October 15, 2013

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About a month ago I met Belinda and Joe and their family for some family beach portraits at Little Bay – a beautiful, secluded beach on the southern fringes of Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Belinda initially heard about us through some fundraising we did with her son’s school, and was determined to get some great family portraits at their local beach.

We all were thrilled with the weather on the day – a gentle breeze, warm temperatures, and a cracker sunset all rolling in. One of the keywords in Belinda’s brief was “informal”, and one of their favourite family beach portraits was the one shown above. It captures a truly relaxed moment, with great expressions on everyone, and a fantastic panorama of Little Bay in the background, along with a sublime sunset glow reaching over the top of the Coast Golf Course.

Another one of the must-have portraits was of Belinda’s three children together. Before I got started on the group shots of the kids, I captured some amazing black & white portraits of each of the children individually. I’m a huge fan of black & white (as you probably know) but I’m also a huge fan of individual portrait studies of children. I find that there’s always a slice of their personality that is only captured through a solo shot.

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I also love shots of siblings interacting together, so I got the kids to wander around on the rocks together. As soon as I captured the image below, I knew I had a winner. The look on the eldest brother’s face as he looks down to his young sister, coupled with the gentle hands on all three of these kids, and the stunning backdrop of Little Bay… it’s so tender, so loving, and so emotionally perfect for what I wanted to say about these three kids together:

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None of my family portrait sessions are complete without a great portrait of Mum & Dad together. After all, the couple met and fell in love first, and then came the delight of children and family! I love how relaxed and at ease Belinda & Joe look in this portrait. There’s also a good reason I titled this post: “Family Beach Portraits: Oh My GOSH!” – Belinda and Joe run a series of before/after school care centres called Galaxy Outside School Hours … or GOSH, for short. (Check out their centres here.)

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I helped Belinda and Joe select these three images as part of a triptych series of the children individually. All three portraits complement each other so beautifully, and have such gorgeous warmth from the sandstone tones in the backgrounds. I also love how the perspective changes from full-length through to mid-length, and finally close-up. The dynamic works really well and the expressions on the kids perfectly capture each of them.

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To round out the collection of family beach portraits, I shot a separate series of Dad and his kids, and Mum and her kids. I believe this story is really important, as each parent has a slightly different and unique relationship with their children, compared to the other parent. I just adore the laughter in Joe’s shot, and I really love how striking the family resemblance appears in Belinda’s shot!

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All in all, this was a portrait session that I simply loved shooting, and Belinda and Joe were thrilled with the finished portraits – which are in the process of being framed for their wall.

If you’d love some family beach portraits of your own, simply phone (02 9665 0800) or email (info@israelsmith.com) and Dorothy or Israel will help you get started. 

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