When Hiral, an amazing lifestyle photographer, booked me to take her personal branding photos I was beyond flattered! As we both have a similar style, she knew we would be the perfect fit to work together and wanted the same personal branding experience she offers to her own clients.

As a mum of two, Hiral doesn’t get a lot of time to spend on herself, so I suggested she treat herself to having her hair and makeup done for the shoot too. This had a two fold effect; it gave her the confidence she needed for the shoot and having her makeup done meant she could relax and enjoy being pampered before we started taking photos. Thanks to Anika Chauhan for making her cry with joy!

As a photographer, having your own photo taken is even more nerve wracking than normal! Your comfort zone tends to be on the other side of the lens where you are in full control. Knowing how important it is to show up in your business, Hiral opted for the full brand story package and we spent the day taking photos that Hiral can now use for the next few months.

Walking up The Lanes, one of Leicester City Centre’s more scenic high streets, meant we were spoilt for choice when it came to selecting backgrounds to photograph against. One of my favourite and most instagram-worthy venues has to be the Bottle Garden Bar. With Hiral’s love of gin we had to pay it a visit and we weren’t disappointed.

Being in a serviced based business it's easy to get lost in between your clients and I wanted Hiral to really have a collection of photos that she could use to show up in her business. Photos that really captured her fun, chatty and at times bossy personality. Here are a few of my faves from the shoot...

Early this year I spent an afternoon photographing the charismatic Renu Ravalia. Renu is a marketing coach specialising in digital marketing and social media.

In June 2018, she launched her own business and is using her 9+ years of experience and knowledge in digital marketing and social media to help businesses and charities create a cohesive plan they can follow in order to thrive. Not content with just growing her own business; Renu has also set up a community of female entrepreneurs in Leicester to support their growth and is organising networking events with a difference. Spending time with Renu I really feel like she will be making a huge impact on the Leicestershire entrepreneurial circuit.

We spent most of the afternoon talking about confidence and how integral it is to a successful entrepreneur. I love Renu’s approach of empowering individuals and guiding them, she believes everyone should be able to tell their own story on social media and this can only be authentic if it comes from you.

I loved photographing Renu on her favourite Queen’s Road which is where she’s normally found in one of her favourite restaurants; Halcyon Kitchen. As most of the work Renu does is on a 121 basis, I wanted to show that off in the photos and so Olivia came along to model for us too. We then went to The Bloom Project where you can often find Renu buying herself one of the lovely floral bouquet Emma makes.

If you’d like to learn more about Renu you can find her on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamrenuravalia/

Website: https://renuravalia.com/

If you’d like to join her rapidly growing female entrepreneur community you can do so here:

Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leicesterfempreneurcommunity/

Instagram Community:https://www.instagram.com/leicesterfempreneurcommunity/

How many cheerful and cherishable moments in life do we miss because we are just too busy? I am busy - I am so busy - that I have forgotten why am I doing all this. Life is about experiences, life is about enjoying moments - and we have the tools to preserve the moments we can cherish for the rest of our lives. More so, doing it with people that we love - our Families.

Photographing Families - Especially the Little Ones

Your kids are growing - they are always growing. You remember the day your child opened its eyes for the first time - the first time the tiny hands held you. Soon they will be packing their bags and moving to uni. Hold on - that was a big jump - but you get the gist of it. While your kids are young, getting a family portrait each year is a beautiful way of preserving the moment - the moment that will never come back. Before the children grow up and find their own meaning of life, this is your moment to hold it all in. Take advantage of the moment now - a sweet reminder of the whole family growing together - physically and mentally.

Relive the Beautiful Moments

A picture has the power to take you back in time - to make you feel the happiness of the moment. Photographing families have the same power - but only magnified - magnified to a level where it takes the whole family on the journey of feeling the joy of that moment - the moment when the little Austin was wearing that cute red jumper - when the cheerful Ava was holding her favourite teddy.

Don’t let such beautiful moments pass by. They don’t come back.

Get in touch to find out how I can help you snap that moment in time.

This article has been sponsored byMarketing Voice - Digital Marketing SEO specialist

As you may or may not be aware, my husband and I became proud parents to our daughter Aurelia a few weeks ago. She's already a daddy's girl, her face lights up when he walks into the room and she reserves all her special smiles just for him So here's how Nick is finding fatherhood so far.

Nick over to you.

