The Blog

The Bluebell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air:
It's blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care

I love wild bluebells and have been photographing them for years, these bluebell woods are captivating and send me giddy with excitement. The canopy overhead affects the blooms and the range in colours.  Much later flowers this year, yet as spectacular as ever. With a carpet of blue, the beech trees allow the dappled light through to make a magnificent show.  This shoot features Maddy, the bluebells with outfits and accesories supplied by Jolly Brown Vintage and Tatty Devine.

The ever changing light dance through the leaves overhead and produce a range of completely different colours. From vibrant cold blues and greens one moment, to pretty warmer tones another.  All part of the adventure, listening to wood pidgeons as the sunlight danced creating colours, magic and life. 

Maddy's pretty curls and dip-dyed ends looked amazing with the vibrant colours.

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Model:Maddy
Styling:Hannah, Jolly Brown

Clothing & Accessories, Jolly Brown
Jewellry: Tatty Devine from Jolly Brown
Boots: Top Shop

Big thanks to Maddy and Hannah. Have you got a favourite place you love to return to over and over, perhaps at a particular time of the year? Id love to hear about it, please leave me a comment here..

Sharon Cooper is a Hitchin based Wedding and portrait photographer, who specialises in creative, emotive and fun location photography.

It was a fabulous fresh morning, the leaves were golden yellow, perfect for a family photoshoot in the Autumn glory of the spectacular Wrest Park.  We really had a fun adventure, the children - very energetic 6 and 4 year olds loved the park, a favourite place they visit. We got to explore the park fully, with the kind offer a lift from one of the park drivers, who was happy to help us. That was an adventure in itself, which I know the children will remember for a long time.  We enjoyed the beautiful brickwork of the Archer Pavillion and The Chinese Pavillion and bridge.  The children played amongst redwood trees and with fallen leaves, smiling the whole time.

The children LOVED being showered in leaves!

Plenty of Mum and Dad cuddles, such happy children, I felt honoured to spend a morning in their company!

Bridges with steps....made for running up and over!

These absolutely beautiful floral buttonholes were made for the family by the talented Basement Florist.

Flowers definately dont have to be just for girls!

Wrest Park 

Flowers by The Basement Florist 

This is just a selection of the photos taken on our shoot. If you would like to make a booking, Id love to hear from you. Please get in touch.

It was a fresh and bright Autumn afternoon at Great Ashby woods.  I'd arrived to take some photos of these two lovely boys. Their mum had booked the shoot and told me these woods were places they go for walks - often looking for 'bears', she added.  So a bear hunt we had. I really enjoyed capturing their characters and it was lovely to see the brothers enjoying the woods and open fields too (there was much running). After a while, I asked little Albie, is it a brown or a black bear we are hunting. "Blue" he announced. Shame, on this occasion none of us saw any bears, blue or otherwise! ;-)

If you'd like some fun, memorable family portraits, shot out on location, please drop me a message..

What an absolute pleasure it was to capture some special family time for this lovely family. We really had an adventure. Chris enquired about booking 'a family portrait', he added  "....I am looking to get something more interesting than bland, staged, studio shots, we are all ears for some ideas on what we can do?" Now this is music to my ears, I love this type of enquiry, so I asked him to tell me about the family and the sort of things they love doing together.  To get real emotion and happiness shining through in your photos, I love to capture things that mean the most to you. Chris told me how they love going for walks with their dear little Westie, called Abbey, and also about his sons love of cars which possibly stems from Chris's love of his Lotus Kit car.  He shared some of the lovely photos he had taken and I spotted Will's toy car! That was it I couldnt find a slot quick enough for them! It seemed just perfect for me to ask them to bring the dog and the cars to our photo shoot.  I was lucky to have Kat as assistant, as juggling a 20 month old, two cars and a dog on the sun filled, village lanes I knew might bring some challenges! As the shoot went on, I could really see the deep love between each parent and their special little boy, with all their adoring smiles and giggles.  I can tell how loved he is, so the magic moments, of which there are many, were a real delight to capture.

