It's a wonderful feeling when an existing client returns with the newest member of their family. I've photographed all three of the babies from this beautiful family and my camera has loved everyone of them. Returning to studio work didn't feel nearly as strange as I had expected it to, after such a long pause.
Safety measures I have put in place to assure my new mums and dads include; testing the morning of the session, wearing white cotton gloves to minimise my contact with your baby, mask wearing (of course), and a hygienically clean environment as always!
If you are expecting and thinking of booking me please get in touch as I have limited spaces available.
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These are unprecedented times.
Staying safe and protecting the elderly, vulnerable and our loved ones is our number one priority.
Whilst we ponder what our future will look like, I know I want to be there capturing this time for families, when it is safe to do so of course. During lock down I'm keeping my camera by my side photographing my family life and you're very welcome to come and take a look at some of these moments on Instagram. (click on the icon on the top right of your screen to take you right there.)
If you're wanting newborn photography or baby portraits taken and have questions about how or when you can do this please feel free to email me. Some photographers are conducting virtual sessions during lock down - personally this isn't something I would recommend. For safety and insurance purposes. If you would like family portraits when the restrictions are lifted, please consider joining my waitlist for priority availability and special offers. Please do add your details to the subscription list or email directly with an enquiry.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. Annushka x
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Today's blog covers three spellbinding Halloween events happening very close to Kings Langley.
This Saturday (26th October) Langleybury Farm is hosting a Halloween Party for monsters, both young and old and is set to thrill. There's a haunted house infected by Zombie's (for 10+) crafts, fair rides, bonfire (lit at 6pm) a magic show and of course a fancy dress and pumpkin carving competition... oh and did I mention the BBQ and licensed bar?
Profits go to charity and tickets (purchased in advance) can be bought online at Langleybury Children's Farm Ticket Sales
From 5pm onwards on Halloween itself, Kings Langley High Street will be the perfect place to take your kids if you don't want to knock on doors but the kids really, really want to go Trick or Treating. Dallings & Co will be open for drinks and tapas and there will be a ghost hunt activity for the kids. Knowing, the hub for holistic healing and spiritual exploration are holding their annual Halloween/ Samhain celebration with apple bobbing, mini face painting, faerie strand hair shimmer, lucky dips and crafts. There is a carved pumpkin and best costume competition, and an exciting fire eating and dancing performance to open the competition. For more details check out Knowing Healing Hub's Facebook page.
If you are still searching for the perfect pumpkin why not head down to the patch at Rumblers Farm? Open everyday till dark until the end of the month, Rumblers in Hemel Hempstead has a large range of pumpkin sizes from tiny pumpkins all the way up to the 20kg giants! The pumpkin patch and show stopping display is always a fantastic sight and a great location to carve out some fun photos. Just remember to wear your wellies as the ground can be wet and muddy. For details of how to find the farm visit their Facebook page.
I hope today's blog post has been helpful in letting you know what is happening near Syllabub & Bloom in Kings Langley. If you would like some photos taken by a Hertfordshire's Children's Photographer please message me here.
Happy Halloween x
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-Social Media and Marketing Photography Session.
Into the magical realm of the forest I entered with my wellies on foot and my camera to hand. It wasn't the best of weather, but I didn't care, Forest School is fun come rain or shine!
Tales and Trails Forest School is my lovely friend Florence's company based in Wing, Buckinghamshire and as it's Back To School season, I think it's the perfect time to share this session with you. A fully qualified Primary School Teacher and a graduate in Biological Studies, Flo is passionate about education and outdoor play and has recently swapped her classroom for the forest.
...and the kids can't get enough of it as I hope these images will testify. Carefree, happy children. What's not to love?
I photographed Flo's children in Ashridge Forest a couple of years ago and was delighted when she asked me again. This time to capture some images for her social media and marketing campaigns.
Tales and Trails is running weekly Preschool sessions in Wing and Forest School sessions in Primary Schools in and around Buckinghamshire.
