Beatrix's tea and biscuits

I first met Victoria and Tim, about two years ago, few months before our babies were born, at an Anti Natal group.

Last May I was delighted to be invited to do a family shoot for them and their 1 year old daughter Beatrix in their very lovely home in Bramhall.

Beatrix, like my daughter, was a very busy girl and great fun to photograph.
She liked music and iPhones, playing tea parties, lots of clapping and revelled in pointing out any aeroplanes flying overhead.
To my amusement Bea knew and could point to all the parts of her face (my favourite sequence of images from this shoot!), so after totally wearing her out I promptly went home and insisted baby try to learn this great feat too!

Framed | I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

I've been working on next year's business plan and one of the things I want to start doing is entering some competitions. I think this is a great way for me to stretch myself and my creativity and also good for networking with other photographers worldwide.

The theme was 'FRAMED' and I thought this shot of 4 year old Cleo out and about in the frosty Welsh fields fitted the brief...

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com - hopefully the first of many. 

Chuffed to bits when Amy and Angie picked it as one of their favourites! Thanks so much! You can see their top 10 here and the rest of this shoot in the post below:

Welsh winter wonderland

This shoot was exciting! As a newish Mum I now rarely get to go places alone, so to get in the camper van and bomb off to Wales was a real treat, and considering Wales would normally be a camping, biking or surfing trip, the journey felt like I was sort of going on holiday. Good job it wasn't a camping trip though as at minus three degrees with the prettiest of haw-frost covering the countryside I sure was glad not to be sleeping over!

Olwen and I had arranged the photo shoot for herself and her three children to be timed to fit around her eldest son Bauer's hospital appointments. Such dramatic weather wasn't expected but we decided to go ahead and so wrapped up warm we set off for an adventure.

Herbie aged 5 - tree house, tattoo and retro toys

Herbie. When I got the call about this 5 year old's family shoot my first thought was - cool name! My first VW Beetle was called Herbie (due to it's ERB1 numberplate) and I still miss that bug!

Turned out to be one of my favourite type of shoots too, as we got to stay home during the Olympics and do lots of great things. I was just like being home when I was a kid. And there were plenty of flash backs to that era too, as Herbie's dad Hugh, had passed on some pretty tidy retro toys to his son, including a Flump and a mint Fisher Price garage circa 1970s (how I would love to get hold of one of those for Grace!).

So here's a peek at our day...

A great family day!

Top day today; starting over in Chorlton photographing a very bonnie 7 month old baby boy called Michael. I can't wait to share some of this lovely family photoshoot with you, but for now I felt compelled to post a few of my own family pics.

Andy and mini me mooched round Beech Road for a couple of hours while I 'worked' and to be honest it felt like anything but work as I was made to feel so welcome, I almost felt like a mate who had popped round for a drink and a chat!

After the shoot I caught up with Andy and our little un for some brunch at The Lead Station www.theleadstation.co.uk which was entertaining as there was a brief shower whilst we sat outside eating, which made it more like our kind of picnic (almost like being on holiday!).

Then on our way home we went for a walk and I took the opportunity to do a few shots of my fella and our little girl...

Shelley's twin bump!

I love it when I get booked for a bump, new born and 6 month shoot package as it means I get to follow a baby from the start which is ever so exciting and a real honour.
So I was delighted when Shelley and Dave called me up to document their story, doubly so, as they are expecting twins in May! See the shoot here...

1 year old Sausage... she's lovely!

Our baby is almost 1!

I've made a real effort to spend quality time with her and tried my hardest not to have a camera constantly stuck in her face documenting every breath!

With Mummy and Daddy both photographers she knows when she is being photographed and has a canny knack of sabotaging any attempt to catch her unawares.

The other day I caught her smearing those grubby little paws over my already pretty mucky windows. Fairly standard practice for any small person with sticky fingers. Then she took my clean top that was drying on a nearby radiator and started to try and clean the evidence away!

