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HELEN BARTLETT / FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY

Family photography with young adults

Photo shoots with teenagers and young adults

I’ve been photographing more older children these last few years and it’s always such a joy.

I knew I was going to have a great time from my very first conversation with Catriona as we planned this photo shoot, and I was right it was a delight from start to finish.

When I began my business back in 2003, I mostly photographed young children. There was less call for pictures of teenagers and young adults – family photography itself was still pretty rare back then, the industry was in it’s infancy. But over the years, as my client base has grown up with me and people who began photographing their children when they were young have seen the joy and the value in having pictures to look back on, everyone has realised the benefit in photographing older children too.

When I turned 20 I felt so grown up, now I look back and I wish I had more pictures of me at that age, pictures with my family to look back on. It’s wonderful to create pictures like this for my clients.

So, if your children are two, or twenty-two, it’s always good to have family photographs. Time ticks on and the pictures and the memories will be a source of delight for many years to come.

A London based photo shoot

We decided to have a London themed photo shoot, starting in town to take in a few pictures with the iconic sites and then heading north to Regents Park for a bit of greenery. The two locations give such different feels to the images, and I love creating variety in my pictures by mixing things up. It also keeps things interesting for everyone which is good.

We started with a walk over the Millennium Bridge to St Pauls which is such a great spot for photographs. An iconic building with such majesty, it works so well as a backdrop.

Then we ambled along the Southbank finding different places along the way. The light under Blackfriars bridge was amazing, a truly wonderful place for portraits.

Along the way we chatted, and it was so interesting to hear about everyone’s lives and to get some wonderful book recommendations too, another perk of my job.

Regents Park for family and portrait photographs

Then we jumped on the tube and headed to Regents Park for some images in that beautiful setting. It’s a stunning park, one of my favourites of London’s incredible open spaces. We’re so lucky here in the capital to have so many amazing parks.

We found different spots for family group shots and some lovely individual portraits, utilising the shade of the trees for lovely soft light.

It was an absolute joy from start to finish and I hope you enjoy the sneak preview of images I’m sharing here today.  There will be more for my clients of course and I’ll be sitting at my desk this afternoon working on those while listening to audiobook and downloading this morning’s photo shoot. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.