KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY... ALBUM: PART ONE
February 20, 2022
Family Photography Portraits on Location
Recent times have prompted us to reevaluate the time we spend with our family and loved ones, go out into nature and simply value the pleasures of our local surroundings.
Here in Southbourne, West Sussex, we feel incredibly blessed by our local surroundings. There are the beautiful beaches and shores of the south coast, the dramatic, rolling hills of the South Downs, the enchanting, ever changing woodlands, the sweeping rural beauty of farmers’ fields and, in contrast, the urban culture of historical Portsmouth and Southsea and quintessential market town of Chichester. In terms of portrait photography, there is something on our doorstep to suit every family.
Your location choice has value when telling a story in a portrait and can speak volumes about your family life and connections. It also allows us to capture you at your best, in a fond, familiar environment where you feel relaxed and happy.
We’ve been looking back at some of the precious moments we have recently created for families and wanted to share some of them with you. They may even inspire your next photoshoot so that we can help you preserve your treasured memories too.
Two Settings One Location
Moving around in one location is brilliant for producing a variety of looks for your portraiture – and helpful for keeping little ones entertained and engaged!
We mixed it up during this lovely family of three’s portrait shoot and voila… fun and funky by the beach hut one moment, classic and natural in the grassy dunes the next.
And for this larger family with older, agile children we moved from a silhouetted stroll along the water’s edge against the backdrop of blue sky and shimmering sea to the beach’s wooden groin posts as they hung out at their favourite sunny spot on the West Sussex coast.
It’s often a piece of nature that can inspire us to the picture-perfect spot. This intricately textured, mossy, felled tree trunk offered a natural stage for this well wrapped-up family in the Autumn woods whilst a short stroll through the undergrowth led them to a bright, open clearing framed by seasonal flora and carpeted with colourful crispy leaves.
One family, one location, and with a change of setting and poses, equals two different looks.
You may have a number of places that are special to you as a family, making choosing a location for your shoot a fun challenge.
A Top Tip: Think about where you will intend to hang your portrait? Will it fit with the style of the room? Will it complement the décor of its surroundings? It could be the deciding factor.
Taking the Lead
For those of you who have four-legged family members then rest assured they can share the limelight with you!
We had fun creating interesting patterns with this couple and their dogs whilst capturing the undeniable connection between the three of them – we love how much our clients adore their pooches! We positioned this dog central in their portrait using distance and spacing to create this stunning sunset shot.
The dynamics of photographing children and dogs together means we can go to town (or beach) to explore the beautiful, fun and lively connection that each family creates.
We were delighted this family had so much fun on their shoot bringing the natural look and feel to their images that they had dreamed of.
Sally wrote these assuring words for any parent or pet owner considering a shoot!:
“Kelly made sure that we felt relaxed and took all the pressure away by letting us know that she can work around my son not always playing ball or our dog running out of shot to greet another pooch on the beach, we thought it might have been a lot to ask photographing a three year old and a dog together but with her professionalism Kelly made it look easy!” Sally.
As you can see, a location can really make the family dynamics shine
Happy Places = Happy Faces!
“My happiest memory of the shoot was Kelly seizing the opportunity to capture us all together splashing in the small waves with the sun setting behind us. We all had so much fun and most importantly our son and dog felt like it was play time and were oblivious to the camera snapping away.” Sally.
By delivering an enjoyable experience for our clients the shoot in itself can and will create happy memories along with images that we hope will last forever.
Ages and Stages
We also find rolling with the personality and ability of your little ones enables us to capture them at their most natural. It’s ok if your children can’t keep still or want to toddle around exploring their surroundings – we actually love it when this happens it means that genuine memories can be captured.
Look at this little cutie discovering the sights and sounds of his parent’s favourite local beach. By following him around we got some great natural shots of his exploration and this delightful silhouette of Lee and Ela looking up adoringly at him beneath the golden glow of the sun.
Lee and Ela shared “Having our portraits taken professionally really allows our personalities to show and capture who we are. They will show us the past when we look back on them and for others, they will tell a story of our family”.
We often talk about putting your children at ease during the shoot, but actually it’s quite common for our adult clients to tell us that they are unsure of having their photos taken. Rest assured we do everything we can to make you feel relaxed and happy so that you’ll get the images you want and are proud to hang on your wall.
Babe in the Woods
This lovely little fellow certainly wasn’t camera shy! He was just starting to sit up when we planned his shoot so his parents were really keen to capture him out and about in nature. We came up with a range of spaces and poses to suit him amongst the autumnal woodland.
First, he showed us his sitting skills upon a bed of fallen leaves and atop a wide, sturdy tree stump! When it came to a whole family portrait we raised him up to join his parents making sure he was in just the right position and in a natural pose to style out a woodland walk.
Now it’s your chance to get in touch and share some of the locations that are special to you. Just drop us a line at [email protected] or call us on 01243 375551.
For more ideas and locations look out for: KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY... ALBUM: PART TWO the next edition in this 2 part family photography article.
See you soon,
Kelly Hearn A.B.I.P.P - A.M.P.A