We will be having an ‘at show’ competition with a fabulous prize and there will be opportunities for new mums to join our fabulous ‘Baby’s first year’ scheme . We will also have some new gift ideas, perfect for Christmas.

As well as exhibitors, there will be plenty of entertainment for your little ones including Mister Maker, and plenty of great ideas and stands with everything you and your baby may need. We look forward to seeing you there.

Boudoir photographs are such a great gift for a partner as well as being a wonderful way to celebrate your body.

How about booking a shoot to celebrate a weightloss? Or to make you feel sexy again after having a baby? Or just for fun.

During your photo shoot in our private, friendly and relaxed studio, Jo will capture your natural beauty and sexiness in a discreet and fun way. Because the shoots are geared towards showing off your best features, it’s perfect for women of all ages and body shapes.

This is one of Jo’s gorgeous photographs from her trip to South Africa.

We uploaded it to Picnik and added Drop Shadow in Frames. This is a great effect for showing photos off online.

Also in Effects, you can find CinemaScope which, as you can see, makes the photo look like an old movie.

Finally, give your photographs a Swinging Sixties vibe with 1960′s in Effects. Love the rounded edges.

There are so many more effects to choose from – you’re really only limited by your imagination!

If a bunch of people all took a photograph of the same event, how would yours be different? If you saw all the resulting photographs, would you know which one was yours?

You may be aware of having a style or you may not – but the fact is, you do have one.

Perhaps you focus on people rather than buildings? Maybe the same colours or shapes come up in your photographs time and time again. Are you interested in tiny details or big, bold landscapes. Have a look through all of your photographs and see what jumps out at you. You may be surprised.

Boudoir shoots are becoming increasingly popular and it’s not hard to see why!

These beautiful photographs are from a shoot Jo did recently with Trevor Yerbury and his Boudoir Academy.

One of the most wonderful things about digital photography is how it enables you to touch up your pictures after the fact. Because no matter how much time and effort you put into your photography, there will be times you could do with a little help. Here are a few of the most helpful edits:

Straighten the horizon

Photo a bit wonky? Straightening it is a simple and easy edit that makes all the difference.

Remove unwanted objects/blemishes

The ‘clone’ or ‘retouch’ button can be used to copy one area of a photo and place it over another area. For example, if a photo of your toddler features a distractingly dribbly patch down the front of his top, simply click elsewhere on the top and paste a dry bit over the wet.

Add an effect

You probably know you can change the exposure, contrast and brightness with the click of a mouse in your editing software (or actually on some cameras), but you can also change your colour photo to black and white, boost or fade the colour, blur the edges or give it an ‘antique’ effect similar to the incredibly popular ‘Hipstamatic’ iPhone app.

Jo specialises in photographing children being themselves. Children are not posed, but are instead encouraged to have fun and enjoy the session, as you can see!

House filled with your children’s “artwork”? Keep the ones you really love and just take pictures of the others. Once you’ve got enough, you can make a collage and put that on the wall instead.

Are you keeping things for sentimental reasons? Do you really need the physical items? Why not take photographs instead? You can then frame themed collections – brasses your grandparents left you or your mum’s costume jewellery – and display them instead.

Select macro mode

Obvious, yes, but many people simply use “auto” and don’t bother investigating their camera’s settings. Macro mode is “close-up” and usually symbolised by a flower.

Focusing

You need to experiment with focus. In Macro mode, you’ll see – via a little square – where your camera is focussing, but you probably won’t be able to tell whether or not the background is in focus. Experiment with zooming in on the foreground item.

Use a tripod

You want to avoid camera shake as much as possible so try a tripod. Otherwise, some cameras have an extra stability setting, so that’s worth a try too.

Good luck!