My first fathers day…

I’ve been a dad for just over 6 weeks now, so fatherhood is a brand new feeling for me. The only way I can describe the experience so far is heart melting and exhausting, whilst at the same time, scary as i’m responsible for a tiny human! But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’m Nick, as you’ve probably guessed. I’m a loved up daddy to the newest member of Deepa Rodrigues Photography – Aurelia.

Deepa mentioned in a previous blog that it’s been a journey for us both getting to this moment. The moment Aurelia was born and was given to me for the first time – no words can describe it. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to cry, smile, say hello, or support her head! I think in the end I did a combination of them all (yes I’m sure you can imagine what that face looked like!).

Father's day was emotional. It's not really a day you appreciate until you become a father. It was just surreal. I pinched myself Sunday morning as I couldn’t believe that I’ve actually got a daughter!

Simply put – Nothing prepares you for it, and I should know, I’m a project manager and it’s my job to plan!

So what did we do? Well Aurelia/Deepa treated me to a “meal”. Deepa and I discussed what we should do and in the end the most logical decision was a quick pit stop at Five Guys and then get Aurelia home to some happy milk. For the first time in 6 weeks, we enjoyed a sit down meal together!

Thank you for an amazing first fathers day - I’ll never forget it.

So how’s the whole experience of fatherhood been so far…

Pre-Aurelia

Before Aurelia was born, my mind was running wild with scenarios of Deepa going into labour, so much so that I used to wake up in the early hours of the morning dreaming that Deepa had gone into labour – as you can imagine, that went down like a treat.

I’m not normally a person who gets nervous or scared, so I prepared for it as I best know how – a term I stole from the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, my interpretation of “Squeaky bum time”

“Squeaky bum time” in my world is a process of digging in, grafting and prepare, prepare, prepare. ***Disclaimer this next part involves a 2.5ft stuffed penguin!***

I’ve heard stories of parents to be purchasing dolls and such items to help prepare them for the next chapter in their lives. My take on this was slightly different.

It dawned on me out of nowhere, Penguino is literally the same size if not slightly bigger than a new baby – Perfect…Its squeaky bum time! I ran scenarios over and over again in my head – roll playing where the baby will sleep, how can we feed him/her in the early hours of the morning, whilst at the same time scrambling to change a nappy, to how can I turn on the light with a baby in my arms…you get the jist.

There was logic to my madness and it worked!! It involved a complete remodel of our bedroom, buying smart light bulbs, linking up to an Amazon Echo and a few visits to Ikea. So future dads to be – Get creative!

She’s here…

Birth/Labour was an experience - Let's just leave it there. I’ve never felt more proud yet helpless in my entire life. To all mums out there - you are amazing.

This is the moment Aurelia layed on my chest, grabbed my hand and opened her eyes…

Welcome home Aurelia…

The day’s finally here - I was now a dad of 8 hours and got to bring my baby home!!! Everything just felt right.

Paternity leave was, simply put, too quick! I almost felt like the Flash. You’re just buzzing. You don’t know what you’re doing. You want sleep, you want to eat, you’re excited and to top it all off, its a sudden realisation that your now responsible for another human being.

I opted for 2 weeks paternity but in future I would seriously consider taking up shared parental leave. 2 weeks just isn’t enough, but I’m glad I had at least that. The time spent with Aurelia was priceless.

Going back to work, well that's a whole other blog post!

Special Memories

Being married to a family photographer, you can imagine the importance that photography plays in our life. However I’ll be the first to admit, I’m probably one of Deepa’s biggest critic and sceptic of getting professional photos. The whole process is just a bit alien to me. Now that I’m a new dad I have to admit (with a sense of embarrassment), I’ve never been more wrong!!

The simplest intention of Deepa’s photography is to create lasting memories. I’m so glad Deepa insisted on a maternity shoot and making me carry an additional hospital bag with a camera, lens and tripod!

Now that I’m 6 weeks in, I look back at these photos, before and after Aurelia was born and it brings a tear to my eye. I can’t believe she’s actually here!!! Looking back, the maternity shoot was in its effortless form the most purest, honest and magical thing you can imagine. We looked fresh faced and Deepa was glowing as a radiant mummy to be. But the most amazing memory Deepa captured was the bond we shared with Aurelia before she was even born. The joy and look on both of our faces was priceless.

They do say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but so is a photo!

From that moment on, I just couldn’t wait for Deepa to get her camera out. Aurelia is growing up so quickly in just a short space of time. Her features and personality are developing on an almost daily basis. I just want to cherish these memories forever and ever.

If you’re considering a photoshoot for your new arrival – Do it! I promise you won’t regret it!

One of the first things I thought about when I found out that I was pregnant was photos! Post-baby was obvious but I also had ideas about my maternity shoot. Initially, having someone take them for me sounded like the only option, but then I came across other photographers who had taken their own maternity photos. This excited me and I instantly knew that was what I was going to do! Not only did it allow for me to be in control of the creativity, but also forced me to learn to be patient with myself.

I had put a lot of thought into taking my maternity photos as I knew it would be an important part of documenting my pregnancy journey. The memories created during the shoot helped me to bond with my baby even more, as it made me focus on the present moment and take a step back. Usually, I have a million things going on in my head and I’m thinking ten steps ahead. During the maternity shoot I was able to just relax and let go and appreciate the pregnancy.

I really wanted natural photographs in an environment that I was comfortable in. My house seemed like a good place to do this. The natural light coming through in the bedroom was perfect for these type of photos. It took a while to get used to being on the other side of the camera as I’m so used to taking the photos, rather than being the subject!

The shoot took around 4 hours as I had to keep going back and forth checking each shot. After all, I am a perfectionist! I really enjoyed the whole experience and so glad I took time out to have maternity photos taken. I talk to a lot of mums and many say how much they regret not taking more photos whilst they were pregnant and not having a maternity shoot to look back on.

I felt a real connection to my baby throughout and it made me feel quite emotional. I can’t wait to share the photos with my gorgeous baby in the future!

Below are the pics, let me know what you think.

I was told by many people that as soon as the 1st trimester was over, the nausea would go and I would get this sudden burst of energy. This did not happen to me! I felt nauseated up until around week 17.

To get my mind off it, Nick and I decided to book a ‘Babymoon’, our last holiday before the baby arrives. We booked to go to Gran Canaria, as it was November and I wanted some sun. It was the perfect break away and much needed. It was lovely to spend a week not doing very much other than going for walks and sitting by the pool.

Soon after we got back from holiday I stopped feeling so rubbish all the time. It was awesome! It wasn’t exactly a ‘burst of energy’ but it felt like it. I managed to get some work done and booked in a few shoots, which was great.

The best thing about the 2nd trimester (apart from the holiday) was being able to feel the baby move! Initially it felt like small bubbles popping in your belly but as the weeks went by and the baby got bigger, the movements got stronger.

The 20 week scan came before we knew it! The appointment lasted a lot longer as the sonographer took his time checking the baby over, which was amazing! It was great to feel the little kicks and punches while seeing the baby moving on the screen. Nothing had changed from the last scan- the baby was still very wriggly! We even saw it suck it’s thumb! It was such a surreal experience. I didn’t want it to end! We decided not to find out the baby’s gender as I wanted it to be a surprise.

With the 2nd trimester came Christmas. Take a look at my blog about my last baby free Christmas here.

Being busy with Christmas and New Year meant the 2nd trimester flew by and before I knew it I was in my 3rd trimester!

In the 3rd trimester I had my baby shower to look forward to. Lucky for me, my sisters & sister in law had taken it upon themselves to organise it all. The only thing I had to worry about was finding something to wear, which surprisingly wasn’t as easy as I thought. My constantly changing body and not having many maternity stores in Leicester meant a very long day shopping! Luckily I did eventually come across the perfect dress. On the day, it was so nice to see all my friends and family there. Catching up with everyone made me realise how lucky I am to have such a great support system around me. Needless to say there were emotional times, but also a lot of laughs and fun games to celebrate the arrival of the baby. Take look at my Instagram and Facebook for some sneak peaks of the day!

I was happily going about my business in the 3rd trimester thinking, I don’t know what everyone was warning me about - I don’t feel tired. I’m sure I’ll be fine until the baby comes! So I carried on booking in meetings, and networking. And then one day it hit me! I had to spend a whole day in bed because I was just that tired. I realised that I needed to start slowing down. As the baby got bigger and heavier I would be completely out of breath by the time I got to my 3rd floor office. I had to keep reminding myself to take the stairs a lot slower than I was used to. Mentally I felt fine but physically that wasn’t the case.

