Liverpool Family Photographer

So not so long ago I got to go back to Liverpool, my home time to see the lovely Edie and her legendary proud creators Lou and Andy. It was an extra special shoot for me as I went to Uni with Lou and we lived together in Manchester before she made her escape from Manchester back to Merseyside and found her awesome husband to be Andy. So it was lovely to catch up and have a natter and get some photos (of course!) of Lou, Andy and Edie together as a family.

Getting Rare Photographs of the Family Together

One of the major reasons a lot of people book family shoots is it can be hard to get a photo of the whole lot of you together. a lot of the time Mum or Dad is holding the camera or phone and one of you get missed out so it’s good opportunity to get some lovely photos of all of you together.

The Family Home

I like getting photographs of the house and street when I first start the day. Your home and where you live is an important part of your story. You might not live there forever, the house will change over the years, you may even forget what it looked like at this time in your lives. It doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact I’m a strong believer that a little bit of mess in photos here and there helps tell the story. Will help you remember in 20 years when all your little liver birds (or whatever species you have released into the wild) have flown the nest, you can remember what it was like to have all those tiny clothes piled up. However you feel about those little piles that happen now, there might be a day when you look on those little details fondly.

New Expressions, Downy Hair and Tiny Feet.

Of course the house is just a small part of the story, the tiny human or humans (and animals) you’ve filled it with are the main event! Photographing children at this age is always pretty awesome and kids tend to start finding their personalities and expressions which as you can see Edie has in buckets even though she still needs a cushion under her feet to sit in her walker!

Capturing all those little things that grow so quickly, the tiny hands and feet, the beautiful baby hair can be a great way to remember the moments of your little monkey being tiny, before they start running about and all that fun begins.

If you know anything about me you’ll know I love a good silhouette. Lou and Andy’s place in Liverpool was perfect for it. With all the the beautiful bright colours of there home decor sounding them. They were able to have a good old stand in front the window and pester Edie for a bit. Edie soon put a stop to it though as you can see in the last photo. Clever girl!

Photographing the Family Together

Although the style of the shoot is mainly documentary. I do take some photos were you and your tribe can look at the camera and give a big goofy grin. Like the one below in Lou and Andy’s very purple back yard.

I really feel like the magic happens when you guys are just doing your own thing, like Lou, Andy and Edie sitting down together to watch Formula One. Something that Edie no doubt will get into as she grows older, or even if she doesn’t it will certainly be one of the things that makes her think of family time and Mum and Dad.

As you can see she’s pretty engrossed in the race even at this age…

Breast Feeding

When I delivered the photos to Lou and Andy. Lou commented that one of the photos that stood out to her was the one of her breast feeding Edie. Lou said that she never gets to see herself and Edie together that way and it’s a beautiful moment to capture between mother and child.

Relics of that Time in the History of Your Family

I couldn’t help but snap a little photo of Lou’s Trump protest banner. Hopefully one day when politics in both of our countries has got a little less like a cartoon, they will be able to look at that photograph with the nostalgia of that brief time when UK and US politics turned into a bit of a Pantomime. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

I also love to grab little photos including the art work that is in the house. Knowing Lou and Andy well it was a little easier to know what to focus on. I knew that New York was a very special pace to all three of them as a family. Hence the poster print in Edie’s Bedroom.

Can you spot the legend David Bowie sneaking into any of their portraits? Obviously it would be a crime not to have him feature! The picture of the breakfast holding hands is one that Lou and Andy have had in their house for as long as they have had their house, so I felt like it had to be included. It also kind of sums up their humour and Lou’s love of breakfast and bacon!

For the last photo we went up to the master bedroom to get a nice family portrait of them playing on the bed together. Above them is some spray painted art that Lou did on her hen do. Lou and Andy then used it as their guest book on their wedding day. So it’s an important piece of art and draws the eye away from Andy’s dirty feet, that I promised I wouldn’t mention! Sorry Andy! lol. To be fair we were making him traipse around the garden with no shoes on so it’s half my fault!

If you would like to book a relaxed documentary family shoot for your family. Get in touch!

