So the summer holidays are over! Yey/boo depending on your perspective!
As is traditional the first back to school project is an essay on what I did on my summer holidays, so I thought I’d post just a small video of documentary portraits I took of my two children rock pooling at Bamburgh in Northumberland.
We recently spent a week in Northumberland – where I was brought up – at my parents’ house. I miss the beach in my life. But it was such a joy to see my children finding such simple pleasure and delight in nature. Oh to be a kid again and dance in the waves! My daughter spent about an hour simply dancing with her reflection and jumping in and out of the surf. She was so soaked and cold by the time she’d finished she may as well have gone for a swim!
My kids take bath time very seriously – donning safety goggles and all! The littlest sometimes takes the brunt of the splashing from the biggest and it’s all a bit too much. It’s easy to get frustrated in the moment at her carelessness and lack of consideration for her brother. But viewed through a lens, I’m reminded of the raw emotions bundled up in these small people and just how fleeting these moments are. Minutes later and harmony and happiness was restored!
As a London documentary family photographer I often get asked how I get such lovely images of the children that I photograph. Kids are notoriously unwilling to play ball when you get the camera out as parents will know too well. As soon as the camera comes out they either hide or pull a silly face!
So the real answer is how I get such good images is that ‘they’re not my kids!’ Other people’s kids always behave better than your own. But I do manage to get an occasional good photo even of my own two children. Obviously I also have 20 years of experience and training behind me and a wealth of technical knowledge which does help. But here are my top tips that anyone can follow:
This was not only a delightful south London family photo session, but also one of the loveliest and thoughtful birthday presents. Rory and his daughter Freya booked me to do a family photography session for wife and mother Siobhan. The Brixton family wanted some natural photographs that were true to them as a family in a place that meant something to them – their local stomping ground Brockwell Park.
Lugging a great big camera around can be tiring and even I, as a London lifestyle and documentary family photographer, don’t have a ‘proper’ camera on me at all times. The best camera you have is always the one you have with you at the time. I’ve taken some great photos and even had them published in my press photographer days with a small basic camera because that’s what was in my bag when the photo moment arose. Most of us always have a phone on us and for most phones these days the camera is pretty good. You probably won’t be getting published in National Geographic or seeing your photos in the National Portrait Gallery (probably – but who knows!) as the resolution isn’t that high, but they will be perfectly adequate to print out snapshots and publish on social media – which lets face it with digital photography is what we mostly end up doing anyway!
So here are a few tips to get the best out of your phone camera.
It’s always lovely to get a recommendation: it’s even better when someone has seen your photos on a friend’s wall and they ask for your number! Last year I did some lovely photographs as a London children’s photographer of a little girl Coralie in the lavender fields out near Banstead. Her parents Emmeline and Russ had the image made up as a huge tray-framed acrylic from my Elegance range of wall art and have it pride of place in their living room. Their friends Natalie and Steve saw it and wanted something similar with their children Ava and Benjamin.
This was a very special session for me – I’ve known Lucy and Iain for over 20 years since we all met at university. Lucy and Iain have been with me throughout my photographic journey from my days on the university newspaper, through my time cutting my teeth as a press photographer in my first ever job on a local newspaper in Scotland, right through to my decision to focus on documentary family photography in London. And to boot, we’ve ended up living just down the road from each other.
Way back when I decided to turn my photographic attentions to family photography in London I had a very lovely first client, Laura with her husband Ciaran and their one-year-old Finn. They booked me to do some family photos to celebrate Finn’s first birthday and we spent a lovely session in Mayow Park in Sydenham / Forest Hill. I was absolutely delighted when Laura contacted me again to update the photos as their family had grown with the addition of gorgeous Bonnie who was herself now about to turn one.
