family - Victoria Ashman Photography

06/10/201714/03/2024

Timelapse Video, newborn shoot, youtube

Timelapse Video, newborn shoot, youtube

So, I made a timelapse video of one of my newborn shoots. It’s funny seeing me on the video! But I wanted to give an idea of how it looks during the shoot. You can see me shooting away and you can then (at the end) see the finished pictures.

Timelapse video, newborn shoot, youtube…

My newborn shoots take a fair amount of time, primarily because I wait until the little one is comfortable before posing. I work around them and as I don’t have an assistant I always have Mum or Dad helping me. This is nice for two reasons, I know that I can step back and take a photograph as they are in the safest hands possible. It also includes the parents in the shoot and the pictures we achieve from that shoot.

21/09/201714/03/2024

Sebastian’s Newborn Photo Shoot

I have photographed the lovely Osment family for the past four years. Their first shoot was a newborn shoot with their daughter Amelie. Sebastian is their newest arrival and I have just had the pleasure of shooting Sebastian’s newborn photo shoot. Sebastian was born early, so his shoot was much later than usual. But he still really looked like a newborn. He was very sensitive and just wanted to be with his Mum, so it was a challenging shoot. I took my time and we still got some beautiful pictures. His sister Amelie just wanted to cuddle and look after her baby brother and amazes me with her posing – she just seems to pose herself. This image below with Amelie and Sebastian was not engineered by me. I had to be quick though, as Amelie just wanted to hold Sebastian and was a bit overzealous . Sibling and newborn images are generally the most stressful part of the shoot… and sometimes toddlers flat out refuse to get into a picture with their newborn brother or sister. I try every trick in the book and the majority of the time I can get the shot. In this instance though Amelie wanted to be in every picture!

After the sibling images I began the individual pictures, the first blanket we used was sentimental and belonged to the Osments. They’ve had this blanket since Amelie was born and I always like to use an item that is special to the family. This is the picture that went on the thank you cards that went out to the Osment’s friends and family.

I used this fur in Amelie’s first shoot so wanted to have some continuity, this was also where I could get a good feet shot..

In Amelie’s shoot there is a picture where Amelie is in this basket with this fur and she is looking off to the side and she is looking at her Dad. In this picture Sebastian is looking off to the side and he is looking at his Mum. I love that.

Samantha brought a little outfit and we got some side pose pictures whilst he was in this outfit. I wasn’t sure if we could get this side pose as he was that much older and usually they don’t find it comfortable. But he soon settled and look very relaxed in this pose. If I see that a little one doesn’t like the pose I will take them straight out and find a position that makes sure they are comfortable.

Of course I had to get some pictures of Amelie on her own. These teddie were both bought when Sebastian was born. Sebastian’s teddy is the one facing the background and Amelie’s teddy is looking at her whilst she is looking at me. I got a similar shot when Amelie was 6 months old.

Finally I wanted to share this picture with Mum, Amelie and Sebastian. Sebastian looks so relaxed in Mum’s arms and I adore this picture. I just see complete happiness and a tenderness from Amelie. A lovely end to Sebastian’s newborn photo shoot.

15/09/201714/03/2024

Maternity Shoot

I always enjoy photographing a maternity shoot. I don’t photograph many, so I love it when the opportunity comes along. Its even more enjoyable when there is a sibling (to be) that is really excited about being in the pictures! I am used to toddlers and they don’t always do as I say, which can make it challenging but then so rewarding when you get the shot. Big sister Indy was lovely and I just adore these pictures with Indy and Mum’s bump.

Second time Mum (to be) Lisa was lovely too and up for any of the poses I suggested. She is a fitness trainer so I think this helped keep her so limber. If I remember rightly her son Rafferty was born 10 days after the shoot. I normally do maternity (bump) shoots around 37 weeks so it was a little bit later than usual. I’ve done a few shoots at 35 weeks, but I think around 37 is a good time as the bump is big so you can really see it in the photographs. I’ve also found that Mum’s are still able to do a shoot at this stage. It just gets too uncomfortable any later than 37 weeks.

Maternity Pictures

We took this image with a view to doing a similar shot in the newborn shoot and then posing the baby on the tummy. As I am writing this I have just literally finished editing the newborn shoot and we did get the shot, which I will share at a later date. We also had to get the hands on the bump shot. This proved to be tricky, not for Dad but for Indy, who’s arms wen’t long enough. We got there in the end though.

This was one of the last shots and one of my favourites. You can just see the bond between Mum and daughter. All their lives are about to change and it was wonderful marking this special time.

28/06/2017

Newborn Shoots & (possibly) a model call

Newborn Shoots

So, for the last six months I have mostly been photographing newborn shoots. Luckily for me! as I love photographing newborns. It’s such a precious time for my clients and truly so wonderful to be able to capture this special time. Each year I feel I add to my skills and improve them. Above all it takes patience and calm and following the cues of the baby. This area of my business continues to be strong. I think its because newborn shoots are not about simply clicking the shutter. It takes time. I’ve photographed a fair few photographer’s babies and they tell me that they tried but newborn photography wasn’t in their skill set.

