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I first wrote this blog back in 2016, attempting to inform people why I shoot with natural light only and why (to me) it is better than artificial light. To this very day, it is still THE most important aspect of my newborn photography, but 4 years down the line from originally writing it, I don't need to convince people anymore as you all know! Every single client who visits me tells me exactly what I have been trying to tell you all for the past 7 years, that the natural light and home environment that I shoot in is wonderful, so relaxing and calming to walk into and that they would never want it any other way. Rewinding back to when started my business 7 years ago, people always used to ask why I shoot with natural light only, or usually they assume I shoot with it until I am able to get myself a "studio" with artificial lighting. Hence, I felt the need to explain myself, as it is a topic that I feel very strongly about. Well, the answer to this question is in the question itself, it is natural. Natural is part of my brand, natural posing, natural light, natural newborn photography, natural baby photography, natural family photography. Now I don't as most people know this!  I know most photographers use artificial lighting indoors, especially here in the UK where the weather can be very unpredictable. But if you know how to use it correctly , it really can be the most beautiful natural resource. Yes, on some very dull (and likewise very sunny!) days it can be harder to work with, but by changing your camera settings and sometimes moving baby slightly, or yourself, you can achieve some amazing results.  Natural light is not the easy option. Quite the opposite in fact, it takes a lot more work than studio lighting. There is so much more to learn , to think about, than setting up one or two lights and not having to think much about lighting during the photography session. Natural light is constantly changing, so as well as settling and "posing" baby, camera setting often need to be constantly changed as does positioning of baby and the set up with the change of the power of the sun. But I would not have it any other way. I have used artificial lighting in the past on many occasions, so I have an in depth knowledge of both, however I was always taken back by the beauty of natural light so I made the decision to work only with this. I feel that it offers the client a beautiful, gentle, pure, natural, organic feel which is what my brand sets about to achieve.  If you would like to read more about your newborn photography experience with me, here are a couple of other useful articles that when all read together pretty much sum up my newborn photography business.
* Why I offer newborn photography from my home * Newborn photography experience with Samantha Prewett Photography You can see more of my beautiful newborn photographs and find out more information such as pricing in the newborn area of my website. If you are interested in a photography session please do contact me and I will happy to send you a beautiful booking information pack.
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 So its the beginning of not only a new year, but a whole new decade, 2020! January is my business birthday month, and this month I am celebrating 7 years in business! When I started out 7 years ago, my kids were just 1 and 3 years old and in all honesty I didn't know where it would take me. I have loved every single moment of it, I have learnt a lot along the way and realised what works and what does not work for me (mainly dropping wedding photography, I have to admit that was the best business decision that I ever made!) A few highlights from the past 7 yearsI could write a whole book about my business over the past 7 years, and I do easily get carried away as I am so passionate about what I do , so I have decided to stick with a few highlights: * I launched my family photography business in January 2013. In September 2015 my youngest started school so I was able to take my business to full time. * In October 2013 I went on my first newborn photography training course, I truly caught the baby photography bug, this was the start of my new found passion which is still going strong today! *I photographed my last wedding at the end of 2015 and have never ever looked back! Newborn babies and family photography is exactly where I want to be. *Little packs of love- I spent 2 years with a dozen or so other local baby businesses creating goody bags full of exclusive offers and samples for our clients. Unfortunately this sort of fizzled out but I still put together beautiful little goody packs for my clients now. * Mothercare expectant parent events - these played a huge part for 3 years of my business. I simply loved meeting so many new parents to be and talking about my newborn photography. * Expectant and New parent event in the Eco Hub 2019 - I organised and ran my first event in the Dolphin Centre in Poole last October and it went so well that I am doing it all again this April. There is so much I could go on and on but I am sure that would bore you all! Me doing what I loveSpecial offerTo celebrate 7 years, I have a fantastic offer on this month for any 2020 session that is booked in January. You can find all of my price lists on the website. This offer is valid for ANY session; Maternity, newborn , baby, first birthday photo sessions, or family.  Please contact me via my contact form if you are interested in my offer and I will be more than happy to send you a copy of my booking pack.
