Family Portraits
It’s finally time for things to open up again and a little bit of normality to return again! And what a positive way to spend a weekend day as with Alex, Urko and little Alba, who wanted me to take some family portraits of them. This photoshoot was as fun as it looks! And this is the work that went into and the tools I wouldn’t want to do without:
I like to be prepared for my photoshoots, especially with outdoor portraits or couple shoots, I always do my research. And especially after being off for such a long time. This is where Google Maps and SunCalc come into play!
Google Maps and SunCalc help me stake out my possible shooting locations beforehand and give me a better idea of what I can be expecting when I arrive there in person. Using Google Maps, I was able to see that opposite Alex and Urko’s lovely home, just a stone’s throw outside Cork city, was this lovely green park. The hedges were walling it off completely on one side, with housing on the other. Naturally I made the decision to use the lovely, dark green hedges as a background. Together with the grass, this gave a lovely green with yellow backdrop, that allowed the three to stand out nicely in their light coloured clothes.
So what is SunCalc? Well, it is a useful little tool that calculates the position of the sun in a given location, at various times throughout a specific day. It also indicates sunrise and sunset. This allows me to plan my shots beforehand quite accurately, even sketching quite accurate descriptions of my ‘must have’ photos in my notebook. I couldn’t imagine working as a professional photographer without these tools to my disposal! It just allows me to create high quality portraits, much more easily.
Some of my must have photos for instance, were the photos of Alba sitting on Urko’s shoulders. I would never have thought though, that I would have gotten such a great variety of that one pose! The sense of adventure in her pointing into the distance is exciting, and the genuine joy that the parents are having is just a pleasure to see.
My favourite photo of the shoot, the swinging ones, were a mix of both of our ideas. I could steer the collaboration into this unique photo that comes across so naturally. They are my absolute favourite photos of the day!
Ok, but this couple photoshoot / family portrait shoot also had a bit of a family and friends reunion vibe to it. This was Alba’s christening day. After a the ceremony at the church, it was back to their home for an afternoon of celebrating over dinner! The back garden was wonderfully prepared, more akin to some wedding photos than a christening. Clearly this day meant a lot to the family!
Christening Photos
Friends and Family Celebration
Alex even set up a photoshoot / portrait area with backdrop for the guests. I added a diffuser above the guests, to soften the sunlight on that day. From the front I added one medium sized softbox with a flash in it and added a second flash behind the guests to light up the white sheet, to make it glow. You can see the soft box reflecting in some of the guests’ sunglasses. This is basically a studio set up, just outdoors, which is why these photos have such a high quality and lovely skin tones.
These are the days that make it really enjoyable to work as a photographer in Cork city. I get to be apart of these joyful occasions and celebrate with families and their friends.
If you would like to make a booking, you can contact me here or for more photos, why don’t you check out the adorable pregnancy announcement I photographed?