I may not be a parent in the classic sense of the word. There are no babies or little humans running around my home (just yet) but I am a parent to three furry babies (generally with 4 legs, except for one who only has three). And I am proud to call myself a pet parent.

Now I can already see a few of your faces looking at me like I’ve lost the plot. Not everyone “gets” being a pet parent. But that’s ok. If you see a dog as just being a dog then the way some people (including myself) treat our dogs might seem a little odd and a bit bizarre. It’s not really that different though. Your phone might contain photo after photo of your children whereas my phone is littered with photos of my fur babies. And I show them off to everyone, just like you would with photos of your children!

And just as some people might not quite understand being a pet parent, I know there will be many of you smiling as you read this because you know exactly what I mean!

If you’re not a dog lover then you might not quite realise the similarities between being a parent to little humans and being a parent to little fur-babies. My dogs mean the absolute world to me and they are just as much a part of my family as any human (including the husband!). I talk to them and yes they each have their own little voice to talk back to me. I sing them happy birthday, I cuddle them when they’re scared, they sleep on my bed, they get to eat (safe) human food as an extra special treat. Such as ice cream! They come on holiday with me, I miss them when I’m not with them and I look forward to coming home to them. I love getting cuddles and kisses, my heart melts when they pull a cute face. And they make me smile. Always and without fail.

Even when I’ve had simply the worst day, seeing their happy loving faces and getting climbed all over and covered in slobbery kisses just can’t fail to brighten my mood. You can’t stay sad when your surrounded by the love of a beastie. If everyone would embrace the happy go lucky nature of dogs and the loyal undying love they have then the world would be such a better place.

And just like children, dogs can be naughty too. Like, really naughty. My chewed staircase is testament to that. They’re cheeky, they push boundaries, they can even answer you back when you’re telling them off. They also appear to occasionally suffer from that well-known illness called selective hearing. It’s usually more prominent when food is nearby, or they see a cat or something smells nice. That just so happens to be the time that their hearing coincidentally fails them. How convenient. Are my dogs perfectly behaved? Absolutely not. But then is anyone ever perfectly behaved all the time? Either way they’re perfect to me.

They each have their own individual personalities. Lenny is adorable and sensitive. He follows me everywhere, he absolutely loves cuddles and smiles like a Cheshire cat (don’t tell him that though!). Evie is sweet but sassy. She is the boss of the boys, she loves to wrestle and play tug of war. She also snores really loudly! And Leo is the lovable clown. He is daft and cheeky, he loves his cuddly toys, loves to play, run round, chase things (including me) and generally just a bit of a loon!

Sadly there is a downside to being a pet parent.

The absolutely heart breaking truth is that our fur babies just can’t live as long as us. And that truly is a gutting reality. If you are a pet parent then you will totally understand the pain of losing one of your pooches. It really is awful. Our beasties are such a big part of our lives that it’s so hard to say goodbye to them. But they will always be a part of the family.

Dogs aren’t called man’s best friend for no reason. There’s an unexplainable bond between a dog and their human and that bond will never be broken. It’s like they just know. They know when you’re happy, sad, anxious or excited. All the emotions we feel it’s like they feel it too. My pooches want to look after and protect me (especially from the big mean postman. He gets barked at every day without fail) and I would do absolutely anything to protect them. They are my family and my world.

You may call me crazy. But I call myself a proud pet parent. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The post Being a Pet Parent appeared first on Flowtography.

Take Your Family Time Travelling – Print your photographs

I’ll be honest, the digital era scares me.

And that’s coming from someone who relies on technology for a living! Don’t get my wrong, I think technology itself is incredible and we have been able to achieve so much with it. My photography business wouldn’t be able to thrive as it has without technology and for that I am grateful. But I try not to be dependant on it. Over time, we have become more and more reliant on technology for simple every day chores. Technology is incredible and it has come so far. I’m fairly certain my great grandparents would never have dreamt there would be a mini robot cleaner who zooms around your house, learning the layout of all your furniture and hoovering everything up as it goes! But has that made us lazy and has it made us too complacent?

What would happen if all technology stopped working tomorrow? Chances are everything would grind to a halt and precious things like our memories could be lost forever.

Take our mobile phones for example. I’m sure we’ve all often joked about how our life is stored on our phones but it isn’t a joke at all. We do literally keep everything on our phones and rely on them for so much. Our phones have become our go to for every day life and we’re lost without them. From storing good old fashioned contact numbers to our banking, fitness, diet, health, work, schedules, videos, passwords, social media, text reminders, alarm clocks and even torches. Not to mention our photographs.
The camera on modern day mobile phones is pretty impressive and I bet you have used your phone to take a picture of your family this week? I know I have!  It has never been easier to take photographs – we all carry a camera in our mobile phone and it’s just so easy and accessible.  But what would happen if you lost your phone, it broke or it was stolen? Would your life be stolen away too? All that information we keep on our phones that we don’t realise how much it means to us until it’s gone. Take our precious photographs for example.

