Photo Shoots – With Love Photography

I thought I’d just do a little blog post on our recent photo shoot experiences; mainly to help anyone else who may be sitting on the fence about booking a new-born or family photo shoot (and it gives me an excuse to post some of our favourite shots for you all to see)…

I myself, was one of those people on the fence about whether or not to book a professional photo shoot. Don’t get me wrong, photographs are so so important to me, anyone who knows me, or has seen my social media, will know that I LOVE taking and posting pictures of everything, especially our boys and our family life. In fact, I feel that photos are crucial to keeping memories alive – from an early age I remember us getting the big box of photographs down off the loft and looking through them as a family every so often; it became one of my favourite family activities. The way a single photo can bring back a thousand memories and feelings is just magical. Looking back at times before we were even born, when our parents and grandparents were children is so special and being able to see a deceased loved one on a photograph, as they were, is absolutely priceless. I once read a quote which said “if you don’t think photographs are important, wait until it’s all you have left” and it is so true!

So, why was I sitting on the fence about getting a photo shoot of our family, I hear you ask? Well, in this day and age we can take and store photos so easily – the majority of us have mobile phones and most modern mobile phones have decent cameras built in – no more running out of film or paying for and waiting for films to be developed, we can snap away when ever and where ever we like. So you can understand, that when debating whether or not to book a professional shoot, I wondered whether it was a waste of money when we could just take our own. (My husband, Damon, especially wasn’t sold on the idea of spending so much money on photographs when we have the means to take our own – I’ll come back to that later).

Let me tell you how I made the decision to go ahead with a photo shoot… obviously being on my third baby, I was more aware than ever of how quickly they grow. I wanted to capture this time of our lives perfectly. I also wanted some photographs of the boys to display in our house. We do have photographs already, but not ones that we’d want to hang on the wall. The thing with professional photographs is that they are brilliant quality compared to the photos we take on our phones – the lighting, the angles, the detail is all captured much more intensely in professional images. I also justified our decision to go ahead with a photo shoot as professional photographs of the boys would make perfect Christmas presents for all of the family (our extended family are always after an up to date photograph of the boys to proudly display).

I had been following With Love Photography on social media for some time before I was pregnant with our third little boy, and every time they posted a photograph of their recent sittings I was blown away with how they captured the shots so beautifully and naturally. So, when deciding who to book our new-born session with, it was an absolute no brainer for me – With Love Photography were (and still are), without a doubt, my first choice. From the moment I first contacted the With Love ladies they were so friendly, yet professional, and made us feel excited and relaxed about the shoot immediately – which is very important, because the minute the words photo shoot and kids are mentioned in the same sentence there is stress and pressure felt by us mums, who know all too well how difficult, almost impossible, it is to get children to cooperate in these instances. (FYI We booked our new-born shoot a few months in advance – I mention this because if you are planning on booking a shoot with them, you need to know that they get booked up so quickly… and now I know why)!

We have now had a new-born shoot and a sitter shoot with With Love and both times I’ve been in awe of how patient Victoria and Samantha are. For our new-born shoot they took control from the outset, welcoming us all with friendly faces, making us feel at home and putting us all at ease. They made us all feel very special and were so enthusiastic throughout the whole session. They ensured I was comfortable with them handling Kylo, before proceeding to wrap him and settle him – seriously, these ladies are baby whisperers; I hadn’t seen Kylo this peaceful in the whole ten days he’d been earth side; I mean, they put him in a bucket and he was so content just sitting IN A BUCKET, imagine I had put him in a bucket? I couldn’t even put him in his crib without him crying to come back out!! I was so amazed that I even asked if they could be hired for the 3am feeds (unfortunately they don’t provide this service but it was worth a try). New-borns are so unpredictable as we all know, and even when Kylo did begin to stir and become unsettled half way through the shoot, Sam gave him some milk from his bottle and got some wind up for him before settling him back into position for some more shots (I didn’t need to lift a finger, it was like a mini break)! As a mother of a brand new baby we can sometimes feel anxious or uneasy about other people handling our babies, but at no point did I feel this way about Samantha and Victoria handling my baby; there was no rush or stress to get perfect shots, they just worked with Kylo and captured his tiny personality beautifully. I took comfort in the fact that they are professionally trained, and have attended multiple courses in handling and photographing new-born babies. I felt that my baby was 100% safe in their hands – so much so that I could have fallen asleep on their comfy sofa while they captured the images (that newborn tiredness is real).

