Father's Day is just around the corner, June the 16th to be exact and if you have a dad to buy for then you'll know that dads are the hardest people to buy for, men, in general, are a nightmare, the field of gifts seems much more restrictive and let's be honest, dads rarely ask for very much.  If your dad is an outdoor dad, one who loves his garden or is king of the BBQ or just relaxing in the great outdoors, then my gift guide is the one for you.  (This gift guide contains gifted products and affiliate links)

1. If dad is a gardener and needs some decent gardening gloves then I cannot recommend these clip gloves from Treadstone highly enough, they're amazing for lifting pots, you can't lose them as long as you clip them together and they're thick enough to protect your hands, they're also adjustable at the wrist for the more slender wristed wearer.

2. Pail of Ale from Best of British BeerFor the most part, beers always go down well with dads, especially if you can sit in the garden and enjoy them, you can also use the bucket for ice and then afterwards, maybe drill a hole in the bottom and pop a plant it in, I love gifts you can repurpose.

3.  If dad is a dog dad then these PetWeighter Bowls are absolutely perfect Holly Bobbins absolutely loves hers, they make the food easier to digest because she's not having to bend down so far, the bottoms can be filled with water or sand so that they don't move whilst your pup is eating and because she's not having to bend down, she's had fewer incidents of gravy ears, every floppy eared dog owner knows only too well about gravy ears!

4. Gift set from Cranes Cider Dad doesn't like beer?  no problem, Cranes have you sorted with this delicious and summer trio of ciders and a beautiful gift, imagine the sunshine and relaxation as dad sits in his own personal haven whilst sipping on this cider straight from the Gods...

 5. The Lechuza Balconera - this pot makes the perfect balcony or window box, I have mine with some alpines in it and due to its design it's made to store water so you have to worry about watering much less often, and that's essential for your pots during the summer, I chose to put mine outside of my back door and it's perfect, my alpine collection is very very happy.

6. RHS 50 plants you can't kill Not all dads are Monty Don, so if yours is just a beginner at gardening or if he doesn't know who Alan Titchmarsh is then this is probably the first book you should gift in his gardening journey, I bought this one for my best friend to try and encourage her, it hasn't worked as yet and still has a ribbon around it so far as I know but I'm forever holding out hope!

7. Pit Pat exercise tracker for dogs - if your beagle isn't quite reaching her potential or watching their weight then this exercise tracker for your pooch will help a lot, just pop in the perfect weight and their weight now plus breed and other magic things and you'll get your own personalised plan, we still have a way to go with reaching Holly's perfect weight but she's had a few health concerns, I do know however that we'll get there and it's a lot down to this as it tells us when she's done enough to be able to go home for a nap and if you know Holly, you'll know sleeping is her favourite and her best.

8.  Sock Subscription from Society Socks - I know it's a cliche but dads do tend to ask for socks and so why not get them socks with a purpose, for every sock subscription taken out they donate 2 pairs of socks and I personally am 100% behind any business with philanthropy at the heart.

Let's hear it for the dad's

It may have escaped your attention but it's Fathers Day on Sunday and if you still haven't found the perfect gift well let me be the one to help.  I find that men are the hardest people to buy for, most dads, well you ask them what they want and they say either very little or just tell you not to buy anything for them.

Let me start by mentioning the lovely people at Hallmark who pretty much furnished my children, my friends and their friends with Fathers Day cards, they sent a truly splendid selection as well of their very cute Superhero Itty Bitty's which are now furnishing my desk, it's pretty well known that I love Superman but The Flash is my favourite because he's the only Superhero faster than Superman and he can phase and he can travel in time!!  That's my chosen superpower if ever I get the choice!! 