If you are local to the area, or know someone who is, please do share these details to help spread the word.
For more info, please find Tales and Trails Forest School on Facebook or contact [email protected] for more details.
If you are looking for a Hertfordshire Children's Photographer and would like modern, creative and relaxed portraits of your Children,
or images for your Business please visit my Homepage.
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for photographing your children with your iPhone
-so you can take some great photos over the summer.
This easy to follow guide will encourage you to try some new techniques.
So, even if your kids won't keep still, you can still grab some great shots.
*Please note: All images in this blog post have been taken using my iPhone AND edited on the iPhone.
Before we look at my top ten tips, lets talk equipment.
I’m using an iPhone XR at the moment, but some of these images were taken using an earlier model. Don't worry if you have a different make or model, the tips are still applicable. You might not have Portrait mode but there's still plenty of ideas to try.
It's important to remember, a violin doesn't make music on it's own and the same can be said for the camera. My best advice is just keep playing, the more you do, the better you will become. Remember, the best images will not always be taken with the best camera.
"IT IS THE PHOTOGRAPHER, NOT
THE CAMERA, THAT IS THE
INSTRUMENT."
Ansel Adams
1. Missing the perfect moment by a nanosecond can be very frustrating, but there is a simple fix to stop fumbling and unlock your phone without breaking into a sweat. I was a fumbler, until I realised I didn't need to pass security to access the camera! Get in the habit of using the camera button, positioned bottom right on your screen. Alternatively tap on the screen and swipe to the left to launch the camera. It's so easy! So easy in fact even our kids do it! This is how they gain access to our cameras and take lots of random shots!
2. When taking a headshot the Portrait mode helps achieve a blurred background. The depth effect draws your attention onto your subject and you can alter how much blur you would or wouldn’t like later.
3. Consider your environment! When I’m taking a clients portrait (with my DSLR) I may use a backdrop, to eliminate distractions. This makes the subject the main focus. This studio set up doesn’t work for every image though, for family and lifestyle, often a story telling approach is better and an environmental portrait is more authentic. Your washing, hanging on the line or in my case my dirty bath could be just the thing to make your photo sing.
4. If your children are running around or playing and you want to freeze their fun, use the BURST mode. The iPhone can take up to 10 images per second by pressing down on the shutter and holding. When viewing images in Photos choose the best of the bunch and easily delete the rest.
5. Never use the flash. It casts harsh shadows across our faces. Try and work with your available light. If you are in a really low light situation you could always ask to borrow someone else’s phone and switch on their flash light! You might end up with a grainy looking photo, but it's possible to remove some noise later. Here, an iPhone's torch light is switched on and hidden in the book to light up the face.
6. Seek out the best light. It takes some forward planning but it makes the biggest difference to your images. When shooting outdoors, the best light is always open shade, it's soft and flattering. Open shade is the shadow at the side of a house or fence, under a tree or porch.
If you are indoors however, place key toys strategically in pools of light or where you will create a reflection and gently encourage your child to play with them. Some kitchen cupboards often have a beautiful sheen to them and will lend themselves to being photographed nicely. Try sitting your child down in the kitchen to tidy your cupboards (keeps them busy) and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of lovely photographs. The reflections in the cupboard doors will add depth and texture to your image. Here, my boy is playing with his cement mixer and some messy lentils. The side of our cupboard is behaving like a mirror, making it appear that I have twice as much drying up to do!
7. Back light is another one of my favourite lighting set ups. I’m a fan of Victorian cameos and love Rob Ryans paper cut images. Creating silhouettes of your children is an easy trick, look for big expanses of light, and shoot towards the light. Give your child an uninterrupted silhouette making sure there is space all around them. Taking a photo from a low angle sometimes helps and expose for the light. The seaside is the perfect place to try this technique, interiors with large windows too or anywhere where there is high ground.