As you might know already, my husband Nick is a project manager, and so he had taken it upon himself to ‘manage’ the pregnancy. There were and still is a lot of lists, spreadsheets and labelled drawers, from baby clothes to the hospital bag. His organisation skills meant that our hospital bag was prepped and ready to go at week 34! I’m secretly grateful as did i mention how tired I am getting?!

Now that I’m nearing the end of my 3rd trimester, the fatigue is constant, as is the heartburn. I think my body is training me for the sleepless nights I’ll have once the baby arrives, as I can’t seem to sleep through the night! Now we’re on the final countdown, I cannot wait for the baby to arrive and for all the baby cuddles!

The time between finding out you’re pregnant and the ‘12 week scan’ is only approximately 9/10 weeks, but for me it felt like forever. Not feeling great in the first trimester meant I was on a constant countdown, thinking as soon as week 12 hit, all the symptoms would disappear magically! Also, even though the symptoms were there, I just couldn’t believe that there was an actual person growing inside me. I needed to see the scan to make it all real and finally be able to tell my friends and family the wonderful news!

When that day actually came I was so excited. We had an early morning appointment but got to the hospital before the reception even opened! After we figured out where we needed to go and which waiting room we needed to be in, luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long. We were called in by a lovely sonographer, and that’s when I started feeling a little nervous.

However, when we saw the baby on the screen it was incredible. I’ve seen a few of those sonogram photos you can get from a scan but when you’re watching the live thing on the screen it’s totally different. We have a very wriggly baby and we saw it moving about all over the place. In fact, the sonographer couldn’t get all the measurements he wanted and asked us to go for a walk to see if it would make the baby move into position!

After a 15/20 minute walk around the hospital we were back in, but the baby had other ideas. It was doing a headstand! It was amazing to see it moving around so much because I couldn’t actually feel the baby inside of me. This definitely made it real. I finally felt that Nick and I are were going to have a baby! I didn’t want the scan to end but that was it. We were given stills of the scan and were told that everything looked fine. Off we went to tell the world that baby Rodrigues was on it’s way!

Zach and Poppy are proud parents to baby Thomas. The couple decided to go against the typical household dynamic and opted for shared parental leave. The couple wanted to share their story to encourage and advise other parents on how they too can make the most out of such a precious time.

Over to you, Zach…

It wasn’t a shock when we found out we were expecting. The signs were all there so when we had the “I’m late” conversation, there was no panic, stress or anxiety – it was more like a realisation that it was going to happen.

It took a few days before we found out for sure. We peed on the stick – well I say we, I personally did nothing but it felt very much like a team effort – and there it was. The game-changer. You wouldn’t think a faint pink line on a strip of plastic would turn your world upside down, but it sure does.

Poppy burst into tears and I did my best to stay calm, but the cool persona I had adopted when we knew it was a possibility had swiftly disappeared. Panic. I tried to remain calm and for some reason all I could think about was the fact that I had my driving theory test the next day! I know, bad timing! I passed – somehow!

It wasn’t a great time on all fronts to be honest. Poppy and I had only been living together for five months so it put some strain on. But they say there’s never a “good time” to have a baby, so we rolled with the punches.

I was a little worried to begin with because I’d heard so many horror stories about nightmare pregnancies – pain, sickness, mood swings and so on, but Poppy was an absolute trooper! There was sickness to begin with but overall it appeared to be an easy pregnancy. There were a few meltdowns, one in particular about ordering the wrong burger but overall Poppy took it in her stride.

We decided that we didn’t want to find out the gender of the baby. When we were telling a friend’s mum about the pregnancy she made a fantastic case for keeping it secret. It made sense to not find out, I can’t explain it but it just felt right this way. We were berated with questions like “but what colour will you paint their room?!” and “but what colour clothes will you buy?”. No thank you! Someone even asked us “how will we prepare for the baby if we don’t know the gender?”… what nonsense, and don’t get me started on gender specific colours! Boy, girl, both, neither, Martian… you can’t prepare enough for a baby!

I hadn’t heard of shared parental leave before Poppy brought it up. I just assumed the only option was for me to go back to work after two weeks and Poppy to take maternity leave for however long she needed. Poppy read that the scheme was extremely popular in Denmark, and lead to happy families. The policy entitles both parents to spend time with the baby in the first year, with up to 52 weeks off in total, to be shared however suited the family best. The UK adopted the policy in 2015 and I was the first person in my company to take the opportunity.

