Into The Light

Last year when it was dry (DRY?!) and before the grass in my garden at home was completely ruined by the rather damp winter we’ve had, I made my way out with the R family to capture some gorgeous photos of them.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with L,O and D before, but since the arrival of A and that she now has the voice to say ‘where are the photos of me?’ the R family decided it was time to capture some more memories.

We headed to Greville Smyth Park to make the most of the beautiful morning light on the dewy grass in the quiet park. Snacks were in abundance as were tickles and silly games. One of my top tips are ensuring the kiddo tums are full. Having hangry kids, or grownups for that matter, does not always make for a cooperative shoot!

After getting some soggy feet we wander over to one of my favourite spots in Bristol. With the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge in the background, coupled with silliness in front of the vibrant graffiti close by, I was able to capture the love and connection between this gorgeous family.

The days are getting longer and dryer, so now is the perfect time to book in that photoshoot you’ve been putting off.

I’m excited to work with you!

Charming Charlie - Part 2

The beauty of running your own family photography business is that I have the freedom to adapt my photography packages to suit my clients. With Fran and Doug I had limited time so we agreed to divide my 2 hour session shoot time in two and split the shoots 6 months apart! So 6 months after Charlie’s newborn shoot I grabbed my kit and made my way back to their gorgeous home in Bristol.

Babies of course change, A LOT, in 6 months and it is so wonderful to capture those changes through my photography.

As always, I had such a fun time with Fran, Doug, George and Charlie, capturing their bond. This lovely family played in the garden, had a cuddle on the sofa, took some time out to have a snack and then we finished our time off with a story. We crammed this in an hour and I’m thrilled to share some of the photos from our time together.

If you’re interested in a Bristol based family photographer do get in touch and we can discussed how we can adap my family photography packages for your needs.

Charming Charlie - Part 1

Living in Southville is great for many reasons, one being its village feel as you’re always seeing friends on North Street. I was aware of the imminent arrival of Charlie as I’m often bumping into Fran and Doug, Charlie’s Mum and Dad, who I met through a friend and took photos of their first born, George. Charlie joined us earth side and Fran and Doug invited me to mark his arrival with a newborn photo session.

So, with my camera in hand, I made my way to their beautiful home. I was able to capture Charlie's adorable moments but also document the love and togetherness of this family.

Photography is a powerful tool and I am thrilled to share some of my personal highlights from our time together.

Welcoming Baby Jesse

Safe to say I’ve been fairly lax on these blog posts of late. The other side of my working life has taken over, but I’ve been fortunate to fit in some shoots which have been both a joy and a breath of fresh air!

One of those shoots was with the delightful baby Jesse, who was weeks old. I adore newborn shoots, they are just so new! All squidgy, wrinkly and sleepy. Gorgeous.

Jesse is a real character already, he loves a bath, his milk and had a great set of lungs too.

I really hope enjoy some of my favourite shots.

Peckham Family Shoot

This is an announcement: I do gift vouchers!

One of my fabulous mates, bought her fabulous mate a gift voucher for a family photo shoot.

Whilst travelling up to Peckham I had the joy of being by myself in a car (a joy you will understand as a parent) listening to Desert Island Disks.

As you can see from these photos, Claire has exquisite taste in home decor, each back drop was just delightful.

I adore these photos, their charming little boy, G, smiled from start to finish and I’m an absolute stickler for a red head.

These are some of my favs from their shoot.

Ashton Court Ramble

As a family photographer I often get the pleasure of seeing families grow and expand. One such family is Grace and Ben.

I’ve taken photos of E when she was 6 months old, at E’s 1st birthday, during lockdown on their doorstep and now they have welcomed another baby into the fold, O!

Grace and Ben love the outdoors so we took to Ashton Court and went for a walk. Accompanied by a rather large stuffed dog…

This photo shoot really captures the cheekiness of E and the gorgeous babyness of O. I am so pleased with how these came out and they now take pride of place on Grace’s loft extension staircase!

I love a photography session out in nature, so get in touch to arrange yours!

Willsbridge Mill Family Shoot

Amongst the many things I adore about this job, there are two that are certainly up there.

1. Meeting new people

2. Exploring new areas

When Abigail contacted me I had the absolute joy of not only meeting a gorgeous bunch of humans, but I got to explore Willsbridge Mill, south east of Bristol and take some photos of her wonderful family.

