UP CLOSE: With photographer Laura Hirons

Godalming Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We profile some of these businesses and organisations regularly in our 'Up Close in Godalming' feature.

Today we chatted to Laura Hirons, who runs her own photography business.

When her family placed a camera into the hands of eight-year-old Laura Hirons on her birthday several years ago, little did they know that they were setting the path of her future career.

For Laura, now 20, it was the beginning of a passion for life behind the lens, which she has developed into a thriving business, Laura Hirons Photography.

"Photography is my absolute passion, I love it," she says.

Laura specialises in family and child portraits, working out of a studio at her parents' home at Long Gore in Farncombe.

And although lockdown has inevitably had an impact on her business, the loosening of regulations and the onset of the warmer weather mean her order book is starting to fill up, and she can get back to doing the job she loves full-time.

Laura is the official photographer for St Catherine's School at Bramley, and says she has been grateful for that regular income, particularly during the past year.

Now she is looking forward to once again photographing people's happy days: weddings, engagements, get-togethers and babies.

"I most enjoy taking children and family photos," she tells Godalming Nub News.

Picking up that camera at the age of eight gave her a head start, and Laura was running her own business by the time she was 15.

"I used to walk around Broadwater Lake and take photos of the wildlife," she explains. "I decided to set up a Facebook page and to ask if anyone wanted any family photos taken. I didn't ask to get paid for it, but one lady gave me £15, and that was a lot of money for me at the time - and that's how my business began."

Positive comments on Facebook turned into solid bookings for Laura, and her fledgling business really started to take off.

"The year I was supposed to be studying for my GCSEs I was off taking pictures," she says.

"I took my first wedding photos when I was 16."

She has travelled far and wide to snap people's nuptials - her granddad even drove her to Cornwall to photograph one happy couple's big day.

With more than a dozen weddings under her belt, she has quite a few now booked in as the country starts to emerge from its long hibernation.

She is largely self-taught, although she did study art photography at college: "It wasn't the sort of thing I like to do, it was a bit too 'arty' and posed for me," she laughs. "I much prefer capturing family members and family times in a fun and natural way."

Her proudest career moment so far has been raising over £2,000 for Shooting Star Chase Hospice in Guildford with her Doorstep Portraits, taken during lockdown last year. She photographed over 50 families, asking for donations to raise the money for the hospice.

Laura sees her mission as 'Creating memories that last a lifetime'. And what better way than a framed picture of a moment in time, captured on camera by a talented young woman with a passion for the art?

You can see Laura's work on her website,