Family Photography in Guildford Surrey – Just One – Poppy

The discussion in the car had been about the ballet. I had been lucky enough to see the Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House before Christmas and Poppy had been taken to see it the year before. Now Poppy learns street dance, how cool is that?

We were talking about the incredible athleticism of the dancers, how amazingly strong they must be particularly those who carried other dancers. The idea of dancing while holding a fully-grown adult above your head seems astonishing to me, I struggle with a kettle bell. I hadn’t realised when we were talking about this that we were reminding Poppy of a favourite game from when she was younger, and much smaller and so I was thrilled (and a little worried for Adam’s back) when the game was resurrected when we arrived at the park for our family photography session in Surrey.

Poppy ran to her daddy and was immediately lifted above his head. I’m not sure if it was The Nutcracker, Dirty Dancing or a Superhero that inspired the pose but it does have a certain superhero feel to it. I’m still in awe that Adam could lift her so easily; I definitely need to get back to the gym.

Of course, with any game like this I have to work fast to get the best angle, as there will only be so long we can keep it up, but Adam was game and we tried a few different compositions. This one is my favourite as I love the graphic shape of the image. I love the lines but also the little details, the warm winter coats and the smart white trainers, Poppy clearly has an eye for fashion and hadn’t really thought through her footwear for a wet winter trudge through the mud, and yet these look so much better than wellies would have done, keeping the monochrome palate of the image perfectly.

I think the tree in the background makes the image, a little detail that gives the images a sense of place, outdoors in Surrey on a wintery day, no tree and we would have had no context, it could have been shot in a studio.

I hope you enjoy this picture from my recent photo shoot. Do get in touch if you would like to arrange your own family portrait session, I’d love to hear from you.