Hats in the late Summer Sunshine

Although Summer is my favourite time of year, as any photographer knows, bright sunlight is not necessarily the nicest light to photograph. High sun can result in dark circles under the eyes and stark contrast on the skin. So, as much as I am sad to see the Summer drawing to a close, I am glad to see that slightly lower sun which has been casting a beautiful glow on my recent photo-shoots. I have had morning and late afternoon shoots recently, both of which gave me the opportunity to grab some warm sunny glow in my pictures.

Children look cute in hats... bowlers, boaters, trilbys... any hats and there's nothing wrong with bringing along a few little props to get children in the mood for a bit of posing! Luckily for me all my little subjects were willing to pop a hat on. This resulted in some sweet little silhouettes and some dreamy sun flare. Here are two of the cutest boys showing how it's done...

It won't be long before Autumn is upon us and I can start using the apples, pumpkins and gorgeous leafage to inspire some shots.

Donuts and bright Balloons!!

I decided it was time I got a bit more creative with props this weekend. I had a lovely client/friend of mine with two slightly older children and a baby and I was all too aware that the older ones may have more inhibitions than the carefree toddlers I am more akin to.

The key to their hearts had to be a tasty snack so I (errr... no, my lovely husband) got baking some donuts. Mercy, my daughter, got decorating with pretty sprinkles...  and I ordered some bright helium balloons which I soon learnt when left in a hot car, deflate quite quickly!

Luckily for me, the children were beautifully confident and were excited about having their photos taken. They were aware of themselves, but not precociously so. They responded when they needed to and allowed themselves to have fun which added to the personality of the pictures. So I didn't need to feed them, but I definitely became their best friend when I opened the tin of donuts for a mini break! They had bites in them before I even had a chance to take a photo! Even the little one year old tucked in.

The balloons were more of a hindrance than a help on the shoot. Firstly, every other child in the park had a sudden keen interest in what was going on in our direction and wherever we went, we needed to ensure the balloons didn't wander off in the next gust of wind! They aren't the smallest prop, but the children loved them and the results weren't bad either.

So Donuts and balloons are fun, but next time I will remember to take the picture before the food disappears and I won't leave helium balloons in a hot place!

A Photographer's Delight

Last weekend, a close friend requested a photo shoot of her family. I have photographed her little girl numerous times and it has always been a pleasure. She's a little doll of a girl and her little brother has the most perfect strawberry blonde coloured hair with little curls that Mummy didn't want to cut until after the photographs had been taken...

It had been a hot sunny week, but as luck would have it, the rain arrived that morning, so we did what the British do best and had a cup of tea and waited. When the blue sky crept out from behind the clouds, we took a dash to the park which was wise as the sunshine only lasted an hour.

Usually an hour wouldn't be enough, but within minutes, both children were posing in complete unison and after only 15 minutes I already knew I had enough smiles that would have fulfilled any clients expectations. After a blissful hour of clicking this cute family smiling and laughing together, the clouds rolled over and before the weekend was over, they were all edited on my host page.

These are the shoots I challenge myself on the most. Once I know I have some 'banked' shots, I can then work at trying a few new things out. I came home on a high that day and decided it was high time I took some pictures of my own family!