So, you've booked yourself in for a family photos shoot, and then you think, "oh no, what do we wear????"
What to wear to your photo session is quite important and also can be a dilemma, do we wear all the same or wear our casual clothes, dress up like we are going to a ball??? 
It doesn't need to be quite that hard, you have to make sure first of all that you will all be comfortable, forcing a child to wear something he or she isn't comfortable in will make for a few unhappy photos as they won't enjoy the session.

I usually say to wear something dress/casual, something you might normally wear, so the photos will look like you, not stiff and informal.

Things to consider, is your shoot outside, is it hot, dress to match the season. Are you in studio, then the room will be warmed up or cooled down and comfortable.

For some great inspiration visit my Pinterest saves, here you will find plenty of options and advice.
https://www.pinterest.nz/smilebabynz/family-clothing-for-photography/

Whoop Whoop.... Finally got my car signed up today, I've been wanting to do it since I bought this car a year ago LOL and I'm really happy with it, thank you so much Ryan from www.signed.co.nz #signedgisborne, you made it so easy, I'll be recommending you to everyone

Please enjoy my little booklet on what to expect for your newborn session :)

I've had the pleasure of learning a lot of my craft with Creative Live. My specialty is newborn, maternity and family portrait photography which has been perfected by these amazing classes and bootcamps on Creative Live.

At the moment I'm enjoying a class from Sue Bryce and Kelly Brown, Bumps to Babies which covers some great posing techniques and tips for getting the image just right, using correct angles and lighting, techniques of posing baby with parents, maternity posing, and each monthly stage of baby over 12 months which is a fantastic idea to market with your business.

But not only do you learn the technical side, there is some great ideas for marketing  which is so important to our businesses, the ideas will keep you busy for a long time but the real bonus is the amount of tools that come with this class, Photoshop templates, marketing cards, posing guides, birth announcements, session reminders to name a few.

This course covers a lot of aspects of your business, for example; branding, how important your name and branding is to your business, this is the first thing your clients will see to  get to know you and your work.

How is your website performing? What are you specialising in? Pricing, marketing, blogging, social media...... I know I'm going to watch this class many times to let all the information sink in and keep me inspired. Learning from such successful business creatives has to be a "win win" for my business.

Creative Live is not only for photographers, the subjects and tutors are so varied. Anything you can do creatively you can find further knowledge from this site.
Something for everyone.
Channels are;

• photo & video
• art & design
• music & audio
• craft & maker
• money & life

Check it out for free with their free live classes which change every day,

I just adore photographing the blossoming beauty of an expectant mother, although uncomfortable, she is glowing, she has an aura about her, she should be so in love with her body right now, it holds a child, a living, moving child that will need and want her love and nurturing for the rest of its life.
In just a few weeks this child will be born, and will become a huge part of her life, extending her family, this child will be a son or daughter, a grandchild, a cousin, a nephew or niece, a great grand child, adding to the generations before them, a new story is beginning.
Who and what this child will become has a lot to do with the history before they arrived, the lessons taught by parents and grandparents to be passed on to this new child, add to this the amazing inventions that are to come in this child's lifetime.

It just astounds me.

And you dear mother are a goddess!

I've been thinking lately about just giving my clients their photos on a digital format, will they print the photos out or will they show a few people then throw the disk into a drawer?
It's a digital age now, photos are now shared on social media, they are liked and talked about, then.... ?
The images can also be downloaded from a website holding your personal gallery for a certain amount of time from which you can share and download. A great option, as DVD's will soon be obsolete, but will they get downloaded and printed?

Back in the day, there were no digital files just small back and white prints, later colour prints, from film cameras, we had to print them out to view them and they were all set out in large and small albums and still to this day we can pull them out and talk about the old relatives dating back to the beginning of last century.
Will we still pop a disk into a computer 100 years from now?

I doubt it very much.

As a photographer I must encourage you to enjoy both formats, keep the digital images as back up but you must also have the images printed so they can be enjoyed often and are always available instantly. A print lasts a lifetime and is the most meaningful way of enjoying your image.

Times are changing as we speak, DVDs, CD's and even USB's are becoming obsolete with the influx of the smartphone. Up until recently most homes had a PC or laptop available at home, but now everyone has their own smartphone and can do everything they need to on the phone.

Where are the photo albums? Where is the back up of your family photos?

Everything is now online.... someone else is looking after your images, can we trust they will keep them safe?

Most websites and galleries will last quite a few years, but some will stop being hosted so do some research.
Facebook has been going since February 2004 and doesn't look like slowing down any time soon so we can save a lot of images on there, but they are low quality images, no good for printing and displaying on your wall.
Smartphones will only keep low quality images also no good for printing.
I have sent clients images and they have saved them on their phone and have asked why the images will be no good for print, the phone has resized them so they are phone friendly and now too small for that special canvas to put on your wall or give to Grandma for Christmas.