 I can hardly believe it has been over a month now since this amazing event that I organised at the Eco Hub in Poole's Dolphin Centre. I have been so busy I have only just managed to find time to write this article about it. The event brought together many of Dorset's leading antenatal and baby services and suppliers, and provided a full schedule of FREE taster classes, talks and demos, as well as offering FREE entry and amazing FREE goody bags to the families who attended. 12 fantastic local businesses joined me on the day, which was kindly sponsored by Puddle Ducks Dorset including: Talking Babies, Nature.Nurture Love, Precious Memories Keepsakes, Dorset Sling Library/Seaside Slings, Mothercare, Loved Garms, Poole Mumbler, Biscuits by Sarah B, The Empowered Parent, and Daisy First Aid Christchuch Bournemouth & Poole. Many of these put on FREE talks, demos and taster sessions. Throughout the day, some of the FREE talks and classes we had included baby massage, hypnobirthing taster, first aid, sling demos, and a 4th trimester workshop. We also had an amazing raffle with over 50 prizes, and managed to raise over £100 for Tyler's Friends who are a local charity supporting bereaved parents to enable them to have the funeral and memorial of their wishes for their precious baby or child. If you missed out last time or came and loved the event so much that you would love to come again, I am really excited to announce that we are running this event again on Sunday 26th April 2020 at The Eco Hub which is located in Poole's Dolphin Centre. More information to follow!  Over the past 4 years, I have had the absolute pleasure of watching this gorgeous little boy growing from a tiny helpless dependent little newborn baby into an independent adventurous 4 year old big brother throughout our 9 photography sessions together I first met this gorgeous little one back in July 2016 when he was just 14 days old. He came here to Samantha Prewett Photography for his newborn photography session and we have continued to have regular photo sessions ever since. Newborn and family photographyFor his 6 month photography session, I visited their home to capture the next stage in his development. When your baby starts to sit up on their own, its the perfect time for their next photo session. It was so lovely to see how he had changed, and we even took a photo on the same star blanket that they brought to his newborn photography session here with me in Poole. 6 month baby photographyI returned to their family home for his one year birthday celebration photography session. What better way to celebrate than with a birthday cake! This little man is lucky to have a summer birthday so we could do some indoor and outdoor photos during his session. As you can see he loved getting stuck into his cake, and we also managed to get some lovely natural family photographs during this photo session too. First birthday family photographyTwo years isn't always the "easiest" age to photograph, we are long past the stages of being able to gently pose them or get them to sit nicely for their photograph to be taken. So we decided to capture an adventure, one of their favourite places to go as a family, . Sessions like this bring a whole new meaning to professional photography, a snipet of time captured forever. All those lovely memories of what you love to do together professionally captured to look back on for years to come. This is why I thoroughly enjoy photographing your children of all ages, and getting to capture them as they grow is even more rewarding for me, and you. Family photographyIn June 2019 he was promoted to big brother!! I was super excited to hear their news and had been looking forward to this session for a very long time. It means so much when families come back to me with their new babies, even more so when I have been lucky enough to capture their journey over the years. Newborn and sibling photography In November 2019, I was invited to capture the latest family memories for this lovely family at their home. Little sister is now 5 months old and he is such an amazing big brother! Family lifestyle photographyOutdoor family photographyWow we have now had 9 sessions together! This gorgeous little man has just started school and now has a 1 year old sister! This year we created more memories at the same place we went to for his 2 year photography session in Wimborne, Dorset. It was so lovely seeing how much he has grown and he is a lovely polite happy little boy. I loved watching how he was with his little sister. Here are just a few of the photos from their most recent session: It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know this lovely family over the past four years, who I can now proudly call friends and not just clients, and I can't wait for our next adventure together. If you are ready for me to capture the next stage of your family journey, you can check out my family photography page or you can get in touch here. Don't forget you can use your £25 voucher that came with your photographs AND if you have only recently had your newborn session and are not ready for the next stage yet you can even book a session for next year at this years price.
