Family Photography in Brockley SE4 Brookmill Park
Family Photography in Brockley — A Third Session and a New Baby
My favourite thing about my job as a family photographer is visiting repeat clients. There is something so glorious about watching families grow over the years – seeing children I first photographed as tiny babies become proper little people. I have photographed some families every year for the entire 23-year span I have run my business, and I feel very lucky indeed.
So it was with real pleasure that I headed to Brockley recently for our third session together, and our best one yet.
I first photographed this family when their eldest was about four months old – a session that gave me some of my favourite baby photographs ever. A year later we were back: bacon sandwiches mid-session during our family photo shoot on Hilly Fields, and a water hose in the back garden on a scorching summer’s day it was a session to remember. This year the absolute delight was a new member of the family – a baby brother, bringing joy and mayhem and so much laughter into the proceedings.
A Morning at Brookmill Park
We started early, as I always prefer with young children. Early starts give us the best light, the best moods, and the best cooperation from small ones before tiredness sets in. Starting at 8am and finishing around lunchtime is the perfect plan.
We headed to Brookmill Park rather than Hilly Fields – the family’s current favourite, and the right call on a Sunday morning when a junior parkrun would have made Hilly Fields busy. I had never photographed there before and was immediately impressed. It is a small park, but the variety it packed into that small space was wonderful: enough options for a genuinely beautiful set of images.
Using Games to Get the Best Expressions
Games and activities are always central to how I work with young children. Happy children in the middle of something they love are a joy to photograph, and the resulting pictures tell a real story – what they enjoy, how they play, what makes them laugh.
Bubbles were a big hit with the little ones, and a game of hide and seek went down brilliantly too. I do love it when games carry through across the years – hide and seek had been a favourite at our last session, and I am not too proud to admit I still enjoy a good game of it myself.
Playground, Nap Time, and a Hot Cross Bun
No trip to the park is complete without the swings, and we made sure to include the playground. We were not there for long, but long enough for a beautiful set of images that really capture the fun of a summer morning.
By this point the youngest needed a nap. I always try to work around small children’s routines so they get to enjoy the session rather than run on empty. While the baby slept we walked home, and I had my very first experience of marmalade as a hot cross bun condiment – one I will absolutely be repeating.
Indoor Pictures and Imaginative Play
As I knew from our previous two sessions, this is a house with exceptional natural light and every room works beautifully for photography. We moved through the front room, the children’s rooms, and the master bedroom, following the games as they developed.
The children’s imaginations were in full flow – sailing around the room in boxes, baskets, bassinets, and a flying-carpet mattress, on an underwater journey past all manner of very committed parent fish (I like to think this is the technical term for a parent pretending to be a fish!).
I love pictures like these: you have the wonderful sense of scale (how do they fit in such small things?) alongside the sheer joy of imaginative play. The resulting images are among my favourites from the whole session.
A Companion Piece
At our very first session, I took a profile portrait of the eldest daughter using window light against the dark background of the sofa – a picture I loved, which the family have since had framed. On this visit I was keen to take something that would echo that image without copying it: a companion piece that could sit alongside it on the wall. Using window light again, I photographed her baby brother with the same dramatic mood, the same quality of natural light, but an entirely fresh and new image in its own right. I am very pleased with how it came out.
It was a tired and happy photographer who headed home after lunch, knowing there were so many beautiful photographs in the bag from a morning of family photography in Brockley, a great day all round!
Today I am sharing a sneak preview from this family photography session in Brockley. If you are in Brockley or South East London and are thinking about a family photo shoot – whether you have a baby, a toddler, or a combination of both – do get in touch. I would love to photograph your family.
