Half Term proved to be a really busy week in our house, a combination of the children having a better social life than me, my son being home and me out photographing lots of lovely kids meant by the time I got to Monday this week my head was in a spin, I don't mind though, I'd far rather be busy than quiet.

This portrait was shot in the comfort of my clients home, some times it's just easier to photograph kids in their own home environments, if you would like to hire me to do that it's £40 for a one hour shoot in your home.

Mini shoots have continued at parks and lovely outdoor places around the north east including lots in Jesmond Dene and I even ended up in Cornthwaite Park which is in Whitburn near Sunderland.

kids really do shine when they're in they're out in places that they love, it's one of the reasons I love my job so much, even if I do have to sing a lot of nursery rhymes and also be very good at running after kids and being chased by them screaming at the top of my voice, haha

yesterday I even shot a wedding although it was only for an hour, boy did that go by quickly but it was lovely to be able to sweep in and out of someones special day and give them a unique reminder

So this weekend I'll be in Jesmond Dene on Saturday and have availability at noon, half twelve and one pm, on Sunday I'll be in Saltwell Park and only have 1 slot of availability remaining at two thirty pm

If you would like one of the slots please do find me on facebook or you can click through to my website Newcastle Photographer

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...

family portrait photography in the North East of England

Being a photographer in the North East of England is probably about as much fun as you can imagine, for over 6 years now my specialities have been wedding photography for those seeking something different and great family portraits, capturing children as they really are, not just smiling well behaved little people who look like your children, I aim to capture the very essence of their personalities, I also want to make sure that every little person I photograph goes away with a positive experience and they do, they absolutely love it, we have fun, we keep it short and it never gets boring.

Autumn has been amazing this year, so much better than the non-summer we had and I think the mini sessions have been a real hit, they're a pocket friendly £20, a non child boring 30 minutes in length and you get a gorgeous 7x5 print in with the price.

You've probably already seen some of the results and here's the latest update of some of my favourites from the sessions.

If you want to book a session I have 2 mini sessions available in Jesmond Dene on Saturday, 3 available sessions on Sunday afternoon at Wharton Park in Durham and on the 31st of October I'm going to be holding special Halloween mini sessions all day in Jesmond Dene, I think I have 3 or 4 slots of availability left but feel free to contact me and I'll confirm.

If nothing else dear reader I hope this blog has cheered away the autumn blues, it's been dark and damp and dank outside for 3 days now, not exactly the perfect type of weather for leaf kicking but by this weekend it's supposed to be bright and crisp and clear again, it is also supposed to be really cold but I don't care, more excuses for cute chunky jumpers and wooly hats just like Grandma makes.

Autumn Leafkicking, Photographs and Christmas Cards

I have pretty much the same problem as all of you out there sitting in your comfy chairs watching the leaves falling from the trees wondering exactly what you're going to do for this years Christmas cards and presents.

I've always made my own Christmas cards for the last few years, I figure that if you have a talent you should use it and of course I have family and friends who are always delighted to get photos or cards featuring Abigail and Looby, one of these years it would be great to have all 3 of the kids on one but I can't see Iain wanting to pose for photos, he never liked sitting for photos at the best of times and now I'm happy if I even manage to get the back of his head in a photo!

So last week I dragged the girls out, told them to look like they were having fun and they gave me 10 whole minutes of their time before exclaiming "Mammy you've had 10 minutes, work with what you've got" nice!

This is what we ended up with -

and this is the final finished card all ready to go out to friends and family, thankfully I don't have a big Christmas card list, hopefully these two smiley faces popping through peoples letterboxes will make someone smile.

Autumnal Mini Photo shoots in Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park

I love being a photographer in Newcastle, this time of year is my favourite time to get outside and photograph, kids, families and couples wearing cosy warm colours and having fun in the great outdoors against a splendid colourful autumn background.

For the last couple of weekends I've been shooting 30 minute mini sessions which for kids at least seems to be the perfect length of time, as well know (especially me being a mum of three) most kids have a somewhat short attention span so keeping the session to 30 minutes means it's fun, fast and furious and the kids go away having had a great time.