We decided to take two weeks of leave together, and Poppy took two weeks annual leave too so we had a month off together in total. Then it would be just me and Thomas.

We decided to go to Morocco for a week; it’s somewhere we have always wanted to go and knew we probably wouldn’t get the opportunity (or energy) for a really long time. We also used this time to go on a few road trips to visit friends around the UK.

It’s quite daunting planning financially for the future, but for us the family bonding time far outweighs all of the worry. Thomas and I had some really special times together and made memories I otherwise wouldn’t have.

Before Thomas was born, I spent some time looking up “the best acoustic songs of all time”. I’m a big music fan and I wanted that to become something I shared with my son. I spent the first week with Thomas playing him a couple of songs a day – he seemed to enjoy them… not that a one-week old baby has much of a range of emotion, but I like to think he was enjoying them.

At the beginning of parenthood, I couldn’t stop wondering what I did with all the free time I had before, but then they start to grow up and you think how easy it was when they would just lay there or sleep. I specifically remember the moment he started crawling around – it didn’t seem that long ago that he was just a sleeping, pooping potato who would sleep next to me while I played video games. Time really does fly.

The time we spent as a family really helped me mould into the stay at home dad role. I have always had a hands-on approach to chores around the house and I do a lot of the cooking. But learning how to juggle my time between general day to day tasks and a completely dependent human was a bit challenging. You start appreciating 10 minute breaks here and there and what you can fit in to that time!

Fortunately, everyone around was very supportive. We didn’t really face many questions from family or friends, in fact they all thought it was great. My colleagues, however, were not so supportive. It shocked me how sexist some people could be towards pregnancy and the roles they believed a mother and father should play.

I watched a well-known chat show shortly before my paternity leave started; the female presenters stated it a women’s job to stay at home and watch the children – just as some of my colleagues believed. I was quite disappointed at the negativity and such an outdated perspective. People joked about how their partner would be “useless”, and one person outright refused to let their partner share the leave. It was shocking and sad.

But for us, this new household dynamic and swapping of the expected roles really has helped us. We do still have roles to play, like Poppy does more washing, whereas I manage to get a lot done in the kitchen. We work that way because it suits us – not because anyone says we have to or its because what’s “normal”. It’s really made me appreciate what gets done in a day, and likewise for Poppy. We know if the house is messy at the end of the day it isn’t necessarily a case that we have been idly sitting around doing nothing, but just busy with everything else that needs doing!

If you get the opportunity to take shared parental leave, all I can say is strongly consider it. It wasn’t my idea to do it in the first place, but I embraced the idea from the start and (hopefully) did the best that I could do. I think most dads-to-be fear that they wouldn’t be able to cope – well, I am proof that you can! It’s not so much a learning curve as a learning rollercoaster!

Growing up, I didn’t have much interaction with babies – Thomas was only the second baby I’ve ever held! But it’s 17 months later (at time of writing), Thomas is developing really well, and as far as I am aware, I did a good job!

After a rollercoaster of a year, I found out I was pregnant and it was pretty much the best moment of my entire life. We’d been trying for a while so I was excited and happy but also relieved! It all felt so surreal. I cried a lot that day as it had been a long journey to get to this moment. I also took about 3 more tests just be sure! I just couldn’t believe it, we’d finally have a baby in 9 months.

Once I had the chance to let the amazing news sink in, naturally I couldn’t wait to tell everyone. I’m quite close with my family and I had no idea how I was going to keep this from them! I’d already started thinking about how I’d like to break the news to them and of course my mind started to wonder about who would take the baby photos etc. Nick and I wanted to wait until after the 12 week scan before telling everyone but that wasn’t to be the case.

The nausea started around week 5/6 which I knew would make my mother-in-law, who lives with us, suspicious (I could only pretend it was a cold/flu for so many days!) My cravings also started and to my surprise it was a lot of craving for spicy indian food. I would have loved for some of my mum’s food but I couldn’t ask, as I haven't asked for any home cooked indian food for years and didn’t want to her to get suspicious either! Keeping the pregnancy a secret no longer felt an option.

Nick and I decided that it would just be best that we tell the family. I was so excited! We called everyone over for some classic take out pizza, which no one in my family can resist! Side note:we are a family of pizza lovers!

