Let me walk you through the steps taken to produce the end results of the image below. It’s often a whole process behind the scenes and more than simply just booking you in and meeting with you on the day. These sessions are about capturing more than just a quick image, I’ll work with you to create your own special meaning within your portraits if you would like me to do so.
Concept
First came the concept, which was motherhood. I adore photographing the bond between mother and child. Having done this session type in the past, I wanted to do something different to make it more personal and unique this time.
Props
After the concept it was time to figure out how props would assist me with pulling ideas together and conveying a message. I knew I wanted frames on the wall and something for mum to sit on. I also had some old nostalgic toys that I wanted to include in the session. I love bringing props along children can play with.
Colour Scheme
The colour scheme came from the props for this image. The primary colours from the wooden blocks. Then an old rattle with the same shades. A toy phone with the blue, yellow and red, then the little Annie doll in red too. At this point I didn’t know who this session would end up being with, but I was already setting the scene in my mind.
Subject
Once I knew who I would be photographing it was then easier to come up with a few more ideas. The chest/ottoman and matching chair came next. I decided to use these because the yellow floral pattern on the top matched the colour scheme perfectly.
Meaning
After I knew who I would be doing this session for I asked Debbie to look out a number of things for me to make this session unique to her. The pile of books under the chair with the boys adorable booties, her own doll from childhood that Rosie now plays with hanging out the basket. More books, if you look closely you can see Rosie is sitting next to a book that has her name on it. I also asked Debbie to pick a card out from each birth, and to ask Rosie for a few drawings. We also decided to use the clay handprints and a family bear that was passed down through generations. The blue rug of mine was used at the twins newborn session and we included a few photos I’d taken from that on the wall too.
Clothing
Once I showed Debbie an image of the toys and the colour scheme I was after, she had a look through their clothes to see if we could find something suitable for everyone. The beautiful hand knit dress that Rosie is wearing is from my client closet and it just so happened to fit her perfectly. I love that Debbie had some rainbow leggings for the boys and a different colour of top for each. We ended up with 4 outfits to match each of the wooden blocks.
Clutter
Life isn’t perfect, while a nice tidy clean image is usually preferred. I wanted to add some clutter for this to set the scene. The basket came next for some toys and I happened to have a dolls wicker chair that was perfect for the family bear. I decided to use the rug in the middle when I realised I had used it for the twins newborn session previously and the blue tones went well. The last thing I added was the red blanket at the very back, under the chair. Sort of out of sight but it can still be seen.
Photographing & Editing
I set up a backdrop in Debbie’s living room and used her own carpet below my rug for this session. We took a variation of images with this set and then also had an outfit change and moved on to another afterwards. Plenty of toys were hanging around to keep the little ones amused inbetween. After the session, I move on to the editing process. This is often the longest part. For Fine Art images such as these, it often takes me hours to edit one single image. Of course every session is different with outdoor & lifestyle sessions having a quicker timescales for editing
These sessions are fully styled and intended to create emotive pieces of work or to tell a story.
After we had finished these portraits, I took a few natural images of Debbie and the children next to her window which I absolutely loved, they turned out great! One of them(below) even ended up published in a magazine for baby photography in 2022. If you’re considering a session and unsure which style to go for, know that more than one is always an option. Just let me know, together we can create a custom collection.