Here's just a few highlights from this weekends sessions -

if you would like to book an autumnal mini session I have only 1 slot left on Saturday down on the beach at Tynemouth Longsands and I have only a couple of slots left on Sunday at Leazes Park so do get in touch as soon as you can.  The weekend after next I'll be back in Jesmond Dene on the Saturday and I'm still not sure where to have them on the Sunday so suggestions are always appreciated.

you can get in touch in the following ways, email, website, Twitter or Facebook

Autumn Photo shoots in Newcastle, Gateshead and the North East of England

If you haven't noticed it's chilly outside, the days are getting shorter and the leaves are starting to fall from the trees, it's also a lot sunnier than it's been all summer so lets at least celebrate autumn.  I'm lucky because it's the perfect time for autumnal photo shoots, I love it when the kids can get out doors in places like Saltwell Park, Jesmond Dene, Tynemouth Longsands and Leazes Park, all of those places are looking gloriously autumnal at the moment!  I love that kids turn up in knitted wooly hats, cosy bright coloured coats and snazzy wellies, I think this is my favourite time of year for photography, the colour, the light, everything is perfect and with this in mind I am getting out of the studio quite a lot for some autumnal mini sessions, so here's the deal, it's £20 for a 30 minute shoot and you even get a complimentary 7x5 of your favourite shot plus a 30 day web gallery and 15% all the prices for the first 7 days your gallery is live, I currently have availabilty on some weekdays and even one or two weekends and it's not just the kids who look great in autumn, it's also the perfect time for a couples shoot, the light is mostly yummy and it's perfect for skin tones!  The best thing of all is that you can get a head start on your Christmas shopping, I've never known anyone not love a present of photographs for Christimas, mums, grannies and aunties everywhere love to see their nephews/nieces/children/grandchildren in photos so don't wait until December when the weather is quite frankly rubbish, do it now, this week and next week autumn will be at it's peak and the weather is looking fabulous, this week I'll be able to book people in for 30 minute mini shoots on Tuesday at Saltwell Park, Thursday down at Tynemouth Longsands, Friday pretty much anywhere in the North East of England, Saturday at Jesmond Dene and Sunday I'm back at Saltwell Park again, fancy somewhere different where you know it's going to be creatively colourful or autumnally inspiring? Get in touch, I don't really mind where I shoot as long as I can get out there anf photograph the people of the north, here's just a few shots from the last week and if these gorgeous photographs don't convince you to do it well then you're a big old meanie!!

So, how do you go about booking a 30 minute autumnal mini session? well you can either call me on 07918 121838, email me at mandy@mandycharltonphotography.com or you can click through to my website portrait photographer newcastle and fill out the contact form, you can also contact me through Facebook or Twitter

Half Price Autumn Photoshoots (Photographer Newcastle)

Well my lovelies after the summer that never was it's officially the first day of Autumn tomorrow, I can't quite believe that we're into Autumn already, it doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I was sitting looking out of my studio window at the snow starting to fall and wishing that it was spring.

So in celebration of Autumn lets make it a fantastic one with a voucher for a half priced mini photoshoot to showcase you, your family, your partner, your children, or even your beloved pet against a background of Autumn splendour.

To claim your voucher you have to click here and that'll take you to my Facebook Business Page, the first post at the top of the page should be the button you need to click on to claim your voucher, all you have to do is drop me an email at mandy@mandycharltonphotography.com or call me on 07918 121838 or you can message me on my Facebook page also.

The sessions are available at the following locations, Jesmond Dene, Saltwell Park, Leazes Park or on the beach at Tynemouth, you know the one next to Crusoes right?

If you have been to Byker Metro Station lately you might have seen a collage featuring this photograph which won a competition and has been installed in the station.

I shot that 3 days before Christmas last year at lovely Carolyn and Claytons wedding in the afternoon light it looks almost like a summers day.  It's certainly a great place for photos whatever the weather is like.

As an aside I won award number 66 yesterday for this photo

 those 66 awards have been collected since last September when I first plucked up the courage to enter competitions, they're judged by other professional photographers from all over the world and for me it's so lovely when I win because without the wonderful clients I have who let me create art with them none of it would even be achievable.

So don't delay, get clicking on that link, claim your voucher and book your mini session, weekdays/weekends/evenings or theres always the October half term, lets go have some leaf kicking fun and create some memories which will live forever.