William and Freyas Kids Photoshoot

I popped down the road to Whitley Bay this morning to visite William and Freya, mum and dad wanted some new photographs, especially of William who at only 7 months old has rather fewer photographs than big Sister Freya who is 3 going on 12!

They really are the most adorable lovely children and they were a joy to photograph.




The whole family, I really love this, probably one of my first favourites of the year!



Freya



William

A truly joyful way to spend a saturday morning!

If you are interested in booking a kids or family photoshoot you'll be delighted to know that in February photoshoots are only £25, thats half the regular price, to book call 07918 121838 or click through to my website

Favourite Kids Photographs from 2008 - {Kids Photographer Newcastle}

So I managed to post my favourite wedding images from last year ages ago but never got around to posting my faves from my portraiture business, I have to say that 65% of the portrait side of my business is kids and then of course I also do some boudoir and some couples shoots as well as the occasional adult and more recently some maternity photography!

Kids though, well they're always so much fun and you never know quite what you're gonna get!





This little poppet for instance at only 1 year old was quite the cheeky funny bundle of fun!

You all know this little lady by now because she's on the splash page of my website.

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I know, had to end with just a couple of my own personal faves, my girls!

If you want to book a photoshoot for your children or as a whole family please do call me on 07918 121838, in February you'll pay only £25 for your session instead of £50, thats a saving of half price, you don't even have to have the session in February you just have to book it.

Twilight and Twitter

I know it's been a quiet blogging week so I thought I better post and let everyone know that I'm still alive and whats been going on.

This week has been one of my best ever weeks in business, I am so thoroughly delighted so if you see me out and about with a smile on my face you know why!

This year is going to be amazing, brilliant, wonderful, I can't even begin to tell you all how excited I am about it all.

Yesterday Paul and I went to see Twilight at the cinema and Oh My Goodness, one of the best visually beautiful movies I have ever seen, I'm embedding the trailer below and if you think this is gorgeous you should see the whole movie.



It's shot completely with cold blue and green tones which obviously goes to help the pale faces look even paler.

My favourite moment, The Anti-hero plays our heroine the famous Clare de lune by Debussy (one of music ever) and then he takes her flying, the next thing we see is them standing in trees and we cut to the most amazing panoramic shot.

if you love cinematography, imagery, photography, beautifully shot movies or if you just love that love can and will conquer everything then go and see this movie.


Also more big news of the week, I am addicted to Twitter, check me out at http://www.twitter.com/MandyCharlton

This week Philip Schofield announced that he was a tweeter and within hours had gone from 400 followers to over 2500, the best bit was that he tweeted later he forgot that he got and email for each person who follows, OOPS! check him out schofe, also check out Wossy (Jonathan Ross) and stephen_fry and yes they all are the real ones.

Apart from twitter being a celebfest, I absolutely love the fact that you meet new and interesting people who you may never have ordinarily come across, I have been using Twitter now for around 6 months and stumbled across all kinds of fabulous people!

With micro blogging becoming huge and celebs starting to get there behinds behind twitter it's set to go absolutely huge over the next few weeks so if it's important to you make sure you atleast secure your own name before someone else does and you end up being Paulc855, yeah check him out the non twittering husband of mine!

I'm off to have an afternoon, evening and night away with my fabulous friend Darren who's known me longer than Paul, it's going to be Fab-U-Lus!

Whatever you do this weekend make sure that it's a good one!

Dominic, Tom, Jake, Jack and Abbie

Yesterday was my first kids shoot of the year and I was so ready for it, taking it easy may be ok for lots of people but not me, if I don't get to take photographs atleast 2 or 3 times a week I practically come out in a rash.

So let me tell you all about Dominic, Tom, Jake, Jack and Abbie who were so much fun and very very well behaved.




The main aim of the day was to get a photograph of all five of them for Nannas wall, I think we achieved it, this one only 1 shot out of about 10 which would look fantastic on Nannas wall!



Then it was the 3 brothers turn and a little bit of singing the bradley bear song and much chatter about doggies and we got some lovely shots.




How cute is this little one?




Hamming it up for the camera!



Abbie went last and she was the perfect model.




She's super cute and totally gorgeous with a sunny personality to match.

Guys, you really were all a complete joy to photograph and I think Nanna is going to be over the moon with you all proudly adorning her wall.