8. Camera shake is a common reason for blurry images. I try and save my shaky hands for when the gravy bowl is being passed round and use anything solid to rest my phone on. This could be a doorway, wall, tables to keep your device sturdy and parallel. I've taken this image crouching down with my elbow resting on my knee. I've transformed myself into a human tripod!
9. Don't be scared of composition. Lead your eye to the important part of your photo by using THE RULE OF THIRDS and LEADING LINES. The idea is to create more balanced images by placing points of interest at points where the horizontal and vertical lines converge. In my example you can see I have placed the figure where the horizontal and vertical lines meet and have used the handrail and skirting as a leading line, drawing the viewers eye to the small boy. The lines divide the image into three sections on both axis.
You can set your camera to show this grid on your view finder. Here's how: go to Utilities on your iPhone, find Settings, then Camera and check Grid is active.
10. Lets finish with editing. My images are stored on my iPhone in Photo. I use Camera +2 (available to purchase from the App Store) and it can be used on your iPad too. Camera +2 has the functionality to edit the depth effect and it has some great filters to emulate (among others,) Analog Film and Hollywood looks, including "Amelie" and "Gotham." I'm not a big fan of filters but you can adjust the opacity of the effect to make it look more subtle. Sometimes, I use Snapseed too, for times when I'm feeling creative. (The image with the cat's tail above, has been edited using this app) It's the closest app you can get to Photoshop on your phone, you can create double exposures, add lens blur and grunge to name just a few effects! Have a play, try some of the photo apps on offer and discover what works for you.
I've really enjoyed writing this post and hope you've enjoyed reading my top ten iPhone tips to help improve your iPhone Photography too. If you'd like to find out more of what I'm up to, please follow me over on Instagram or check out my Facebook page Syllabub & Bloom
Also, please pop back again soon to see what happens when I take my camera into the woods for Tales and Trails Forest School's new website...
Thank you x
Annushka Russell - Professional family photography and brand imagery for small businesses.
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I recently attended a Dance Photography Workshop, organised by Nina Mace Photography and Gary Hill. It was a fantastic day and everyone had fun and enjoyed themselves. Anyone who knows me will be familiar with my life long love of ballet, so combining my passions for dance and photography should be lots of fun!.
The dancers, from local dance schools in Hertfordshire and Surrey were professional and a pleasure to work with. Back in my dancing days of festivals and competitions, the opportunity to be photographed against a backdrop by a professional photographer was similar to the school photograph experience. Event based, studio portraits of dancers are brilliant for capturing costume details and key poses, although the photographer and dancer are usually both restricted by the space they are given on the day and also by how many other dancers are in line waiting.
What I love about this style of shoot however, is that the dancer has room to move and inhabit the space, with the prowess and grace they are trained to do. There is depth to their environment creating a visual conversation and sense of drama.
I very much hope to continue taking portraits of dancers and dance photography in the future. Here are a few from our time at the beautiful Elvetham Hotel. A black and white series of images, emphasising the dancer's quality of line.
Beautiful keepsakes for the dancers. A record of their dance achievements and journey so far...
Thank you and best wishes to all those involved.
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Hatfield based actor and artist, Hideki, visited my home studio in Kings Langley recently to have his portrait taken against a white background to update his casting shots. Usually it is me putting my clients at ease, but after Hideki told me he'd been cast as a background artist in a Vanity Fait shoot by Annie Leibovitz, it was me who needed calming down, from sheer excitement.
Hideki enjoys the process of film making and has worked both behind and in front of the camera on many productions. He recently played one of Cheng Zhi's thugs in 24: Live Another Day and he is also a very talented artist working across various mediums. His inspiration comes from his love for Japanese aesthetics and Western Art History. If you are a fellow art lover please take a peek at his work, it can be viewed here.
Here's a few of the images Hideki choose to submit to his agency. If you are interested in being photographed by me, either for work or pleasure please take a peek at my Headshot portfolio and lets chat about how you would like to be seen.
