family photoshoot at Lee Martin Images

I love having photos up around our house of our little family and we had some lovely photos taken whilst I was pregnant and again when Isabelle was brand new but we didn't really have many of Isabelle. We really needed to have some more up to date ones taken too and Michael happened to be approached in a local park while taking the kids for a walk and asked if Oliver wanted to do a lucky dip to see if he had won a prize - professional huh? Anyway obviously he had won something and like silly people we thought ohh that's good we'll book in for a free photoshoot and get some family photos done. Without seeing the price list first! turns out we had some lovely photos taken however we couldn't afford the prices they were asking - we are talking thousands of pounds. I'm not going to name and shame the company because they are very good at what they do just completely out of our price range which they were very unwilling to talk about before when I asked again and again for prices but I was just shocked..... this post is actually about a fantastic photographer we went on to find afterwards.

If you're in Hertfordshire, then in Watford there is a very good photography you can use.

Talking to a friend who is also engaged and planning her wedding, I mentioned we haven't found a wedding photographer yet when she recommended the one she has booked and also used for photos previously. I had a look at his facebook page - where I start when looking into anything! I love social media and it's a great way to learn a bit more about the company, what other people think of them by reading honest reviews. I then checked his website where I found a price list which looked amazing for wedding photography. We are on a budget and don't want to (as well as cannot justify) spending thousands and thousands on our wedding day. It's one day anyway and although we want an amazing day, we also want an amazing life / more importantly to actually be able to feed our two children (and me too, I like food.). So we arranged an appointment to meet Lee ... which I noted down wrong and didn't turn up to!! So Lee, Tina, if yoever read this - sorry again! We rebooked for the day that I actually thought it was and when we arrived at their studio - which is in their house so very homely, they were very nice and we warmed to them easily.

Lee Martin Images is a husband and wife team, they are lovely people and made us very relaxed. With their wedding photography they do what the couple want them to do - not what they want to do! Which is very important. We booked them for our wedding and cannot wait to see what images we get from them. While there we spoke about our recent experience with family photos and I told them how I was a bit upset because it was our Christmas present idea for grandparents to give photos of the children... and to my surprise they managed to fit us in last minute so we now have photos ready on a disc to print off for Christmas presents! The prices are so affordable meaning that we will be returning each year before Christmas to get some up to date photos of the children.

Lee and his wife Tina were both really good with our children who at times can be a complete handful and not want to do what the photographer wants at all! They went with what the children wanted and we even got some toys involved in the photos. Tina acted like a friend to our children and was very kind, my daughter was even sitting on her lap at points which is very unlike her as shes a total mummys girl. There was time to have a few outfit changes for the kids, a great idea to make photos a little different.

We really enjoyed having our photos taken.

Prices... for £40 you will get 1 hour shoot in the studio with your choice of background colour, we went with white, included in the £40 is 5 high res photos on a disc. You get to pick which photos you want. The value for money gets better when you can get an extra 10 on the disc for just £35 more, an extra 20 is £50 and the more you purchase the better the value becomes.

You can have a look at Lee Martin Images - here

I'm already looking forward to our photos next Christmas!

I'll share some more photos after Christmas but I'm keeping the ones I am giving as Christmas presents under wraps for now.

*please note, all these words are my own and Lee Martin Images haven't asked me to write this post at all, I wanted to share a fantastic family affordable local photographer for anyone who may be looking.*