Just One – children’s portrait photography on Brighton beach

I’ve been lucky enough to photograph Kristina and her lovely family since 2007, and until now our family photography shoots have taken place in and around South West London – previous locations have included Wimbledon Common, Putney, Cannizaro Park and Richmond Park. This year we fancied a bit of a change and when Kristina mentioned that the family would be spending the weekend before our session staying with the children’s grandparents in Brighton, I jumped at the chance to head out of London and try a new location for our shoot. Although I’ve visited the city a number of times, I hadn’t photographed a family in Brighton before and I knew it would work brilliantly for our family portrait photographs.

I had a very early start to meet the family in Brighton at 8am, but it was so worth it and we spent a brilliant morning together. We started our day at the beach, before moving onto the grandparents’ house and the wonderful boulders of Shoreham Beach – I can’t wait to share some pictures from the latter part of our shoot on the blog soon. But today’s ‘Just One’ preview image comes from the first part of our photo session on Brighton beach, which was a great spot for photographs and as always, children and water are a magical combination. Children always love running in the waves, splashing around, laughing and having fun. I think the wide open space must have something to do with it, but beaches are always one of my favourite locations for children’s photography.

I love this shot of the children running through the surf. The pebbles in the foreground anchor the picture, adding interest and identifying the beach to those who know the family well and their links to Brighton. I love the laughing children, who are clearly having a whale of a time and all airborne at the moment I pressed the shutter. I also love the reflections below them on the wet sand, emphasising the space between the children and the land, and giving the image such a feeling of vibrancy and life.

I’m thrilled with this fun and creative portrait of the children and I hope that you will enjoy it too, today’s ‘Just One’ preview from my recent family and children’s portrait photo shoot in Brighton.