Autumn Family Lifestyle shoot

I often run mini-lifestyle sessions in Autumn for clients wanting to get an update of images of their children.  The sessions are much shorter than the full lifestyle shoot but can work well for those who are looking for a great Christmas gift.  This session was bought for Sharon and Bobby as a Christmas present and they were able to enjoy a lovely woodland shoot and select 4 great images to be printed.

Their daughter Katie has modelled for me before and so it was lovely this time to be able to do a shoot of the whole family together.

Now spring is here its a lovely time of year to think about a lifestyle shoot for your family.  I am currently taking bookings for weekday and weekend shoots.  With the bluebell season approaching followed by the Summer and Autumn months why not give me a call to discuss planning a shoot?  Together we can discuss locations, outfits and season to create the best portraits of your family and which of my gorgeous products are going to look to amazing when presenting these images to hang in your home.

Judi x



Judi is a wedding and lifestyle photographer based near Oxford working mainly in Oxfordshire,  Wiltshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds but will consider commissions throughout the UK.  Working on location using natural light and countryside landscapes, Judi focuses on capturing beautiful relaxed images of you and your family using a mix of reportage and fine art style photography. Using an artistic eye Judi will not just capture your memories but create a work of art which can be presented in luxury fine art albums or as framed art or canvases to hang in your homes. 

Judi also provides services for commercial businesses including headshots, nursery and pre-school portraits as well as special events such as birthdays and christenings etc. She is a member of both The Society for Wedding & Portrait Photographers and The Guild of Professional Photographers.

More information is available on the website www.judicheckettsphotography.com or 

Friday Foto - why I love this image

Welcome to this special Friday blog post where I select a favourite photograph and give you the story behind the image. Today's image is to cheer up a cold wet January day with the hope Spring is on its way!

One area I specialise in as a photographer is child portraits - I largely shoot lifestyle images which means these are relaxed portraits of children in their natural environment.  There are some great studio photographers out there but I find the smiles I can capture by taking a child to the woods or big gardens are so much more real.  And parents crave this - an image of their child looking happy and enjoying life.

One tricky element in a lifestyle shot is to control all the aspects of light, background and composition as the child is much more free to move around and those precious moments when the perfect shot comes together may only be there for a moment.

Very small children can change from big smiles to huge tears in the shortest of times as most mothers will testify.  This shot was taken of little Ruby on a day where she wasn't feeling so inclined to show off her beautiful smile.  It hadn't helped getting a little lost on route to finding those bluebells in the woods near Marlborough! However a little patience and I managed a few winning shots.

What makes the image special to me is that it was an occasion when all the elements did come together. Her outfit is a perfect colour combination for bluebells, the light is soft and flattering and we have a beautiful big smile straight into camera.  The short depth of field creates separation from the background to make her stand out in the picture.   A little post-production colour correction and cropping helps the final composition and provides a photograph I was delighted with.

If you are looking to have some child portraits done in the spring this year then late April is the time to book in for a shoot and capture the bluebells.


Techy Stuff

Camera:  Canon 5D II
Focal Length:  70 mm
Aperture: F2.8
Exposure:  1/1250
Iso: 400

Shot in manual mode, no flash


Judi x



Judi is a wedding and lifestyle photographer based near Oxford working mainly in Oxfordshire,  Wiltshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds but will consider commissions throughout the UK.  Working on location using natural light and countryside landscapes, Judi focuses on capturing beautiful relaxed images of you and your family using a mix of reportage and fine art style photography. Using an artistic eye Judi will not just capture your memories but create a work of art which can be presented in luxury fine art albums or as framed art or canvases to hang in your homes. 

Judi also provides services for commercial businesses including headshots, nursery and pre-school portraits as well as special events such as birthdays and christenings etc. She is a member of both The Society for Wedding & Portrait Photographers and The Guild of Professional Photographers.

More information is available on the website www.judicheckettsphotography.com or contact Judi via email

Friday Foto - why I love this image

Happy New Year!

I'm kicking off 2014 with a new resolution to be more active on my blog!  I have so many wonderful photos I want to share with you and time is always my enemy.  So, I'm beginning this week with what I hope is to be a new regular feature - "Friday Foto  - why I love this image".

Each week I will post an image and explain a little bit of the story behind the image.  It might be the reason I captured it, what was special about the subject matter or perhaps it might be about compositional elements which for me make the photo really work.  A great image should evoke an appropriate emotional response in the viewer - only you can feel if that happens for you and of course this is art…..so highly subjective and each persons response will be different.

But I hope you enjoy this new feature and get a glimpse of what makes a photo important to me.  I'll also be including a little of the technical info too for the techies out there :)


Starting off this week with a favourite image from last year. Do please share your thoughts below and share this post with friends on Facebook or Twitter.

This image was taken as part of a lifestyle shoot of two siblings - these sessions frequently provide images of children running around laughing and having fun.  But within a session there is a chance to capture the many sides to the individual child's character.  Quite often they become absorbed in play and forget the camera completely as here - the little girl fixated on her umbrella.  Up to this point she had been running up and down the steps and twirling the umbrella around….. then a quiet reflective moment.   I love the the stillness and the fact she is not aware of the camera.  As a mum myself I'm only too aware of the fleeting moments of our children this motionless - and by capturing it the moment can be held forever.  Converting the image to black & white enhances the mood of the image and creates a timeless fine art portrait.

Techy Stuff:

Camera:  Canon 5D II
Focal Length:  200m
Aperture: f4
Exposure 1/640
Iso: 200
Shot in manual mode, no flash

This image was awarded a bronze bar from The Guild of Professional Photographers.

Judi is a lifestyle and wedding photographer based near Oxford working mainly in Oxfordshire,  Wiltshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds but will consider comissions throughout the UK.  Working on location using natural light Judi focuses on capturing beautiful relaxed images of you and your family using a mix of reportage and fine art style photography. Using an artistic eye Judi will not just capture your memories but create a work of art which can be presented in luxury fine art albums or as framed art or canvases to hang in your homes. 

Judi also provides services for commercial businesses including headshots, nursery and pre-school portraits as well as special events such as birthdays and christenings etc. She is a member of both The Society for Wedding & Portrait Photographers and The Guild of Professional Photographers.