Other than Superheroes something that a lot of men like (if the dating profiles I read are anything to go by ;) ) is travel and what popped up in my email box this morning?  Yes the lovely folks at Lonely Planet are having a 45% off sale until Sunday, I've already spent way too much (I have about 20 and another 4 on the way) I reckon there's lots of dad pleasers in there and I think it's something he wouldn't necessarily expect to receive so do go check out the Lonely Planet 45% off Sale

Now I wouldn't a photographer if I didn't suggest that maybe, just maybe, you could purchase a gift certificate for fathers day, hey, it's the gift that keeps on giving and you get to be in the photos too, and you know you should always buy gifts you'd love to receive yourself so if you want to make everyone happy, why not buy an all inclusive mini session voucher for just £100  and then bag yourself some gorgeous photos with the people you love.

Now I've had a skirt around the internet and come back to my old friend lastminute.com and they have all kinds of experiences and breaks you could purchase for the man of the moment, sounds like a plan to me, why not go the whole hog and book yourself a sunshiny mini break to somewhere exotic or, well you know, Scotland is lovely at this time of year!!

Hopefully, my little last minute gift guide has helped you to come up with some interesting and unusual ideas to keep the dads in your life happy.  You know, dads are amazing, Abigail and Looby's dad is brilliant, he single-handedly has Abigail living with him 24-7 (barring the times she's at my house) and it can't be easy being a man parenting a teenage girl, I have total respect for him for that, we all make compromises for our kids and I have no doubt in my mind that he's doing a brilliant job, Abigail is a shining example of that so even though we're no longer together I truly want to say, let's hear it for the dads, the single ones, the married ones, the one's who co-parent, the ones who don't get to see their children enough, we make such a massive fuss of Mother's Day and yet Father's Day always seems a much more muted affair, it could, of course, be that we don't celebrate it in my house but I think dad's, on the whole, are just as brilliant as mum's and so they deserve their own special day in the sun being pampered and showered with recognition for the great jobs they do.

10 Fathers Day Presents To Make Dad's Day

It's Fathers Day on Sunday, the annual celebrations of the wonder that dad is and with that in mind I have a few nifty gifts you could get even the most hard to buy for papa to say thanks for all of the lifts, the cash advances, the DIY emergencies, the camping expertise, yes the best dads provide all of these as their specialist subjects so here without further ado is my guide to 10 Fathers Day presents to make dads day.

1. The Outwell Cazal Fire pit - I have a fire pit in my garden and I absolutely love it but you know what the average dad loves?  BBQing and a fire pit is such a great purchase, one, it keeps you warm on evenings spent in your garden and 2 it doubles up as a BBQ with a huge cooking surface, we use ours two or 3 times a week.

2. A photo shoot that's all about dad, I couldn't write this article without suggesting a photo shoot, I sell vouchers you can happily print and present to dad on Sunday and then at a later date plan your fabulous family photo shoot, it's the gift that keeps on giving and they do say you should buy gifts that you would want to receive yourself, to purchase an E-Voucher from just £30 please Email Me

3. If you're dad is a funky dude you might want to treat him to my personal favourite thing, cherry red Dr Martens, I find that men are the worst about replacing shoes and when they do they grab the first thing they see, why not treat dad to something he can wear for years or of course, you could just buy them for yourself.  Abigail actually has these boots and in my humble opinion they're just as fab for daughters as they are for dads.

4. If there's one constant in the life of dad it's the need for socks, whilst we women can get away barefoot for most occasions I'm always a little worried when I see men wearing shoes without socks, take note men, barefoot with flip flops or plimsoles is all very well and good but never, just never wear leather shoes without socks, think of the sweaty toes, get yourself to Happy Socks and buy some footwear to make your feet delighted.

5. Why not get dad an Audible subscription, I was talking to Iain about writing this guide and this was his suggestion, I used to use Audible but I prefer music to audio books, I did however used to love David Tennant reading the Doctor Who books because it was like having the doctor in your ears and almost as good as watching him on TV, I'm sure (and so is Iain) that this will be one present which only costs a little every month and will keep dad happy for a very long time as he gets a new book every month for just £7.99

6. Have a dad who loves playing sport?  I've bought 2 pairs of Karrimor run trainers in the last week at ridiculously bargain prices so you can be assured that Sports Direct have something for all pockets, some great ways to show dad how much you love him (Karrimor Run is my favourite brand for running and walking and they have enormous savings).

