Our Approach to Working with Families

We love to record your beautiful memories

You know what it's like - when you think back to last week you think your children, partner and parents haven't changed that much. But when you think back a year or so, you soon realise how much they've changed, particularly when they're children. We're really passionate about capture memories of people - the things you'll look back on with great fondness and say "oh, remember when they were like that?!" We feel it's so important to capture that 'spark' that people have that makes them unique, attractive and memorable to you - these are the things you'll want to remember for the rest of your life.

Perhaps you've got a fabulously cheeky son (of any age!), or there's a mischievious dad in the family who likes to joke around with everyone, or maybe you have a daughter who loves the attention when posing for the camera, or perhaps you're the loving mum who's quieter on the outside, letting your family have the limelight, but when the party starts you're in the thick of it with family and friends enjoying yourself. Family life is about all of these and other emotions, so we do everything we can to make sure your photos show that warmth and love between you all.

We treat everyone in your family as though they're the most special person in the world

It's easy to say, but it's not easy to do - and most photographers don't do it - but we want each of you to feel very special during this session. So we'll be listening not just to your ideas, but also to those of even your youngest child - we feel their views are super important so we'll carefully listen to them and let them have their say (if they want to do so), as it helps boost their confidence. We'll often allow some time to explore what even your youngest child might be suggesting we do.

We've worked with sticks, dandelions, dolls, skateboards, trees, guitars, teddies and many more things to help people, especially children, to get more comfortable with us and with having a camera around. While some of these might not be the photos you set out to create, they're often the photos you'll remember the most, as they're usually the ones with even more meaning - and they're often fun to do.

As one mum recently said: "Right from the start you made her feel comfortable, engaging in conversation with both of us." Another parent said "he is a genuinely lovely guy who my daughter enjoyed working with." And another mum said "he was patient and made the environment very comfortable for the children."

If you have a baby or a toddler

We know they're the real boss! If they want to sleep or eat or cry or pooh then they'll decide when and where to do it - and that's fine by us. We'll just work around you and their needs.

Babies grow into toddlers so quickly that everything about them is fascinating. It's often the little things that work really well in photographs. Even things as simple as a baby's hands and feet can make lovely keep-sake photos. Having your hand or finger in the photo too, so you can truly appreciate and remember just how small their hands really were, can look lovely and remind you of those early days - believe it or not it won't be long before you forget!

But kids are kids

Every child is different. At first, most young children don't want their photo taken - they'd much rather be playing, or doing something else. If you've got younger children you'll know how true this is! So our approach is to try and see things from their point of view - they want the time to run and fool around, so let's let them do so. We like everyone to relax - and that's particularly true for mum and dad - so yes, we'll definitely want the kids to be in the lovely 'family portrait' photos that you're after. But just as important are those other photos we get of them being - well, just kids. Let them lark around a little bit and we'll have some great happy photos that complement the ones that you want - they'll enjoy it and you'll be delighted with the results.

Let's have some fun

Should photoshoots should be enjoyable? Yes, of course they should - they should even be fun! When we say this we don't just mean fun for your children, but fun for you too. This is also true for the dads, who start out dreading the thought of a photoshoot! Well fear not my friend - we do everything we can to make sure all you're all enjoying the photoshoot. This might involve all of us doing as many things as we can to see who can come up with the funniest face, or letting the kids climb all over you.

The real point of this is to get you all super-relaxed and to enjoy yourselves. As one mum said about her son, who she didn't think would get too involved in the photoshoot: "He's still talking about how much fun he had with you on our shoot, you have a great talent for working with children!"

Finding out more

Read more about how we work with families to create beautiful artwork you'll be delighted to show off and display to friends and family.