Family Photo Shoot
Thanks for asking me to photograph your family – I am known for my stunning children’s portraiture, mostly in gorgeous, outdoors settings in vibrant colour and striking black and white imagery.
We can do your photo-shoot at your home or at a location favoured by you, like a beach or park. We could also use my gardens/studio (please see About Me section).
During a family photo-shoot I will do some natural, documentary-style images where you are all interacting and then individual portraits, especially of the children. What to wear is important, your colours should be complimentary and preferably avoid logos or obvious stripes that will dominate. If you like we can have more than one outfit. I can help you choose when I arrive!
I keep things fast moving and light during a photo-shoot –if we’re having fun it will show in the images.
Once we’ve got the basic family shots done I’ll encourage your children to don their favourite outfits and take some informal portraits that are typical of them be it twirling in a tutu or climbing a tree.
Including family pets in your photo-shoot helps to relax everyone and I love having dogs, cats, chickens and sometimes horses in my shoots! Splashing in puddles, climbing trees, playing Chinese whispers, these are just a few tactics I’ll use to elicit lovely reactions from your children.
But I also like serious images when children are just being themselves, absorbed in a game of conkers or examining a leaf.
We’ll use available light at our location, be it a bluebell wood or a rustic barn. Looking for the perfect light in any location is my speciality & what makes my images pop. A typical photo-shoot will take one and a half hours.
I am always happy to visit you before our photo-shoot to choose outfits & locations and hear what you’d particularly like. It’s also really helpful to see your home if you are looking for wall art so that I know what space we are looking to fill prior to the photo-shoot.
After the shoot
I will edit, using Adobe Light Room, around 150 of our images, enhancing each and every one in a subtle way. I do not overproduce my images and maintain my natural style.
The images will be ready to view within 2-4 weeks from the photo-shoot (frequently sooner) and I will then invite you to my studio in Crowcombe, Somerset, for a viewing. It’s helpful to allow an hour for this so I can offer advice on image combinations and complimentary products.
Your images will be hosted on a private, password-protected gallery on my website for you to share with friends and family.
FAQs
If possible, it’s great to wear tones that go together within a family/sibling group e.g. all pastel colours or all darker colours. I’d rather you avoid white tops because these tend to dominate a photo, but if you especially wanted to wear eg a white linen shirt then it’s best if you all wear white on top.
It’s also fun to compliment backgrounds to outfits so if, for instance, you have a lovely faded olive green door then we might pick a grey/green shirt or dress to compliment the background, especially if you or your child have green eyes.
You may want some photos that are more formal with smarter clothes e.g. in front of your house, and then some that are more playful with more vibrant and casual clothes when the children are, for example, lying in a wild meadow. For small children it’s also fun to let them wear their favourite tutu or Darth Vadar outfit!
It captures a really special moment in time.
We can either do your Family Photo-shoot in your own garden and house or on location like a beach or The Quantocks.
If we are doing photos at your house it’s fun to do some inside and outside. Your children might like to bounce on their bed or show me their toys. We can frame them in a window or on a porch and I love any outbuildings too which invariably have gorgeous light.
You are also welcome to use my garden in Somerset where there is a tiny river for paddling in, a stunning bridge and railway arch.
Nearby there are further striking photo options like The Quantock Hills (an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Jurassic beaches, an Apple Orchard and my Old Lime Kiln. (see fine art section).
My studio is on a working farm in Crowcombe , Somerset, which also provides a stunning location for photo-shoots – hay bales, wagons and vintage containers. I mostly do fashion style portraits in my studio and have an extensive wardrobe of designer clothes for clients to use during their photo-shoots.
In any of these locations I’ll be looking for lovely backdrops with good tunnelled light for maximum impact. When possible, perhaps with families who have older children, it’s great if we can use the ‘Golden hour’, the hour just before it gets dark.
Alternatively, we can use public area like Holland Park where I often do mini-shoots.
Please visit the 'Locations' page for location images.
I will select and edit around 150 photos from our photo-shoot using Adobe Lightroom to subtly enhance every image without over-producing them.
I aim to show you the images 2-4 weeks from our photo-shoot.
Viewing of your images will, where possible, happen in my studio where I can give you a slideshow on a big screen.
It’s best to allow a good couple of hours for this and preferably come without the kids because they will get bored!
It’s helpful to earmark your favourite shots at this viewing and pencil some ideas about framing. For directions to my studio please see the About Me section.
Digital files are safely stored in my studio for one year and any framed images, prints and albums can be purchased within the year.
For a full price list please see my Products page.
FAMILY PORTRAIT PRICING
-
Travel to portrait location (so long as under 45 minutes from Taunton this is free, otherwise small travel fee applies)
-
1.5 hours Photo-Shoot with Emily – This might be at your house or a favourite location. Several different set ups and different family groupings including some lovely individual portraits of your children.
-
Editing of the best 150 images into a mix of colour and black and white photos
-
Burning 150 or more digital images onto a memory stick. You can reproduce them in any way you like.
-
Hosting your images on a password protected gallery to share with your family
FAMILY PORTRAIT PRICING WITH ALBUM
Why not add a beautiful hand made, bespoke album to display your fabulous family photos in.-
Family Portrait plus Folio Every Album 10x10” 15 spreds is £750
-
Family Portrait plus Folio Every Album 8x8” is £700
