In late June 2020 I travelled down to Hilly Fields in South London with facemask on for a lovely family photoshoot with the Murpheys (Will and Morag) and new arrival little Callum. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures (and parents for that matter) in their early 30's and not a cloud in the sky. We waited till around 6 PM for the photoshoot to avoid the harsh glare of midday light and get as close to golden hour as we could before the little one's bedtime.
As you can probably tell, the main subject of this shoot (baby Callum) made things unbelievably easy for me. Those stunning baby blues coupled with an inquisitive, playful and incredibly chilled personality gave me a lot to work with. He spent a lot of time looking into the camera naturally (presumably to figure out what the hell it was!) and if he wasn't doing so, all it took was a silly face or wave to get him smiling like a seasoned model.
If my attempts as children's entertainer didn't cut the mustard, Mum and Dad were always at hand to coax a smile out of him. It's very hard not to look forced when you know there's a camera on you, but these guys were absolute naturals! You wouldn't even know I was there!
We even managed to get some of my favourite 'Golden Hour' glow in through the trees!
The later timing of the shoot also meant we could get out in the direct sun without having to worry it was too much for the little guy and avoided any weird squinting smiles from parents and baby alike. It also meant we got the lovely side light you can see in the shots under the shade of the trees.
All around it was a great day, filled with smiles, laughter and sunshine; the perfect recipe for a family photoshoot. The Murpheys and I both love how the shots came out, although as I said above I think the credit for this can mostly lie with the unbelievably cute little Callum. On days like this it feels like I have the easiest job in the world! As I said to Will and Morag, watch out for him in about 18 years... He's gonna be a real charmer!
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