May’s last sun set over the shire here this evening on yet another Bank Holiday Monday; this month is full of the things. Note, you’ll find zero complaints about that here, not least the abundance of sun soaked warmth or tan lines today.

May marked a return to education sector commissions for me and, with huge glee, I got to spend some time with the small folk over at Old Dairy Farm Nursery. I’ve missed the energy of little humans and look forward to more of their honesty and authenticity over the summer commissions.

It’s a kind of photography which demands real patience yet also some pace. Attention spans are short at pre-school age and I don’t have a wide open window of opportunity to capture them. With the three year olds, we often end up talking complete nonsense & I love every second of it!  A recent example would be the imagining of how it would be if it were to be ‘raining breakfast rather than raindrops’ … like with sausages and cornflakes tumbling from the skies and floppy, great pancake clouds. They guffawed at the notion. We guffawed at the notion!

My aim when I photograph this age group is always to capture the essence of a child in front of the camera. I never force a smile, there are no awkward poses or faces, just the child, on that day, as they are, so the results are genuine and timeless portraits.

I’m sensitive to their needs and insist that they experience only the gentlest of sessions at such a tender age. I stand by this. I won’t trample over their emotions as me, often a complete stranger to them, points a lens towards them. Inevitably, it does occasionally happen that a child is simply not having a great day and when this is the case, I prefer not to be responsible for traumatising them further. Heck no to that, it’s not worth it just for a picture. There aren’t many occasions when a parent doesn’t receive a picture but I do reserve the right not to cause a child distress unnecessarily.

We photographed over 4 days at Old Dairy Farm, a simple one classroom per day early a.m. slot – to maximise on the morning energy and clean faces and outfits! We only had to recapture one portrait. For a little boy who had just been out of sorts on the first opportunity.

Parents have the option to purchase either simple matte prints, beautiful fine art paper prints either framed or card-backed or in combination plus with digital photo images also available.

I’ve availability for school & nursery sessions going forwards and can photograph either indoors or outside with both black and white plus colour portrait options.

And in other news, where are we? Well, provisionally planning winter ’21 over at Wylds Farm Christmas Trees, with my favourite elvish folks in the shire, who pulled a rabbit out the hat last year to be sure, what with the impossibly uncertain circumstances. All the photography on their website I have captured over the years and it’s been a total pleasure to do so.

Coordinating a shoot with a couple expecting their first child and selecting framed print options to show their photography once captured.

Booking in an author who has recently published her first book which I’m excited to get to read soon. The Thriving Giver by Sarah Kuypers is its title and it’s primarily yet not exclusively destined for health providers.

I’m being inspired by plenty outside of work. Here is a reasonably short list of a few recent preoccupations! …

• Bentley Rhythm Ace or BRA back catalogue as a blast from my musical past
• Kombucha and its gut health benefits. Though it stinks out the utility room a little. Oops
• Transactional Analysis & the light it shines on human communication as part of my recent training in Humanistic Counselling
• Growing a menagerie of house plants and rehoming a portion of them as time passes and available surfaces run out!
• Dr Pippa Grange and her book How to Win at Life without Losing Yourself.