What’s that saying – Never work with children or animals? Well I strongly disagree.
I have always thought that if you put a child or animal in an unnatural location then this cliché may have truth. That is why my philosophy for family photography is to allow the children to be where they feel comfortable. That is normally in their home, their favourite park or wherever they like spending time.
So when I was asked to photograph brothers Frank and Ray I took them to the beach. This wonderful family live very close to Portobello beach and this is where they love spending time and it was perfect for pictures.
Start of the shoot
When I first meet the children I am photographing I always try and start at their house, therefore I am in their domain and they feel comfortable.
The brothers were playing on the trampoline when I arrived so I just watched for a while then said I am going to take some pictures was that ok. This way the boys got used to me and just continued playing. I very rarely tell children what to do at my shoots as I just want them to play and basically ignore me!
I loved how they just messed about for a while and then they got Boris the dog involved.Then we headed down to the beach with Boris and a ball. I let the boys play for a while and then asked them to run toward me and walk up together the beach. This really was the extent of my direction to Frank and Ray.
After a while Mum Jill suggested that we go for ice cream which also made for great shots.
If you’d like to check out more of my family photography click here.
Final Photos
To finish off we went back to the house where the brothers went upstairs to play. Of all the pictures I think the ones in the bedroom were my favourite. Ray jumping off the window sill onto his bed while Frank tried to shoot him with a Nerf gun, classic!
You never forget the fun you had as a kid jumping on your bed (as your mum told you not to!). I was glad i could capture these moments forever for such a wonderful family.
