Family Portrait photography session at Ocean Beach in Hawke's Bay

Getting the perfect gift for the Significant Other in our your life is a headache most of us encounter at least once a year. The longer you’re together, the more you feel like your partner either has everything they could want and need, or else their tastes are so particular they’re better off getting it themselves. But the one thing we all love that we can’t just go shopping for ourselves is a really well thought-out, awesome surprise. Andy is a husband who puts a lot of thought into surprising his wife, Jo, and knew that a voucher for a family portrait session with me would be something she’d really love and value, but it would also be something that the whole family would enjoy and appreciate now and into the future. Jo and I talked about places that already held special family memories and decided Ocean Beach in Hawke’s Bay would be the prefect place to make some new ones.

While it’s important during a family portrait session to get the classic posed images looking at the camera, my favourite way to shoot a session like this is to make it fun, fluid and full of laughter. I want families to look back in years to come and remember how the good times felt, not just how they looked. To me, connection and emotion is just as important as composition and light. So I busted out some of my worst jokes and just encouraged Jo, Andy and their two kids to enjoy each other’s company, throw a ball around and keep it real.

I left as Jo, Andy and the kids were popping a cork on some fizz and about to enjoy an impromptu picnic. It was one more small way to add some genuine memories to this shoot…though I don’t recommend making these after 8pm at night. I learned from Jo later that they had been trapped after the Ocean Beach access road was locked. The fun of finding someone nearby with a key was just one more reason to look back and laugh at these photos in the future.

To celebrate Mother’s Day on April 10, family portrait sessions are currently on sale. CLICK HERE to find out details or get in touch to arrange a voucher or book in a session.