Helen Bartlett / Family Portraiture

Family Photography in Oxshott Surrey

02Aug

It feels like only yesterday that I saw Kate and her family and yet, writing this blog post and noting the bobble hat, makes me realise how much time has flown since our last wonderful family photography session in Oxshott in Surrey

I had been really looking forward to Kate’s photo shoot as I always love visiting big families. Coming, as I do, from a family of four children myself, I love the chaos of being amongst lots of children. I find the dynamics between all the different siblings an endless source of fascination. I love how, on any given day, things can change in an instant. Although it is evident that the children love each other, they are capable of winding each other up completely, in ways that others would find far more difficult. Siblings know which buttons to press in all directions. I always find watching this, as I take family photographs, incredibly interesting.

We started off the photo shoot at home. Kate has the most amazing garden and all the things that the children really enjoy were on hand. Where possible, I tend to start with some family pictures. Sometimes, if a child is shy, I might change my approach but, more often than not, it’s good to get some more formal shots under our belts before everyone starts to play. The children were fantastic and happy for me to take family pictures – particularly once they realised that, yes, it wasn’t just the children who were going to get involved in piggy back races!

My favourite family shot, and the one which I posted as the Just One from this session, is on the climbing frame – a cracker of a family shot if I say so myself.
The kids then had a brilliant time playing in the garden. I met the family cats, played a bit of football and demonstrated incredibly poor netball skills. I do, however, like to think I impressed the boys with my boxing – I was so jealous of the heavy punchbag in the games room, I’d love to have one at home!

We then decided that it would be great to move location and get some different shots out and about in the wider world. Kate had told me that there was some beautiful woodland nearby and I was keen to take some shots there. I love woodland as it always provides really interesting backdrops. What is more, there is never a lack of things to do in the woods – sticks to find, trees to climb, games to play. It’s the perfect spot for family photography.

We did all these things but the definite favourite activity was building a stack of tiny twigs to jump over. The old games really are the very best. I love the way something so simple can keep everyone entertained for ages. In the interest of providing a broad variety of images for Kate, I also made sure to get some more family shots and pictures of the children together in the woods. I particularly pride myself on providing a very wide-ranging collection of images from each of my portrait sessions.

From start to finish it was brilliant photography session. We all had a fantastic time. I hope you can tell this from these happy family photographs. If you would like to arrange your own family photo shoot for your children, please do get in touch. We still have a few spots available during the summer and we would love to book a shoot for you.

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