» Leicestershire

Baby Photography | Isla

Beautiful Life — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:42:16 +0000

A quick share from a lovely baby photography session I did just before Christmas. I met this little lady a year ago for her first baby photography shoot when she was just a week old so it was a real privilege to photograph her again walking and talking! Isla has developed a real personality and I wanted to capture her character and show her favourite games and all the new skills she has mastered in her first year! We started the photo shoot at home where Isla showed me her favourite book and we had a great game of peepo with her little rabbit. I always like to work outside where possible, this can be a bit challenging in winter but we took the risk and headed to Stonehurst Children’s Farm to take a few pictures of Isla looking at the animals etc. We had a wonder around and Isla proudly pushed her new pram which she had for her birthday. She was very sweet pointing at the ducks and chickens saying ‘oo’ and ‘duck’ but didn’t want to get too close!

© 2011 Beautiful Life Leicestershire Baby Photography
Call us on 01509 505438 to find out more about our Baby Photography and Newborn Sessions

Leicestershire Portrait Photographer | Annabelle & friends

Beautiful Life — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:22:36 +0000

Annabelle came over from Birmingham with her sister, best friend and boyfriend for a portrait photography session. Annabelle had seen the pictures from Alex and James’s pre-wedding shoot and wanted some similar photos. On this occasion I arranged a location with fields, long grass etc. but to add some more interest we also took some contrasting shots at an industrial estate, 4 inch heels and rubble, great combination! It was actually quite funny, luckily the girls had brought flats as well, they did manage to climb a stack of tyres in the heels though, quite an achievement I thought! It was a great photo session, I really enjoyed it. These are two of my favourite locations with some brilliant colour and textures, yes probably the odd rat as well but much to everyone’s relief we didn’t see any! We planned the session later in the afternoon hoping to catch the sun going down but as the day went on the clouds rolled in and there was no chance so instead I got the flash and a big soft box and we ended the portrait session with some shots in the trees.

Jade looks stunning in this shot and my two favourite colours, deep turquoise and burgundy looking lovely together plus all that texture and just a smudge of pink, perfect!

Newborn Photography | Baby Rohan

Beautiful Life — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:03:26 +0000

It was lovely to visit Kelly and Shyam again, you may remember them from their maternity photography shoot a couple of months ago. It was a real pleasure to meet their gorgeous little baby boy Rohan and capture some special memories for them. Rohan slept peacefully and we got some lovely images. He is the biggest newborn I have photographed so far, I think just over 10 lbs, the little hats very a very snug fit! Congratulations Kelly and Shyam and all the best with the move to the States.

Kelly and Shyam | Maternity Photography

Beautiful Life — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:24:29 +0000

I had a great afternoon in Leicester last week with Kelly and Shyam. I always love Maternity Photography because there’s usually just a few weeks to go until baby is due so couples are excited and busy getting everything ready for the new arrival. I can talk babies and births till the cows come home, so I am in a happy place! Kelly is from the States so it was great to hear all about how they do things over there, slightly different to the good old NHS! Anyway, here are the pics, can’t wait to see baby in about 7 weeks time! If you would like to know more about our Bump and Baby Photography packages please give us a call.

© 2011 Beautiful Life Maternity Photography
Joy specialises in creative, natural Pregnancy Photography and Newborn Photography and is available for portrait sessions throughout Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

All you need is love . . .

Beautiful Life — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:23:57 +0000

I’ve had a busy but fun weekend working with the ladies from the florists ‘Fleurs en Fleur‘ in Loughborough, Leicestershire, documenting their Valentines Day preparations. I met Lisa at Matt and Megan’s Wedding last year and just loved the gorgeous bouquets she had made. Lisa has an amazing talent when it comes to working with colour and texture and brings a fresh and creative style to all her floral designs so I was excited when she asked me to take some photographs for her new website, I’ll post a link when it’s up but for now you can visit her site here – ‘Fleurs en Fleur‘

Well, the day started at 4.30am for me as I tried to rouse myself from sleep. I met Lisa and Sue at 5.45am and we drove to the flower market in Derby. Lisa picked up her order of red roses and then set about choosing all the other flowers and foliage she needed for the shop. Then we headed back to her shop in Loughborough for a well earned cup of tea!

After a quick breakfast all the flowers from the market have to be unpacked and prepared before she opened at 9 O’clock. It was amazing to see what goes into creating those gorgeous valentines bouquets, like every business there is so much that happens behind the scenes that often people don’t appreciate. Whist Lisa and Sue worked hard getting everything ready I took some time to photograph the gifts and accessories for the website.

Then there were the hundreds of red roses to cut and put in water ready for making up the bouquets to be delivered in the morning. All the roses had exotic names like passion and Grand Prix!

The shop was open and customers came in to place last minute orders and Lisa started to create her bouquets.

A vase of red roses for the pub over the road, then on with more bouquets for the shop.

As a photographer I’m always looking for new products that I can use to showcase my creativity and provide my clients with unique pieces. Lisa is just the same, as well as classic flowers and vintage roses she has lots of different plants like these bamboos that add that unique creative touch to her work.

The shop was looking and smelling amazing. So happy valentines everyone, and guys if you haven’t sorted it yet you’d better get on that phone and no a cheap bunch from the petrol station won’t cut it! Seriously, the love that goes into a high quality bouquet from an experienced florist will win her heart every time.