If you want to book your kids shoot get your session booked before 31/01/09 and pay only £10, remember you don't have to have the shoot before the end of January you just have to book it, if you want to book one you can call me or click through to my website.

Sarah-Janes Maternity Photoshoot {maternity photography newcastle}

Yesterday I went off to see Sarah Jane to capture some photographs of her fabulous bump, she's due in 8 weeks and the whole family is really excited as you can expect.

Sarah-Janes mum helped to organise the shoot which is no surprise because she is Carole-ann Osborne of Dream Days Wedding Planners, If you're looking for an amazing wedding planner Carole-ann is your woman.

Anyway back to Sarah-jane and her fabulous bump.


Oh how I wish I had looked even a tenth as good as this lady who hasn't even got one stretchmark and possibly the most perfect bump I have ever seen.




here she is with mum Carole-Ann.



That perfect bump where the new arrival is waiting to make her splendid entrance to the world in 8 weeks.




With her partner a very excited expectant dad.



Love, love, sweet, sweet love!



Check out the baby KSwiss trainers!

Sarah-Jane I hope you love these photographs as much as I do, it's going to be awesome to see your gorgeous baby grow over the next 12 months and I can't wait to meet her when she's born.

Wedding Photography information for couples

So you've said I do and you've booked your venue, maybe you've already got your wedding dress, or wedding outfits, whats guaranteed is that at some point before your wedding day you're going to start looking to book a wedding photographer.

So how do you go about doing that?

Well wedding photography is one of the most important choices you'll ever make because after the day in years to come all you'll have left are the memories and your wedding album so this is one decision you'll want to get right.

Now of course the easy thing for me to do is say oh well just google Mandy Charlton Photography or Mandy Charlton Designs (same site with 2 different names but thats a whole other blog post) especially if you're looking for a wedding photographer in Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Northumberland or indeed most of the UK but hey I realise I'm not everyones first choice of wedding photographer and you know what thats ok because there are many different styles of wedding photography and pretty much no 2 photographers are quite the same.

One of the best tips I can give is to look around at several sites and see which photographer images make you feel something, happy, emotional, as long as they don't make you feel sick or downright ill then you're probably on the right path!

At some point you'll be looking at prices and I would have to say beware those photographers where the deal sounds just too good to be true, for instance someone charging £500 for 8 hours of wedding photography and giving away all the images on disk is probably just persuing this as a hobby or maybe they're trying to build a portfolio and they're just doing this on a part time basis, what I do know is that no self respecting photographer who does this on a full time basis and sees your wedding as equally important as you do is going to be in that very cheap and not so cheerful bracket.

Last year I shot several portrait sessions for people who's wedding photographer had let them down by producing sub standard images, this makes me so angry because you can't just set it all up again.

Ok so most wedding photographers will range from £1000+ for an average 8 hour wedding day. of course you may not want 8 hours photography, some photographers do have smaller packages, I myself do a lot of smaller weddings where I'm there for as little as 2 hours, remember at the end of the day whichever photographer you'll choose it's the quality and not quantity of photographs which is important. For instance if you are on a really tight budget why not consider 2 hours of amazing fabulous photography as opposed to 8 hours of photography which leads to photographs you don't want to ever look at again!

One really important thing I want to say is that you should always look at an entire wedding that the photographer has shot in the last 12 months, in this day and age it's really easy to have a great website with a few brilliant photographs but you won't be getting just your favourite five images from the day you'll want to ensure that the photographer can shoot the whole wedding consistently and brilliantly!

There are many different styles of wedding photography ranging from Documentary reportage to contemporary posed and then a lot of photographers try and do a little bit of everything which gives you the wonderful story of your day. I pride myself in a relaxed approach to wedding photography, some of my images are shot from that reportage candid approach with the rest being shot as guided but not necessarily posed.

For me, wedding photography is all about couple and telling your story of love, I am such a romantic at heart, I beleive in true love and I love that I get to show that to the world through my clients stories. I simply have the best job on the earth.

I eat, sleep , breath, photography so that you end up with memories and photographs which last forever.

January is Boudoir Month at Mandy Charlton Photography

Book your boudoir shoot before the 31st of January and save by paying only £50 for the photoshoot, thats half price!! Or take the all inclusive option which includes your photoshoot and a Little black book (all tied up with ribbon)containing 24 of your favourite photographs from the shoot in 6x4" for only £250, thats a stonking saving of £100.

