So there, I’ve said it. Life as we know it will change. Ok, maybe not, but this business will be changing in the next few weeks. Every single aspect of it will be reviewed, re-arranged, re-designed to make your photographic experience one you will never forget. Meanwhile, I will be working under the old Ana Taylor Photography banner. Or you can catch my personal ramblings on Two little women and a welshman. Or you can join us on Facebook.

I would like to say a big big thank you to Lola for having bought the gift voucher for Lars, to Ligia for letting me photograph her baby (and herself! Isn’t she gorgeous!?) and to Lars for being the sweetest little boy. I had a great time photographing you and I hope you love your photos.

What I learned from this “job”:

• No matter how good you think you are, your lens can let you down
• I was yet to learn how to see the light properly
• I am not suited for fashion photography

It was a fun day though and a great experience, I recommend volunteering to anyone wanting some experience in something different.

This first post comes from the gig I attended after deciding I really wanted to be a professional. It was a charity fashion show by Elevation Networks. It featured up and coming fashion designers and models. I found a notice on Gumtree and offered to go. I had never taken photos professionally before and had very substandard equipment. My camera body was ok, but I had lenses with very poor optics – specially for an indoor, night shoot. That didn’t put me off though.

(For any pros who might be reading this and calling me names for having ruined their show by supplying horrible photos, dispair not, there were other photographers on the day, some even had white, pretty L lenses).

I am proud of some of the photos I took this day, but none of them are on this post – they were taken on the show itself, and today’s post only features behind the scenes and rehearsal. I don’t think I would show a client ANY of these photos if I had taken them today.

It was really good to have a look at these photos again and see how much my photos have improved. This day have taught me lots, but I will leave that for the next post!

Ok, it’s just the 25th March mini sessions I am cancelling. But it’s all for a great cause: my 33 month old daughter and I are running* the Sport Relief Mile. Being a mother is something that affect your life in many ways and one, for me, is to always think about the children that, for one reason or another, cannot have all my child does: love, education, clean water and a clean, warm and safe environment to live. Comic relief helps to change lives across the UK and in many countries around the world. To see everything that is done with the money we donate, click here.

So, what do YOU have to do with this? Well, I would like to invite you to come and sponsor us. Lily and I have raised ZERO pounds so far, so will you help with whatever you can? Please? I will donate whatever is left for us to reach our fundraising target on the 25th. **Edit: we have now had donations, hurrah! But keep them coming, please**

And for everybody out there, we will be taking part at the Slough Mile, in Upton Park. We will be there from about 11.30 am and it would be a pleasure to meet some of you. I will be the lady with my name on the back – look out for Ana T and Lily!

* Lily might be running but it’s very unlikely you will see me run. I will probably walk.

Like the title says, don’t go down further if needles make you nervous!

Mr T couldn’t get the day off, so Andrea said to bring Lily along. She had fun drawing and just seeing things she had never seen before – like a bed that goes up and down.

Thanks so much, Andrea, for inviting me to document her work.

If you are looking for an acupuncturist, I can’t recommend Andrea enough. She specialises in pregnancy, breech and childbirth amongst other things – a full list can be found on her website. Don’t forget to mention you saw her here if you book your appointment!

Things are changing here. Slowly, I admit, but it has already started. One thing I am changing is the look of things. My website, my logo, they could have been anyone’s. There is nothing that says me in them, nothing that sets me apart from the next photographer. I want people to hire me because they like me, my style, my photos, not because I am the cheapest (which I am sure I am not!) or because I came first on their google search. For that reason, I want my website to scream “this is Ana, she is fun, come and meet her”. I have just ditched my flash-based website and I have hired an amazing graphic designer and artist to do my brand identity (she is Brazilian and writes in Portuguese, but go have a look at her beautiful work). I am going to rescue some of my “old” work from my old computer and build a decent portfolio on this website.

As well as that, I have decided I can’t cope with doing everything, so I want to do ONE thing. Which is what I think I do best. Which is what got me started in first place. My first (pro) photography love: children. I say pro because when I was a kid, I hated taking photos of people. Ok, not hated, but I wanted to take picture of interesting things. Buildings, mostly. I didn’t think people were interesting then – how wrong was I? – and my mother kept telling me she wasn’t paying for more film because there was never people on my photos. But then I grew up to love portraits. And children. I want to focus and develop (no pun intended) in what I like best and be the very best at it that I can be. I have absolutely loved every minute of the weddings I shot, and there is still one to come, and I am incredibly thankful to my lovely clients for choosing me to capture their special day but as I said in the beginning I can’t cope with doing everything, and my ONE thing is children photography.

The last thing is about the way I do business. If you google portrait photographers, you will see that most charge in the same way – albeit not with the same prices: a session fee, which might include something or not, and prints and products are sold separately. This is how I do it too. However I don’t think it suits me and how I want to be perceived as a photographer any more, so I am changing. I will charge more, but I will offer lots, lots more. I will offer a very personalised service and will only sell selected products by request. I will only shoot a very limited amount of sessions per month, so my clients get my full attention. I want to offer top quality service and photography at reasonable prices.

It’s all very scary. Specially because I am doing fine now – not fully booked, but booked and working in something I really enjoy. But I want the change. And I want the change to be a positive one. I don’t want to do what everybody else does, I want to be different. And if it doesn’t work, it’s fine too, I can just go back to old models, tried and tested – at least I went out there and followed my heart.

I am not going to apologise for the mess on my website, and it will be messy for the next couple of months. I am going, instead, to invite you to come back every week or so to watch me grow and to share the joy with me. I hope I come out at the end of this journey a better professional, a better photographer and a better person too.

Pretty much what the sign says: 30 minute sessions, a disc with your 5 favourite images for £75. These sessions are only suitable to 3-4 people because of timings. Because mini sessions are always very popular, fees are payable at booking to secure your slot.

After your shoot, your images will be posted on a secure, password protected page for you to choose from. These galleries will be up for 14 days. Discs will be packaged in our eco-sleeve but can be upgraded to our lovely luxury personalised cd boxes. All products will be available to purchase at normal prices and, especially for this sessions, individual image files will also be available to purchase – in case you want more than 5, that is.

So this is it: let’s celebrate Mother’s Day and the arrival of Spring in style! Contact me on the email above or click here!

I had already decided I was going to add those frames to the products I offer, firstly because I love offering beautiful, nicely finished products to my clients, but also because they are as green as you can get, made of reclaimed wood – which also means every frame is a unique product. They come in three sizes – 10×15, 18×12 and 24×16 – and two finishes: antique brown and vintage white. The photos are printed on heavyweight canvas and protected against dust and UV light with a fine art varnish.

I chose the dark finish to go with the very light picture I had picked and to say I was impressed when I opened the box is an understatement: I nearly cried. It looks so gorgeous it just went straight up on my wall. The attention to details on all finishes is incredible and I just can’t fault it. It is perfect!

Still in the bubble wrap

Details of the back

Up on my wall

I would just like to say a big thank you to Folio and Stewart for choosing me as a winner and for the amazing customer service. You are a star!

Mr T, I only am who I am today because of you. Your support through good and bad – and especially really bad – times has made me stronger. If I have now the courage to pursue my dreams and believe in my work, it is only because you believed in me first. I love you so so much – to the moon and back?

Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.