After the meal, I made the announcement. I can’t remember exactly what I said but I do remember a lot of hugging and crying especially from the two mums! They actually erupted in happiness! It took a bit longer for my dad to figure out what was going on but then even he probably for the first time ever, got emotional! -This is major for my dad as he is usually a closed book! This made me even more teary and it was the best feeling ever!

After the announcement the nausea really took a hold of me! I wasn’t sleeping too well at night and during the day I found it difficult to stay up right. I was lucky that I didn’t actually throw up but the nausea made it very difficult for me to do any work.

When I first found out I was pregnant I went super healthy, eating eggs for protein, avocados and lots of green veg. However, when the nausea hit I couldn’t stomach anything. I lost my appetite too which was so unusual for me. My body was definitely changing! I couldn’t even stand the sight of an avocado! My appetite did eventually come back but all I wanted was carbs, toast, cheese & pizza- did I mention how much I love pizza??! The most I could manage with something healthy was salty olives.

I wasn’t great company either and was practically confined to my bedroom most of the time because I couldn’t stand the smell of any other foods. I remember going down and opening the fridge once and thought I was going to faint! That was the last time I entered the kitchen for weeks! I was also put off anything sweet, which was another huge change for me! I didn’t feel like myself at all. It was very strange. The worst was when I couldn’t stand the smell of Nick, which was frustrating! Thank god that went after a few days because I needed my husband back!

Throughout it all I’ve had a great support system. I feel like this has brought my family closer - being able to call my mum or speak to my mother in law for advice has been great. We’ve been waiting for this baby for a long time, and although the pregnancy symptoms aren’t great it means my body is doing what it should be doing to grow this baby. Counting down for the 12 week scan when we’ll be able to see what the baby’s up to in there!

As a small business owner, I feel a real bond with other small business owners so when I was approached by the lovely Natasha and Sajeeda from Whimsical Clothing, I jumped at the chance. Whimsical is a boutique of beautiful clothing designed for little girls with a stylish edge.

Natasha and I met via the Babies and Bumps group on Facebook and we had worked on a charity event together. Natasha’s clothing line was springing into life so she needed some pictures of her lovely range and reached out to me as I specialise in photographing babies and families – her target audience. I was very keen to help so we agreed on two photoshoots – one static shoot of the clothing and one using models.

I was a little out of my comfort zone for the first photoshoot. My photographic style is very candid; I love to capture people in important moments and create lasting tokens of happy days, so a static shoot of clothing was quite different to what I was used to. But as soon as I got behind my Canon 5D Mark III, it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing something different.

On the day of the shoot we tried a few different set ups and played about with the lighting using a Interfit F5 2-Head Fluorescent lighting kit. I usually use natural light so it was an exciting experience to use an additional light source. I used a trick I had recently learned where you stuff the clothes with bubble wrap to give them a three-dimensional look. This added so much depth to the photos and coupled with the extra lighting, we got some really great shots that really showed off the attention to detail and quality of the garments.

The second shoot was such a joy! The shoot was arranged at a local café called Room V in Leicester. It’s a really cool location which serves hot drinks and a variety of pastries and desserts which look (and taste) amazing! The café has long dark wall with huge windows at either end, which even on an overcast afternoon let loads of light flood in.

When I arrived, Natasha and Sajeeda were setting up and creating perfect scenes for me to shoot. They created a very cute afternoon tea scene, as well as a staged birthday party. The birthday scene, complete with an impressive unicorn cake, was extra special as one of the models, Sofia, would be celebrating her birthday the following week.

The models arrived and dressed in the stunning clothes provided by Whimsical. Natasha and Sajeeda thought of everything – they even brought matching tights and adorable little shoes for the models.

We all had a total blast! Especially the girls, they felt like real princesses in their party dresses and headbands; it was a joy to see. It was a delight to see all of the mums just as excited as the girls, as they loved seeing their babies skipping around in lovely clothes and giggling.

All in all, it was such a beautiful day and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Have a look at the pictures, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I know I’m not alone when I say I LOVE Christmas. I love everything about it; the presents, the decorations, the food – all of it!

When October comes around I start preparing. As soon as the first whiff of winter spice hits the air I snap into Christmas mode and start making plans. Present shopping always comes first, and as there’s a few of us to shop for it helps to get it sorted first.

