At Home With Freyja

Sitting on the kitchen tiles warmed by the sun, I was taking photos of Freyja, next to the penguin doorstop, as the light streamed through the window. It's these fleeting moments that really stay with me.

I know I've said it before, (and I'm going to pre-empt now that I'm more than likely to say it again), I have been so drawn over the last few months to taking photos of children in the home they are growing up in. Freyja had crawled along the hallway, and after that journey, she rested against the kitchen door. We took these photos before she was walking, but we heard last week, she's now taking her first steps. So that journey will be a little quicker now!

Back in 2015, we took photos of Lou and Nick's (her parents) beautiful wedding. It feels such a privilege that we're invited back into lives we've documented, especially when there's a new family member!

No Place Like Home

I've been thinking a lot about home lately. As some of you know, my parents moved out of the house I grew up in a few weeks ago, and it was hard to say goodbye. When me and my sister were helping clear out the cupboards and drawers, we came across new bundles of old photos. Those saturated Kodak moments, the glossy paper with dates scribbled on the back, our younger selves staring up at us.

In my family photography, I've always been about the great outdoors, letting kids be the young explorers they are, with this glorious landscape and the changing seasons as a backdrop. And this won't change, but lately I'm being really drawn to doing more shoots in a family's home too. I've been wanting to try something new, try different ways of approaching a shoot, and take photos a little differently. So I challenged myself a few weekends ago when I spent a morning with Cat, Toby, Rowan and Holly. I freelensed this whole session. I've talked about this technique a bit, it's where I've detached the lens from the camera body, but I hold it closely to it, and make subtle changes to the angle it is at. It felt good to do this.

There's something about the light in the photos that takes me back. I see echoes of myself in these photos too, and I really think this is what I've been searching for. These are the colours of my childhood. It felt like I'd come home, it feels right to shoot like this. Home, Heart & Soul.

A Family Photo Shoot In The Woods

The bluebells may have been and gone, but we wanted to prolong their gorgeousness by sharing this shoot with you. Addison and her Mum, Dad and puppy Bronte live close to the woods, so it seemed the natural place to have the session. With the sun shining through the tall trees, we took a walk into the heart of the woods where the light danced on the river.

It was a shoot of two halves, and we went to their house on the edge of the woods. I think we need more toasted marshmallows on sessions (I am writing this at lunchtime with a sugar craving!). There were trampoline moments, the puppy singing along to a recorder, and if only this came with a smell alert, as the apple blossom was so sweet in the air.

A West Yorkshire evening at its best!