A summer family portrait

I love this time of year.  Summer is here, everyone is in a really good mood, the trees are covered in green leaves and the flowers are in blossom, it’s my favourite season and perfect for summer family portraits.

I was so excited to meet Priya recently.  We’d been discussing our photo shoot for a while and exchanging lots of emails about pictures and what Priya was looking for from the session.  It’s lovely when clients have thought a lot about what they want to achieve and incredibly humbling that Priya had taken so much time looking at the blog and getting a real feel for my photography.  I was so excited to meet her and her family.

We had the most perfect day.  The kids were amazing, and we had such a brilliant time together playing in Greenwich Park and then visiting the family home for some pictures there and also along the riverside nearby.  It was one of those sessions I didn’t want to end as there were just more and more opportunities for great pictures.

This image, one of my favourite family shots, was taken near the end of the session.  We had gone back to the family home, so the children could show me their rooms and we could take pictures of some of their hobbies.  It’s always lovely to include the children’s’ favourite things in their pictures from the obviously photogenic such as riding their scooters to the quiet moments like playing with a dolls house.  So many memories will be attached to all these things.

We had walked a little way along the river and I saw this incredible area of woodland with cow parsley growing everywhere.  It was absolutely beautiful in the dappled sunlight.

I asked the family to go into the woodland a little way and then gather together for a big family hug.  I wanted everyone to be holding each other to really emphasise the love they have for each other.  Then, getting a lower angle to give me a bit of foreground interest, I took this picture.

I love it, it’s everything I want in a family picture.  It has closeness and emotion and wonderful natural smiles.  It’s also a beautiful backdrop and the shallow depth of field really makes the family stand out.  I love it and I hope you will to.  I can’t wait to share the rest of the images with Priya at her viewing session and also share some more on here in the future.