We usually go all out for Christmas. The whole house is decorated and we have a huge tree. We have a nice bit of space so I like to have a nice big tree and make a real feature out of it. One of my favourite Christmas moments is sitting cross legged in front of it with a Christmas movie playing in the background, wrapping presents.

When the Big Day comes, we pile round my house and have a manic day together. Tonnes of food and presents flying over everyone’s heads and almost two full days spent in the kitchen!

But I quickly realised this Christmas would have to be different – I can’t do everything like I normally would as I’m five months pregnant! Eek! This year I can’t think about anything other than my pregnancy so my usual organised self hasn’t shown up. It’s like I blinked and all of a sudden, it’s Christmas and I have NO IDEA what’s going on. I tried to do all the usual things but it all takes so much longer than it used to and to be honest, I’m exhausted!

I found it quite frustrating at first; you get used to something being a certain way and then suddenly it’s all change and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. Then I felt a little kick and reminded me why we had to change, and I began to look at it completely differently. We’re going to need to have a nice small and quiet Christmas this year, because next year we’re going to have a brand new person to account for – and I can’t wait! I actually think I’ve spent longer thinking about next Christmas than I have this one.

We thought about going out for Christmas Dinner, but as most of us are vegetarian it didn’t really seem worth all that money for something that would essentially be a plate of veg! So, we decided to have a very low key and simple Christmas at home - none of the fuss, but all of the love.

My sister-in-law offered to bring the turkey and pigs in blankets for those who eat them, and we bought frozen vegetables and vegetarian food for the rest of us. This meant that with everything pretty much prepared already, we didn’t have much to do Christmas Eve so we went out to deliver some presents and see some family we hadn’t managed to catch up with yet. When we go home I started to prepare some of the fresh food, but got half way through the Brussel sprouts before I felt exhausted and let my husband Nick take over.

To be honest, the build up for Christmas didn’t feel the same as it usually does, so I half expected Christmas to feel like any other day. But when I was wide awake at 5am because I was too excited, I quickly learnt that I was still full of Christmas spirit!

While Nick and I decided to not give each other presents this year, we had been spoilt by our loved ones and I was like a kid when I was opening up my presents. Tearing off the paper was fun but so surreal as a lot of the presents were beautiful things to start our journey into parenthood and for the new baby. One of which was a hamper with some lovely food and a ‘Parent’s Emergency Kit’ with typical handbag-essentials for new mums.

My mother-in-law gave Nick a big stuffed Penguin toy that he has wanted for ages. He was so excited by it, it was like a glimpse into my future Christmases’.

Everything went to plan and it was all so easy! We had a gorgeous lunch at about 1pm then stuffed our face with chocolates during the Queen’s speech. Later in the evening, my sister and her husband came around with a Lasagne, so we continued eating and played some board games. My mum and sister beat me at Monopoly, and then Nick and my dad won Pointless. I didn’t win, but it didn’t matter, it was the perfect day.

I was shattered by the time everyone went home around midnight, but I was so full of love and happiness.

So that was my last Christmas without my own little one. It was different, but so fun – I loved every minute!

I had the pleasure of spending the morning with gorgeous Maya and her lovely parents Praveena & Nishil. Maya is an absolute bookworm so needless to say the first activity we did was reading with her grandparents. This girl has soo many books she could open her own library! Which, I have to say, I was a little jealous of!

So last week I launched my shiny new website, and shared it with you. The response I got was so amazing, thank you! As part of my launch I knew I wanted to do something a little different. Earlier this year I joined a group where I received a surprise parcel in the post. It was so lovely to receive something I wasn’t expecting! I knew I wanted to do something similar with my launch. I wanted to create something that gave the recipients the same feeling the parcel gave me.

I teamed up with local suppliers to put together a gift box with a sample of my photos and a lovely treat.

I worked with Leicester’s very own Willy Wonka; Pete Gardner of Cocoa Amore. He is an award winning chocolate connoisseur who has had the honour of making bespoke chocolates for Her Majesty the Queen.

Pete was brilliant and helped me choose the perfect chocolate box. He also introduced me to Steve at Gartree Printing- little did I know of this gem hidden away in Leicester City Centre! I was able to do all my branding at Gartree and the process was made so easy.

It’s been great to work with people who are so willing to help small businesses like mine. I look forward to working with both Pete and Steve again!

