Being Me. Lifestyle portrait photography session with Alex, age 9.

Being a Hawke’s Bay photographer, I’m spoiled for choice when it comes to beautiful landscapes for family portrait photography sessions. Of course I have my favourite spots I like to go but mostly I start by asking my families if there is anywhere special they had in mind. I was incredibly lucky that Alex’s family had links to The Farm at Cape Kidnappers - a beautiful cliff-side property normally not accessible to portrait photographers. I made the most of it by scheduling our session close to sunset and asking Alex to bring along a few favourite things, which turned out to be his cricket bat…and his mum!

Alex’s parents have seen the value in professional portrait photography and so this session was the third I’ve shot since he was four years old. I have really loved experiencing and documenting the changes in him over this time and this session was especially cool as we had some really great chats while I was doing the photography…all about cricket, mind you!

My approach to portrait photography is to create images that don’t just show what someone looked like at a moment in time (although this is important when kids grow up so fast!) but to show a sense of their personality and also the strong connections with parents. I know this becomes a precious memory as young children become young adults and are harder to pin down for hugs! I also love to put people in the middle of epic landscapes so that if you choose have a gorgeous big framed print for your home, it isn’t quite a landscape photo of Hawke’s Bay but it isn’t just a family portrait either, it’s the best bits of both and a true piece of bespoke art made just for you.

Thanks to Alex and his mum for letting me share these images with you. Why don’t you GO CHECK OUT SOME MORE of my family portrait sessions and get in touch if you’d like to book a photography session with your own family.