I have been posting far fewer pictures on Facebook though, partly because my clients ask for privacy which I completely respect. If a client asks me to post to social media then of course I am more than happy to oblige. I mainly use Facebook now for news or for offers. For example, every year I offer a model shoot. I am hoping to do a model shoot in August. The pictures I take in model newborn shoots are used to update my website, or to try some poses that I would like to master – but don’t want to do so on my paying clients time.

Digital Backdrops

I am also still adding to my catalogue of digital backdrops. there are twenty or so at the moment. I have added a gallery to my website where you can try some of my backdrops (small images) for free before you buy! If you go this gallery http://victoriaashman.zenfolio.com/p259041982 Click on the picture that has ‘Aura Digital Backdrops’ written on it and then click ‘menu’ by hovering over top left of the picture, you can then click download. If you go back to the gallery the picture next to it is an example of what you can do with the image, and the third image is the high resolution download, which you can download and pay for through my website.

Here is a little video with a few of the backdrops that I have on offer. It includes some instructions on how to use them. I sell them at my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AuraDigitalBackdrops

08/03/201730/03/2017

Freya & Jake’s outdoor photography shoot.

Freya & Jake’s outdoor photography shoot

Wonderfully, I got to spend some time with Freya and Jake at their outdoor shoot a couple of weeks ago. As always I love seeing the kids running free, (though I do find it hard to keep up!). We were just in a hotel garden and I found a lovely tree, some nice hedgerows and a bench. It gave us some wonderful backgrounds. The lighting was soft, with no harsh shadows and I was able to shoot these photographs.

I love this shot of Freya, I used the hedgerow as a backdrop which gave us a solid dark colour behind. This helped the glitter to really pop. Freya also had fun, and by the end of the shoot was telling me poses to try! It’s always lovely when the children get that engaged with the shoot.

Beautiful Jake, I look at this shot and I wonder what he is thinking. He has been through a lot in the last year, so I was more tentative when taking pictures of him, letting him come to me. I’ve photographed him since a baby and actually he was quite shy in his shoot then. Even as a tiny baby Freya seemed to love the camera. I have noticed that some children do seem to love the camera straight away and some don’t and in fact I think I would have been in the ‘some don’t’ category. (hence why I am behind the camera… probably!).

I took this picture of Jake before we went outside, he was asking me about my reflector. Jake loves seeing how things work, so I was showing it to him and he was listening quite intently. I just took this very quickly, using the window as a catch light.

Untitled-8 — Freya and Jake’s outdoor shoot

Finally I took some pictures of the Jake and Freya together. Freya is a lovely big sister and is very caring, you can see she is watching out for Jake all the time.

Untitled-4 — Freya and Jake’s outdoor shoot

14/02/201714/02/2017

Baby Photography – the first year

Baby Photography, the first year.

I photograph newborn babies up to five weeks and then babies from four months. These shoots are best when babies can lie on their tummies and hold their head up unaided. At 6 to 8 months, babies are learning to sit unaided and this is a great time for photo shoots. Babies are interacting with the world and are much more expressive. I love capturing all the stages in the first year, but this is normally my favourite. At a year, little ones are normally starting to take first steps, these shoots can be challenging as understandably they don’t want to stay still! Hence, why there are cake smashes and bubble shoots, as they hold the little ones attention (for a short while!) Capturing these milestones are important as they go by so quickly.

My niece is almost 3. There was a folio frame containing photographs of Maddie at 4 months, 6 months and a year in her living room. It was taken down recently and apparently my niece kept asking where baby Maddie had gone. It is now back in the living room. It’s not only important for parents as a reminder of these milestones, but its important for the little ones too.

18/10/201618/10/2016

Family Photo Shoot

I have just photographed a family photo shoot for my brother, sister in law and their children… and their dog. Pet photography isn’t something I usually partake in, but it was my brother’s pet, so, I gave it a go.

The shoot went well, even if there was my two year old niece and a puppy running around my feet at the same time! We started with Madison and I wanted to capture her endless, boundless energy and her enchanting smile. There was no way she was going to stay still, so we embraced that and let her dance around. I adore the sequence of pictures we captured, and love them altogether.

Next up was my niece Taila, she has not long started school, and although she loves it. It is a massive change in her little world. She is a little thinker which I think you can tell from her portrait.

The next two were the girls altogether, I love these pictures but particularly the one with all four of them. I think it is a timeless image.

The poor dog was getting a little restless at this point so it was his turn! He actually did really well, I just had to make a noise and he looked up. He also wanted to run towards me, so I had to be quick!

We did some more family shots, lying down, sitting up and standing. The picture below is my favourite from the family pictures, it just seems to capture them all so well.

Finally we have a picture of my brother and his beautiful wife. We are doing a big wall piece for their lounge, but it’s going to be hard to just choose one. I think we might have to find a wall piece which enables multiple pictures.

Most importantly my littlest niece will be happy. Their last family photo shoot was three years ago and Madison keeps asking where she is in the pictures. Now as she points at everyone on the wall and says their name, she’ll be able to say her name too.