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HELEN BARTLETT / FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY

Winter Family Photo Shoot in Suffolk

Extended family photo shoot in Suffolk

I first met Jayne and her wonderful family back in 2008 when she organised a family photo shoot with her children and also her siblings, their children, and her parents. Three generations came together for a wonderful day and a beautiful set of images.

Fast-forward sixteen years and were were back together again, our fifth photo shoot and another absolutely wonderful day together.

Fifteen people and three dogs!

As a professional family photographer of twenty years there’s very little that fazes me but I admit, some photo shoots can be more challenging than others and booking a session with fifteen people and three dogs in the middle of December certainly make me blink. It’s a time of year where we have even more unpredictable weather than normal and that’s a lot of people if we had been indoors for the whole day.

But some families you know would make it work whatever the weather, and I knew that whatever the day threw at us we’d have a wonderful time.

Luck favours the brave!

As I travelled to Suffolk the night before the shoot the rain pelted down and then, luck favoured us, and the day of our family photography session dawned absolutely beautiful. It was a glorious morning with low winter sunshine. Admittedly there was quite a wind but you can’t win everything and overall we were incredibly lucky for the time of year.

So the weather was on our side and, as always, the kids were amazing. The perfect set up for the last family photo shoot of the year.

Family pictures in the garden

We started with some family group shots in the garden. It’s important to get something in the bag straight away and blasting through some different combinations focused the mind and gave us some wonderful pictures to start the day.

Heading out for a walk

We then headed out for a walk in the beautiful Suffolk countryside. Luckily everyone had bought suitable footwear as it was very wet underfoot but getting out and about gave opportunities for finding different backgrounds to take our pictures.

Finding an amazing fallen tree – the picture that starts this blog post – made me very happy indeed and it was a brilliant spot to create a shot of all the kids together, something a bit different that will look fantastic on the wall

Something to lean on

Then we found a post across one of the paths that could have been put there just for me. A great hight to lean on which helps everyone to relax a bit for a group shot.

As we walked we also found some spots for some individual portraits ensuring there was a lovely shot of everyone from the day which can find their place in a frame on the wall.

Indoor pictures with Christmas lights

When we returned to the house I took some pictures as everyone milled around, chatted and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  These portraits are beautiful, enhanced by the lovely Christmas lights that adorned the kitchen.

Final shot and a job well done

We finished with a final group shot of everyone in the stunning yoga studio. t nice to have a picture where people aren’t bundled up in all their warm clothes and the incredible space made the perfect spot. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better final session of the year. Wonderful people, great location, beautiful weather, it all came together so well.

I’m already looking forward to our next session in a few years time.

If you like what you have seen here today and would be interested in an extended family session for your family in 2024 then do get in touch, I’d love to meet you and create a beautiful set of images for your family.