 I would like to share a recent beautiful newborn photography session with you all that is a little different from my everyday newborn photography sessions. She was 4 weeks old when she came to see me and had not yet reached her due date! This was not my first premature baby newborn session, and I am sure that it wont be my last, and I guess I just wanted to share that with you. Plus I love a good reason to blog about a session, as I love every single photography session that I do, but there is no way that I could share them all, there are simply not enough hours in the day! The photographs may look look like any other session but if you look closer you will see how tiny she is, and I wanted to reassure you all of my expertise when you are thinking of choosing me to photography your baby , whether they were full term or premature.    How long should I wait to bring my premature baby for their newborn photography session?I tend to photograph newborn babies at around day 7 (this is very flexible as is my whole natural approach to my baby led newborn photography) but preemie babies will be a lot older than this when they come to me. It is safe to say that once you have left hospital, your baby is ready for the big wide world , and as long as you feel ready , then we can have your newborn photography session. Premature babies will be a lot smaller than full term babies so we have a bigger window of time if you are still keen to get the bundled up sleepy newborn photos. But even if you are not ready for weeks or even months we can still have the session as I am more than happy to photograph older newborns and I do regularly.     Can we still have all the same photos we would like of our new baby if they are premature?Absolutely. There are a few things that might be different during your session , such as tiny babies find it harder to regulate their temperature so I will take extra care that they are not getting cold. This is highly unlikely as it is always warmer than I would usually have it in my home when I have a newborn baby coming in. Preemie babies tend to love being wrapped up even more and love being on their tummies so we can almost certainly get those shots for you. Saying that, every single baby is different, and all of my sessions are totally baby led, preemie or not, so it all depends how you baby is and what positions they like going in to.    Can we have parent and baby photos during our newborn session?Absolutely! Your new baby's favourites place to be will be in your arms so parent and baby photos are always possible if you would like them during your session. I have a separate backdrop that I use for parent and baby photos so it is always handy to know beforehand if you would like photos with your baby during their newborn photography session. But please don't worry if you are not sure, you can always decide when you get here.     I would like to thank this lovely family for letting me share their beautiful newborn photographs with you all , and I hope this blog helps you if you have been thinking about a newborn photography session with your early baby.   Without a doubt , summer is my absolute favourite time of the year for outdoor family photography sessions here in the beautiful Dorset. However, up until now, with the few exceptions I have tended to stick with the beach for family sessions in the Summer. The forest was sort of "reserved" for Autumn and even Winter family photography sessions. I am lucky enough to live a stones throw away from the most beautiful beach in the entire world , Sandbanks. But just because we live here it does not mean that everyone is a beach family! This lovely family booked me for a session in Wareham Forest, and the beautiful natural backdrop and colours did not disappoint one tiny bit! I was absolutely amazed by the beautiful colours there, a place that I had confined to my "Autumn" photography location list, wow, I will most definitely be coming back here a lot more next year!    This gorgeous little man was 10 months at this family photography session. He was confidently sitting, and he was most definitely on the move, but not walking yet. We got some gorgeous smiles and cheeky faces during the session. Babies love being outdoors for their photography sessions, there is so much to look at, and they can move around freely if they want to, they are not confined to a tiny studio space. He did well to sit still for a few minutes in the cute little crate that I brought, but he was keen to get on the move after!  The beauty of being outdoors for a family photography session, is not only the natural beauty of the place that we are in, is that we can move around! Instead of having the same background and the risk of little ones getting bored staying in one spot, we can walk together, stopping at different photo opportunities throughout the session.    Towards the end of the session, we let him loose! It was SO cute to watch how he was figuring out the surface he was crawling across, he picked up his legs and walked on his hands and feet rather than crawling on his knees. I love little moments like this.   If you would like to see some more of my beautiful , natural family photographs, or would like to find out more including how much it costs for a family photography session in Dorset, please visit the family photography section of my website.
 Recently, I had the absolute pleasure of photographing these gorgeous little girls at just 3 weeks old. They brought their big sister with them too, who I also photographed as a newborn! With just 18 months between them I am so excited for this family and what the future holds for this gorgeous trio of girls! Newborn twin girls and sibling The girls were so good during their session, it is so lovely to watch how they settle next to each other. I love to photograph twin babies together, and also take a few of them of their own aswell. Newborn twin girls     If you follow me you will know that I am always talking about capturing babies naturally and how each baby is different. I absolutely love photographing twins because this really shows so much. It is so lovely to just watch them together, but in their own little ways, and being able to capture this for the whole family to appreciate forever is simply the best. Newborn twins, individual photographsYou will also know how much I love baby feet!! So for twin sessions I get to capture double the baby feet cuteness, awwwwwwwww. Newborn twin feet For more information about my newborn photography sessions, please visit the newborn section of my website. I would love to hear from you if you are expecting twins and would like me to photograph them for you.