I grabbed my camera and snook outside to photograph her from the other side of the glass...

Happy Birthday Isaac! (Hoping you get some Sellotape!)

As Isaac turns 1 today at 12.29am I felt I just had to share his family shoot from 2 months ago as I know that he has grown and changed already!

Isaac was my 1st crawler of 2012! And after the very stern weighing up that he gave me on my arrival he seemed to vow to not stop moving for a single moment of the shoot!

Mummy and Daddy had a few things that they were keen for me to capture... His cute feet! His very secret toothy pegs! His gorgeous eyes. Did we mention his very cute feet? His lovely nursery. His diddy feet, and toes and hands. His nakey babyness and his very charming smile!
(As an added bonus I even managed to catch a few tears - don't worry - those were for free!)

Harrys new born shoot

Introducing 4 week old Harry... such a calm, chilled out, knowing little chap with the most amazing blue eyes. He was so cute and cuddly looking in his blue and white sleep suit but I just LOVE the colourful stripy babygrow too! 

I was amazed at how tiny he seemed, probably just due to me spending so much time with my 9 month old daughter, who is already like a giant in comparison! Check out the shots of Harry's hands and feet next to his Mummy and Dad's, so dinky! Babies - they sure don't stay little for long!

A Mother of an offer!

Mother's Day is Sunday 18th March just over 2 weeks away...

All Mums need treating and many would jump at the chance to be professionally photographed with their children, or their children's children!

Treat the main lady in your family to a relaxed and natural one hour portrait shoot for only £50!

It's half the price of our normal shoots and as been as we know how hard all Mummys work, it also includes an additional voucher for £25 off any products!

Get your voucher now by emailing mail@nicolawardle.com

Mama mia!

Eating breakfast with my daughter this morning and she said MAMA for the first time!
Wow!

I know, you probably think she was just appreciating the millet porridge made with water? Mmmmmm...
But no it was definitely a ma ma not a mmmmmm.

And she's done it again and again today but never in the presence of DADA.
That's my girl!
Yesterday she said BABA for the first time and repeated it as well today, so maybe it will be DADA's turn tomorrow?

Noah's Arc

Where do I start? I LOVE THIS SHOOT!

Johnny, Mel and Noah... what an ace family...
caring, brilliant fun, eco friendly, surfing, thoughtful, happy, air guitar wielding, honest, bike riding, lovin, vw driving, german speaking, long time mates.

On the day of the shoot the sky closed in as if Armageddon was upon us, but Noah's brilliant blue eyes light up every shot and maybe I'm bias, but I found it very difficult to know which images to share with you as I like them all!

Give a photoshoot gift experience this christmas - now half price!

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year.

A time of giving and a time for family and a time for children to get excited about getting excited!

For me Christmas is made of memories and although receiving gifts was part of it as a child I truly can't remember all of the things I was bought, so many years on.

If you are stuck to know what to buy for your nearest and dearest, maybe you want something memorable, something they can keep, to treasure or to cherish and something for the whole family?

How about a family photoshoot?

It's a fun experience and a welcome gift at any time of year.

I'm offering half price gift vouchers for a limited period only.

• Family photoshoot £50
• Bump and baby package £75
• Bump, new baby and 6 month baby package £100

Offer closes at 1pm on Tuesday 20th December, 2011.

So please get in touch if you need a last minute gift:

mail@nicolawardle.com or 0161 482 4959

Each voucher is both posted and emailed to you on receipt of payment along with supporting info and instructions as to how to book the shoot.

More details here: www.nicolawardle.com/prices

The S's

It was only after I met Siouxsie (the Cat) that I realised Stuart, Sally and Sam were all S's... silly really, I should be familiar with these anomalies as my Mum, Susan, has sisters Sylvia, Sheila and Sandra (their two brothers got away without S's).

