Happy Halloween!

Pinterest is a dangerous thing!  Let me tell you why.  My little neighbourhood halloween get together, where I was just going to prepare a simple kids' dinner and let them run around, turned into a party I spent days planning and preparing.  But let me just tell you it was worth every minute.  Just look at these little faces!

I went online to get a few "spooky" food ideas and then ended spending hours looking at all the fun displays people have put together for their Halloween parties.  I got inspired!  I think my favourite idea are the bottle labels.  We used them at home even before the party and the kids just loved them!  It really got us into the "spirit" of things (no pun intended).

And the food, oh let me tell you!  Mummy sausages, ghost pizza, halloween cut-out cookies, worm jelly, brains with eyeballs in blood sauce, ghost garlic toast, ghost frozen bananas.  And to wash it all down "poison" and "blood".  And for the mummies, "mummy drink", of course.

 Here are the recipes if anyone is interested.  The ghost pizzas and mummy sausages were SO SUPER yummy!

Ghost Pizza

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/individual-spooky-white-pizzas-recipe.html

Frozen Banana Ghosts

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frozen-banana-ghosts

Mummy Sausages

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sausage-mummy-dippers

Eyeball Pasta

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12856/eyeball-pasta

 Before it got too dark, I did remember to set my camera up for a shot of the kids and me.  Thank you to my dear neighbour for snapping this photo for me!

Now that I've got all these ideas swimming in my head, let's see what next Halloween brings....now off to go plan Olivia's birthday (somebody, keep me away from Pinterest!).

Dreams Come True

Half term has come around so quickly!  Doesn't only just feel like the school year began?

As a little treat for ourselves and the kids, we planned a few days to Disneyland Paris.  I love Disneyland Paris.  And although we have already been a few times, we've never experienced the Halloween celebrations.  It was quite a magical (mysterious) place!

To be honest, it's not Disneyland that I love; it's really all about watching the kids' eyes light up when they see their favorite Disney character.  Even if Olivia said to me (before we left), "mom, it's not really Mickey, it's just a person dressed as Mickey", she still lit up every time!  And sometimes, it left this sappy mommy a little bit teary eyed.  I just love seeing my little loves experiencing the magic.

And although Disneyland Paris is by no means Disney World, it still meant the world to me to share this special time with 3 of the people I love most.

Esher Autumn Mini Session

Since I've just delivered this beautiful gallery to the client, I couldn't resist sharing.

These photos are from one of my autumn mini sessions which were held about 3 weeks ago when the weather was really variable.  One minute it was glorious and beautiful, the next it was pouring down.  The weather between the session changed quickly.  The sessions started out quite sunny and warm, then the rain rolled in.

Although storm clouds were looming overhead for this session, we managed to get some absolutely stunning shots, if I do say so myself.

And this year, the autumn mini sessions included a choice of digital Christmas cards that can either be printed or sent digitally.  

I simply adore these cards!

To book your session, send me an email at photos@LauraGioffredo.com.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, another year has come and gone, which means I'm yet that much older (and wiser, or so at least I think so!).  I celebrated my 38th birthday this past weekend (another year closer to the big 4-0!).

When hubby asked me what I thought I might want for my birthday, I said "a quiet day with my family with no commitments" (our schedule has been crazy busy since the beginning of the school year and I just wanted a "day off") "and a photo shoot with my kids".

Considering my children are "photographer's kids" they are notorious for running and hiding when I get out the camera.  So armed with chocolate, bubbles, their "lovies", the promise of going to the local amusement park if they were good, and hubby by my side to say silly things to make them crack up, we were ready for our photo shoot.

And LOOK WHAT I GOT!  I'm so super excited!

AND that's not all.  We are decorating our kitchen and I am ordering myself 2 large 24"x24" frames with a selection of these photos and...

who knows, I might just go crazy and order 2 frames of these black and white photos for the hall.

So Happy Birthday to me!  And thank you to my wonderful husband and my beautiful babies for a fabulous birthday gift.

 If you or someone you love has a birthday coming up, why not schedule a photo shoot as an original and most amazing birthday present!  Contact me at photos@lauragioffredo.com.  You can see more of my work on www.LauraGioffredo.com.

More Awards!

I'm so excited to announce that I've won another 7 (yes, that's right SEVEN) awards from The Guild of Professional Photographers.

You may have remembered that in June I submitted 9 photos which all scored at professional standard. Then in July I submitted 9 of which 5 won bronze (the rest scoring at professional standard).  Click here to see the July winners.  And now in August I submitted 9 of which 7 have won bronze!

The learning and feedback I have received from these submissions is invaluable.  I feel I have grown and developed quite a bit over the past 3 months and I can see my work through "new" eyes.

Here are the August winners...

This photo below was only 1 point shy of winning a silver!

To book a session, send me an email at photos@lauragioffredo.com.  To see more of my work visit my website.

A New Look!

Drumroll, please! After months of hard work, I'm pleased to announce the new Laura Gioffredo Photography website!

www.LauraGioffredo.com

My new website has been designed to showcase my 3 main areas of photography, "Families", "Newborn", and "Corporate". Each has been allocated a special page of "details", explaining all about what to expect from your session.

And as you're looking through my new site, make sure to click on my favourite page - Kudos Page.  It warms my heart to hear how happy my clients have been.  And to those of you who have left me kind words, thank you!

Lastly, I offer a lot of exciting ways to get your photos off your computer and out on display. All of which can be tailored to your needs. Visit "Art For Your Home" to find out about all my gorgeous products.

So enjoy clicking around my website and if you have any feedback or would like to book a session, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Award Winning Photographer

I still have goosebump!

For those of you who know me well, you'll know that photography is my passion.  I love everything about it.  And what some people may not know is that I have pretty much taught myself everything I know (hours and hours of practice, reading, and research).  I am proud to say that my achievements are all of my own accord, with some help from my amazing network of photographers (you know who you are!)...and that my business started out from absolutely nothing just over 3 years ago to a successful business I can call my own.

Starting your own business takes a lot of guts, especially when that business is an art form.  Not only do you have all the millions of questions about accounting, taxes, marketing, suppliers, and sales, but you also have to confront your own self confidence.  

Three and a half years ago, who said that my photos were good enough to start my own business?  No one.  Who said that I merited charging for my work?  No one.  Who said I would be a successful photographer?  No one.  I had to believe in myself.  And through many periods of self doubt (ask my husband as he was always the one that had to listen to me), I continued to progress and continued to build my client base, many of whom have come back to me over the years...and let me tell you, the biggest compliment to a photographer is a repeat client.

All of my hard work has paid off and today I can honestly say that I am an award winning photographer.  My self doubting has meant that it's taken me until June of this year to enter any of my photos into any trade association competition.  The first month, I scored well...all of my images scoring at professional standard.  I knew I could do better, so in July I entered again.  This time I'm proud to say that 5 of my images have won The Guild of Photographers' Bronze Award, images at a strong professional standard - definitely worth being proud of.

So to all of you who have supported me over these years and for all the amazing, wonderful, beautiful clients of mine, thank you, thank you for helping me to achieve my dream and for allowing me to do what I love.  <3