Getting the perfect shot is child's play for this Portsmouth couple

EVERYONE loves babies but as any parent could tell you, getting them to sit still for a photo is no easy task.
Lauren Bennett and her partner James Tippins have been nominated for three categories at The Guild of Photographers  

Picture: Sarah Standing (160110-9025)Lauren Bennett and her partner James Tippins have been nominated for three categories at The Guild of Photographers  

Picture: Sarah Standing (160110-9025)
Lauren Bennett and her partner James Tippins have been nominated for three categories at The Guild of Photographers Picture: Sarah Standing (160110-9025)

However, for Lauren Bennett and James Tippins, baby photography is a passion that they’ve turned into a stunning success.

The Southsea couple, both 32, have three of their baby photos among 10 nominated for a top Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Award.

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Lauren said: ‘It’s very exciting. We couldn’t believe it. The standard of entries for the award is so high, to have three of my images being recognised at that level is fantastic.’

Lauren and James launched their maternity and baby photo business, Lemon Sky Photography, at the end of 2014.

The couple, who are engaged, both used to work as professional musicians.

The pictures feature two-week-old Daisy Turner in a hot-air balloon, four-month-old Evelyn Sumner pictured with dolls from Toy Story, and Lauren and James’s son Noah, who was one when he was photographed as a 
cowboy.

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Lauren said: ‘Noah wanted to be Woody from Toy Story so we dressed him as a cowboy, although now he’d much rather be Buzz.

‘We originally came up with the hot-air balloon design because I wanted to create something serene and calming but creative, and it’s since become one of our most requested themes for photo shoots.’

Lauren said baby photography was ‘the best job in the world’.

She said: ‘It’s quite complex and there’s a lot more to it than people see.

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‘It’s not easy to get those serene faces in a dignified way for the baby – the most important thing is that they are happy.

‘I’ve always really loved babies and children so working with them doing something I love is great.’

Guild director Lesley Thirsk said: ‘To have an image recognised by the guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best 10 in a category for the end-of-year final is a quite remarkable achievement.

‘It shows just how talented a photographer Lauren is.’

Competition winners will be announced at an awards night tomorrow in Cheshire.

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