7.  If dad has his own specialist subject then why not get him a magazine subscription, this is another gift that will keep on giving and it's quite a low monthly cost so if you're budget is a shoestring then this might be the gift for you.

8. Ok so you've got no money but you want something exclusive so why not be creative, maybe make up a box of goodies and include this fabulous Harrods Pen, it's only £5.95 but if you popped it in a gift box with some chocolates and his favourite tipple you might just find he thinks you're the best child in the world.

9. Now it may not be applicable to all the men folk but generally in my experience I've found that the males of the species love nothing more than a good beer or some chocolate so why not put the two things together and get your father a beer chocolate hamper from Hotel Chocolat

10. Those lovely people at Marks and Spencer have an awesome offer, you get shorts, shirt and Fathers Day card for only £19.50, now that's something to fit everyones budget.

Disclaimer, I use affiliate marketing as a method to facilitate the feeding of my children however all of these products have been personally chosen by me to save you time with your Fathers Day gift purchasing.

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5 Great reasons to have some family photos with Newcastle Photographer Mandy Charlton

It's that time of year isn't it?  The relaxed living of summer is nearly upon us, the winding down, the adventures, the promise of sunshine to come.

Each year for one week only I have a wee voucher sale, it always goes down so well as my lovely clients buy them for their future sessions in Autumn when it's the peak photography season, they buy them for presents or they just want some glorious summer portraits on the beach, in the park and of course they make the perfect gift for Fathers Day.

So all you need to do is email me and then I will invoice you for £25 instead of the usual £40 session cost, you're basically getting a 1 hour session at either Jesmond Dene, Saltwell Park, Leazes Park, Heaton Park, Tynemouth Longsands and many other places, my rule is that as long as it's within those kind of boundaries and easy for me to get to I will come and photograph you there, please check first if it's somewhere random as there might be a little extra for travel.  You get a web gallery for 30 days, you get 15% off all of your orders placed in the first 7 days (with further print prices starting at just £10 for a 7x5, £13 for a 10x8 and £15 for a 12x8) and you also get a complimentary 12x8 print.  Lets just think about that for a moment, that's one pretty fantastic offer and it's no surprise that these vouchers went down a storm last year.

I do need a little help on Facebook though, if you see the above photo (and it's on Facebook now) please share this post with your friends and family, Facebook won't permit me to ask you to do that without disappearing me but I can do it on my blog ;)

There are so many reasons to do this here's just 5 of them - 

1. You want portraits of your family, beautiful relaxed moments you can remember forever
2. Your granny wants to have portraits of her great grandchildren
3. Your dad is never in photographs, give him a voucher for Fathers Day and he can't refuse
4. Your mum lives in France/America/Australia/Bognor Regis and would love new family portraits of you all
5. You think you might be famous one day and you might need some photos to send to the newspapers

Well you never know now do you?  But that's at least 5 great reasons to have some gorgeous family photos or maybe you just want me to sing my award winning (in my head) rendition of Wind the Bobbin Up, seriously, it's a future album release just waiting to happen!

There's also the reason of course that you'll just get some beautiful moments captured that you can pop on your walls and in frames and stare at lovingly until this time next year when you can do it all again!

Have a wonderful day and if you'd like a voucher just hit that email button

For The Love of Dad, Fathers Day Mini Sessions available now

Every year for the last couple of years I've offered a day of Mothers Day mini sessions and it's always been really well subscribed to and lots of happy families have captured moments celebrating the relationships they have with mum.

I think though that we don't take enough time to celebrate the love of dads.  I mean every little girl adores her daddy, he's the constant in her life, always looking after her, giving advice, protecting her until that fateful day when he gives her away on her wedding day, this of course doesn't end the relationship, daughters always have a special affection for their daddies no matter at what stage they are in their lives and when dad becomes a granddad it's an even more special relationship, Granddads are special fun filled people, you can get away with anything as long as you smile at granddad, they're often the ones who sneakily give you sweeties when mums not watching even though she's told you that you can't have them or you'll spoil your dinner.  Granddads are their for game playing, tree climbing, swing pushing, and generally acting the same age as the kids,  embarrassing grandmas, and of course we wouldn't have it any other way.