Summer is well and truly here in Dorset. What a scorching couple of weeks we have had! The children break up for summer soon so lets hope some of this lovely weather continues. 6 weeks is a long time, and I expect most of you have some plans already whether or not you are going away or have planned some fun days out , all of this costs money, so I am here to help you find lots of things to do all for FREE to fill up some of the days and keep the kids occupied. There is so much to do on our doorstep for FREE, but there are only so many times you can go to the local park, beach or out for a picnic. so look no further than my ultimate FREE summer holiday guide, Enjoy!  Bournemouth Summer Live 12th July - 26th August in Bournemouth SquareYou can enjoy live music and lots of FREE kids entertainment through the summer in Bournemouth Gardens this year. Please visit their Facebook page for up to date information of what is on and when.  Free tennis in Poole Park. Every Sunday 10-11amEvery Sunday morning in Poole Park you can come along to a FREE tennis coaching session. All equipment is provided so there really is no cost. You do need to pre register online to let them know you are attending. This also takes place at many other locations so you might find one online that is closer to you.  Wareham Wednesdays , every Wednesday throughout the summer holidaysEvery Wednesday during the summer holidays, Wareham are hosting a variety of FREE family events. Please check their website for more information.  Summer reading challenge - through out the summer holidaysEach year the summer reading challenge has a different theme, we are particularly excited about this year as my daughter has been obsessed with space since she did a topic at school 3 years ago! This year the theme celebrates 50 years since the moon landing (which is on my daughters birthday yay!) As well as the challenge, there are LOTS of free local events at the libraries to keep your children entertained over the summer. To find out more information you can visit the summer reading challenge website. The idea is to ready 6 books over the summer , and you collect stickers and other rewards along the way to complete your poster. At the end you are usually rewarded with a certificate and a medal.  Poole Park Fun Day - 25th July 2019 10am-3pmPoole Park are holding a FREE family day on 25th July. Most activities are FREE so there is no need to spend any money if you don't want to. Why not take a picnic and make a day of it? For more information please visit the facebook event page.  FREE children's craft workshops at Hobbycraft - various datesHobbycraft are running their FREE childrens craft workshops again this year. They have lots of dates throughout the holidays and this year the kids can make many things including; windsocks, windchimes, decopatch animals, suncatchers, do ceramic painting and much more! All event are FREE but you need to book in advance through eventbrite.  Poole Quay - Quay for my car, July 26th, 2nd 9th 16th 23rd and 30th August from 6pmSponsored by Poole Pirates, the Quay for my car event creates a bustling, lively atmosphere that can be enjoyed by owners as they mingle with fellow enthusiasts and spectators who want to catch a glimpse of the line up. There is a different theme each week, you can find out which cars you can see on which date on the Poole Tourism website.  FREE family activities and fireworks on Poole Quay 25th July, 1st 8th 15th 22nd and 28th August 2019 from 7pmGet your groove on for Rockley's Summer Spectacular as fabulous FREE live music, entertainment and fireworks come to Poole Quay! From 7pm there is a whole host of FREE family entertainment on Poole Quay, followed by a fireworks finale at 10pm. Find out more on the Poole tourism website.  Monday 19th August 2019 - Potterne Park / Moors ValleyIf like me, you run your own business, a good friend of mine Joanne Dewberry, organises regular netwalking events where you can get together with other local small business owners and chat as it can be lovely sometimes working for yourself. This summer holiday she is organising a child friendly meet up at Potterne Park, where we will walk to Moors Valley and have a picnic together. The children can bring their bikes or scooters if they like and make a day of it. I went to one of these events she organised last year and I have to say it was one of the best days of the school holidays. If you would like to find our more you can visit Joanne's facebook event page.  Bournemouth Air Festival 29th August - 1st SeptemberThe Bournemouth Air Festival is now in its 11th year! They have a jam packed schedule of flying demos and many other activities and stands along the beach. You can visit their website for more information. Other FREE things to do:If you want to do something that does not tie you down to a certain date, here are a few of my favourite FREE things to do in Dorset;
> Visit the beach, its a lot quieter first thing in the morning or after dinner in the evening > Go to a local splash park. There are so many locally including; Redhill Park, Littledown Park, Upton County Park, Hamworthy Park, Christchurch Quay, Boscombe Gardens, and Brewery Square > Try out geocaching. This is a fun app you can get on your phone that gives you the co ordinates to find a little box which sometimes has treasure inside! There is a free app for this. > Paint some rocks to hide. And don't forget to keep a look out for some when you are out and about. There are many facebook groups that you can join to follow where your rock has been, my favourite is "BH Rocks" > There is a fantastic little farm on Portland that is FREE to enter. We love going here. And Portland is a beautiful place for a picnic too. Visit Fancy's Farm website for more information > Birds of Poole Harbour on Poole Quay is free to enter. The children (and you!) can have lots of fun finding out about the local