Rainy Day Family Photo Shoot
Family photography in West London
Winter is upon us and with it the slightly more unpredictable weather than can be a feature of this time of year. Rain or shine though, we always get amazing pictures, and I often find that the challenges a damp day brings can result in the best pictures.
It was raining when I arrived for this photo shoot in West London and yet we had the most amazing day, and we even got outside to jump in a puddle or two and have a run around by the end of the morning which was a perfect result.
Starting slow with shy children
When I arrived, the littlest was a little bit shy. Although we had met before, back in 2021 when I’d photographed the family, she had only been about 8 months at the time and so had no memory of the day. I was a new person and to be treated with caution.
When a little one is shy then it’s good to start slowly and so we began with a puzzle and a cup of coffee for the adults. It didn’t take long for everyone to relax and sooner were taking turns to pretend to be animals while the others guessed. Laughter ensued alongside some excellent animal impressions, I like to think I did an excellent Flamingo!
Formal family photos
It’s always lovely to take a formal family photo on any portrait session, something for the mantlepiece and to be given as a gift. We found a lovely spot in the drawing room. I added in some additional light with my Kinoflo which is a brilliant piece of kit and so useful at this time of year, adding an additional continuous, and daylight balanced, light to a room
Of course, working with kids, nothing remains formal for long, and my favourite shots are, as often happens, when things dissolve into chaos and laughter
The garden
At this point we felt there might be a break in the weather but possibly not a big one, so we headed out into the garden, umbrellas and cricket bats in hand for a quick play before the rain drove us back inside for a croissant and a cup of tea
This is what I love about a rainy-day photo shoot, there is a huge amount of variety as we move around a space and from one thing to another creating a wide selection of images to choose from
Bedroom play
The kids were keen to show me their bedrooms and I loved seeing the dedication to homework by the eldest.
His bedroom had lovely light and so we took advantage of that for some play and some glorious shots of the children together.
Playground fun
By this point the rain was stopping so we decided to brave it for a trip to the playground to get that last bit of variety before lunch. It’s amazing what you can pack in on a rainy day, this was one of my most active sessions in a long time.
Some running around, a game of hide and seek and then finishing on the swings, it was the perfect end to a perfect morning.
This was an absolute joy from start to finish, I truly do have the best job in the world and I’m so privileged to be invited into my clients lives to record their family in beautiful images they can treasure.
I hope you like these preview images as much as I do. If you would like to arrange your own family photo shoot in 2025 then do get in touch, I’d love to meet you all in the New Year.