We got to explore the fairy wood, hang out in a den, play on some swings AND paddle in the most beautiful stream.

I had a blast and really enjoyed capturing her family.

These are a some of my favourite images from our time together.

I’ll definitely be back to Willsbridge Mill as soon as the weather heats up.

Baby Boy Blake

I’ve known Holly and Chris for a decade (woah guys, 10 years!?!) through an old London flat mate of mine, who gifted the couple one of my photography packages.

After the safe, and early arrival of their baby boy, Blake in April, I made my way to their gorgeous home in Watford back in June.

Blake has the best head of hair on a newborn that I have ever seen, this was no surprise as both Holly and Chris have excellent locks. Blake, Mum and Dad were a joy to photograph and it was so wonderful to catch up after so long.

Here are some of my favourites from our time together.

If you’re interested in gift vouchers do get in touch!

Twice as Nice

The human body is an incredible thing. I have always loved science. Well, almost. My Mum has specific recollections of me hiding behind the sofa as a kid when Casualty came on. Somehow and somewhere that all changed and biology fascinated me from the age of about 14.

The whole baby growing thing blows my mind, I’ve been privileged to personally experience it twice and my new friend Tiffany, she’s doing it twice at once. She having twins, TWINS. Incredible.

I met Tiffany, Carlos and the very posy cockapoo Delilah just after new year to document the end of her twin pregnancy. As well as growing twins, Tiffany looked wonderfully glamorous for our shoot which is no doubt why I adore these photos so much. I hope you enjoy them too.

An Expanding Family

Autumn was just about approaching when I met the glowing Suwita. At 33 weeks pregnant Suwita was kind enough to allow me to come and take some photos of her to add to my portfolio.

Having recently moved to a new home, it was an exciting time for the expanding family, despite not having a sofa just yet!

The light was perfect allowing me the opportunity to play with some shadows and capture the wonder of pregnancy.

A Morning With Oren

Charlotte had originally booked me to come and commemorate Oren’s 1st birthday back in 2020, but, well, we all know what happened there. But finally in September we managed to grab a morning and document some of Oren’s toddlerhood.

We had such a fun morning spending some time walking the streets of Windmill hill, visiting a local park and then hanging out at their beautiful home which made a stunning backdrop.

Toddlerhood is such a fun time to photograph, capturing those personalities and the boundless energy they have (can someone bottle that stuff please).

Beautiful Baby Rose

In August I was lucky enough to meet gorgeous baby Rose and her equally lovely parents Lizzie and Kevin. Rose was 7 weeks old and an absolute delight!

I love doing newborn shoots, it’s such a special time for families as they adjust to a new normal. Being invited into someone’s home to capture those tiny hands, fresh creases and sleepy eyes is something I will never tire of.

Bouncing Baby Boy

I’m here sat at my dining room table wiggling my fingers wondering how to ease myself back into writing blog posts after my hiatus. Well, less of a hiatus, raising a small human isn’t a break! But on the last day of February Charlie, Andy and I welcomed our newest arrival: a bouncing baby boy who we named Austin, or Ozzy Roo as he is affectionately known in our home.

Now 9 months old (where has the time gone!) he is crawling, cruising around furniture and is the proud owner of four teeth. Ozzy doesn’t stop smiling, those teeth are a delight to be shared with the world, and for a human so small has quite the dirty laugh. Not one to keep quiet generally he doesn’t stop ‘talking’, much like his mother, but is quite a relaxed little person, much like his father. I also wouldn’t be surprised if his thighs were the biggest in BS3…

Being a Mum to two boys really is one of my proudest achievements, alongside my meeting my husband, my TV career and also this place too. Which, along with my two boys, I want to grow and nurture.

So, here I am. Back to receiving bookings and I’m so flipping excited to hear from you.

Sam xx

Doorstep Birthday Shoot

One of the best things about this job is getting to see babies grow. Families invite you to come and capture ‘them’ at a moment in time and then if you’re really lucky you get to go back and do the same again. This is what happened with the delightful baby E, who recently turned 1!

Grace and Ben asked me back to so they could treasure some memories of the milestone (And oh my it does feel like a milestone!). I jumped at the chance, but due to C-19 we had to change our plans slightly and make it a doorstep shoot instead.

