Family Photography with Architecture

I’m always drawn to architecture, to shapes and lines in my family portraits.  And so, when I arrived at Annaly’s incredible home I immediately realised I wanted to do something with the staircase.  I wanted to include it as an element in an image, something that would give some context to a group shot of the children and would remind them of their home when they look back on the image.

I thought it would work well to have a shot of the children in the hall but to use a wide angle lens to include the curve of the staircase and the landing.  The repeating curves echoing each side of the image and the arms of the children holding hands, while the lines of the bannisters repeat those of the children’s legs.  It’s a picture full of grapic elements which I love.

What really makes it for me though, and why I have included two images is the story.  The first picture, anticipation and the second laughter. The expressions in the first are fantastic, and you can see the excitement in the tight grips of the children’s hands (this is a picture that really benefits from looking at on a big screen).  They know what is coming but can’t quite believe it’s going to happen.

Then laughter as the teddies, three very important people in the children’s lives, jump down to play with them.  I love how the teddies are descending as a group, looking closely it almost looks as if they are holding hands too just like the children below them.  One teddy (well, bunny, mouse or elephant if we are being precise) for each

With bannisters like these I imagine there will be so many games as the children grow up, toys parachuting down or abseiling up and I’ve only just thought about the possibilities of sending a slinky down those wonderful stairs (one for our next session maybe).

We had such a brilliant day and there are so many lovely pictures that singling out a favourite has been hard but I hope you will enjoy these two and do check back soon for more images from recent family sessions.

If you are looking to arrange a session for your own family then do get in touch, the autumn always gets very booked up and I’d love to get your shoot in the diary.  On the main pages of the website you can find out more about my family sessions and how it works as well as detailed information about pricing and products.