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ONE Documenting Growth- All too often we are so busy building our futures that we don't document whats going on currently. Children grow up so fast and by having photos taken it is a sweet reminder of life together. TWO Life is too short - We may not want to admit it but the make-up of the family can change without warning and loved ones may pass on. You never know when that last chance for a family photo will come. THREE Reliving Memories- Pictures in general bring us back in time, to that moment, to that wonderful happy memory. If you’ve been thinking about having a family portrait taken, do it! Do it for your children, do it for yourself. You wont notice those excuses you tell yourself of being 'too busy', 'I need to loose weight first', 'the children wont like it' when you sit down and admire your photos in years to come. All my love, Emily Kearns Photography
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 The only way to understand anyone in this world is via communication. Would you agree? With technology being so immense, there are so many ways to communicate with someone now a days. Through writing, photos, voice, sight…the list goes on and on. So why is it we focus so much on speech communication with babies when their fine motor skills develop earlier than their ability to speak. They will start to clap, wave and point from around six to eight months. Babies naturally want to communicate – and baby signing is a brilliant way to help your little one to do so. I’m not saying it should be used as a substitute for speech, but rather as a stepping stone towards full speech. And the best bit? It’s surprisingly simple for you and your baby to learn. Some benefits to teaching your baby sign language: Boost earlier communication skills Babies know exactly what they want, it may not always be the right thing for them but they certainly know what they want. Babies receptive language skills (what they understand), develops earlier than their expressive language skills (what they can say). The motor, auditory and perceptual skills needed to speak single words are simply not developed until 10 months at the earliest. However, fine motor skills develop much earlier (waving etc). So, we know babies have a better ability to communicate non-verbally at a young age, so sign language allows them to do this. Supports speech development As previously mentioned signing is not a substitute for speech but can be an addition to it. When researchers have tracked language development, they have found that the infants who make the biggest gains in vocabulary are the ones whose parents gesture a lot (Goodwyn et al 2000). Does your baby communicate a lot with this hands? If so, it has been studied that they are more likely to utter his first multi-word sentence at an earlier age (Iverson and Goldin-Meadow 2005; Ozçalişkan and Goldin-Meadow 2010; Demir ÖE, Levine SC & Goldin-Meadow 2015). Reduces frustration/tantrums increases self-esteem and confidence How frustrating can a simple game of pictionary or charades get when your team mate just cannot get what you are trying to commutate to them. We’ve all been there! Well baby sign has shown benefits of reducing this frustration as they can communicate their wants and needs effectively. It closes the gap between desire to communicate and the ability to do so. Resulting in an increase in self-esteem and confidence to communicate. Enhances childs intellectual development and gives them a head start at school Studies have shown that children who sign have been found to have a significantly larger “word bank” than non-signing children. The more words a child knows and uses by the age of five, the better they are thought to do academically. It makes YOU more confident Arguably one of the best benefits of baby signing is that it will make YOU feel like you’re doing a good job at parenting. Understanding what your baby wants will make you feel like you know them better, consequently bringing you closer to each other. Parents say that signing is rewarding and aids bonding because of the need to make more eye-to-eye and tactile contact. Also, as children age, it may be easier to reprimand the child in public using sign language, saying “no” for example, and equally can become a way of giving praise privately. This Thursday I am lucky enough to be having Little Angels School of signing here in my studio! There are a few spaces available so please get in contact asap if you would like to attend a complimentary taster session. But remember smiles, praise, and responsiveness will always help reinforce your baby's attempts to communicate. Please contact littleangelssigning@gmail.com if you are interested, the session will be held in Maidenhead. Drinks will be provided. Please visit their website for more information https://www.littleangelssigning.co.uk/ All my love, Emily xxx References Demir ÖE, Levine SC, Goldin-Meadow S. 2015. A tale of two hands: Children's early gesture use in narrative production predicts later narrative structure in speech J Child Lang. 42(3): 662–681 Goodwyn, S.W., Acredolo, L.P., & Brown, C. 2000. Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior., 24, 81-103 Iverson JM and Goldin-Meadow S. 2005. Gesture paves the way for language development. Psychological Science 16(5): 367-371. Ozçalişkan S, Goldin-Meadow S. Sex differences in language first appear in gesture. Dev Sci. 2010 Sep 1;13(5):752-60.    Photo credit: Deviantart.net So, you are searching the web and looking for a photographer. There are millions it seems and its getting you down because you are not sure what to look for. So, I decided to write a quick guide with the aim of making the process of choosing a photographer more comfortable for you. The Four Peas of the Perfect Photographer: All photographers have a specific style and specialism, have a visit of their galleries or portfolios to make sure you get those dream photos exactly the way you want. If there is only one photo on their website you like, you need to make it clear to them that is the style you like. Think about not just what looks good on the screen but what looks good on the wall, or in a book… do you have a bare wall in your house that needs a homely touch? What is your colour scheme, photography is always a great standalone piece of art, but can be enhanced even further when matched with the colour scheme of your room Pricing is it within your budget? Not all photographers openly display prices, this is often due to the bespoke nature of the shoot. Make sure you get in contact with them and don’t be afraid to ask for a personalised quote for your particular budget. Pricing is really difficult in photography, quite often you can find that you end up paying for a brand, rather than paying for a good photographer, also keep in mind what you are getting… be wary high upfront studio fees leave you at risk of receiving a lackluster product, and as you have already paid a big deposit there is no way of getting it back. Equally look out for free studios, they are typically less established and you may be taking a risk with capturing those key moments. This is especially important in newborn photography as the ideal time to take a newborn shoot (5days-3 weeks old) passes in the blink of an eye. Place Where are they based? Will they travel to you? How far are you willing to travel for them? There is no use finding your amazing photographer that ticks all of your boxes but are situated 1000s of miles away from you. Think about your location and your photographer. Ever heard of the saying, location, location, location… what is true for the property market is just as true for newborn photography shoots. Did you know the typical newborn photography shoot can vary anywhere between 2- 4 hours… a good photographer will keep an open time frame as their absolute priority is making sure the baby is comfortable and happy. People What do people say about this photographer? Have they had good reviews? It is always great if a fellow friend has used them before but see what others thoughts and opinions are. If only there was a trip advisor for photographers! What separates a good photographer from a great photographer is the experience that they are able to give you, and it’s almost impossible to ‘try before you buy’…. Some tips to help, don’t always go just by the testimonial page photographers are likely to show a fair positive reflection of themselves, look on their Facebook pages and see if they have an ‘about me or biography section’ on their page. Look out for those who have experience working with children before too. Personality This one is a bit trickier. Most photographers will have an about me page. Check it out. What feel do you get from them? Why not have a phone call with them? Get to know them a little bit. I always recommend meeting your photographer especially for your wedding photos. You want someone who is going to make you feel relaxed. Someone that has the personality type to make you feel comfortable and enjoy your experience. These things are important because it will reflect in your photos. Finally remember to plan! If you haven’t got bored of my P theme yet, the best time to book for Newborn photography is whilst pregnant. Wedding photography typically gets booked 1-2 years in advance, and family shoots are worth booking in advance to ensure availability. Whatever you choose, remember to have fun! It can be easy to get caught up in the stress of getting the right photographer but follow these simple steps and you can say goodbye to stress and hello to great photos! I hope this helps! All my love, Emily xx I’ve always been pretty broody, I’m the type of person that sees little things and just says ‘Nawwwwww look it’s so tiny’ … i.e in Boots where you get all the cute travel items. So imagine me with baby clothes ! I am a very proud Auntie of 4, two identical twin boys Finley and Billy, and two nieces Pippa (Pipi) and Mia (Mimi)….I knew I would love being an Auntie but I had no idea how much I’d love it. There definitely is a special bond between an aunt and her niece and nephews, and although all of them are under two years old, they know exactly who I am. 5 Reasons I love being an Auntie:
I could go on and on but there is just a few. This is my first blog so I had to make it about my wonderful nieces and nephews. One last thing ….. I would like to say to Rob & Laura, Pauline & Simon … thank you. Thank you for giving me the most precious people in my life, and thank you for being great role models for my future xxxx All my love, Emily xxx |