It certainly wasn’t our Plan A, but you know what, Plan B turned out pretty special.

Let It Snow

It snowed in Bristol and as luck would have it, I had a (socially distanced) maternity shoot booked in with the wonderful Joey, Sasha and their two fur babies: Loki and Jonah.

I’ve known Joey for a while now, she’s somewhat of a South Bristol hero for Mums-to-be, Mums, babies and couples running her gorgeous business: Joey Yoga and Hypnobirthing https://www.joeyyoga.co.uk

When I was expecting Charlie I loved her pregnancy yoga classes, they let me relax, connect with my baby and I made some firm friends in the process. After Charlie arrived Joey’s postnatal classes were one of my weekly highlights, it got me out the house, I got to chat to other new Mums, I moved my body and Charlie had some fun too!

The morning of the shoot I threw back my curtains and I couldn’t believe the blanket of snow covering my street. THIS WAS EXCITING. It doesn’t snow in Bristol often, so this felt like a real treat. I suited and booted and made my way up to Ashton Court to meet the soon-to-be family of 5.

Joey and Sasha were great company, a breeze to work with and how fabulous is Joey’s flower crown? I am so thrilled with what we created and hope they treasure this small momento of their parental journey forever.

2020 Family Fun

2021 is here, and perhaps (perhaps!!) there is some light at the end of the tunnel as we enter lockdown 3.0

Looking back at my family’s year it’s been a mix of highs and lows (I’m sure we’re not the only ones). And I am so thankful for the highs we’ve managed to enjoy.

Back in March we had a 1st birthday party for Charlie, a mere couple of weeks before lockdown 1.0 . Then, everything changed and like the rest of the country we were confined to our homes. Managing childcare and my other job in TV production was a challenge, but somehow the three of us muddled through.

Then the summer came and bought with it all that glorious sunshine. Andy built a deck in our garden and Charlie’s total obsession began with power tools.

We did LOADs of walks around Bristol harbour, taking in the colours and as Charlie began running, little people are surprisingly fast.

When we were permitted to we trekked it down to Cornwall to see our families and then in September we were lucky enough to visit the Isles of Scilly for a weeks holiday.

Autumn came and so did the mud! Then I feel like the end of the year has been a blur… anyone else??

I wanted to share some of my favourite family photos I took of my boys this year. There’s also one courtesy of my brother from Charlie’s 1st birthday with a rare glimpse of yours truly. Unsurprisingly as the photograph taker in the family there are many snaps of me (hence why there aren’t any on the website at the moment!)

Looking back at these photos has made me appreciate the year a little more. All the changes in Charlie, the times we’ve had as a family. I guess a small sliver of a silver lining.

I hope you enjoy this small glimpse into my family and I’ll look forward to seeing you and yours soon.

Samx

Autumnal Urban Shoot

This shoot with the Moths felt like the first day of autumn, it was chilly yet gloriously sunny, the season’s were certainly on the change.

We strolled across the bus bridge and found ourselves over the river from Brunel’s Swing Bridge to take some photos in front his other more famous bridge, Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Here the Moth’s ate snacks, cuddled and leaped off towpath bollards. We then made our way back to their local park.

I had great fun with the girls and capturing their different personalities, all whilst managing to play with the shadows and the beautiful sunshine.

Bristol City Walking

A few months ago I embarked on an epic walk across Bristol city centre with the wonder Hsia family, oh and I and took a couple of snaps along the way…

The shoot was great fun, their girls had infectious energy and it was brilliant to take some family photos in an urban setting/

Here are some of my favourites from our time together…

Photos With Friends

As soon as lockdown was lifted I was raring to get back into the action. Luckily my wonderful friend Grace came to the rescue and booked me to capture some photos of her gorgeous family. Including their fur baby!

They were a dream to shoot and it was great to have a good catch up to boot!

Deliciously Delia

Way, way, waaaay back at the start of the year Laura and Ollie invited me to their place to take some snaps and capture their beautiful girl, Delia. We played with some balloons, flew in the garden and had some lunch (it may have gotten messy)!

Taking photos of babies eating is so.much.fun. The mess aside it’s a great chance to take photos of your everyday and get those reactions from your little one.

I’m now back shooting outdoors, and I can’t wait to see you soon!