Family photography

I currently offer three types of family photography session, documentary, lifestyle end extended family. Families come in all shapes and sizes, you don’t have to have the typical 2.4 children family to have a family photography session with me. Here’s an overview of what my different sessions entail with pricing.

Lifestyle or documentary? What’s the difference?

There is a huge difference between lifestyle and documentary family photography, believe it or not. Lifestyle photography is based on capturing natural looking images of your family interacting with each other, the end goal is pretty much ‘nice photos of the family to hang on your wall’. You might want to wear nice clothes and get the kids dressed up a bit and the weather will affect the outcome. As lifestyle photography is about getting aesthetically pleasing images you ideally want the best lighting conditions, therefore early in the morning, or in the evening, depending on the time of year, avoiding the harsh sunlight in the daytime (if it’s sunny!).

Documentary family photography is based on freezing real moments in time, photographing everything authentically - the chaos, the cries, as well as the fun and laughter. You shouldn’t wear anything different to what you’d usually wear on a day to day basis, there’s no need to dress up or tidy up, it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing or if the children aren’t in a good mood. In general children tend to accept documentary photography more easily as they are often quite happy to just carry on with what they’re concentrating on, rather than be asked to stand in a photogenic spot. Though I try to keep my lifestyle sessions really relaxed and only do a few very lightly posed images (stay close together and tickle, for example) and then document the rest of the time, we’ve still planned the location, timing and you’ve likely dressed up a bit so they are still not really documentary images.

Please note - the ‘full gallery’ cost is exactly the same for each type of session but documentary sessions are meant to tell a story so 15 images isn’t enough, therefore I only have the full gallery option for these sessions.

Documentary

These are my favourite type of session and most recommended. The thought of having photos of yourself with messy hair, the kids crying, the house looking a mess might not seem that appealing right now, but these are the images that are going to give you the nostalgia in the future and capture your family life as it. These will evoke nostalgia when you look back on them in years to come when the kids are all grown up. I won’t pose you or have any input into the way things unfold. I’ll document you authentically. I still capture these creatively and with lighting in mind, despite the end goal not being ‘pretty photos’. They can start at whatever time you’d like so it’s your decision which part of the day you’d like covered, though I always recommend having at least some of the session time spent in your own home for the most nostalgic images.

Documentary sessions include the session and the full gallery of edited images with unlimited downloads

One hour at home

£450

Two hour session - a snippet of your day

£650

Four hour session - a typical morning/afternoon covered

£850

Eight hour session - a typical day

£1250

Add a coffee table photo book with all images

+£300

Lifestyle

These last around an hour (give or take) and the goal is to capture your family in a natural way but still with some controlled elements to make the most aesthetically pleasing images. The time of day and lighting is much more important than with a documentary session. We’ll do a few lightly posed family shots and then I’ll simply document your time together, capturing all the silliness, fun and adventures so it’s good to do these either on a walk in the park of with an activity in mind.

The session fee is payable on booking and includes 15 images that you can choose through an online gallery.

Session fee including 15 images

£250

Upgrade to full gallery

+£200 (£450 total)

Extended family session

These are often booked by those who have a family holiday or get together arranged, we all know how hard it can be to get the whole family together so it’s a good chance to get some photographs together! We’d usually start by doing some different combinations of family members (of your choice) which are lightly posed, then I’ll capture some natural shots of you together hanging out.

Session fee including 15 images

£250

Upgrade to full gallery

+£200 (£450 total)

I can also cover children and adult birthday parties! These are priced depending on the time required, size of the party, location so please get in touch with some details for a quote.

Please note, an increasing number of emails that I send are being sent to junk mail, even when they are replies, so if you don’t hear from me within a few days then please check your junk mail or chase me up. I have responded to every single genuine enquiry I have ever received (and always try to respond as quick as I can), so if you haven’t heard back from me then something has gone wrong.