Once I gathered the components of the box I had to put them together. It doesn’t really seem too bad until you realise you have 16 boxes to assemble which may take a while. Lucky for me I had my awesome husband to give a helping hand!

Nevertheless it was so great seeing the boxes come together! Here are the finished products.

I am so excited to share my first Day in the Life photo session with you. What makes a Day in the Life session so special, you ask? Well, instead of the normal 2 hour photo session I was with this family for the whole day. I was there shooting when they woke up at silly o’clock in the morning all the way up until the kids went to bed. The best thing about this type of session? There’s very minimal posing and direction from me required, I’m just there like a fly on the wall, taking photos of the amazing and unique things that are so special to each and every family.

For my first session I was so pleased when Anu got in touch via Facebook and invited me to spend the day with the Sanghrajka family. From the moment I arrived at their gorgeous house I was smitten with witty Zaara (3) - the smartest and sassiest 3 year old I’ve met so far! I felt like we really bonded during the time I was there and gained a lovely new friend at the end of the session. I then had the pleasure of meeting the adorable Aarav (4 months) Zaara’s cute little brother who was just the perfect model. just precious!

The day was filled with everything that make the Sanghrajka unique in it’s own way; lots of games, a water fight, food, pancakes for breakfast every Saturday, dancing, storytelling, hugs for everyone, Zaara’s phase for the day, ‘most certainly’, Aarav being content with a toy and play mat, gardening with the grandparents, and of course because it was Zaara, lots of books!

One of the most touching parts of the day was seeing how close the Sangharjka family were (not only in distance) with their extended family it reminded me of my own family...Mid morning I had the pleasure of meeting Aarav and Zara’s gran and aunty&uncle who decided to declare war on the family with water pistols!

Thank you so much Anu, Chirag, Zaara & Aarav for making my first Day in the Life session so much fun & memorable.

If you’d like me to come to your house and take photos showing what makes your family unique, you can contact me here. I can’t wait to hear from you and meet your family!

This is something I wrote before I found out I was pregnant, I was always aware of most family photographers starting off with weddings and then branching out into family photography once they had children, for me. it’s my first love.



Open the doorway to our house at a time when you know family members are visiting and the chances are it’s the scent that will captivate you first. I will be most likely making my homemade pizza, or my husband will be whipping up a storm in the kitchen with whatever ingredients he has to hand (I’m one of those lucky women who married somebody who loves to cook)! 



Perhaps my mother has bought over some of her incredible vegetarian Indian food, or perhaps we’ve ordered in. Whatever is on the menu, it always comes with a side of buzzy conversation.



You see, my family is large, and like most large families there is nothing more that we love to do than gather together around great food and talk! And for me, there is nothing more precious than that. 



It’s the reason my husband and I moved back to Leicester; to be closer to our families; it’s the reason I find living with my mother- in -law is like living with my friend; it’s the reason my sisters and I are incredibly close. I consider family to be the most precious gift I could have.



And so when people ask me why I enjoy taking photographs of pregnancy, newborn babies, children and families despite not having my own yet, I always smile. The assumption is that you need to have your own children to understand truly ‘what it’s like’ to have children and then so to be able to photograph them from that place of understanding. But the reason I smile is because when I explain this, I know you will understand exactly why I love to photograph my chosen subjects more than anything else.

I might not be a mother, yet. I might not know what it’s like to feel kicks inside my stomach, or to kiss the cheek of your newborn bundle, or to run around after a cheeky toddler, or to try to coax an older child into doing what you need them to.

But here is what I do know.

I know what family love means. I know deep, family bonds that tie us together for life. I know that feeling to be eternally joined to another mind, heart, soul. I know what it’s like to laugh with someone, to share conversation that lifts and touches the heart and spirit of another. I know how to make you laugh, how to make you stop and think, how to make you smile. I know what family gatherings revolve around (fun, laughter, patience, understanding). I believe our memories are what hold us all together, and that is exactly why capturing them means so much to me.

Family is precious, our time together is often short, and our memories together are warm and full of life and laughter and ultimately, deep bonds of love. I might not know what it feels like to carry and hold the life of a little one just yet, but I do know what family love looks like; and that is exactly what I capture through my lens.

If you want to work with a photographer who captures images you will love with a true and real deep passion and understanding of the true meaning of family, contact me here. I’d love to hear from you.