Helen Bartlett / Family Portraiture

Baby Photography in Wandsworth South London – Just One

23Feb

On the blog today I’m thrilled to be sharing a ‘Just One’ from my recent baby photography session in Wandsworth.

Wandsworth is one of my favourite areas of London and a place that I often visit for family photographs, particularly recently where I seem to have been heading south on an almost weekly basis. It’s such a beautiful spot with lovely houses filled with light and also the common, which is a great location for pictures.

On this shoot we started indoors in Sarah’s beautiful home, taking some photographs as baby Archie rolled around happily on his parents bed, smiling the most engaging smiles and clearly so happy to be spending the morning with his mummy and daddy. It’s lovely to photograph the little ones inside, particularly at this time of year when, if we go outdoors, it can be quite cold and everyone is wrapped up in so many layers. Indoors we can really see how tiny the little ones are. It’s great fun.

For all that, I do love to get outdoors where I can – at least for part of the shoot -and so I was happy to wait for Archie to have his nap so we could head outside for a short time. It was lovely to take some family photographs on Wandsworth common. The bad weather that had been forecast didn’t arrive and it was a lovely day, incredibly warm for this time of year and with the beautiful low winter sunshine that is wonderful for photographs.

This shot was the last of the day but is one of my favourites. We had just turned to head for home when I noticed this fallen log with a great shape to the trees behind it. I thought it would work fantastically as a setting for photograph with the family framed within the branches and with enough of the environment to give a wonderful sense of place.

I aim, where possible, to get a feel for where a pictures has been taken. Wandsworth Common will be such and important place for little Archie growing up – he will come here with his parents on daily walks, it’s here on Wandsworth Common that he may learn to kick a football, ride a bike and climb a tree. So it’s lovely to have such an early photograph which shows the family in this space – as the years go by I’m sure the photo shoot itself will be forgotten but I hope that this picture will always remind the family of the many days spent outside on this wonderful green space, one of London’s loveliest outdoor spaces.

I love how this picture has turned out – the family all snuggled together looking at something out of shot, a dog I think. I like the feeling of intimacy this gives, the eyes away from the camera giving the image a more documentary feel. I love the light, backlit and soft yet catching the leaves of the plant at the bottom of the picture and adding a lovely texture to that area of the image. The shallow depth of field isolates the family against the softly focused trees. It works brilliantly.

I do hope you like it, today’s just one from a recent baby and family photo shoot in Wandsworth. Do get in touch if you would like to arrange your own photographic portrait session, I’d love to hear from you.

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