Ok, since we are having a bit of a baby boom, I thought I would update you. At the moment I seem to have  a number of mummies due in the 2nd half of may, June & July. I would normally ask for you to contact me when the baby is born, and try to accommodate you by re-arranging the diary. However due to the sheer volume of requests, I am having to work things slightly differently. Therefore If you are pregnant, and would like a newborn session please do contact me as soon as possible, and we can book you in approximately 5 days following the due date. It might mean that we still need to reschedule you, but other mummies will be in the same situation , and at least there will be slots we can swap with If  needed.

Appointment availability in general ( not for newborns specifically) as follows -

May - full (unless you have already contacted me)
1st week of June - a few slots left, I am then away 8-16th
week commencing 24/6 - 5 appointments left

week commencing 28th of June the availability is good.

Proof turnaround times are 3 weeks at the moment, although hoping to improve that in the upcoming weeks. Order turnaround times 3-5 weeks depending on what the order is, again I am just clearing my backlog caused by the recent computer issues, and hoping to improve the lead times.

Just a quick note to photographers emailing - thank you so much for your kind emails, unfortunately at this point in time I am not offering any training or one-2-ones. Also, if I haven't replied to your email it is not because I am being rude, but simply because I don't get the time in between running the business and trying to be a mummy, a wife and a friend...I hope you understand.  

on my progress! It's not been a good week. Not at all... I came back from my few days away in Brighton to a completely dead computer - black screen, just not working. After a bit of to and fro'ing to the Apple Store they finally got the machine working (it was a failed graphics card). But ever since, my internet connection has been non existent - one minute it's working, next minute it isn't. Uploading anything is virtually impossible. So having spent about 10 hours in total on the phone to BT, I have decided that a change is due. I am having my lovely new router fitted next week by Virgin and they are promising a 50mb connection so it should be lightning fast! Time will show, but anything is better than the pretty pathetic 2MB I get out of BT.

Unfortunately due to the Internet and email issues everything has been at a standstill, including uploading proofs and fulfilling orders. As I print in house, and my printers are networked I need an internet connection to be able to print. I have had a little bit of progress tonight and the internet has been working for a full hour so far, so will just need to wait and see what happens. 

To top the IT issues off, I banged my little toe ( just found out it's not broken so at least that's good news) so half my foot is black and bruised, and tomorrow morning I am having more emergency dental surgery as my remaining 2 teeth implants are going to be removed as my body has rejected them. And of course we have half term too... So, please accept my apologies if I have been slow in coming back to you - it's all been very stressful , but I hoping to get myself back on the straight and narrow over the upcoming couple of weeks. If you have sent me an email and i haven't responded it's probably because I haven't received it - please do resend. Email and internet and still likely to be slow and sporadic until next Wednesday.

As a result of the volume of enquiries and bookings I am forced to put on a session freeze for May - I simply cannot take any more bookings at this point, unless you need a newborn session (babies under 10 days) , or I have already sent you and email with a date. Therefore I am now taking bookings for June onwards.

Thank you all for your patience, and if you have a spare moment please send some good karma my way - I need it!

My first catch up sneak preview is below - this is a session I shot a couple of weeks ago in Maida Vale with the lovely Katherine, aged 17. Although I normally stick to babies, it was lovely to work with a young adult , and Katherine was fab to photograph. We had a fun, relaxed session and I am hoping that the images reflect what mum was hoping for - to capture the essence of Katherine and her joyful personality.

I am now away from the studio until the 8th of April. Please email at mariamurray@mac.com if you have an enquiry or would like to book a session. Please note that the next available sessions are week commencing he 26th of April. If you have a newborn that you wish to be photographed within the first 10 days from birth then please do get in touch and I will see what can be done to accommodate you. Take care and happy Easter! 

I just had a chat with lovely lady from C4 who needs to talk to pregnant ladies about their experiences. As lots of mummies to be read this blog, I thought I would help her out by posting this!

My first day back at the studio today, yipee ! I am still getting my head together after what was rather busy weekend at the Baby Show. I was displaying mainly newborn photography and met lots of mummies and daddies-to-be. Thankfully my teeth are finally healing and today was my first relatively pain free day, which was fantastic after spending the best part of the last month with toothache. This week is all about catching up as am behind with both proofs and orders after the ordeals of the last month! I also have 250 + emails to send out after the show...

Once I have caught up with everything urgent, I will be blogging details of some great companies I met at the show, so you can visit their websites and get some goodies!