birds and maybe even spot some in the window with their binoculars. They often have a bird hunt trail and colouring out too. Wow I can hardly believe that I am writing this school holiday blog again, it has only just been the Easter holidays hasn't it?! This is also a rather special one for me, as it means that I have now done an entire years worth of half term FREE activity blog posts since I started my first one last Summer. So here is my round up of what you can do across Dorset during the May school half term for FREE. FREE Toy Story party at Smyths Toy Superstore - 25th May 2019 Smyth's Toy Superstore are having a Toy Story party on Saturday 25th May from 9am, while stocks last. Join the party with FREE face-painting, DJs and FREE Toy Story 4 minis, stickers and posters to give away. You could also win a £50 voucher on the hour, every hour from 9am to 1pm! Please visit their website for more information. The Great Wildlife Exploration - Kings Park, Boscombe 25-26th May 2019 10am-4pm With a whole host of activities going between King's Park Athletics Stadium and East Cemetery 10am-4pm, for this fun, free, wildlife day. There is also a special dawn chorus bird walk taking place on 26th May at 6am. FREE Unicorn or Dragon slime making workshop at HobbyCraft On 27th, 29th and 31st May you can attend a FREE children's workshop at Hobbycraft where they can make their own slime to take home! These events need to be booked in advance, you can do this online. I have taken my children to many free workshops here, they have made the slime and it is a really good recipe, it keeps for ages and is not too sticky, so I can personally recommend this one. Netwalking at Moors Valley - 28th May 2019 - 10am If like me, you run your own business, a good friend of mine Joanne Dewberry, organises regular netwalking events where you can get together with other local small business owners and chat as it can be lovely sometimes working for yourself. This May half term she is organising a child friendly meet up at Potterne Park, where we will walk to Moors Valley and have a picnic together. The children can bring their bikes or scooters if they like and make a day of it. I went to one of these events she organised last year and I have to say it was one of the best days of the school holidays. If you would like to find our more you can visit Joanne's facebook event page. Free Family bottle top workshop at Dorset Scrapstore - 29th May 2019 During the May half term Dorset Scrapstore have a FREE workshop on for children , for more information please visit their facebook event. Members children can also fill up a tub or bucket of scrap at any point during half term week. Learning to grow at Wyevale Garden Centre - 2nd June 2019 A fun new activity for kids of 3 years + to learn all about growing plants. Come along on the first Sunday of the month for an educational planting activity, and get your Little Diggers planting and learning! Each month we will be picking a fruit or vegetable to talk about. Children will learn all about planting seeds, and how to care for them. They will also have the chance to plant their own seeds to take home and watch them grow! 30 minute activity at 10:30am and 11:15am FREE monthly kids’ planting activities All activities include a cup with planted seeds, a colouring sheet, and a fact sheet to take home. Please visit their facebook event page for more information. Other things to do for FREE in Dorset Some of the best things to do for free when you are stuck for ideas: 1. Check out your local library, there are lots of FREE events on over the holidays. 2. Go to the beach / park for a picnic 3. GeoCaching 4. Crabbing at Poole or Mudeford Quay 5. Visit an outdoor paddling pool, you can find a list here. 6. Paint some rocks and hide them for others to find. There are lots of local facebook groups for this, some local ones are "Poole Rocks" and "BH Rocks" I hope you all enjoy the holidays, and I will be back with my special summer holiday blog of free activities soon , it will soon come!
If you would like to be the first to know when I have written this, you can sign up to my bi-monthly newsletter at the bottom of my contact page.  A few weeks ago this gorgeous little girl came to see me with her beautiful Mummy for her baby photography session and I thought I would share some of the beautiful images with you all as often people are not aware that I photograph "older newborns" here as well as brand new ones.  This gorgeous little girl was 3 months when she came to see me at my home in Poole for her baby photography session. 3 months is such a beautiful age to capture, they are starting to show their own little personalities at this stage, and we may even get a smile or two!  The set up of your baby photography session will be very similar to my newborn sessions. I have some gorgeous larger props that I like to use for babies and we also do some simple, natural photos too.  Whilst most parents choose to bring their own outfits, I still have a few beautiful outfits and headbands here for older babies too.  Baby sessions are usually around 1 hour, which is a lot less time than a newborn session, as by now your baby will be a little more used to the world so will probably not need as much settling as a brand new baby. But please don't worry, we still have plenty of time to stop for cuddles and feeds if we need to, just like newborn sessions, my baby sessions are completely baby led, and if we need longer than 1 hour then that is completely fine.    If you have just missed the newborn photography stage or would like some up to date photos to show how much your baby has changed over these first few precious months, please visit the baby photography section of my website to find out more information and my prices. I would love to hear to you to start our special memory making journey together.
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