It's a bit of a bonkers world isn't it dear reader and I may have been accused of being a slightly eccentric member of this population we have called humanity but that's ok, nothing wrong with being different!!

I guess I'd always been intrigued by the differences in cameras and there's been vast improvements in the quality of the images the humble iPhone is capable of putting out.

I was so flattered at the number of people who offered to entrust their children to have a portrait session with an iPhone and in the end I couldn't thank Samantha of North East Family Fun enough for letting me borrow her children.

The first and most noticeable difference and you might be able to see it on this photo above is the lack of depth of field, the iPhone 6 camera boasts an f2.2 lens but in reality if you were shooting with the same aperture lens on a professional camera you would notice depth of field straight away and without question.

To demonstrate, this below photo was shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and the 35mm f1.4 lens at around f1.8

For the most part though the average parent probably won't care about that, they just want a pocket camera to capture the moments of their childrens lives and I'm very much the same, I always have my phone with me and I'm always snapping Instagrams through my day.

I'm going to compile some tips and tricks for parents over the next few days so you can make the most of your pocket camera or phone and I think we may even get together for an hour in the park, if you would be interested in a quick course of how to get more from your camera do let me know and we can get that set up.

I'm going to cover this more in future blog posts but I do love the selfie stick, not for selfies though, I just love it for being able to take the camera on your phone places where it previously couldn't go and places where it's significantly more difficult to get your professional camera (without extra equipment).

again, these 2 portraits I love albeit without the kind of depth of field I love but I'd print them, I'd have them on my walls or in a photo book.

Now then, something else I need to mention is the burst mode on the iPhone 6 camera, to take 10 frames per second with no real buffer is quite astonishing and the results are pretty good, well they are sometimes, again it's not going to equal what you can do with a professional camera but I love the movement in this one, it's one of those moments of childhood and this little one really was jumping up and down very quickly.  If I'd just captured this of my child when we were just out playing I would be delighted.

Again, all of these shots were iPhone in burst mode and I would be a happy parent to have captured these precious moments of childhood and you know, that is what it's about, I think as a photographer and a mum that you should have a portrait session every year, take the kids to places they love and have natural photos but as a parent you should be capturing those moments every day, not portraits, not smiley looking at the camera photos but the actual moments of their lives just doing things.

and so onto my beloved Xpro 1 and yes you can see the difference and I certainly don't intend to throw away my professional cameras...

The Xpro1 is capable of 6 frames a second and honestly that's quite enough for me and the average 3 year old, I also love the colours that my camera gives me, it's a beautiful wonderful thing I don't appreciate enough.

For the most part as a parent though I'll be so happy to carry around an iPhone 6 in my pocket for any moments that come up and I'll print them and I'll put them in frames mixed in with professional photographs, they all make up the rich canvas of life after all.

One thing I would say is that I hate editing photos on an iPhone, it's the screen which makes everything look better on an iPhone and then you see the images on a calibrated Mac and it's just yeuch.  I edited all of these images using Lightroom and Photoshop and I don't intend to stop that any time soon though I would say that the VSCO Cam app for iPhone/iPad is pretty good and I've also heard great things about Snapseed although I wasn't a huge fan, they tend to be the apps recommended by professional photographers though.

So go out there today into the spring sunshine and capture the moments of your childrens lives, it doesn't matter what kind of camera you have, just capture those precious moments because I can tell you as the mum of a pre-teen and 2 stroppy teens, they pass within the blink of an eye.

Kids Photography in Newcastle by Mandy Charlton

So you want to have your kids photographed and you live in Newcastle, I guess I'd like to tell you why you should pick me kids photographer newcastle to do that very task?

Well I have over 7 years of experience and photograph up to 20 sessions every week, 95% of which include kids.

I adore children, have 3 of my own and I think you can't have a bad day when you get to spend your days with little people.

At the last count I'd won over 100 worldwide awards (you can see some of them on Pixoto) for weddings and portraiture.

Whilst I'm not an egotist, far from it in fact (it took me 2 years after starting my business to even be able to say out loud that I was a photographer because I thought people would say "OMG, your stuff is awful) I do think I'm really very good at capturing kids in a natural happy way, whether that be at a 30 minute mini session or a 1 hour portrait session at home or on location.

I think there are a lot of people who photograph children but would you believe me if I said that some of them don't even like kids, I once heard someone say that Children brought him out in a rash and yet they've set themselves up as a childrens photographer.  I'm pretty sure the kids will suss this out, I give them credit for being a lot cleverer than some big people dear reader.  It does really upset me when people who don't like children photograph them, I truly love what I do and I think it shows, I have ended up with so many little adopted nieces and nephews and I love that some of my little clients I've photographed since they were mere bumps and now they're nearly big little people.

I actually can't imagine not photographing kids, I'd be a much less happy person.

And so here's what I've been up to and I think you'll see my love for what I do through these images.

