Family Photography

Alba - Family Portrait and Christening Photography /  by Jan

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?

Catching up Over a Christening - Family Portrait Photography /  by Jan

Christenings are always great moments for the whole family to catch up with each other! We don’t always see each other often enough, so when there is a special occasion to celebrate, it’s fantastic to witness the joy that brings to families, plus being able to photograph it too.

Wailam and Tom contacted me to photograph their daughter’s christening. Well, sort of. As you can see in the photos; where’s the church?! Where are the photos of the actual ceremony? That’s the sort of part.
What really impressed me about the two was how certain they were of what they wanted. Wailam asked me to just come by their home instead, after the ceremony. It was more important for them to get family photos of everyone who could make it, in the comfort of their own home. Rather that than having photos of the actual christening itself and trying to quickly get all the family photos done afterwards. Some family members had brought their children too, and we all know how challenging it can be to keep them happy for such a relatively long time. So it was decided that it would just be easier to do the family photo shoot at home. I absolutely encourage all clients to make their special occasions their own! If it’s a wedding or a christening or a birthday party, absolutely make it your own and plan it to be the most enjoyable and stress free for yourself. After all, these special occasions are all meant to be fun.

Little Alora was clearly delighted with all the attention on this day. So many family members all around! She was beaming from ear to ear in almost every photo. Though, just between you and me, I have to admit we did strategically place her grandmother behind me, who did an amazing job throughout the family portrait shoot of keeping Alora happy! From talking to her throughout the photo shoot, to even dancing and singing, she was very adamant of helping me get the best family photos. I really appreciated that.

The portraits, initially, were supposed to be taken inside but after seeing their back garden, I thought otherwise. I suggested that we do the photo shoot outside instead, in this gorgeous, green corner. This corner didn’t only have lovely flora in the background, but also with it approaching dusk, we had such beautiful, soft, natural lighting, that is so typical here in Cork city. I did of course have my lighting set up with me, just in case, but when it’s this beautiful already, it makes little sense to spoil it.

I photographed for about half an hour, getting all combinations of family members, ensuring everyone would be happy. We can’t be forgetting an aunt here, or a cousin there. Suddenly the grandfather was missing! All the usual culprits at it again. Haha! It was so much fun though, they’re two fantastic families who clearly get on very well with each other. That was a joy to see and be apart of.

To finish it off, I took the following photos, this time indoors. Alora had been very co-operative and fantastic. Now, she was just tired. She fell asleep immediately, as I packed up my camera gear again.

Thanks for reading! Thanks for reading! If you are looking for a photographer in Cork city or County Cork, feel free to contact me here.

The Secret Ingredient: Fun - Family Portrait Photography /  by Jan

This was such a fun photo shoot! Jolanta, Zoya’s mom had approached me that she wanted some professional photos taken of her daughter. There was no special occasion, no birthday or christening or communion. She just wanted some lovely photos to look back on in the future; capturing Zoya’s rapid growth. Soon she’ll be going to school and before you know it she’s a teenager! I totally understand why someone would like to just have some nice photos for the photo album. We don’t always need a special occasion, we can do a photo shoot at any time!

I suggested a day in the park. More specifically; Fitzgerald’s Park in Cork city. A fantastically tried and tested spot for Cork photographers like me! The great benefit for choosing Fitzgerald’s Park, besides the lovely gardens and the green surroundings, is that it almost guarantees that kids will have fun there. That’s the most important ingredient for a photo shoot like this; fun. It usually is a place they already go to regularly. That means that they are already accustomed to this space and already associate it with fun. You never want to do a photo shoot with children where they aren’t given a fun activity. This makes the whole photographing session not only a more positive and joyful experience, but also results in genuine and happy pictures, full of emotions. And I wholeheartedly encourage that. After all, who wouldn’t want that? As I always say, no matter if it’s a wedding I’m photographing or a birthday party or even a christening or communion, “Let’s all have fun together and I’ll just happen to be taking some pictures along the way.”

Photographing children is always bound to a sudden interruption. Suddenly there’s a noise over there that’s more important! A flower needs smelling here! An escape route towards the southern gate! It is this curiosity and sense of adventure that make these photos fantastically original to her. In between those photos, you can squeeze in the more staged portrait photos. In those moments of quiet and calm, is the perfect time to get those family portraits, and the portrait photos of just Zoya herself. Looking back on these photos, I really like the energy that comes across in them though. Even if she did run away once or twice, determined to just disappear, like kids just sometimes have the urge to!

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“An escape route towards the southern gate!”

Jolanta was also great in bringing with some props, in the form of a blanket and Zoya’s favourite teddy bear, as well as having loads of snacks and extras with for Zoya. Just to ensure she would be less likely to get cranky.
I am also lucky that kids tend to get on with me rather well. This is a big bonus for me, because I really enjoy doing these types (of sometimes chaotic) photo shoots. They’re just a lot of fun!
Zoya was also keen to impress me throughout our photo shoot by handing me freshly picked flowers. I was told by Jolanta, after the photo shoot, that Zoya is usually quite shy towards strangers, and she couldn’t believe how sociable she was the whole afternoon!

Thanks for reading! If you are looking for a photographer in Cork city or County Cork, feel free to contact me here. Alternatively, if you would like to keep reading, have a look at my post here, when I photographed a wedding with an interesting twist. Or for something completely different, the time we all stood up for the boys in green!