There’s something magical about physically holding a photographic print in your hands. You really take in all of the detail; you admire the colour more, appreciate the content and notice all the little things you might have otherwise overlooked. Looking at the same photo on a computer screen just can’t compete. When I was a child I absolutely loved my old fashioned compact camera, with its wind up level and film cartridge. The excitement I felt posting off my film reel to be developed and the anticipation of what the film will reveal. I loved looking through all of the photos and to hold them in my hands.
 

It wasn’t just about looking at photos I had taken; I also loved looking through old photographs. Not just photos from when I was a baby but photos before I even existed. From my mum and dad getting married, my nan as a little girl during the war and photographs of family I never knew I had.  It was like I was time travelling. I could spend hours lost in a sea of photographs and learning the history behind each and every one of them.

Take this photograph for example – this is my mother in law’s biological father. She has never met him because he died at a young age in the war. This photograph was given to her when she was a baby. An inscription is written on the back in Polish and it says “a keepsake for my lovely daughter”. How powerful is that. We would never have known what he looked like, read that touching message or really even known about him at all had it not been for that photograph. Somehow a snapchat pic of someone wearing superimposed cartoon bunny ears and funny glasses doesn’t quite have the same impact.
 

Imagine if this precious memory was instead sitting on something that needed a machine to let me see it. Would just seeing the photos on a screen hold the same magic as physically holding them in my hands? Definitely not. What if that machine that was made in the 40’s or even the 70’s.  Even if I could find the machine I’d needed to view the photo, would it still work? Highly unlikely. And just like that, the memory and that little bit of history would be lost. Forever.

Have a think about where you store your own family photographs. Are they on your mobile phone?  A hard drive?  CD’s?  Floppy discs? Mini discs? (remember those?!) You get my point – technology is changing so rapidly that it can be difficult to keep up.  The must-have storage of today is archived in favour of something new every few years. Once that digital medium is discarded it’s unlikely you will ever be able to retrieve any of the files you have stored on it. All those memories will be gone forever. So please print all of your photographs. They don’t have to be printed on fine art paper or in a 30 x 20” frame (although that truly is a way to display your photographs like they deserve!) Just print them as simple 6×4” and keep them in a little box. Ready to get out and share with your loved ones over and over again.

And if you remember anything please remember this. Photographs aren’t just images printed on a bit of paper. They are our memories. They are our history. Please, don’t let them be lost to the bottomless black hole that is the digital universe.

Print your photographs. Your children will thank you for it.

I am always happy to help if you have any questions about how to best print or display your photographs. Just get in touch and I will do my best to help you preserve your precious memories.

The post The Power Of Print appeared first on Flowtography.

I want to share some of the top reasons people may feel hesitant to book a pet photo session and to show you that it does’t matter. It shouldn’t be a reason to stop you treating your furry friend to their very own photo shoot and here’s why….

My dog is hyperactive and won’t sit still long enough

I am the pet parent of three very energetic staffies… so I know exactly what you mean! I’m used to being climbed on, jumped up at, pounced on and bathed in lots of slobbery kisses. And I love it so please don’t worry! Before your dog photo shoot I will send you a little guide full of useful hints and tips to help prepare for your photo shoot. One of these is to take your dog for a walk before your session to help them burn off energy. There is a lovely park which is a 10 minute walk away from my home studio, perfect for running off some energy.

If your dog tends to get more excited by walks then that’s absolutely fine too. Just bring them straight to their session without a walk and they can have a stroll around my garden if they need a break.

I use strobe flashes as my lighting in my home studio and a very fast shutter speed for outdoor sessions. This means I can freeze motion in a fraction of a second so your dog doesn’t need to sit still for long at all! In fact I love capturing action shots of your pooch running around or playing as this really shows off their personality.

My dog doesn’t know many commands

Neither do mine! Plus they seem to have selective hearing! I’ve photographed some dogs who just know a few commands and some that can do all kinds of tricks on cue. The truth is it doesn’t matter how many commands your dog knows. I love to keep my dog photo sessions relaxed and natural so all dogs can take part no matter how many commands they know. Even if they don’t know any! Generally speaking all dogs can sit, walk and stay (to some degree) and I find a little bit of cheese or sausage works wonders for encouragement! I admire any owner and dog that can learn lots of different commands, it’s a very talented skill. So if your dog knows lots of tricks we’ll make sure to capture these during your dog photo shoot too.

Rest assured your dog will be a superstar and I’ll capture beautiful portraits of them regardless of how many commands they can do.