We first met Sally and Stuart at our NCT anti-natal class back in February this year when we were expecting our first baby, and they were expecting Sam.

The NCT class was an excellent way to meet other Mums and Dads to be and get some confidence regarding the unknown that at that time was fast approaching! Top tips such as the five S's (Swaddling, Stomach, Shhhh, Swinging and Sucking) to calm your baby were things that have seen us through the initial stages of Parenthood and are still useful now, 9 months on.

I was really excited to be asked to photograph Stuart and Sally's family and upon arriving at their house, they were as welcoming as their lovely warm farmhouse kitchen. Here's a few shots from their session...

You’re like Manchester

There's a hell of a lot to like about Liz + Ben and the same can be said of their gorgeous seven month old son Sid and very lovely doggy Bodey.

So it's with some sadness that I did their family photoshoot in the midst of them packing up to move away from Manchester to the other side of the Peaks. Having said that there was still time for a laugh and a few costume changes and a bowl of the best chilli I have ever had.

Impossible to sum this lot up so in the words of John Shuttleworth...

You’re like Manchester 

You’ve got Strangeways 

But you’ve got Styal too 

(And we'll miss you when you move away)

It's SCARY how fast they grow!

If you told me a year ago that I'd be dressing my baby up as something that goes bump in the night I wouldn't have believed you. However when the invite to a cake coffee and halloween baby do came up I was one of the first to go rushing out to make sure she got an outfit that I would be proud to wear.
I'm yet to find out of the suit glows in the dark, that sure would be scary when she starts screaming for a night feed!
So without further a do, in true trick or treat style, here's grace and her friends..... BOOO!

Izzy, Roo and her Grandparents too!

Life has flown by in a blur of nappies, burp cloths and night feeds...
Our baby girl has turned our world up side down in a good messy, manic, life affirming sort of way!

When I got asked to do a Family shoot for 10 month old Izzy I was a little stuck to know what to do with our bundle of breastfeeding joy as even after 5 months I hadn't really got round to trying her on a bottle!

So as luck would have it (on a number of levels) Izzy's family invited me to bring my baby to work! And on an even luckier stroke of fluke, my little helper entertained us for a while before falling asleep! Brilliant! if only she could be such low maintenance at home!

So here we have it, a few shots of the oh so cute Izzy, who despite teething managed to be an absolute star!

Bump and Grind

38 weeks pregnant and still working!

It doesn't really feel like work.

I've got a run of bump photo shoots with some lovely ladies who are all first time mums to be. With my own bump at a very similar stage to many of my clients we have the same fascination and awe at our ever expanding shape and similar sense of excitement and trepidation regarding the new experience looming now not so far ahead.

And it's not all work, Andy and I make time for walks in the park, I attend aqua natal classes, pregnancy yoga, bumps and baby groups. I take a last lone visit to the hairdressers and marvel that even in these late stages of pregnancy I still have to stand up all the way home on the train!

All is fine on the hormone front until I have a small freak out about letting my baby out into the big bad world! I'm plagued for a few days about chemicals, pesticides, boiled sweets, strangers and sugar!!! Silly really as he or she can't stay in there much longer! 

Sausage has the biggest feet (he or she has been called Sausage since the book told us that baby was the size of a chipolata cocktail sausage!)  I can feel the soles of them and they feel like very big rabbits back feet. I think i'll probably miss the kicking.

I would have liked to have seen a picture of my Mum's bump when she was pregnant with me, but it's not something people used to photograph.

Having said that, we then realise that I've not done my own bump shoot, so we rattle off a few shots and hope that our little one will enjoy marvelling like we have at how amazing it is to be able to grow another human being inside you...

Catching up

Time flys and I've not posted to my blog... so here goes
I vow to ketchup and keep up...

Introducing... big drum roll... my first blog post!

Here two of my favourite girls, playing me in.

I'm loving their stance, their concentration, the Hello Kitty sticker.

Cheers ladies.

You rock!