Just One – Ava – Family photography in Kent
Two years after the wonderful Kerry Morgan photographed my wedding, I had the pleasure of photographing her beautiful family down in Kent. Not only was I thrilled to meet up with Kerry again, it was a perfect day for family photography – bright and sunny. Summer had, it seems, arrived and long may it last!
As always, I arrived at Kerry’s home nice and early. I find that starting my family photo shoots at 8am really helps to get the very best out of the children. It makes good sense to allow as much photography time as possible before late morning hunger triggers tiredness in the children . With a large cup of coffee to get us started (well coffee for the grown-ups, Ava had delicious Ribena), we packed up the car and headed for the park. As a fellow photographer, Kerry had chosen a brilliant location. Swanley park was a wonderful place for our Kent family photography session.
We had a brilliant time playing in the playground, feeding the ducks and exploring each corner of the park. Ava is an avid Star Wars fan (famously refusing to answer to anything but R2D2 for a whole week!). It was perfect that we were able to find lightsabers (or, on this planet, sticks) galore – just the job for chasing down an errant At-At. Such good fun!
I had never used Swanley Park as a location before, so this was a whole new experience for my children and family photography. I was stunned by the variety of wonderful photographic opportunities. Particularly stunning were the sections of wildflowers – just perfect for portraits or images of beautiful toddlers having lots of fun making daisy chains. There were also buttercups. galore (yes, I do like butter, but always good to double-check). Keep your eye on the blog as I’ll be posting more from the park very soon.
Today’s ‘Just One’, however, was actually taken once we returned to Kerry’s lovely home. This image is of Ava playing in her beautiful garden. As she turned round to look at me, I was immediately caught by this expression – absolutely mesmerising. I love how, in a moment of stillness, she turned and faced me with this incredible penetrating expression. There she was, perfectly composed, totally engaged with the camera. It’s a classic portrait and a beautiful one. Un-posed, it portrays a moment of calm in an otherwise fun-filled portrait shoot. I love how photography captures a myriad of emotions over the course of one family portrait session. Moving from joy to happiness and laughter to pictures like this, a stunning portrait of a beautiful little girl.
I do hope you like this shot, today’s ‘Just One’ from my children and family photography session in Kent. Do check back soon for some more photographs from this wonderful portrait shoot.