So I'm going to be celebrating dads this week on my Facebook page and on June 20th I will be in Jesmond Dene offering mini sessions from 10am - 2pm so you can celebrate the dad or grandad in your life.  Mini Sessions are only £25 and include a 7x5 print, web gallery for 30 days and 15% off for the first week your gallery is live.

Early booking is advisable as these special mini session days always seem to sell out very quickly and  so all you need to do is email me with your preferred session time and lets capture images which sum up the love we have for our dads and granddads.

Mini Sessions are Photo Shoots for any Occasion

Being a Newcastle Photographer I've been photographing mini sessions since October 2012 when I first formulated the idea that it's just the perfect length of time to have a photo shoot when you have little ones, quite often they get bored with longer sessions although I do quite like an hours session when I can just observe the moments and families having fun.  I try to incorporate that a little into the 30 minute sessions now but mainly 30 minute sessions are for proper portraits, the ones you hang on your walls, the ones mums, grannies and aunties request time and time again.  With Fathers Day just around the corner maybe you could use one to celebrate the amazing relationships that dads have with their little ones?

Mini sessions are usually held at Saltwell Park, Jesmond Dene, Tynemouth Longsands and also Heaton Park/Armstrong Park if that's your preference, they're only £25 and you get a complimentary 7x5 print, web gallery for 30 days and 15% off all of the prints for the first 7 days your gallery is live. Further prints start at just £10 for a 7x5, £13 for a 10x8 and £15 for a 12x8, you can book now by emailing me, I have availability on most weekends throughout the next month so just let me know your preference of location and I'll tell you when I'm next there.

I adore this image with mum just helping to steady her little one, he was sitting up unaided for tiny amounts of time but I think sometimes we all need a hand in life to keep us steady don't we?

Blazing sunshine on a summers day, it really doesn't matter though of course my preference is early morning or late afternoon/evening in summer, I can do mid-day on the beach though if that's what you want, this image above was shot on the sunniest day at Tynemouth so far this year, it was a day when it was hard to believe we were actually in the UK, I do hope there's lots of that kind of weather about this year.

The great thing about mini sessions is that I meet babies, toddlers, older kids, families, couples, it's simply photography for all occasions and you can even treat a friend to one, I offer gift certificates and they make a great gift for weddings, birthdays, christenings, engagements.

I have lots of clients who come back year upon year, sometimes more than once a year and that's my favourite thing about being a photographer, I love seeing the kids growing up, I love how they get to know me and often greet me with big hugs and high fives, it's so lovely when your clients become your friends, i've shared in so many special moments over nearly 10 years and I must have now photographed thousands of happy kids.  Parents sometimes apologise because their little ones might be having moments, one lady confided that she thought I only ever photographed well behaved always smiling children but it's simply not true, I photograph kids exactly as they are, I know there are walls out there with kids having tantrums and huffs on them, I love those photos too because they're real.  Usually though I manage to coax smiles and laughter, I remember one session where I spent most of the 30 minutes with a dinosaur on my head.  I also had finger puppets for a while until they mysteriously ended up going home with a little one, sometimes I bring sweeties or chocolate because parents if you're reading this, chocolate is great for bribery and jaffa cakes make little to no mess, seriously, when I used to have a studio I would bribe the kids with jaffa cakes because they're not messy!

I guess it takes years to know all of these things, I guess the fun of it is in the learning, you also have to be aware that when you work with kids and animals anything can happen and if it does, well sometimes you have to just roll with it, in one session recently a little girl got stung by nettles, stood in dog poo and then to top it all she had a bird fly overhead and poop all over her pretty dress and that was all in the space of about 15 minutes!  Thankfully we'd got lots of great stuff like this image above before the series of unfortunate events began.

