The Sessions

Family Photography

Not everyone lined up and looking at the camera. An hour of walking, playing and being together, in the fields behind the studio.

A family walking along a path at golden hour, one child up on their father's shoulders, hills behind them

Outdoors, at golden hour.

My family sessions are busy. You will not be bored, and you may be a little tired by the end — which is exactly why the photographs look alive rather than arranged.

I give you space to be yourselves and to play with your children, but I never stop giving direction. I guide you until you know what to do, and then I step back, watch, and wait for the moment that was not planned.

Papworth Everard · Cambridge

Your Family Session

The fields behind the studio, an hour before sunset

We meet outside my studio and walk together into the fields behind it. I have photographed there for years and I know every corner of it — where the light falls in July, where the grass is long enough to disappear into, where to stand when the sun is almost gone.

There are three family experiences to choose from, each including the session and the photographs together. The detail is on the family photography prices page.

Parents and two children laughing together in the grass
Three children standing together and laughing in the studio, dressed in cream
A father holding his three children in the studio, one up on his shoulder, in black and white
Both parents kneeling to kiss their toddler in the studio, the family dog beside them
Two young children cheek to cheek and laughing in long grass, in black and white

Studio or outdoors?

It depends almost entirely on the age of your children.

Under twelve months, the studio is usually easier. Warm, contained, no wind, and everything within reach.

Over twelve months, outdoors is usually better. Children who can run around are happier children, and happier children photograph better than obedient ones.

That said, if you know your one-year-old loves being outside, outside will work perfectly well.

When is the best time of year?

Studio sessions work in any month. If you need a weekend because of school, book well ahead — weekends are limited and go quickly.

Outdoor sessions are best in April and May, June and July, and September and October. Each has a different character: late spring is green and fresh, high summer is long and golden, autumn turns everything amber.

What time of day?

For an outdoor session, an hour before sunset. The light is soft, it does not make anyone squint, and it is not too hot. If your children are old enough to stay up a little later once, it is worth it.

If bedtime makes that impossible, we book a morning session instead and I find shaded spots where the light is still soft.

For a studio session, mornings — it is the easier half of the day when there are several children, and it is what most families ask for.

If a morning does not work for your family, an afternoon session can usually be arranged. Mention it when you enquire, so it can be planned in advance.

Can everyone come?

Mum, dad, and as many children as you have. A family session is also the easiest way to get individual portraits of each child, which usually happen naturally while the others are running about.

For outdoor sessions, dogs are welcome too.

What should we wear?

Outdoors: coordinate, do not match. Tones from the same family rather than identical outfits. Avoid big logos and busy patterns. Plain fabrics with texture photograph far better than prints.

In the studio: white, cream and neutral shades. If you want stronger colour, put it in an accessory rather than in everyone's clothes.

A welcome brochure with examples and inspiration boards is sent once the session is confirmed.

What should we bring?

Very little. Snacks for the little ones, and that is genuinely the main one.

Do not bring several changes of clothes. Changing outfits frustrates most children and they will not want to do it. This is not a fashion shoot — the priority is that everyone stays happy, because that is what the photographs are made of.

Where exactly are the outdoor sessions held?

In the fields directly behind my studio in Papworth Everard, near Cambridge. Every outdoor photograph on this website was taken there.

It is on the A1198 by the A428 junction — ten minutes from Cambridge, eight miles from St Neots, nine from Huntingdon — with parking at the door. Families come from Ely, Newmarket, Royston, Bedford, Saffron Walden and Bury St Edmunds, and regularly from London.

If you have somewhere that means something to you, tell me and we can go there instead — some of my favourite sessions have been in people's own gardens. For locations further afield, allow some extra travel cost and book well ahead.

What if it rains?

We rearrange, at no cost, or move into the studio. A grey sky is often better light than a bright one — it is heavy rain we avoid, not cloud.

How is this different from a newborn or baby session?

Newborn and baby sessions are held in the studio. A family session can be indoors or outdoors — that choice is yours, and it is the main practical difference.

Both parents smiling at each other in a summer field while their three children hold on to them, in black and white
A father standing in the studio with his three children gathered around his legs
A family of five standing together in a summer meadow, the children in white dresses, in black and white
A child holding the family's dachshund in both arms in the studio

Choosing a family photographer

Choose the person, not only the pictures. A family session lives or dies on whether your family is comfortable with whoever is holding the camera, and that is not visible in a portfolio.

Start with the photographs. Do they speak to you? Would you want them on your wall in ten years?

Then look at complete sessions, not just the highlights. A portfolio is the best frame from a hundred shoots. What you actually receive is everything from one shoot — so it matters how many photographs from a single session you like, not how good the best one is.

Check how they price. Some photographers charge a session fee that does not include any images, and you buy the photographs afterwards. If that is the arrangement, ask what images cost before you book, not after you have seen them.

I do not have a session fee. There are three packages, each including a set number of images, and the price is the whole price. If you want every photograph, that is the Total package — which also includes the heART Fusion, a short film of your session, and one of the nicest things you can hand your children later.

Two parents smiling down at the baby they are holding, sun behind them

My family portfolio

Evenings in the fields behind the studio, mostly at the point where everyone has stopped posing.

See the portfolio

Prices & packages