A family photo shoot in Farnham Surrey

A family photo shoot in Farnham Surrey { 12 Images of Christmas – Day 8 }

A family photo shoot in Farnham Surrey, in the spring time, is always filled with so much optimism as we enter into the warm sunny months of Summer!  I was on the phone a few days ago booking in a family photo shoot for March and it reminded me to share one of my professional goals for 2016.

Why I use this pose for every single family photo shoot in 2016.

At every family photo shoot in Farnham Surrey and in North London I have asked my families to sit on a rug or crouch down together.  It was a professional goal of mine this year and I am really happy to say I achieved it too.I didn’t just ask my spring and summer families to do this.  Regardless of the how wet the ground was I asked my autumn and winter families to do this too!  Waterproof blankets at the ready!

What this pose means to me as a trained photographer

There is nothing magical or illusive about this pose.  It is a classic work horse pose within the family photography industry and it’s a portrait pose that has existed since Renaissance times when the concept of family portraiture (the painted variety) first came into existence. But, what happens once I pose them is pretty magical in my view.

I am very aware of the notion that we all perform for photography. When we are positioned in front of a camera we have all learnt (consciously or subconsciously) how to ‘behave’ or present ourselves in front of the lens.  This pose is set up and some might say it is contrived and therefor not real.  However, whilst the pose might be set up and the family are aware of my presence I do aim to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Once the family are all set up I take my very longest lens out of my kit bag and I actually turn my back and walk away from them as far away as possible.  All I tell them, before I walk, is how the lens works, what sort of depth of field I am aiming for and I ask them to simply relax (as much as possible) and just spend that time together.  They do exactly that.  They get to take some time to really be together.

What this pose means to me as a parent and a photographer

I don’t go out of my way to advertise to families that I do this pose at every session as I like to keep the majority of my session time with families focusing on what they want to achieve for their family.

As a photographer and as a parent myself I plan this pose into every single session because it is the pose that speaks volumes to me about the family connection we all want to see in our family photographs.  I know I do.  It doesn’t have to be a sitting pose.  I have achieved some equally heartfelt moments with families standing having a chat together.

This pose visually sums up why I think I ended up being a family photographer.  I deeply value family connection and I want each family to have this moment together at every one of my sessions.

Despite the families awareness I do believe that families have the opportunity for connection when they come together in this way.  It might be ‘my’ pose or ‘art histories’ pose but that moment is completely theirs.   Whether they have this time together in their every day lives or not I want to make sure they have that time together at my session and I really do take ages over it too!

I won’t forget this pose in 2017!

This pose will remain a firm favourite of mine at every session be rest assured I do also offer my families the choice to enjoy themselves at my sessions in a very ‘unposed’ way too. You can see some of my other family sessions here.

I am currently taking bookings for Spring 2017. If you are interested in reading more about my family sessions then you read more here.

I will also be running my heavily discounted mini sessions again in 2017. I run these on one or two set days each season.  They are ideal for families who are after just a few images for their wall or to add to an existing family album.read more about these sessions here. Sessions are 30 minutes in length.

Sign up to my newsletter here so you can be the first to hear about my mini session dates and any other events or offers in 2017.