This link from www.urban75.org has some information on image size for print which may be useful, but to keep your images ready for print I feel you must save them on some form of back up in your home as well as online, the more back up you can have the better off you will be.

I been made aware of another fantastic website that you can physically check your image to see how large you can print, the page has an app you can check exactly how good or bad your image will be for the type of print you want. Check out; www.thecanvasprints.co.uk/image-resolution-for-printing and learn a lot more about pixels per inch and what they mean for your image.


Some of the best online image storage websites I have come across are the following;

• Dropbox
• Flickr
• Amazon Cloud Drive
• Apple Icloud
• Google Photos

So to recap, my advice is to keep your images on a hard drive at home, save your favourites on a specialised online image storage service but most important of all, print the treasured images and keep them in a precious album to be passed down to your children and their children.........

You are preserving your history for future generations.

Family portraits are such a special and lasting memory that will be treasured for generations.

There are a few things to consider when you decide to book a family session, location being number one. The location should to be something personal to the family.

Is there a place you like to visit together?
Where do you spend time together,
someones home,
the beach, a park?
In choosing somewhere more personal the family will feel a lot more comfortable and natural during the session.

In saying that, studio portraits are quite fun, and a lot more intimate. My aim is to get you all close and connected. I don't like the standing poses, to me they look uncomfortable, I would rather you all got close and laughed, kids got tickled, jokes told, cuddles, these are the memories your kids will treasure later.

Making the photos look natural and not posed will give them some life, they will become photos you want to show off and the generations to come will get to know more of your personality.

Real memories, genuine interactions, authentic moments

"All the babies in your photos are so gorgeously perfect, not a blemish in sight, and when I look at my own little cherub I see little milk pimples everywhere, flaky skin and little scratches from her fingernails, how on earth can I go and get photos done when her skin is not so perfect?

My recent newborn session was with beautiful Grace, 2 weeks old and just starting to get a little more alert, but we got some very cute photos. She had a few little milk pimples, she looked stunning in her finished photos.

I say it all the time, but I love doing this!

I have been so spoilt with the little cherubs I have  met recently, none more so than little 3 month old Georgie.
Lovely auburn hair, blue eyes and little rose bud mouth.
Sweet sweet sweet!

I get a little nervous before a photo shoot, not having met the little ones before hand, to them all of a sudden this strange  woman is picking them up and putting them into different positions, there was a little bit of a concerned look on Georgie's face to start with but she came right and let me put her in a few really cute positions.
It takes time, we can't rush them into something they don't want to do, I don't have a set plan of poses or what to put them in, I just go with the flow and see what suits mum and baby. I have heaps f props but there maybe some family heirloom, piece of clothing, or anything mum would like to add to the mix, I am very open to anything, it is for you and your family after all.

I also don't really work to a strict timeline - when you book an appointment I don't expect you to turn up exactly on time, you have a baby that sleeps to their own clock, then to feed, change and clothe, pack  a bag big enough to stay a few nights!
I do tend to put aside the whole afternoon for you, the photos themselves are probably between 1 - 2 hours, but in between, mum can feed baby, change them, give them some reassuring cuddles. If its rushed, mum and baby wont be relaxed, and I can only imagine photographing an un-relaxed baby would be so hard, I have been spoilt so far....... 

Well Little Georgie, thank you for an enjoyable afternoon, I know I'm going to meet you again soon, you'll be sitting up by then and have the hugest smiles!

I am so excited to be getting the opportunity to photograph some adorable young babies, lately I have had the joy of meeting Luke, only 2 weeks old and the perfect model with little rose bud lips.
He was quite happy to go wherever I put him. The first part of the shoot he was nice and sleepy but even when he became more aware of what was going on he just lay back and enjoyed it all.
The secret I think is keeping the room very warm.
Or have I just been lucky with perfect babies....

Yes, another perfect baby... this week I met Billy. This wee man had bright eyes and very long eyelashes.

He wasn't too much into posing, he enjoyed just lying back on the warmth deep in thought, he looked like an angel.
He was very good for a long time but then decided enough was enough, but that was ok as we had some lovely shots of him.

After posting the latest pictures on Facebook I have had so many wonderful and positive comments, I'm very excited about the future.

I couldn't think of a better job in the world, I get to spend time with very special people, who trust me to capture a moment in time, a gift that will last a lifetime and beyond.
Although I specialise in baby photography, please don't hesitate to have a chat about family and sibling portraits - just ask and we can make a plan.


This coming week I get to meet a little girl! Yay, I am so looking forward to capturing her, and also I will be shooting Luke again with his beautiful sister who is very happy to have a little brother to look after.

Have a great week
Sandy