Documentary Family Photographer Liverpool

Family photography

One thing I have been really enjoying this year, but I’ve been a bit crap at blogging about is my family photography. It’s been really wonderful to go and see my past couples, see how their family has grown, even little changes they have made to the house and now and again spotting a wedding pic of mine or two up on the walls always puts a smile on my face!

Documentary Family Photography

Sometimes people look at me a bit strange when I start taking photographs of the house outside on shoots, but of course your home, no matter how long you have been there or however long you plan to stay is part of your families history and your families story. If it’s your forever home it’s nice to look back and see how the house has changed over time, little bits of furniture or decoration that you completely had forgotten existed or have long gone can conjure up old fond memories of that time and how it felt to be there. If it’s not your forever home photographs of that place and the objects in or around it can take you back to that time, it’s easy to forget the little things, but it can be lovely to take a moment every now and then to remember them and be grateful for all the little parts that have made up your families history so far.

So although at first when you get your photographs back and you have a few of the house and bits and bobs in there it might not mean that much. I’m shooting these photographs with the future in mind. ;)

Here at Caroline and Neil’s home in Liverpool is was particularly lovely to be greeted by some plant pots they used on their wedding day. I remember taking a photograph of these pots then and it was a lovely little call back to that time, before walking in to be greeted by Caroline, Neil, their now grown up boy (first child/now responsible older brother) who was just a little pup when I met him last and of course the lady of the moment, birthday girl Emilia.

Family photography and pets

I love including pets in the family photos. In fact I think it is a must. They are part of the family after all and have their own little characters that help make your house a home. Photographing them may not always be easy. There is that saying about never working with children or animals after all. But I do love a good challenge and the photos and memories your’ll have of your beloved fury family member will be worth it!

First Birthday Family Shoot

Of course Emilia was on super form it being the day of her first birthday party! Which is a great time to book a family shoot FYI if you have one coming up. With her series of hilarious and characterful expressions and her chirpy little attitude she had us all in the palm of her hand. Look at that little face! She looks so much like her Mum and Dad it’s actually spooky, I know it’s just genetics but she really got all of those genes.

the first bedroom

Photographing the bedroom is something I love doing on family shoots. The world is such a different place now from back when I was a nipper and the options to decorate a child’s room are vast. Emilia might not have remembered what her first bedroom looked like when she’s older. I know I don’t. Which would be a massive shame seeing all the effort Mum and Dad have put into making it such a exciting and also peaceful place. Is that possible? I feel like that’s what has happened here.

Being able to look back at these photos as an adult, or even as a stompy demanding, mood swingy teenager and see how much thought and attention was put into all these lovely little details in Emilia’s bedroom I’d imagine will give her great comfort when she is older, to see how much she was and still is loved and in a less soppy sense surely teenage Emilia isn’t gonna moan about having to do the dishes or give the stairs a bit of a hoover after having another look at this lot. ;)

What happens if my baby cries during The shoot?

To be fair to Emilia, the photo below is the nearest to a cry we got through the whole thing, but if your child cries or gets upset or tired at any point, don’t worry it’s completely normal! Theses photos have value too. Some of my favourite photographs are of children with grumpy faces or having a little bit of a tantrum. It’s all part of the story and a good representation of what real family life is all about. Love through the tears, vomit, tantrums, dirty nappies, giggles and sleepless nights. All of it is important. All of it is what it takes to be a family.

Thanks so much to Mr and Mrs F and the smaller member’s of the F house hold for having me and permission to post this blog. It was an absolute pleasure to come and visit you in your lovely home and meet Emilia.

If you would like to book a family shoot, get in touch!

Manchester Documentary Family Photographer - Evie's Birthday Shoot

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting up with Evie and her family in their beautiful home in Didsbury, Manchester. It was a cold Autumn morning, thick fog hung in the air like a little bit of Halloween magic was waiting for us outside. It was also the day before Evie’s first birthday. We stayed at home for a little bit while Evie had her bath, some cuddles from Mum and Dad, got dressed and was given some of her birthday presents. These are my favorite type of family photos to take. The normal little parts of Evie’s child hood, little every day things like Evie’s Mum putting her shoes on for her are more special than they might seem at first, there will be a day not too far in the future when Evie will be able to put on her own shoes, get dressed and wont need that help any more and that’s what makes being able to capture this fleeting little piece of Evie’s history extra special.

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