Part of the pre-photoshoot planning that I enjoy most is helping clients choose the right location for their session. Sometimes families have a very clear idea of what they are looking for, but often they are not sure which location would work best for them.
For newborn and baby sessions I generally recommend that these take place at home unless the client is specifically looking for an outdoor session. From a practical point of view, everything is close at hand, there is no need to worry about the weather, and I know I certainly wouldn't have wanted the additional pressure of heading out for photographs in those very early days with my own babies!
Sessions with older children offer a little more flexibility, and I often photograph older children outdoors as they tend to be a little more energetic and enjoy having space to move around. If you have a garden or local outdoor space, it can also be lovely to combine some photographs at home with some outdoors.
This particular mum was keen to have an outdoor session as her two-year-old is very active. Knowing how much he loves to play in the woods, and that he is at an age where everything is a source of fascination, I suggested Stanmer Park in Brighton. Stanmer Park offers a really lovely variety of backdrops for family photographs- a mixture of more formal gardens, large open spaces and woodland.
When we started the session he was straight off to explore! He loved looking at the flowers and we found a little pond where we looked for frogs. When his attention started to drift, we were able to move on to the open parkland and capture some lovely mother and son moments. The session then naturally moved into the woodland where we found trees to climb and even found a swing to play on! Letting children have fun and explore is a way to really capture their personalities in photos. I always make sure to capture some lovely photographs of the whole family looking at the camera but find that the photographs where children are being themselves often tell the story of this stage of family life best.
If you're thinking about booking a family photography session, please do get in touch. We can work together to choose a location that suits you, your children and the kind of photographs you'd like to create.