Did I mention that these ladies are miracle workers? Not only did they capture the most beautiful images of our new born, but they also incorporated a 3 and 7 year old in to the mix too. They made the whole experience fun and engaging for Joey and Dayton; I didn’t once have to bribe either of them with sweets or a new toy like I have had to do from time to time when taking their photograph myself (c’mon we’ve all done it)! The boys did receive ‘points’ from Samantha and Victoria for doing the best smile or points were given to whoever could keep looking at the camera while they got the shot they wanted but very minimal bribery was needed (I’m sure those two have magic powers). I knew the photographs from this shoot were going to be good (you tend to get a preview of how they might look when you’re spectating), but I didn’t anticipate just how stunning they would be. Do you remember at the beginning of this post I mentioned that Damon wasn’t sold on the idea of a professional photo shoot? Well, when we went to view the photographs from our new-born shoot, he got a tear (or two) in his eye at how truly beautiful the images turned out and proceeded to announce that we would be buying them all as there was no way we’d be able to choose… I even loved the family one of us all, which I was so adamant I was going to hate at the time we got it taken; I was 10 days post-partum, with what felt like 4 hours sleep since the birth, and I just wasn’t feeling remotely attractive at all, so to say I was pleasantly surprised when we chose it as our main print is an understatement. All thanks to With Love Photography and their fantastic lighting and photography skills, I didn’t look at all how I felt.

So, following our extremely successful first photo shoot, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that we jumped at the chance when we were given the opportunity to book a free sitter session (if you book a new-born shoot at With Love, you automatically receive a free sitter shoot – how good is that?) Just to give you a little insight in to our “sitter” shoot, I imagine this shoot to be a whole lot easier if your baby can sit and sit only, so I think it seems more fitting to refer to ours as the “crawler” shoot! Anyway, I mentioned earlier that a new-born can be unpredictable? Try an 8 month old, curious, crawler in an unfamiliar, new environment, with lights and prop boxes to explore – getting still photographs of him is a brand new challenge in itself, right? – Nope, not for these ladies anyway. Again, they took it all in their stride; they took having patience of saints to a whole new level and knew every trick in the book to get those kids smiling directly at the camera, all THREE at the same time. Even when Kylo was crawling away off the set they were still snapping away capturing his true personality yet again, and never once lost patience or stressed about a single thing… just AMAZING! Their vision is on point, they positioned and posed us all to perfection, just like they did in the new-born shoot; not too posed that we looked stiff and unnatural but enough so we were all picture perfect whilst retaining our natural posture at the same time.

The older boys loved having their photographs taken again, perhaps even more so than the first time as they knew what to expect the second time. I am so proud of how well they behaved in the studio and how they both helped and engaged with Kylo in his photographs (basically trying to get his attention so he would sit still long enough for the camera to capture him). In fact, they both enjoyed the photo shoots so much that they have since said they want to be models and do photo shoots all the time – don’t worry Sam and Vic, I’ll make sure they remember where their career started! Haha!

If you are still sitting on the fence about booking a photo shoot or you’re undecided on where to book your shoot (or if you just want to have a nosey) then I have posted some of our favourite shots from both our shoots below which should help make your decision a little easier.

Thank you With Love Photography for providing us with such a wonderful experience and creating these stunning, timeless photographs that we will cherish for years and years to come – I cannot recommend With Love Photography enough and I can’t wait for our next shoot.

Here is the link to With Love Photography’s website for you to take a look or find out how to book your shoot:
http://www.withlovephotography.co.uk/

PS: any pregnant ladies out there, you need to check out their maternity shoots, they’re stunning! Almost makes me want to have another baby so I can have one – shhhh don’t tell Damon!!!!!

T x

Working Mum Guilt…

OK, so I thought this might be the ideal time to blog about this subject since the Easter holidays are in full swing and my working Mum guilt is at its peak!

Before becoming a parent I didn’t realise it was possible to feel guilty about going to work and making a living to provide for my family – oh how wrong could I be?!

I work full time, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 (yep, just like the Dolly Parton song). I am beyond grateful that I have the opportunity and capacity to be able to work and, on the most part, I feel proud and fulfilled knowing I have worked hard to get to where I am, enabling me to contribute financially towards our family and lifestyle. I also feel lucky to know that my children are very well looked after while I work (our family are amazing; without them, especially our Nannan who looks after the boys pretty much full time, we wouldn’t both be able to work) and yet, at times, I still find myself consumed with guilt for being a working parent.

Trying to find that perfect work/life balance is like spinning 50 plates at once, whilst standing on our heads. We all know what it’s like, the school holidays creep up on us (yet again) and we arrange for the kids to be taken care of so we can go to work (there’s only so much annual leave we can take before it all runs out)- we know they’re going to have a good time; they’re booked on to that football camp they love, their grandparents and aunties have plans to take them on days out, their daddy has days off that fall perfectly for childcare and they’re going to have so much fun… but that niggling guilty feeling, and perhaps even envy, still persists because we aren’t going to be with them 24/7! Even if we do begin to feel content in the fact that we are doing the right thing by being at work, it is often short lived as we go and open our social media on our lunch break or between meetings and see, what feels like, every other mum in the world hasn’t had to go to work; they’re spending the whole of the holidays with their kids, ‘making amazing memories’ and ‘having the best time’. We start to imagine that everyone, including our children, think we have neglected them, that we have palmed them off on to someone else, so that we can ‘selfishly’ go to work (to make a better life for them btw) – what kind of mothers are we?

