Saturday I headed to Manchester to the lovely Newborn Baby Posing Limited studio for a Fine Art workshop with the lighting maestro Gary Hill from Art Of The Portrait, I can't explain how amazing it was, I absorbed so much information from Gary.. Here are just a few shots of the beautiful Claudia and Bella Rose.. I can't wait to move forward with these sessions in the studio.. Karen x

Blowing my own trumpet? yes indeed I am :-) I mean, Its not everyday you get a feature on VOGUE is it? Well..... today it happened, after weeks of submissions, rejections and frustration. I almost didn't take my camera to the Monkey forest that day.... but thank goodness for instinct :-) Karen

Happy International Women's Day:-) Lets celebrate women who have changed the world. Lets raise our girls to be powerful and make a difference. We got this girls. ‘I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.’ – Nora Ephron www.karenlongphotography.co.uk

It's a while since I shared a little about this wonderful charity whom I and so many other selfless photographers and retouchers across the UK volunteer our time to. RMB offers a free gift of baby remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby either before, during or shortly after birth. By offering sensitive and beautiful remembrance photography we hope that the small gift we can provide to families will bring some comfort in the days, months and many, many years to come I hope we never need to meet, but we are here if you ever need us. PS if you would like to become a volunteer photographer or retoucher the team would love to have you on board. Karen xxx

**HONESTY POST** So this is a little bit of a long post, but stick with me, it has a purpose. A year or so ago, I wrote some words down, I didn't admit it at the time, but it was actually a letter to myself. I am in barely any photos with my kids, more so little Florence yet I preach to my lovely clients to get in the image with their kids. So today I bit the bullet and handed my husband my camera, shoved it in auto mode, gave him a quick lesson and told him to just snap away, I knew instantly that I would rip them all apart, and of course I did. but I knew it was important for me to do this. My grey hairs are showing, my skin isn't in great condition, my old, but comforting cardigan has a hole in the sleeve, I'm not a size 10, my nails are bitten to within an inch of their life and my hands are sore and dry, my eyes are puffy through lack of sleep, I am in all fairness looking pretty rough of late. But do you think Florence will notice that when the time comes and I am no longer here, NO of course she won't, she will just want to have memories of me and her. she's not going to look at the photos and think "christ, mum looks as rough as a bears arse in this picture" she will just remember that for once Mummy was actually in the picture, not hiding behind the lens. So thank you to my husband for taking these, they mean the absolute world to me, and in time will reignite a whole load of memories for Florence. So here are the words I wrote down, read through and let them sink in.... **I can see you... everywhere I go I see you... at the school, the park, the play area, the supermarket everywhere I go... you are there. I see you mums that feel overweight, frumpy, tired and stressed out no time for yourself to even go to the toilet in peace never mind take a trip to the hairdressers or to the gym. I see your children, beautiful, beautiful children. full of innocence and cheeky faces... I see them changing right before your eyes.. tomorrow they will have altered, not a great deal that you would notice, but they will have changed none the less. I see the moments that you don't see, I watch with interest the way your child holds your hand, cuddles up to you waiting for you to produce their kinder egg at the checkout in the supermarket, I see them playing with your hair and whispering I love you... telling you how much they have missed you when you come through the door after a long day at work. I see you stroking their cheek and kissing the scrapes and cuts on their knees after a taking a tumble in the park, wiping their snotty noses with the sleeve of your shirt... I see you rolling your eyes when they have asked you the same question repeatedly for over half an hour. yet you take a deep breath and answer them. I see you putting them before yourself all of the time, I see you looking at the clothes you desperately need and picking up something, then putting it back because the kids will always need something more than what you will. I see you looking around when your child is having a tantrum because you won't buy them a toy, wondering what others are thinking of you… I see you sitting through yet another bloody episode of Peppa Pig, drinking a glass of wine whilst checking your watch to see how long is left until bed time.. but you cuddle up and watch it regardless. I see you reading bedtime stories, with hushed voices and dulcet tones, I see you watch their eyes go sleepy before you kiss them gently on their eye lashes and bid them goodnight. oh and I see you turning your head as you tiptoe to the door, just to take in their beauty once more. I see you, I see you everywhere... I see your future, I see your beautiful, beautiful children remember all these moments, I see them telling their grandchildren all about you.. I see their children asking to see a photo of Grandma. "Oh Grandma never liked the way she looked, she always complained about her weight”, they will say, "Grandma was always too tired and stressed to ever have photos taken”… I see the albums and albums of photographs, I see them all… yet there is not one of you, zero, zilch, nada….. did you ever exist, like really exist, did you ever realise how important these photographs would ever be, how much they would be cherished? You see to exist in photographs is to exist in memories… Make sure you do… Pass the camera over to someone else, have them take photos of you for a change, your children will be so very glad that you did. And make sure you tag someone you wish would get in the photos more Karen xxxx www.karenlongphotography.co.uk

**Maternity Model Call** **16th June 2018** Are you going to be 34 weeks or more on the 16th June? Fancy a Photoshoot in a beautiful location near Wrexham? I am looking for one model to assist me on this occasion. you will receive 3 Mounted prints from the session for your time. Images taken will be used for marketing and publicity. Interested? please pop me a message :-) Karen xxxx

What are your kids favourite books? Reading is one of our favorite things to do together, getting lost in the words, pictures and the adventure, she has so,so many books but always comes back to this one, her favourite The Lion Inside. “It felt like the scariest thing he could do ... But if you want things to change, you first have to change you.”

Mum's to be in Wrexham, this sounds fab 🙂

There is something about the simplicity of in home lifestyle sessions that I just love. Especially when there is a new little squishy baby like Lucy involved. How lucky am I that I get to do this ❤️ www.karenlongphotography.co.uk

Studio Maternity Sessions There seems to be a serious baby boom happening in the area right now.. So many enquiries for bump sessions? Is there something in the water? If you would like to book your bump session, now is the time to do it, they are best done between 30-37 weeks when your bump is nice and round :-) Drop me a message and I will give you all of the info you will need. Now Facebook won't let me promote this post, so if you have a pregnant friend who you think would rock one of these sessions get tagging them.. or just like and share:-) I will love you forever. Karen xxxx

Nicky.. a beautiful Mama to be 😍 Thank for for being totally amazing and for letting me capture you and your growing bump and for just going with the flow.. I look forward to meeting your new bundle in the next few weeks. karen xxxx www.karenlongphotography.co.uk

**PERSONAL POST** I have just read the following quote about why you should NOT take too many photographs of your own kids "Kids might feel like they're the center of the universe' making them feel 'overly important" Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? I mean really?? well Mr Anon Reporter, sorry to disappoint you, but this little lady IS the centre of my universe, and she is very much important! A lot can happen in 20 minutes with her, and I mean a whole lot, especially when she is on top form, but today she was a little under the weather, we went from laughter to feeling sorry for herself onto a much needed sleep. I love to capture these little moments of her, yes she wasn't her usual self but rest assured we have had cuddles aplenty and a little afternoon snooze thrown in for good measure, she woke up much perkier and is almost back to her normal self. Always take the photograph.. always karen xxx www.karenlongphotography.co.uk