I photographed 10 month old twins this week, there's a double handful of fun, you definitely can't pose them at this age, you just have to sort of wait until they do what you'd like them to do, in this case sit together.

Gosh I adore this furry coat and hat combo, it's a whole bundle of cuteness

a little client who is over here visiting from the US, I think without a doubt every day should have a happy dancing moment!

beautiful, even photo shoots in the home result in quite special images, by the time I left yesterday I had the biggest hugs and she'd even learned to say Mandy which was a bit of a heart melter.

behind the scenes, Looby often comes along to help at photo shoots, here she's looking after clients doggies while I take a photo of the family sans dogs

I love the challenge of shooting in unusual places, this weekend I shot a whole family portrait session at Riding Mill station, it's actually a really beautiful old station and there are plenty of places to get gorgeous photos

This one was in Jesmond Dene, I think another couple of weeks and it'll be beautifully green and leafy again.

If you would like to book a mini session (£20) or a portrait session either at home or location (from £40 per hour) please do get in touch either by email or my facebook business page or my website and no matter what happens please don't accept cheaper imitations.

Have a wonderful Easter and I'll be back again next week with previews of this weekends 10 Easter mini sessions in Saltwell Park (now sadly all sold out but I am booking for 7th of April in Jesmond Dene, morning sessions all gone but afternoons remaining) and weddings at Horton Grange and Jesmond Dene House Hotel

beautiful babies, gorgeous girls and brilliant boys - photographer newcastle

It's been another wonderful week in my little world full of amazing families with lovely smiling and sometimes charmingly cheeky children.

Here's what I've been up to in photographs.

These photos were all taken at mini sessions in Jesmond Dene, Saltwell Park or on the beach at Tynemouth Longsands.

On Saturday 17th of November I will be holding my only pre-christmas day of studio mini sessions so if you are desperate to have a studio feel to your photos get yourself booked in, just email me to book onto one.

On Sunday 18th of November I will be in Saltwell Park

On Saturday 24th of November I will be in Jesmond Dene

On Sunday 25th of November I will be in Saltwell Park

On Saturday 1st of December I will be on the beach at Tynemouth Longsands

all sessions are 30 minutes in length and cost £20 which includes a 7x5 print, a web gallery for 30 days and 15% off if you place an order in the first week.

These sessions tend to book up quite quickly but I regularly post updates about availability on my Facebook Business Page and you can book onto one of the sessions on via my page.

natural, fun portraits of kids in the outdoors, North East England

Here's the thing, yes you can book a studio shoot with me, I'd be only too happy, in fact I have a studio portrait day coming up on 17th of November with limited availability remaining.  I do love studio photography during winter and in certain circumstances but I love the outdoors with kids, I love lifestyle portraits of little people having fun, you take them to their favourite places, you get better photographs.

Being a North East Photographer I'm blessed that I live in an area surrounded by so many gorgeous places like Jesmond Dene, the beach at Tynemouth, Leazes park, saltwell park, heaton park, Armstrong Park, all those places are pretty much 20 minutes away from me at most and I love spending time outdoors, take Saturday, at one point there was sideways sleet, not great for cameras but the light was wonderful and the sleet looks pretty on the photos.

If you are looking to arrange a 30 minute mini session (£20 inc a 7x5) or a 60 minute session (£40 inc a 12x8) I have some availability, Tomorrow in Jesmond Dene I have availability at 1pm, 1.30pm and 2pm

On Saturday I have availability between 9.30am and noon in Jesmond Dene (the rest of the day is booked)

On Sunday I have availabilty for Tynemouth Longsands, this was only announced late yesterday and a couple of sessions are already booked, I have availability between 11.30am and 1.30pm remaining.

Should you wish to book on one of the sessions you can email me, tweet me, Facebook me or even click through to my website and then you could get lovely photos just like these ones...

Cute Kids, Bouncing Babies and Terrific Toddlers

January has been a busy month down at the studio, I love my job so much, I get to spend time with the loveliest people in the world so as ever here's just a few previews of who's been down in the studio having fun.

Emily brought her cousin along with her, would you believe that I've now photographed Emily's mum and dad 6 times and with the arrival of Emilys little brother or sister it can't be too long before I get to do it all again!!

now look at this little poppet, he was born 4 weeks ago and really isn't so keen on being photographed or being naked for that matter but he's such a cutie

and look at his big sisters, they are so gorgeous and funny

aww, they really love their little brother

and this little 11 month old, well she tootled and she tottered around the studio just doing her own thing, we got tons of photos of her and her big sister and what a pleasure it was to photograph them

So thanks to all the little lovely people who've made work the funnest place to be over the last couple of weeks, if you want a portrait shoot for your poppets if you do it in February you can do it half price, yes only £20 for the session instead of £40 so take advantage because at this price the studio sessions usually fill up fast!

On a totally unconnected matter don't forget you can book your 2012/2013 wedding at 2011 prices if you book before February 1st 2012, dates are now filling quite fast  but I still have some availability so why not contact me through my website and come see me at the studio