We aren’t thinking rationally of course, but that’s what mum guilt does to us. I am yet to meet a mum who isn’t plagued by some form of guilt from time to time; it would seem that parental guilt is just part of the package when you have a child, regardless of the life style choices you choose (no one prepares you for that in the antenatal classes)!

I would describe working mum guilt as an over whelming feeling that I’m not spending enough time with my children, and that by going to work I’m somehow not doing what’s best for them; it is accompanied by the irrational fear that they will love me less for going work – which we all know is simply not true! I, myself, had working parents from a young age and I never once felt neglected or unloved, going to work was just something we accepted as part of our normal life; kids go to school and adults go to work to make pennies so we can live comfortably and that’s that – and I know that my children feel the same way about us working.

The reality, for most of us, is that we need to work if we want to maintain the life style we desire for ourselves and our families. Sure, we all have the choice, I could stay at home full time to raise our children but we wouldn’t have the financial security and freedom that we have now – and that itself would create a whole new level of guilt for me; it would go against the values and work ethic I have been brought up with.

Ultimately, us Mums are all striving for the same thing, and that is the best for our children… but here’s the thing, that means different things for different people – we are all on different paths in life and there isn’t a one size fits all – regardless of whether we work or stay at home we are always going to feel some element of Mum guilt, it’s inevitable. For me personally, it’s quality over quantity when it comes to time spent with my family – others may have different perspectives and priorities, and that’s fine too. You have to find the right balance for you and your family, and focus on what works best for you!

So next time you feel that black fog of mum guilt coming over you, just remember, you’re not alone; you’re doing the best you can for your family and your own circumstances. It is so easy to compare our lives to others, now more than ever with social media playing a such huge part in how we view society (that’s a whole different blog for another time), but we cannot criticise ourselves based on the values and judgements of others!

Our children love us unconditionally, whether we work or stay home, they just love us for being their Mummy. Suffering from Mum guilt simply means we care, so let’s not be so hard on ourselves.

You’re doing just great Mamma!

T 🙂 x

My Boy Tribe!

I have been so nervous to do this. I mean, it’s really daunting plucking up the courage to do something new, never mind putting it out there for everyone to see. I am human, I’ve been guilty of worrying about what people might think and it’s almost made me back out so many times. However, after receiving lots of support and kindness from some inspiring mums with their own blogs (thanks girls), here I am…

So, here goes, my first ever blog post (I promise to keep it short and sweet) – it didn’t take me long to decide what my first post would be; after all, they are my main inspiration and reason for starting this blogging malarkey.

Being a mum of boys came pretty natural to me, which is surprising, considering when I was growing up there was only me and my sister; but then again I was never a girly girl, not until I reached adolescence anyway – in fact, I once asked my Dad if he was sad that he didn’t have a son and he said ‘I did have a son until you turned 12’ because I was such a tom boy. I’ve certainly made up for the lack of ‘girlyness’ since then; people are usually quite shocked when I tell them I wasn’t very girly growing up.

We had our first son in 2011 – we didn’t find out the sex during the pregnancy; we were probably too shocked and overwhelmed about becoming parents at such a young age to even think about it, we didn’t even discuss it. It wasn’t until after Joey was born that I realised I’d been subconsciously hoping the baby would be a boy, I remember the midwives saying ‘congratulations, it’s a boy’ and feeling so over joyed! Perhaps it was because there hadn’t been a baby boy born on my side of the family since my dad and his brothers were born (they all had daughters).

Anyway, 8 years later and two more little boys added, I now have my very own little boy tribe! I have come a long way – I can rhyme off every Marvel and DC character, I have watched all of the Spider-Man movies so many times I could recite every line and, now I’m bragging, but I even know what the off side rule means in football. (Go me!)

Let me tell you, being surrounded, certainly out-numbered, by boys is so much fun! It gets loud, it gets messy, it gets crazy and yes, it can be pretty smelly too (seriously, I’m actually so used to the toilet humour and fart jokes by now that sometimes I even catch myself laughing along with them). Oh, and while we’re on the subject of toilet humour, let’s not forget to mention that feeling only boy mums know; you know, the one where you go to the toilet and sit down, only to be greeted with wet thighs! Yuck! BOYS NEED TAUGHT TO AIM (or at least clean up after themselves) – as a boy mum it is our responsibility, and obligation, to their future spouses to teach them this important life skill; it goes along with teaching them to eat, drink, brush their teeth, walk and talk.

My boys are so loving and affectionate too; they are so protective of their own and they really do give the best cuddles in the world (they get that from their Daddy). They know how to melt me in 0.5 seconds flat and can do so on demand – Dayton in particular is so mischievous and cheeky but he can have me (and his Dad) wrapped around his little finger with just one look. That’s another thing to mention too, they are all so, so different – a lot of people have asked me if I’m disappointed at ‘having three the same’ (obviously referring to their gender) but just because I have three boys doesn’t make them in anyway ‘the same’. No child is identical to another, they all bring with them their own personality and little quirks. I am a mum of boys, but most importantly I am a mum of three very individual human beings – as I’m sure you’ll all find out.

T 🙂 x