Family Photography with Teenagers in Wiltshire
This is a sneak preview from a relaxed family photo shoot with two teenage sisters at their family home in Wiltshire. It was my eighth session with this family since 2012, and we built the morning around garden games, chess, table tennis, and their two dogs, which is my favourite way to photograph teenagers naturally. As always, every photograph is in black and white. Post published September 2026.
Today on the blog I’m thrilled to be sharing some pictures from a recent family photo shoot with teenagers in Wiltshire. This was my eighth shoot with this wonderful family, and I was so delighted to see them again, to catch up with the news, and of course, to add to our wonderful collection of family photographs.
We first met when the eldest was just six months old, back in 2012. Since then there have been new additions to the family – a younger sister, two dogs, and rabbits. I’ve been privileged to watch the girls grow from tiny smiley babies into these wonderful, intelligent, interesting, and fun-loving young ladies. It’s a humbling experience as a photographer to build these relationships and get to know families over such long periods of time.
Planning a family photo shoot with teenagers in Wiltshire
For this session, as it was a fair distance from my home in North London, I stayed overnight the day before. This way we could get up, have breakfast, and get going with our day. We were able to utilise the beautiful morning light and get to work when everyone was refuelled and well rested.
We planned our session around some games and activities, as in more than 20 years of photographing families, I’ve found this is particularly helpful with teenagers. A morning of ‘posing for the camera’ gets boring quickly and doesn’t always give us the full range of expressions, real laughter, and fun that you get from a game.
I love a mixture, obviously I make sure to take some portraits, but the shots I love best are always the ones that authentically represent a person at a moment in time. The shot which opens this blog post is a real favourite – the youngest lying on the sofa, fan in hand, like someone from a Regency novel. The exuberant pose, the burst of laughter, to me it sums up a personality that is so full of joy.
Including the dogs in a family photo shoot with teenagers
It’s always so fun to include pets in a family photo shoot – I find that particularly when photographing teenagers, adding dogs into the equation brings such a lot to the day. The relationship of children to their pets is wonderful and these images will be so lovely to look back on in the future. Murtle, the elder dog, has been a big part of the last few photo shoots and it was wonderful to meet the new addition to the family this time.
Garden games, chess, and table tennis
A lot of thought had been put into a good selection of games – from Connect Four to chess, from pick-up sticks to some amazing throwing games which I’d never seen before. There was table tennis indoors and a game of cards in the garden room too. It was a smorgasbord of delight for me as a photographer. Watching the girls delight as they played with their parents and each other was so much fun.
Exploring a beautiful Wiltshire garden
This is a garden with many beautiful features – it is, like the house, one of the most beautiful places I’m lucky enough to work in. Each area has so much thought and care, from the stunning reflection pond to the beautiful flower beds and the rope swing. Each corner is a delight and full of opportunities.
Photographing parents and teenagers together
Interactions with parents – and siblings with each other – are always some of my favourite things to photograph as I truly believe that these will be the pictures that will be loved the most in the future. Images that show love between people. There is nothing like the look a parent gives a child, full of pride, happiness, pure love. These are the images that will be so treasured by parents and children alike. What a thing to have a visual representation of how much you are loved to take with you through life.
Playing with light and shadow
As a photographer I love finding these special moments, but I also love finding ways to utilise the light and environment to create interesting images. It’s such a rewarding and challenging job photographing families, finding the opportunities in each situation and thinking ‘what can I do today, here, in this place, that will make a good image’. I love to use light and shadow to emphasise and to hide, to add mystery and tell stories. It’s all just such good fun.
Book your autumn family photo shoot
This was a marvellous session from start to finish and if you have enjoyed what you have seen here on this family photo shoot in Wiltshire and you would like to book your own session this year then do get in touch. I have a few – a very few – weekend slots available before the Christmas deadlines, and a couple of days during October half term so if you are interested do get in touch sooner rather than later.
Whether you’re in London, Wiltshire, or further afield, you can see more of my work with older children on my teenager photography page.
I look forward to hearing from you and together we can plan the perfect photo shoot for your family.
About Helen Bartlett
I’m Helen Bartlett, a family photographer based in North London. I’ve been photographing families since 2003, I’ve been a Canon Ambassador since 2017, and I’m lucky enough to have won a number of awards along the way. I work entirely in black and white, in a natural, documentary style, photographing everyone from newborns to teenagers across London, the UK, and Europe. Do get in touch if you’d like to know more; I’d love to photograph your family.