Little Will and Abbey both very at home exploring the woods. Delightful chasing after the pair of them, they both really did determine which path we choose!

Will is just at that stage of knowing and lovingpointing out facial features, he was adorable here, gently pointing to mummy's eyes, although he wasn't quite as delicate when it came to 'Daddy's nose'!

Will loves his little toy car, but equally its as much fun in Daddy's car, he loved the games we played when we took these!

He seemed happiest behind the wheel of Daddy's car, if you ask me!

This is a selection of the photos taken on our photo shoot, if you would like a really fun photo expericnce for your family please get in touch. 

Beautiful light dappling through Woodlands is a magnificent sight, team that with masses of bluebells at their prime and you have one breath taking backdrop for a portrait shoot. I met up with Julie who is a nature and wildlife loving pagan, having seen some of my other bluebell portraits she said 'I wish I could look like that in the bluebells'.  Of course you can, I replied, my aim is to make each shoot unique and different, to make my clients feel special, fall in love with their photos and to have a fun experience along the way.  Armed with some medieval dresses, a wedding tiara and her husband, we set off on an early morning adventure to 'Hitchwood'.  It's an area I know very well, but the three of us explored finding new areas thick with bluebells, fallen trees, timber shelters or good light.

Julie said "I was a little apprehensive about whether I'd look silly, look like I was trying to do what I thought models do, not understanding Sharon's directions and wasting her time etc. However Sharon was patient, very personable and with my husband assisting and encouraging me, my confidence emerged and we had a very enjoyable morning."

When she saw her images, Julie said, "I was amazed, my first thought was 'is that really me?!'  I could see the difference between a photo taken by someone with a decent camera and a good eye, and a photo taken by an experienced photographer who has a variety of equipment and who has the knack of putting someone at their ease enough to be the centre of attention of a photoshoot." 

I was delighted at the feedback from Julie, and her family and friends who she shared her images with, as a photographer, thats what I aim for.  But this smiling one is one of my personal favourites, because that isn't a posed smile, it's the smile of someone enjoying her photoshoot and after relaxing into the zone, realising that this isnt awkward, silly or out of place, but a memorable exciting adventure.  

I took along my lensbaby, (these above are taken with it) which isnt the easiest of lenses to use, but often the results are described as 'swimmy, magical and natural' so I thought it was a perfect choice for the beautiful blue and green setting.

I always wanted to be a fairy princess, said Julie, when I look at some of the photographs I see an 'elvish' princess, who wouldn't look out of place in Rivendell!  From a more personal point of view, I have looked at photos of me from the dim and distant past which portray a different person, a very thin and deluded person, and thought I could never be comfortable in another photoshoot now I have rehabilitated into a healthy size 14-16 38 year old.  However Sharon's work in one morning has instilled more self confidence in me than I ever thought possible, helping me see that to create a beautiful photograph you do not need lashings of make up and tons of airbrushing.  My album of beautiful photographs is just one of many things I have to thank Sharon for.

I've photographed in these poppy fields many times, but to have this shoot with Tianna was just delightful.  The poppies seemed refreshed by some recent light rain, the light was strong yet the sky was dramatic. Tianna enjoyed spinning, dancing and being amongst the fields.  As we approached the sea of red, her face was a picture. She couldnt believe the signt of the field, hidden off a dull looking pathway through an industriel site. The late afternoon light was a joy to shoot in. I used a little  bit of help from my reflector in just a couple of shots, these are almost entirely natural light. Tianna's mother was overjoyed with the results and said she just couldnt stop looking at them. I know the adventrue we had during the shoot will be a memory that will stay with this dear little 8 year old for a very long time. I have maintained a genuine love for portraiture and am truly passionate about producing images that will be loved and cherished by my clients.

All feedback welcome, and if you'd like to book a magical photoshoot, please get in touch.