June 26, 2014

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Liz wanted her family portraits to be taken in Centennial Park. I met her for the first time when I turned up to meet her at the start of the shoot, which is what usually happens. We often speak once or twice with each family before the shoot, but the first in-person meeting is at the shoot.

Liz’s kids each brought their own favourite sporting gear – a cricket bat, and a soccer ball – which is pretty unusual for my family portraits, although cool when it happens, one of them even dressed up completely with soccer cleats and equipment from http://ohpsoccer.com/. More unusual, however, was the fact that Liz’s hubby had just gotten off a plane from a kite-surfing competition in Melbourne! Fortunately, although he was tired, he was in great spirits, and the kids had plenty of energy for their family portraits.

We started the shoot with plenty of nonsense, laughs, and a group family portrait (shown above). As sometimes happens, this one captured the most raw, genuine side of the family, and had all the elements right for Liz and her family. I tend to shoot a large variety of family portraits – sometimes four or five setups – to ensure I get plenty of great expressions and diverse “looks” for my families to choose from.

After all, the family story is the hardest one to capture well, and usually the first request I receive from a client looking to have family portraits.

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Despite their ability to fight tooth and nail, the kids were actually pretty well behaved at the shoot. The individual portraits capture something beautiful about each of them – and although the shot of both kids together made Liz laugh, “That’s so rare for them to hug like that!”, she wanted to have that memory of the kids to hold onto.

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I’ve said it many times before, but the family unit begins with a couple meeting and falling in love. Some parents find it a bit corny, but I truly believe that the couple is an important story to capture when shooting family portraits, so I make a strong point of shooting Mum and Dad WITHOUT the kids. As you can see below.

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Finally, I used the props – the cricket bat and soccer ball – as the light was fading, to get some really striking individual portraits of the kids. There’s something powerful and timeless about the family portraits I captured for Liz, and she was really really happy with them.

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Do you have sporty kids? Are you keen to tell their stories of youthful energy and vigour with some stunning family portraits?

Drop me a line through the contact form here or call myself or Dorothy on 02 9665 0800 to make a booking for YOUR family. I can’t wait to meet you, and help you capture some energetic, loving, connected family portraits for you to hang with pride in your home.

 

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