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Newborn Jem visited my home based studio in Kings Langley with his parents, to have his portrait taken. Babies change so fast, with the memories of the early days hazing over as the days pass. Having images to remind you how small their fingernails were and how diddy their little feet were is a wonderful way to record the beginning of your little ones journey into childhood.
Mum and Dad requested that the skin was not smoothed too much in editing as they didn't want to loose any details. Skin smoothing is a personal choice and I like to ask parents what they like in the consultation before the session. Newborn Photography is about capturing the fleeting and precious days following the birth of your child before they start to grow and develop before your very eyes.
If you would like Hertfordshire's Newborn Photographer to capture some precious memories for your family, please visit my homepage or contact me to get in touch. Sessions are booked in advance and typically take place in the first two weeks after your child has been born.
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Earlier in the year I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful little pre-schooler in Kings Langley. We played and had a lovely time, with lots of movement and activity making for a relaxed session and a happy child. There were bubbles to be blown, water sprays and rocking horses to be fed.
I loved my models grey dress and I think she did too. That bow! Her mum brought along several different outfits but bless her, she knew which one she wanted to wear.
Here are a few of my favourite images from this session-
Bhvna is the creation of Bina Panchal and as part of her brief it was my privilege to capture some beautiful business portraits and product shots for the business.
Images that express the individuality and creativity encapsulating Bhvna London is what I was aiming for. As an artisan maker and mumpreneur (mum to three grown boys!) Bina's visibility at the helm of her brand is crucial. Customers are happier to trust a person they can see, making the business portrait or headshot a necessity for any online retailer. The business portrait also re-inforces brand identity and helps separate Bina’s candles and diffusers from her industry competitors.
Bhvna means emotions and the brand shares it meaning with Bina herself. Her product exudes warmth and opulence and appeals to the mid to high-end luxury market who appreciate handmade quality goods made in the UK.
I took all the product shots of the candles in my Hertfordshire home studio and let me tell you my studio has never smelt so good! For Bina’s portrait it was important to capture her personality in her own environment as this is where the magical process occurs.
Bhvna London’s signature fragrances are available to purchase as candles and, or diffusers. I look forward to following the success of Bhvna and can't wait to smell her next creation. You can follow Bhvna London at bhvnalondon and purchase her candles from www.bhvna.com
Thank you Bina for trusting in me to create these images. If you are a small business owner or self employed creative or professional and are considering updating your business portrait please feel free to get in touch to discuss your brief. Hello! Click here.
"Let me invite you to have your photographs taken my way.
I promise to make you and your business look and feel the best it can be. Annushka x"
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Mothers Day Photography Gift CardsGift Cards available to purchase for the Mum in your life.
Mothers Day is just around the corner would you believe! Are you are searching for the perfect gift to show the lovely lady in your life how much you care? Consider giving the gift of memories this Mothers Day by purchasing a beautiful photography gift card.
Gift card orders placed before 9am on Friday 9th March are guaranteed to be delivered by Saturday in time for the big day. The gift card houses a beautiful credit card like voucher that can be used for either a family session in the Hertfordshire countryside, Newborn Photographs (home studio based), Children’s portraits or Headshots. Session prices start at £80 for a midweek session or £110 at the weekend. Sessions can be scheduled to suit your family. Please give me a call or click on contact me to make a purchase or ask a question.
Mum’s are usually behind the scenes capturing the memories and taking the photos but this means there’s precious few photographs of them with their children. I know because I’m a Mum too! Let me capture the love between the Mum in your family and her brood and give her a gift to treasure for years to come.
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Jan Hendrik's Business Photographs for Livewell Physiotherapy.
