A relaxed and documentary style approach to family photos!

I really do love taking family photos, because the sessions always keep me on my toes! As someone who has two small children of my own, I know that any family photo shoot that involves children, can go in lots of different directions!

I do always try to start the sessions with a few poses, after a bit of messing around to get the children warmed up. These initial poses generally give me quite a good idea of the little one's mood and personality. Sometimes I get children who are happy to smile and pose. Sometimes I get children who want to be silly and funny. Sometimes I get children who firmly do not want their photo taken. And sometimes I get a mixture of all three in the same session!

At this lovely family photo session in Lockerley, the family had a home-turf advantage in that they were on family-owned land, so they knew their favourite spots where were good areas that the children could show me around to help them relax. To start off with, one of the boys wasn't very happy about having his photo taken, but when we asked why he was upset he said that he 'didn't know how to smile for Faye'. Oh, my heart melted right at that moment! He was worried that he wasn't smiling in the right way to please me or his family. What a sensitive little soul and what a sweetheart! Once he had been reassured that I was just there to take photos of him having fun, and that there was no right or wrong way to smile, he relaxed and was quite happy to show me around the field, show me how high he could climb on the hay bales, and to let me photograph him climbing up trees and on tractors.

We did end up doing a few of my more relaxed 'poses-that-aren't-poses', such as walking along holding hands, and running to give Mum and Dad a cuddle. We didn't worry about getting photos of everyone looking in the right direction and smiling directly at the camera. We focussed more on getting real smiles and capturing a happy, young family, enjoying each other's company.

The results were even better than I had hoped. I really love these photos, and I think it shows the family's personalities off to their best. It was a lovely hour spent wandering around the farm, getting to know this gorgeous family, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself!