This was a lovely shoot in the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, outside Winchester.
I like to get out and about if at all possible with families – pretty much as long as it’s not completely chucking it down, then being out is possible. At lot of people are concerned with the weather as to the best sort of weather, understandably, but there isn’t really a “best” – overcast days are generally good for my sort of work but strong sun can be good for some sort of shots, and if it’s really strong sun then we might look for more shade, if it’s duller then we might be more in the open. If it’s cold we might do some inside and some outdoor ones – it’s all part of the fun.
For this family photoshoot the weather wasn’t super great – it was a bit hazy and then quite strong sun for part of the shoot and the shoot was a bit chaotic at the start. I remember saying to the Dad ‘it kinda seems like organised chaos so far’ and he said ‘people often say that about us. From the outside it might look chaotic but it works for us’ – one of these photos with the kids running rings around the Dad’s legs for me is just perfect to sum that feeling up.
Playing in leaves can be super fun. It doesn’t work everywhere and I hate forced fun. Here it works as we’d had some time for everyone to be happy having their picture taken by me (I was being ignored) and we were genuinely having fun.
These photos, and how much fun there is in them, mean a lot to me as there is a back story to these images – which goes to make them even more special.
