Extended Family Portrait Photography Session - The Ellinghams

One of the silver linings to the heartache wrecked on families spread across the globe during the pandemic is that all things must come to an end, and when they do, reunions are so much sweeter because we’ve been denied them.

Over autumn and winter, I have been really busy getting creative with extended families in Hawke’s Bay who are catching up on precious time together now that flights into NZ are (mostly) back to normal.

The Ellinghams were one of them. Matriarch, Jane, was celebrating her 70th so her three adult children and their families returned home to Hawke’s Bay to celebrate and create some special memories. I shot loads of images of them all together but also smaller family groups and portraits of each of the kids so they got the most out of their session.

While posed groups and portraits are an important part of my extended family portrait photography sessions in Hawke’s Bay, what I love most is just encouraging ‘play time’ - especially between grandparents and grandchildren - so that when everyone grows old and grows up, they can look back on these moments and remember how special the relationships were.

I suggested Eskdale Park just outside Napier in Hawke’s Bay for the Ellingham’s family session. Firstly, it was close to home for them but also it’s a beautifully natural place to shoot a family portrait photography session in autumn. We had an overcast day (in fact we brought things forward a few hours to avoid the rain!) and this made for beautiful soft, flat light and gorgeous skin tones.

A big congrats to Jane on reaching an amazing milestone in her life and having such an awesome family to celebrate it with. Thanks to them all for letting me share their beautiful moments with you.

If a shoot like this appeals to you, check out info and pricing on the FAMILY INVESTMENT PAGE or get in touch to check availability.