A family portrait is a great present, especially for mums so when Andrew told me that plans were afoot to get a great portrait done for mums 50th I had to help even though I only had 2 days notice, sometimes of course the last minute bookings turn out to be the most fun and this certainly was the case with Andrew and his family, he brought along his 2 brothers, his sister and his super cute niece and we just had a great time walking in Jesmond Dene.


They are a really gorgeous family don't you think?



Andrew definetly chose the right colour to wear for the day.



Sister Rebecca is beautiful.



Brother Phil, also very dashing!


and little brother Tim who used to be a model!!



Tim and his delightful daughter.



We had lots of fun and she giggled all the time.



She really was like sunshine in a bottle.



Now don't you think this would make a great wall canvas!



I adore this photograph, the light and pretty much everything was perfect, doesn't she look amazing?



Andrew and Family, thank you so much for sharing just a snippet of your lives with me, I had a ball and I think it shows in the photographs, I hope that you love them all and they make mum the most amazing birthday album ever.

If you want to book a portrait session for a birthday, anniversary or any other occasion please click on my contact us page.

Joes 3rd Milestones Photoshoot

It was time for Joes 3rd Milestones shoot and the first one we've actually made it outside for, he brought along his neice (yes he's not even 2 and already is an uncle!!) and brother who also wanted to get some photos so I killed 3 birds with one stone and got a selection of shots of all of them, so on we go with todays photos :-




Oh Oh, cute little girl alert!!



What a poppet she was, only 7 months and a really sunny disposition.



Joes Elder brother is very handsome and also has a wonderful personality.

After that Joe's brother and neice toddled off leaving me to go for a walk with Joe and his mum, so we investigated the small park area of Jesmond Dene after firstly seeing the animals in pets corner.



I love this one of him investigating a swinging tyre.



Sitting in a little house, he quite liked that!!



awww, we were looking for ducks at this point.



We found a green door and shot some portraits there, Joe was having such fun knocking on the door to see if anyone was home.



Joe, I had such a lovely time and it's so wonderful seeing you grow, I can't wait for your final shoot on your second birthday in September.

I've been so busy today so look out for another post tommorrow also from Jesmond Dene with another wonderful family!

Alien Day

It's creativity fortnight at school and on this last day before term it's Alien Day so after a hasty trip to the shops yesterday we put together the following outfits:-




This is Princess ninny noo na of the hydroplexus galaxy





and swishy loobukin of planet laalaaloolaaa



Look at those strange alien expressions.



They might look cute but beware!



Teeheehee, they were also covered head to toe in glitter!!



Well thats all for now, happy weekend, 2 shoots tommorrow and then it's Amys wedding on Monday!! So excited, I love my job!

Rachel and Jonathans Pre-Wedding Photoshoot, Saltwell Park, Gateshead

Rachel and Jonathan are getting married in August of this year so I met up with them in not so sunny Saltwell park this afternoon for their pre-wedding shoot. Despite Rachel feeling so very nervous I still got some wonderful photographs of them both.


Rachel is beautiful, slender and also has an amazing personality to match.



Jonathan is also gorgeous, he's quite meaty and has promised Rachel that his six pack will be ready for the wedding (LOL)


They simply are the adorable couple don't you think?



Yum!!



I love Rachel when she laughs, its when you see her truly relax and it is of course beautiful.



More giggling :)

We went for a walk and found lots of lovely places to shoot.



Rachel had never been to Saltwell Park and shock horror when I found out that Jonathan hasn't ever taken her on a romantic picnic!!



another lovely moment.




I love this bandstand photo, i think this is the one which would look awesome on a huge canvas!

Rachel and Jonathan, you are the adorable couple and I can't wait for your wedding in August.

Sunday in the Lake District

Thoughts of Rheged enchanted the children today with the chance of seeing another Imax movie but when we went we found that they don't give you 3D glasses, WTF??? we watched the 3D dinosaur movie in 2D and it really wasn't the same, if you want to see and Imax movie do yourself a favour and get to Bradford, it's a whole lot better!! Anyway we still managed to have an enjoyable day out and spent a while at Ullswater, we had afternoon tea with the biggest pile of fresh baked scones ever at the Howtown hotel, well worth a visit if you're in Cumbria and visiting the northern region of the Lake District!

Not too many photos today, I only took along my 50mm f1.4 and took a smattering of shots.



OOh yes, my husband is a hotty :D


Abigail running down the side of a mountain after chasing sheep or Lammers as Looby calls them!!




Iain on same said Mountain!!




Looooove this one, if you all know me by now I love taking photos of the back of people, notice Looby wearing Pauls big cardi because she was feeling chilly!!

