Just One – baby Thomas at Kew Gardens

I’ve been lucky enough to have photographed Jennifer and her lovely family since Stella was a baby – our first family photo shoot was when Stella was six months, and since then we’ve arranged a number of photo sessions to mark the milestones in the children’s lives, both for Stella and her younger brother, Thomas. Our recent session was to record Thomas at nine months old, which is one of my favourite ages for photographing babies as the little ones are still so small but are bursting with personality and so engaged with the world.

Back in 2012 when Stella was nine months old, we visited Regent’s Park and London Zoo as part of our shoot and I captured some pictures which have become firm favourites ever since of Stella mesmerised by the fish at the aquarium – do take a look at the pictures in this blog post here. For our most recent shoot, the family and I jumped on the tube down to the beautiful Kew Gardens, which is such a wonderful location for a family day-out and a brilliant spot for photographs.

After exploring the main Glasshouse and reaching for the skies on the raised walkway above the tropical plants, we ventured down to the basement to see the aquarium. I love the aquarium at Kew Gardens – it’s small and dark and, in truth, not very well signposted but once you know it is there, it’s a place to always visit. I remember first visiting on a school trip when I was in primary school and I don’t think it has changed. I love seeing how the children are mesmerised by the bright tanks with the fish swimming around, oblivious to the captivated, happy toddlers looking on. The light is lovely, too – there’s not much of it, but it’s a great quality of light and very directional which leads to really interesting portraits as the children are totally unaware of me, looking at the fish and illuminated by the florescent tubes in the tanks.

I love this picture of Thomas as it is a lovely continuation of the pictures I captured of Stella back in 2012. Within a similar setting, we see the personalities of the two children – Stella was so mesmerised, engaged in the serious business of looking at the fish; Thomas is laughing, so happy and joyful, looking into the tank with such a look of wonder, and loving spending a day with his mummy, daddy and big sister – the perfect thing for a small boy.

I hope you enjoy this preview ‘Just One’ image from our day at Kew Gardens, and do check back soon for some more images from our wonderful baby, children’s and family photo session in West London.