Its been an incredibly busy Summer of family & child photo-shoots, so I thought I would share a few of my favourite images from those shoots I can share (some are still being kept as surprise presents for Grandparents)…
An outdoor family photo shoot in Poole, Dorset
This photo session took place in the grounds of a stunning house and gardens in Dorset. The location had some stunning tree lined avenues, huge bamboo bushes and lots of space for the kids to run around in. I especially loved the bamboo garden which I thought made a really great backdrop for a family shoot.
A family photo-shoot at Alice Holt, Hampshire
This shoot just goes to show how lucky I am to work with such great families. It rained pretty much the entire shoot, and a lot of the test images had mum, dad and the kids in their rain jackets and then we would whip them off for the shoot. One of my favourite images was of the youngest family member inside the tunnel. I had to climb right inside to get the shot but it was worth it! I also think the roundabout shot is great fun but I must say I did make a little bit of a fool of myself as I fell off while trying to get this shot. Like a true professional photographer I kept my camera aloft so only my pride was hurt 🙂 These were taken in Alice Holt forest which is well worth a visit if you live in Hampshire. It also has a high ropes course for the kids as well as lots of really great play areas. www.forestry.gov.uk/aliceholt
An extended family shoot in Hemel Hempstead
Boxmoor is one of my favourite locations to photograph at as its very local to me and also it has some stunning fields which are easily accessible for family shoots. This family shoot was bought for mum by her 2 daughters and the entire family came along for the shoot. It was so lovely to get all of the grandchildren together and I have since photographed both family’s separately too so now I feel as if I know them really well.
A family photo-shoot in Buckinghamshire
These images were taken in Buckinghamshire and Mum is actually a great photographer herself. She wanted some family shots where she was also in the photos, something us photographers often forget to do. The 4 children were such great fun and the eldest was amazing at giving me beautiful thoughtful expressions.
Family photo shoot in Exeter, Devon
A little further than my usual locations, this summer I travelled down to Exeter in Devon for another extended family photo shoot. This shoot was bought by the sons and daughters for their dads birthday as an opportunity to get one great group shot of them all as well as Granddad with his grandchildren. Before the shoot I also spent half a day with one of the family on a 1-2-1 session teaching her more about how to use her DSLR to get great photos everyday. A really fun afternoon and lovely to spend time with a family that clearly have so much love for one another.
Child Photographer in Hemel Hempstead
This family shoot was again up at Boxmoor in Hemel Hempstead. We had a glorious day of sunshine and real fun searching for bugs in the logs and long grass and trying to catch the flying seeds in the field.
An indoor / outdoor family photo shoot in St Albans, Clarence Park
I love working with families in their home and their home and then heading outdoors – the kids have an opportunity to get to know me and show me around their room and then by the time we head to the park we are ready to play. The girls looked gorgeous in their dresses but I loved that Mum & Dad would still let them climb their favourite tree in them – my kind of family 🙂
An photo-shoot at home to celebrate the arrival on a new baby
This is the second time I have photographed this family and I loved meeting their new addition. We started the session in their daughters room and then progressed to a Peppa Pig cake baking session.
If you would like to book a family photo-shoot in 2016 then please email [email protected]. I also train both beginner and advanced professional photographers and all details can be found here .
Nina Mace child photographer of the Year – The Guild of Professional Photographers
Children’s photographer, creating your what to wear guide clothing for outdoor photo shoots
Over the next 2 months I will be running a number of children’s photography workshops all around finding great light and using environmental backdrops. Ahead of my photography training days, I brief my families on what to wear to ensure that THEY are the focus of the images and not their clothing. I believe it is very important for a Children’s photographer to liaise as much with a family in advance to get the best, and widest variety of images, they possibly can.
” We want the child to be the first thing we see in an image, not their clothing”
Images captured on the Basingstoke Children’s Portraiture Workshop in June
Using a colour wheel as inspiration
As your photography style and vision grows you will start to develop a stronger sense of how you like to style children for your shoots. I personally like strong contrast so will often add a pop of colour which would be considered a complimentary colour on the colour wheel. There are 3 different ways that you can use a colour wheel for inspiration:
1. Complimentary colours – opposites attract so choosing colours on the opposite side of the colour wheel.
2. Analogous Colours – Colours next to one another.
3. Triad colours – This is more complex where you use colours from every third of the wheel.
Creating your own bespoke colour pallets to share with families
As technology moves on, the colour wheel has now become an interactive tool in the form of ‘Coolers‘. This is one of the most useful free tools I have come across online and not only can you use this on your desktop, you can also install it as an app on your phone!
To start you identify one colour as a base colour. For example, being Summer there are a huge amount of Summer greens around, like the ones shown below. I would dropper off any of these greens in Photoshop to get a HSB reference, and drop this into Cooler and then lock that colour in.
Here are 4 colour sets generated, using the same green as a base, and you can see how they move between complimentary, analogous and traid colours mentioned above. My style leans towards the 4th panel which keeps a more neutral based with the light blue and green, and then adding a pop of purple or magenta.
Using Pinterest to share your style & colour vision
Once I have generated my colour charts I then share these with the families in the form of a pinterest board like the one shown below. I show example of boys and girls of different ages. If you would like to follow my board you can visit it Nina Mace Photography Pinterest board .
Feel free to share any tools you use for deciding on your outfits for children’s outdoor photo-shoots in the comments below.
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