Using imagery in business as a marketing tool is common place. In big business marketing budgets are stretched but plentiful. Small business owners on the other hand often over look using a professional photographer as it’s not in their budget and can’t be justified. Mobile phone and stock photos are cheaper but maybe these images don't represent the business at its best or resonate with their potential clients? Hiring a professional who can tailor imagery to your business and appeal to your chosen audience can help your business to grow.
This is a subject I explore this week guest blogging for Brilliant Together. The article “Brand Art- How To Grow Your Business using Photographs” contains some top tips for business owners and freelancers to make the most of your visual assets. From the planning stage to delivery. To read the blog please click on the link: Brand Art
Brilliant Together's Business Images
A little while ago I achieved the distinction of winning a Silver Award in the Guild of Professional Photographers Image of the Month competition for my image of a Butterfly taken at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire. This competition typically attracts over 1000 entries each month and I was so overwhelmed by the results I forgot to let anyone know!
For anyone who hasn't come across the Guild of Photographers, they are "a highly regarded national photographic body and its members are dedicated to enhancing their skills in the art, craft and profession of photography.
They are committed to achieving the highest standards of professionalism for the benefit of their customers. They pledge themselves to delivering the highest standards of customer service and to a journey of continuing professional development."
You can find out more about the organisation here - The Guild Of Photographers
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These are the beautiful children of my friend Rebecca who lives in Hampshire. Her eldest loves having his photograph taken and the last time I photographed the little one she was just days old, she's now three and "a big girl" - in her own words! She's super lucky to have such an amazing big brother and she adores him, such great siblings. This photo was taken on the Common in Wherwell, next to the river Test. Both children are sitting on a tree branch having a rest after climbing trees and fishing in the river. Off camera to the right are two watercolorists capturing the idylls of this beautiful summers day, they were very generous with their time explaining to our curious children how to hold their brushes and mimic the look of water.
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It's been so long since I last showed my blog some love. For over the last year I have taken the focus off my portfolio whilst my family have dealt with our sorrows. The warmer weather and my garden have offered comfort and space to heal. We have plans for next year, moving the Quince to pastures new, digging up the rose and repotting. I'm excited to see the how the parsnips pull up later this year and if Autumn arrives and we have pumpkins I will skip a little dance. Anyway hopefully you should see more images from me soon... portraits of glorious wonderful people to follow because I believe in tomorrow.
Well done Grace's Mummy for making the delicious cupcakes used in the photographs.
If you are interested in having some Cake Smash photographs taken you are welcome to either bring your own cake or I can arrange one to be made providing your child does not have any allergies.
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I was delighted to recently receive another bronze award for this image of my wee boy from The Guild Of Photographer's Image Of The Month Competition. The standard of entries blow me away and some of the images have had hours and hours of preparation and editing work spent on them and the excellence of this really shows. As a busy mum however I'm not very time rich, I prefer to dress this up as having a natural relaxed style (ha ha!) This last minute entry was taken very late in the day but thankfully my little lad had enough patience left to endure my camera for a few brief moments.
One day my ambitions will call upon my set design background to stage an elaborate tableau to photograph and perfect. Who knows if this imaginary creation will win accolades... but for now I'm happy with the occasional bronze and abundance of cuddles I get from my little pickle. These are my joyful bounties.
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I'm thrilled to have scored my first bronze award with The Photographers Guild. I've not long been a member but so far I'm loving the support and professionalism The Guild represents.
For anyone interested in The Guild please follow the link below...
http://photoguild.co.uk
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Cassiobury Park played host to our fun and frolics on Easter Sunday. It's a fantastically versatile location, having tree lined avenues, open fields, the Canal and Gade river, woods and nature reserve plus of course the playgrounds, miniature train and bouncy castle! The weather was dry and mild with lots of cloud cover so harsh shadows were kept to a minimum and there was plenty of gorgeous soft dispersed light to please. These images were taken in the late afternoon, just before toddler teatime.
Here's a few of my favourites...
One, Two, Three.... Wee....
What a great baby bump!