All sessions shot before 31/01/09 will have their albums in time for Valentines day if required. Men, want to get your lady something different this year, well this is the gift that just keeps on giving. Ladies want to have photographs of you looking at your most fierce, boudoir is all about you, each image is lovling retouched to make sure you look your absolute best. This is all shot in the comfort of your own home to make you feel at ease. Boo your shoot today by calling me on 0191 2289515 or 07918 121838 or of course you can click through to my little website.

Cool Places to get married in the North of England

Choosing your wedding venue is probably one of the most important choices you'll make as a bride along with of course choosing that all important wedding dress and also your wedding photographer because get all three of those things right and you're a long way closer to having that perfect wedding day you've always dreamed of.

As a wedding photographer in the north of England I am lucky enough to have shot weddings at many wonderful venues in Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria as well as one or two others around the UK.

In making this list I'm choosing places which have treated the bride and groom in a manner which they should be treat as well as being nice to the various vendors and also the guests, I'm also going with places which obviously look gorgeous photographically.

So here's some of my favourites, all of which I've photographed at sometime over the last 12 months.

Although I am numbering these it's only for ease of reading, I can't put them in actual order as it's just too hard!

1. Linden Hall, there's nothing bad at all I can say about Linden Hall, I even know that they're getting new stair carpets this year for the entrance to the little upstairs room, thats the cute one with the fairy lights. Linden Hall is beautiful, memorable, the food is amazing and the staff are wonderfully polite and cheerful.





2. Guisborough Hall Hotel, I've not shot here but I stayed with hubby for a romantic getaway and I know it's going to be a fabulous venue to get married. The food was amazing and the staff really looked after us.
Gisborough Hall Hotel, very posh but lovely for a wedding!!" href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=727399&id=753857163">


3. Headlam Hall, gosh this place has so many amazing places to take photographs, the staff are wonderful, I haven't eaten here but the catering looks fantastic, I plan to take hubby here for a romantic getaway sometime this year.



4. Sunderland, Stadium of Light. If you are a football fan I have to recommend the Stadium of Light, the function room is gorgeous, the food, some of the best I ever ate and actually that 2 foot ledge accross the car park provided wonderful romantic photographs!



5. Newcastle St Nicholas Cathedral, ok so not everyone can get married here, I don't even know what the conditions are but what I do know is that the Canon is a wonderful person, the venue is probably about the most awe inspiring ever and if you can get married here it's going to be a day that you never ever forget.




Especially if the Choir are singing




Ok so thats a brief list, there are many more wonderful venues such as Close House, Jesmond Dene House Hotel, Matfen Hall, Otterburn Hall all as individual as each other, wherever you decide to have your special day have a wonderful wedding!

Happy New Year

it's 2009 and I am so excited for the new year, 2008 was such a brilliant year I can't think of any reason that 2009 won't be even better!

As it is the new year I thought I would post a few more personal photos from the festive period, I'm on holiday until 12th of January though I am endeavouring to answer emails so bear with me and if it's urgent call me on my mobile! If you are a bride wanting to fix up a meeting for your upcoming 2009 or 2010 wedding please call me as I am still available on a limited basis for those meetings, I've already received a deluge of new enquiries for this year and next year and hope to meet with each and everyone of you. Can I just ask though that if you are having a prime 2009 date you hurry because I am more than half full for the year and I wouldn't want to miss out on your fabulous wedding would I? call me on the numbers above or click through to my website.

So back to those family photos.




On Boxing day Paul got to grips with Guitar Hero Legends of Rock. As you can see from this series of photographs he's already got the rock attitude!

Thankfully the Rock legend beard has now gone!

Abigail had a touch of the Hannah Montanas during the break, she might even be a rockstar, LOL



I rather think she looks better as a brunette though



and Looby continued, well just being Looby really!



Our cute foster kitten Sally continues to thrive and we'll be so sad when she finally leaves to go to her new home on Saturday

Look who I found hiding behind the livingroom door



It's Pyracantha our youngest cat, she's really still a kitten.
Paul was looking good on new years last night, we went to the Corner House for a couple of drinks and then we came home and enjoyed New years with just the two of us.

Today I made us a splendid lunch and we're just chilling until all the kids return from their grandparents. It's going to be nice to have everyone at home over the weekend and hopefully I'll get the camera well and truly used again, have to make the most of it before everyone goes back to school.