My dog can’t be let off the lead

This is a common fear for outdoor session. But don’t worry! It doesn’t actually matter if your dog can’t be let off the lead. We will discuss this together prior to your session to decide the best way to photograph your dog. If they can be let off the lead then that’s great. I’ll be able to photograph them bounding around having a wonderful time! But if they can’t be let off the lead, we’ll still be able to capture the same photographs at your dog photo shoot. A long training or extendable lead is your best friend. We can attach this to your energetic pooch and I can capture images of them running around. But they’ll still be safely attached to you. I will then edit the lead out of the images as if it never existed!

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My dog doesn’t like strangers

Dogs are just like humans. Sometimes they’re just not in the mood to socialise! And that is perfectly ok. There is absolutely no rush for your dog photo shoot. There’s plenty of time for your pooch to have a sniff around and get used to me before I start taking their photos. I find a little bit of cheese or sausage usually helps! If your dog isn’t too keen on strangers then I appreciate knowing this before you arrive. So I can make sure they enjoy their session and stay relaxed and comfortable throughout. I will never ask you or your dog to do anything they aren’t happy doing. If they decide they don’t want to lay down then I won’t ask them to. There’s plenty of other poses I can capture them in!

On the flip side you might have an overly friendly dog. In which case I’ll prepare to be pounced on and get lots of lovely kisses!

Regardless of how well behaved your dog is, I can promise you that I will capture beautiful photographs showing off their personality. Photographs that you will love and cherish for many years to come. If you would love to book your dog photo shoot and receive timeless memories like these the please get in touch.

The post Badly Behaved Dogs appeared first on Flowtography.

I have been asked why I charge for a photo session when taking a few photos doesn’t cost me anything. Running a photography business and delivering a quality service doesn’t just involve clicking away on a camera a few times; there’s so many things that go on behind the scenes that need to be taking into consideration and that all contributes to running a successful business. To begin with; technology is constantly changing and evolving and I need to keep up! This includes ensuring I have up to date working equipment which will assist me in delivering the best product and service to my clients. This includes regularly updating my lenses, lighting, backdrops, accessories and props, software and computers. It’s also not as simple as taking a few pictures and printing them out; a lot more goes into producing the final product. I have participated in training courses to enhance my skills and knowledge and I am forever researching new techniques and ideas. When I’m not physically taking photos at a session I spend a large majority of my time completing other tasks such as editing images, ordering products, helping clients choose which product and budget best suits them, setting up the studio, answering calls and e-mail inquiries, designing bespoke products and keeping an up to date website. To mention but a few!
As you can see there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Contrary to popular belief the cost of a photo session is not necessarily all profit. I run a home studio so I pay for the usual costs such as electricity and heating but I also pay taxes and I pay for insurance so that if anything did go wrong then both my clients and I would be fully covered.

Photography is just like any other service; you’re not just paying for the product but you’re purchasing the skills required to deliver that product to the highest quality. When you spend £100 on a haircut, do you consider that the scissors used to cut your hair probably only cost £2? Or when you pay £15 to have your car cleaned do you consider the only tools being used is some soap and water? Probably not, and that’s because you’re paying for the whole service, not just the item. Photography is much the same.
I appreciate that it can appear more expensive to choose a custom photographer over a high street chain. However by choosing a custom photographer, you are choosing a high quality bespoke service which will be tailored to your specific requirements. You aren’t paying for the paper your image is printed on; you’re paying for the artwork that’s been created especially for you. The final product isn’t just about buying a picture printed on a piece of paper; it’s about capturing your precious forever memories so that you can treasure and show your friends and family for years to come.

There are many photographs to choose from which doesn’t make your decision on who to book with any easier. All photographers will offer different products and different prices which vary for a number of reasons such as where they are located and their skill level. There’s so much to take into consideration that it can all become a little overwhelming. Take a minute to make enquiries with a few photographers in your area to see if they suit your needs. If they have a website or Facebook page have a look at their example images, do you like their style of photography? Also consider your price range; you shouldn’t book a photographer solely based on what they charge but it’s practical to get an idea of what a session might cost. Decide how much you’d like to spend and what you’d like to get for your money. If one photographer is more expensive than another, are they worth the extra cost? Photographers are always happy to talk to you so it’s worthwhile to send an enquiry e-mail, give them a call or book a meeting to discuss your needs. This will help to give an indication on if their service would suit you and it is also a way for you to be able to see if the photographer is someone you’d feel comfortable in front of, awkwardness does show through in photos so it’s important the photographer puts you at ease.

Take your time to carefully decide which photographer you’d like to entrust with capturing your forever memories and if you think you’d like me as your photographer then I’d be delighted to hear from you.

The post Is Professional Photography Worth It? appeared first on Flowtography.