On many occasions people get in touch to ask if they can bring along their family pets and like this image above shows I adore meeting dogs and especially puppies, they're much the same as kids I think and just as easy to bribe, I've shot many images with dogs and kids together and they're always very special and you know what, I think it's sometimes easier to photograph kids with pets than it is just with the child or the pet.  If you want to have a photo shoot at Tynemouth during summer and you have a dog please get in touch and we can arrange to do it at the dog friendly end of the beach, only half of Tynemouth Longsands is closed to dogs between May-September, I thank God and the Universe that the other half is still accessible because of course my very own beagle puppy, Holly, loves the beach and I think there are so many beaches we as dog owners can't go on from May - September, such a shame when the reality is that most dog owners and their dogs are cleaner and more responsible than some non dog owners, haha!

If you would like to come down to the beach or the park and have a 30 minute session of fun and smiles and laughter and bribery by chocolate (the kids, just the kids) you can book a sunny spring or summer session today by emailing, visiting my website or contacting me through my facebook page, I have sessions booked in already right the way up until the middle of August and if anything it's great to get them booked in early so that I can arrange my summer holidays around them.

Harrison Ford and the attack of the Millennium Falcon

News has reached me this morning that there's been a road traffic accident involving Star Wars space ship Millennium Falcon and Han Solo, yes that's right, apparently Harrison Ford was taken to hospital after the Millennium Falcon ran over his ankle, the irony is of course that he was airlifted to the nearby hospital in Oxford, well surely he could have just flown in the Millennium Falcon?  Producers have said it won't stop filming, well erm, you'd hope so, breaking your ankle wasn't a national emergency the last time I checked!

The Passport crisis is still rumbling on with the Daily Mail pointing out that while this crisis is ongoing our politicians are out partying with Angelina Jolie and the like, now I know they're looking to solve the crisis but I don't think there was ever a suggestion that David Cameron et al would actually be sent on work experience to the passport office to clear the backlog.

Yes it's Friday dear reader and spirits are high, Fathers Day on Sunday and have I actually organised anything yet?  Well I did offer to take himself out for a nice Sunday Lunch at Piccolino but he quickly reminded me that there was no need to celebrate his fabulous dad status, I'll remind him of that on Sunday when he asks what we're doing that day.

he is lovely though and he really is an amazing dad and husband, I really couldn't do all the travel and have the career I have without his love and support behind me.

I love this face too, this is about the 3 billionth photo of Petunia I've shared since she came into our lives last weekend, she's a lovely pampered poppet now, hoping to put the awful past she's had firmly behind her.

Last photo I have to share today is this adorable little one and his mummy on the beach at Tynemouth Longsands, if you would like to book a lovely relaxed summer kids or family photo shoot on the beach or in the park please get in touch by email or my website and please book in advance so I can get you in my schedule as I'll be away on lots of occasions for the UK Cityscapes Project and other travel blogging assignments.  Speaking of UK Cityscapes, you can now pre-order yourself a digital copy of the book or an actual hard copy directly from my blog, just look at the top of the page on the right and you'll be taken to a checkout page, digital copies are £5 and the hard copy which will contain at least 69 images from all of the cities in the UK is £30 and they'll make Christmas presents as the book "Postcards from the City" is due for release in Autumn 2015.

Have a wonderful weekend, I hope the sun shines from you and don't forget to celebrate the dad in your life, they are pretty awesome after all!

Alnwick Gardens for Fathers day

Where else could we spend the day with our dad of the year, mr gardener himself, my gorgeous hubby!!

I love Alnwick garden and even better, Paul got in free because he was a dad!! Here's some photos from our day!!




SNAP!!




Don't you just love Loobys hat?




She sniffed nearly every single flower in the walled gardens!



Awww, isn't dad the best!!



Iain getting splashy!!




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Lovely Lupins!



The magnificent tree house!



Serious water play!




In the water fountains all three of them went and look how wet they are!



Soggy!!

Finally, I love this one



and this one!!




Happy Fathers Day!