I love how these flowers amaze children; they are the perfect height for them and so vibrant like the sun itself. A few years back a little poppet was glued to the site of these flowers outside my house… her poor exhausted mother was cajoling her to move on but not listening, she picked the Daffodil. I didn’t mind in the slightest, her reaction was heart melting and brought a little tear to my eye… prize in hand she toddled off exclaiming “How beautiful Mummy… for you”
Photographing children amongst the Bluebells is a great spring past time for us mums (Late April- May) but it is more challenging than the Daffodils because of abundance of dappled light.
Tips to remember: the best time to take photographs is either in the morning or late afternoon when the sun is not too high so you can avoid harsh shadows on faces. Bluebells grow in the shade and low light environments are notoriously hard places to photograph. Having the light behind your subject can produce some beautiful effects, with warm sunlight embracing your child it will unfortunately put their face into shade. Using a piece of white card or reflector can help throw some light back onto your child’s face. Or alternatively photograph them in a shady spot facing the sun.
Also the Common Bluebell is a protected species in the UK so try tiptoeing rather than trampling through them.
Even if the weather has been dry in the days before your visit the floor of the forest is likely to be damp. Bring along a little rug or picnic blanket for your child to sit on (place in a clearing between the flowers) Be careful to choose a neutral colour to avoid colour casts. Something for them to play with is also a good idea… a balloon or a watering can help take their focus away from you and the camera if your little nipper is super active.
If you don’t fancy trying out these tips for yourself but would like some photos, book onto one of my Spring mini sessions. £35 for a 30 minute session (one or two children) including a 5” x 7” professionally printed photograph, and a Facebook image (timeline or banner size). Additional time is required to photograph groups of three or more. Please email for more details….
I’d love to hear tales of your spring adventures and see your images too, so please feel free to share your spring time snaps in the comments...
]]>The Location: The Grove's Estate and Garden's, Hertfordshire.
The Boy: Smiling!
Yes! At last I have a portrait of my son smiling that doesn't feature a train! I have lots of him smiling as a baby but since toddling he's been an earnest little sausage with lots to do and discover so it really made my NYE to get this image of him. It's definitely one I'll be pulling out to show his girlfriend.
...And Daddy stepped into frame too for a heart melting moment to treasure. My little boy has a gallery of images on his wall and this image will be finding a home there. As I mentioned in a recent Facebook status, it's so important to print our photos, even the snaps we take on our mobiles.
If you are interested in having some beautiful heirloom worthy portraits taken of your children please do get in touch using the "Contact Me" page.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Happy New Year to you all. May 2015 bring many happy memories your way xxx
]]>Hello all! I can't believe it's December already... Today our house welcomes a new family tradition... Chilli the house Elf has arrived :-) So far my little one seems shy and more than a little baffled!
I've entered Nikon's "12 Days Of Christmas" competition. It's the first photography competition I've entered and my image is currently in second place!!! I'd love your help to get the chance to win a critique with a Nikon Ambassador. If you have a spare moment please click on the link below. Click off the link and then click on challenge 2 in the drop down menu. Scroll down to my image - you will have to load more images several times to find me. Then click on the little yellow heart. Thank you so much...
Oh and by the way if you've already voted... thank you, thank you, thank you, and can you try voting again please? xxx
...By the way just to update you, this image won!!!! So very happy, thanks again everyone. x
]]>As I write all I can hear from the great outdoors is Whizz, Pop, Bang. Tonight's fireworks are spectacular especially Cassiobury Park's annual display. Here's some photographs taken in the Park of a little Pixie collecting twigs to add to the fire. Or perhaps a light spot of den building maybe…
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"We love the maternity photos, particularly the black and white photos - there's a beautiful one of the three of us and we love the one of Stuart and I by the door with Ollie! We keep looking at them. Thank you so much." Helen Slade.
Please pop back soon to see the images from this session (and Ollie the cat photo bombing!)
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