Hopefully this week I might blog more but I can't promise as I'm knee deep in work although not fun photography type work, sadly it's businessy stuff which of course has to be done, luckily starting next weekend I commence a hugely busy period of photography, Yay, only 1 week tommorrow and it's Amy and Shakers wedding and only 1 week on Friday and it's Jayne and Stuarts, I know they're both so excited they could burst right now and as luck would have it I can't wait either, not long to go now guys :D

Anyone want a portrait photoshoot this weekend?

Something quite bizarre seems to have happened, I have no bookings for this weekend, now I could rest, relax and prepare myself for the weeks ahead when I have 2 weddings and shoots in the same week but Oh no, I can't bear the thought that I might be not shooting this weekend so if you've been thinking of having a shoot and you can fit in this weekend I'll reward you by giving you the shoot at half the regular price so that's only £25, sounds like a bargain if you ask me ;) If you want to partake give me a call on the numbers above or contact me through my contact page.

Heather and Joel came over last night to view their wedding DVD, it was so good to see them both and they look very much the married and in love couple :) I love Heather and Joel to pieces so I was even more delighted that they loved their photographs and I'm currently begging them to let me take care of their album. I definetly think above all else that marriage really suits them both, they used to look in love, now they postively glow together!! Note to Heather - I hope Moses settled in alright in his new abode ;)

Home news - Iain is just coming to the end of SATS week and I'm so proud of him, he thinks he's done ok and I'm just happy that the exams will be over tommorrow, next week is the start of creativity fortnight and obviously I'll be involved just a little, I think I'm due to go in and do a little documentary photography next Friday for Alien Day, looking forward to that!!

Sending out many many positive vibes to Christine, I'm busy with her wedding album at the moment and she's due to have her baby in something like a weeks time, this little one is really going to change life for her and hubby Darren, I really wish them all the best and can't wait to take photographs when the little one arrives!

No photos today :(, I've been too busy designing albums and sorting print orders out!!

OOh did you know that I now have a £695 wedding photography package with an album? It's a pretty fabbo album as well, it's kind of a hybrid but it's in the digitally designed range so it's gorgeous, I've already started to sell them so if you're having a smaller wedding but still want a lovely album check out my pricing page.


I've just upgraded the services I get with my website so now all brides get their own web-page for entry to their gallery, this is quite fantastic and it's great for sharing all your lovely photographs.

Do you need a gardener/landscaper, did you know that my hubby is one? Meandering Gardens is the perfect business for all your gardening and landscaping needs, you can call Paul (for whom no job is too big or small) on 0191 2289515 or 07505 004043. He's booked about a month to 2 months in advance at present but he's got tons of happy happy clients, once again I'm so proud of all he's achieved over the last year, I love that man SO much!!

Right, well thats all my news for now, hopefully someone will fill up some hours on the weekend with a childrens/family portrait shoot, please don't make me have to twiddle my thumbs!!

Oh Man, totally forgot to tell you to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds, my blogs new URL is www.mandycharltonphotographyblog.com it's the first step in my rebranding and becoming Mandy Charlton Photography, please tell everyone you know!!

Adrian and Stephs Pre-Wedding Shoot at Linden Hall, Northumberland

Linden Hall definetly makes me feel lucky that I'm a photographer, it's a gorgeous venue up in Northumberland and I was quite awestruck by it's beauty. I was there to meet up with wonderful couple Adrian and Steph for their pre-wedding shoot, they're getting married up there in September and it was the perfect afternoon to check out all the nooks and crannies!




Aren't they a lovely couple.




They're so relaxed and cool as cucumbers these two, they're sailing onwards in their wedding countdown and enjoying every minute.



The cherry blossom was awesome today.



I bet you can't guess what these two do for a living?




You're not going to believe me when I tell you they both work in computing as they don't look in the slightest bit like techie geeks, way too cool eh?!



We took a signposted 10 minute walk, let me tell you my new yellow heels (yes I wore heels??!!) did not like the soggy path and I got stung by several nettles!! LOL




Gotta love this one, can you feel the love, are you all squidgy yet?



More cherry blossom, I love this photograph.




Thats my dreamy style you all have come to know and love!



We went inside to the magnificent building and the staircase is just phenomenal but I didn't want to spoil the wedding photographs by shooting on it today so you'll have to wait until September to see it in all it's glory.



Steph - she's gorgeous isn't she?!


and Adrian who is of course charming and handsome.

Adrian and Steph, I can't wait to shoot your wedding, you're a wonderfully warm couple who make spending time with an absolute pleasure, I hope you love these as much as I love them.