1. By moving out of the studio and into the garden, we benefit from the injection of colour from the beautiful spring flowers, but the wide open spaces give the children (and, therefore, me!) more scope to run around and it can be quite exhausting to pin them down. Toys offered a welcome distraction and we had most success with toys and objects that were new to them, such as the croquet hoops.

2. Daniel has just come out of a stage of not wanting to be photographed and, thanks to years of coaxing by his mum, now wants to say, “Cheese!” at every opportunity. The key here was to give him time to relax and start playing, and try to catch him unawares.

3. Elena, on the other hand, is the most serious-looking two-year-old I’ve ever met! Although we did get her to smile in the end, Mum was more than happy with the serious shots. Catherine told me, “These photos sum her up perfectly and when I look at them I see echoes of me at the same age and also my late mother and grandmother.”

Whether they’re overly serious or too obliging with the cheesy grins, it’s a real pleasure to photograph kids with character and we’re already planning the next shoot!

He was such a good boy.  All that water and not a tear!

Congratulations to his parents Becky and Gavin for a lovely day.

Get the children involved with photography projects this summer whether you are going away or not. Encourage them to look at the world a little differently, see things from unusual angles, notice patterns and experiment with cameras as much as they like. The great thing about digital photography is that it is instant which kids love.

Keep a photo diary for a day
Spend a day taking photos of interesting things they see during the day. This can be anything from having breakfast to Dad washing the car. Encourage them to use photojournalist skills by organising the photos in a diary, writing captions under the photos and even include their own drawings and funny comments.

A day in the life of their pet
Similar to the above but this time they get down to the level of the pet to learn what their pet sees (if you saw Jonathan Ross you will remember he put a camera around his dog’s neck for the day and then laughed because he had lots of photos of his other dogs’ bums)!  Kids will of course think this is hysterical.

Mystery Photos
Take close-up photos of ordinary objects and then ask friends and family to guess what they are.

Photo Puzzle
Glue photos onto cardboard, cut the picture into pieces, and create a personalised puzzle.

Create stories and slideshows with toys such as Lego people
This takes a little practice and you might have to help to start with but it can fill a whole morning or afternoon and by snapping the figures close-up they can make them look huge or scary.

Collections
Coins, shells, toys, anything that they collect or start a virtual collection of number-plates, silly signposts or flowers that are only pink in colour.

Photograph a bean growing
These grow quite a bit each day in a jam jar with blotting paper so even flicking through the photos on the back of the camera will be quite satisfying. They might need to keep one card aside for the exercise if they are taking photos of other things too.

Gurning – face pulling competition
Basic I know, but always a winner with children especially if Grandad takes his teeth out!

Macro – bugs
On many digital cameras there is a macro setting (it is usually a symbol of a flower). This allows them to go in closer and hopefully get some good photos of slugs and snails. Tell them to avoid bees for obvious reasons.

Make Christmas presents now – mugs, mousemats, keyrings
There are so many sites that offer these facilities at really good prices. If they get a good picture then use it to make presents for family and friends. I have seen a Christmas bauble on a website too which might be fun.

Fashion show
One for the girls perhaps. They can co-ordinate clothes and hairstyles so that they can refer to them when they go out.

Create a website for themselves or a friend

You can create a website for free with added games and space for photo albums. We made one for my daughter’s 16th birthday and asked people to write messages in advance. She loved it. Depending on how old your children are you can allow them to be in control of the admin or keep hold of that yourself. The only people who see the site will be the ones you invite to join it.

Bring the family for a photo session while you are tanned and relaxed
Holidays are a great time for getting family photos particularly as you can usually find someone to take the photo so you are in it too. However, if you would like a professional photo of all of you looking good, why not give me a ring on 01628 673948 and arrange a photo session. This could be in the studio or we could go to a location of your choice to take advantage of the good weather. I would love to hear from you.

These two are my favourites … You can find the rest of the images here.

Last week I spent a couple of days in Cornwall and had a chance to meet my nephew for the first time. Although he was about to go to bed and the light was fading fast I managed to grab a few shots of this gorgeous boy. I am sure his parents won’t mind me saying that their garden is less than landscaped so finding an uncluttered background was tricky. I got around this by throwing the background out of focus which also drew attention to his cute face. Plus, keeping Max in one place wasn’t easy either. I spotted the cardbox box and popped him in it. Turning the image antique sepia gives it a timeless feel and also disguises the fact that the box was bright yellow which clashed with his babygrow!