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How do I balance NC Hopes Photography vs real life? Do I balance work vs. life?? Having my own photography business in Cheadle, Stockport is challenging. I try to find a good balance but most weeks I probably don’t do so very well and my face probably looks just like my son’s above when I think the question over in my head. If you ask him he will say I am always on the computer or always on the phone. Mostly he is right and it breaks my heart he is old enough to recognise this. I put aside time to spend with him…even just this week as it’s half term….yet I still find myself getting drawn back to the computer, having to send emails, return enquiries or write a blog….and that’s whilst trying to have a week off whilst he is off school. BAD MUM I hear you say!

The balance with parenting, work life and home life feels impossible for most of us right?? Every day we muddle through and do the best we can, beating ourselves up in the process that we didn’t get it right…feeling guilty about what we could have done better or how we did or didn’t handle a situation. We should pat ourselves on the back more often though and tell ourselves that we are doing a good job and that it’s okay not to be a perfect person all the time or the perfect parent. After all, is there such a thing? 

When I took a leap of faith to start up the business I was scared, petrified even that it wouldn’t take off or work out. I think I probably had my head in the clouds about how things would roll….I would advertise, I would get clients, I would earn money. Simples.

Simples not.

Hard work…if not obsession was required and hard work and obsession was what went and still goes in. But I feel like I’m finding that flow now. I’m starting to realise that it isn’t a race to an end point, but instead a journey I am on….and which I am learning on all the time, building knowledge and growing with every mistake I make.
 
I found this great diagram online today and I think it sums it up quite well what the reality of being a Photographer is vs. the perception.
 
What People think Photographers Do VS. What Photographers Actually Do

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All those who are photographers will be well aware that photography is not your usual 9-5 job. You are always thinking about work….emailing in the evening or editing not to mention brainstorming and putting together ideas for your next session as well as trying to control your prop buying habits!! Your mind constantly wanders to work. The reality for a single person to manage all the above can be daunting. Some weeks I feel totally overwhelmed trying to cover every base, but then I meet the most amazing family who have come for a Newborn session and I totally realise why I love doing what I do. I love everything about my photography business, the families I meet, the babies I get to cuddle, the flexibility that can come with having your own business. I think time and experience is teaching me that I need to now focus on time management, particularly with having young children of my own. Having time out and prioritising better to find that happy medium and to make things ‘flow’ a lot better at home! I’m not sure about you but my house often looks like it has been ransacked twice over and when you work from home that can be a huge distraction. It’s fine on the days when I am editing and don’t have shoots booked in, but my goodness I don’t half get myself in a flap when cleaning up after the kids in the morning whilst trying to get set up. However everyone with their own business will have their own way of managing their time and personal vs work life. Amanda from Amanda Haddow Photography is a newborn photographer in Victoria, BC. Please take a look at her site to find out how she manages her business and personal life. Click here for her blog.    
I will leave you with the following thought this evening guys, thanks for reading….

One of the many reasons I love my work as a newborn and family photographer in Stockport, Cheshire is the satisfaction I get from helping my clients to document their special family moments and milestones.

During the newborn stage parents are so often told to cherish the time they have whilst their baby is teeny tiny sleeping, all curled up as if they are still in the womb because they will change so rapidly from that moment on. This is why so many people book in for a newborn photography session in the first place. Parents want to capture those very precious first days in their baby’s life and have a lasting memory to cherish.  

When a family then books back in with me to have a Cake Smash session to celebrate their baby turning 1 I am genuinely delighted at the prospect of seeing how the newborn has transformed into an amazing bundle of fun, bursting with life and personality.  However, for this particular shoot documented on the blog…..the bundle of fun was my very own….

Looking at her newborn photograph above I can barely recognise her. Although I have spent every single day with her since she was born I can’t quite believe the transformation myself. Looking at her I burst with pride that she is mine, yet there is something so bittersweet about that 1st Birthday! Is it the thought that we will never get our teeny baby back that once curled up in our arms, but now struggles out of our grasp to go and explore. Or that we will rarely get to hold them tight in the wee hours of the night, cradling them back to sleep with that milky smell lingering on their tiny breath?? Those moments that remind you how utterly dependent they are on you for everything. I feel sad, I feel nostalgic. Where has the time gone? Why has it gone so so fast? I then have to remind myself that I have these pictures though. I may have been exhausted and in a lot of pain when taking them, but I am so glad I did because in this picture she will forever be only a few days old….and with the chunkiest of arms I have ever seen on a newborn in my studio!!

Less of the soppy stuff I hear you say!!

Okay so to celebrate this one turning 1 I thought I had best arrange her a Cake Smash session of her own! Many of my friends have made their child’s first birthday cakes and although I respect them for that I am more of a Colin the Caterpillar from Marks and Spencer’s kind-of-mum. However…for the purpose of this Cake Smash I figured I wanted something very simple, so decided that I would make the cake myself! You may well think this sounds like a recipe for disaster…well you would be right and in fact it was! My first attempt ended horribly! In my head logic was that given the cake was for a photography session it was all about the ‘look’ and not so much the taste. So the fact that I had no self-raising flour didn’t pose a problem, I would just chuck a load of extra baking powder in to make do! Even if it meant it wasn’t as tasty, she would surely eat some anyway and I could snap away with the camera happily. Major error! Cake basically exploded and tasted horrendous so had to be binned! 
Attempt two seemed to be going better, I had learned from my previous mistake and stuck strictly to the recipe. Cake came out of the oven looking very normal so I decided to turn it upside down on a cake stand to cool down before icing. 15 minutes later…Chris happened to point out that the inside of the cake had now emptied itself onto the kitchen surface! To cut a long story short I scooped it back up, put it back in the oven and saved the day and although not as professional looking as I may have liked, I think the cake did the trick and suited the set-up perfectly! This was her first taste of cake (as far as I know…her grandad may know better) and she actually loved it although was a very clean eater which made clearing up a doddle!! Good girl!

So please have a look at my little Lara’s 1st Cake Smash and admire those perfect baby thighs xxxxxxx

I loved photographing this beautiful little baby boy. It was especially lovely as he belonged to one of our wedding couples from back in 2014. Sebastian was baby number 2 of the Rodda clan and is every bit as beautiful as his older brother.

I just love how every newborn photography shoot captures each baby in their own unique and special way. Before Sebastian arrived to the studio, Mummy told me that he was a super-duper sleeper. He hated however having to be stripped down to his nappy in the studio…he much preferred being wrapped up in his blanket!

Sebastian was 14 days old when he came to visit us. Newborn photography or baby photography shoots need to take place in the first 5-10 days ideally after baby is born. This just ensures that baby is sleepy throughout and will be happy enough to pose in a bucket or two!! 

We are based in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport but have parents travelling from Poynton, Bramhall and all parts of Cheshire. We’ve even had a few recently from as far as Bury and Oldham. If you would like to enquire about newborn photography or baby shoots then please drop us a line at:

nchopesphotography@outlook.com

But for now…take a look at the super-cute Sebastian!!

Having the opportunity to meet such wonderful families is one of the best parts of being a Family Photographer. Capturing special moments for Mum and Dad that will last a lifetime in a picture is an amazing feeling and privilege for us. 

This summer (it’s been a while since I blogged properly) we have had numerous newborns in the studio for sessions. I must admit I am now exceptionally broody as a result of this! Here are a few photographs we would like to share with you to illustrate how lucky we are to be Family and Newborn photographers!