine months.  You can see the full set on my Flickr, here.

If you'd like to get a series of your little one at dinner time, get in touch :)

 

 

Possibly my favourite...?

...but then there's this one too...

Bee in autumn

So autumn seems to be well and truly here - the good news is, it *should* (fingers crossed) lead to some days of really lovely hazy sunshine - and hopefully to some yummy photos.  Here are three of the Bee which I took during today's photoshoot in Keith's summerhouse.  I'm a little obsessed with mirrors, and I think the dappled sunlight coming through the beautiful willow next to us creates a lovely feel.
Here's to an Indian Summer...

The Bee at eleven months - quite the model :)

Keith - experimental portraits

I've been reading a book by portrait photographer Robin Gillanders ('the photographic portrait', 2004, David&Charles), and felt inspired to try a set of portraits with friends.  This is the first of the lot - our session took place this afternoon in Keith's summer house - I added the Bee and a mirror to the mix, and Keith tried to add his cats, Hugo and Claire, but they had their own ideas ('you want me to sit near a baby?!').  Robin Gillanders repeats the mantra 'keep things simple', which is a idea that brought me some relief in recent times, when options (of location, kit, editing etc) have threatened to seem exponential and overwhelming (surely to be professional, I need at least 5 lenses, and three photo editing programmes on my computer...?).  Robin often carefully adds a couple objects to his portraits that tell us something about the sitter, and I really like the idea of playing with this method - see if you can spot the objects Keith and I have chosen!
These are a few of my favourites from a quick initial trawl of the results.

My favourite from the session - and of course one that I just took quickly on my way out at the end of the session - think that is often the way.  I love the light in this one - Keith has just had his sitting room knocked through, and is in the midst of putting up the shelves, hence the books - I really like the clutter they create in this picture though, I think it creates a nice balance and frame for the sitter - and it also speaks to me of a life in transition, being rearranged, which is very fitting for Keith at the present time.

Keith, the Bee & me

Anyone who knows Keith well will probably immediately spot the glass of juice.
Couldn't resist including the Bee in this one...

'I AM THAT.'
Keith & Hugo.  I like the way they are both looking down.

Not sure about Keith's expression here - think I could find a better one - but it still shows something I was trying to create - the mirror showing the nearby tree; Keith's pile of fire wood; his books & tea; and the dappled light behind his head.