© 2010 Beautiful Life Video and Photography
Promotional Photography and Portrait Photography throughout the UK

Raj and Shital’s Hindu Wedding

Beautiful Life — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:48:38 +0000

A gorgeous Autumn day, the sun was shining! Raj and Shital held their indian wedding ceremony at the new Judgemeadow College in Leicester. Indian weddings are filled with lots of beautiful colours, emotion and laughter which always creates fantastic opportunities for capturing natural imagery. Congratulations to Raj and Shital and thank you for making me feel so welcome throughout your day.

On arrival the Groom is escorted to the Mandap

Kanyadaan or entrustinig of the daughter is where consent for the continuation of the wedding is given by the brides parents. They give their daughter to the groom by placing her right hand into the Grooms right hand (Hastamelap) whist saying sacred verses. The curtain separating the Bride and Groom is then lowered and garlands are exchanged.

Ganthibandhan (Tying the knot) is where the priest ties a knot which is a symbol of union between the Bride and Groom as husband and wife.

Agni Puja (Holy Fire). The priest starts a fire in a Kund. The fire symbolises the illumination of the mind, knowledge and happiness.

Laja Homa. The Bride and Groom place rice into the sacred fire.

Mangalfera. (Walking around the Fire). Each time they stop they place their toes on a stone in their path which represents overcoming obstacles together.

The bridegroom blesses the bride by placing Sindhur at the parting of hair on her forehead. He places a necklace on here (Mangal Sutra) which represents togetherness, love and sacred union.

Chathurthi Karma is where the bride and Groom feed each other four times representing nourishment for the body and soul.

Aashirvaad (Blessing). This is where the priest blesses the Bride and Groom as flower petals and rice are thrown.

Viddai (Brides departure) This is a very emotional time. Family and friends say goodbye to the bride as she leaves her parents home and begins a life with her husband and his family.

Part way through the day we went to the Botanical Gardens in Leicester to shoot some wedding portraits. With the sun shining and the leaves turning red and gold it was a gorgeous backdrop for photographs. If you are planning some Bride and Groom portraits as part of your wedding day then having a great location picked out can make all the difference. Locations can be serene and beautiful or urban and gritty and anything in between. Be creative and plan this time into your day, we recommend around 30 minutes. We do offer a practise run in the form of an free engagement shoot which can be really useful to help you relax in front of the camera.

© 2010 Beautiful Life Wedding Video and Photography
Asian Wedding Video and Asian Wedding Photography. Full UK Coverage
If you would like to find out more about Indian Wedding Photography and Hindu Wedding Photography then please contact the office on 01509 505438.

Ian and Clare’s 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary

Beautiful Life — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:16:42 +0000

Clare and Ian celebrated their 25th Wedding anniversary at The Grey Lady in Newtown Linford, Leicestershire. There was a great performance from singer Ruth Lorenzo who you may remember as a finalist in X Factor a couple of years ago. This was followed by speeches from the Groom and Best man. Congratulations to Clare and Ian and a big thank you to everyone for making us so welcome.

This event took place at The Grey Lady in Newtown Linford, Leicestershire. Portrait Photography and Event Photography by Joy Foulds.

Mud pies and Mucking about

Beautiful Life — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:16:58 +0000

Autumn is my favourite time of year and not just because it starts with my birthday! September always brings lots of changes and this year a big change as I waved my baby off to school, very sad but also very exciting as ‘Beautiful Life’ picks up momentum and I have a very busy season ahead. The trees are starting to change colour and we have Bonfire night and Christmas to look forward to, brilliant!!

Our garden looks like a jungle after a full summer of weddings it’s been a bit neglected! I decided that this weekend we were going to sort it out. Gardening quickly turned into mucking about, climbing trees, harassing insects and of course mud pie mixing (no eating this time thankfully!) Kids are just so imaginative and creative, they make games out of anything and good games make great images. I couldn’t resist snapping a few pics, it was just so much fun. The garden is still a jungle but we had a great time!

My youngest daughter is a muck magnet and at her happiest in the garden talking to the bugs!

We did do a bit of gardening and started to clear out all the pots, but work quickly turned into bean smiles and green tomato eyes!

We’ve not long got back from our summer holiday where Charis spent most of her time digging holes and building sand castles. But who needs sand when you have old plant pots and mud? She gave the pot the ‘special tap’ and sure enough a sort of sand castle emerged. She was very pleased with it!

Spot the catapillar

Autumn portrait sessions are becoming really popular as the photo’s make great presents for Christmas. The colours make awesome backdrops, those loads of free fun to be had, picking blackberries and hunting for conkers. For kids there are fab knits (the wooly kind) and loads of hats out there. Deadlines for Christmas will be posted soon.

Prestwold Hall Pre-Wedding shoot

Beautiful Life — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:06:42 +0000

Pre-Wedding Shoot at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire with Clair and David in the rain! It was the only day it’s rained in the last couple of weeks and it rained good and proper all afternoon! We dodged between trees and doorways and got very wet but best to get the rain out of the way before the Wedding!

© 2010 Beautiful Life Wedding Photography Prestwold Hall
Wedding Photographer Leicestershire, Nottingham, Derby, London, UK

Spring Portrait Sessions

Beautiful Life — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:56:45 +0000

Booking your Spring Portrait Session

I know some parts of the country are still covered by a blanket of snow but it’s time to start thinking about booking your spring portrait sessions. I’m really looking forward to the start of the season and trying out some fresh new ideas and locations.

Please call me on 01509 505438 to book or find out more about our Portrait Photography Sessions.