Meet darling one year old baby Joshua who was due to celebrate his first birthday just a couple of days after this photoshoot! First birthdays are a wonderful excuse to book a family portrait sessions - it's a celebration of reaching that first enormous milestone as well as a lasting record of how your baby looks at 12 months old and officially becoming a toddler! Joshua is not toddling yet, but it was great to capture his smiles, crawling and tentative steps with his hands held. Little ones are so engaged at this age and really developing their personalities - it's so cool to be able to look back on exactly how they were at this exact age!
Timing for photoshoots
Joshua and his parents had just flown back to London from Hong Kong for a short visit so were a little jetlagged, but generally I recommend early mornings (around 8am), or late afternoons (after nap times) are best for babies this age. The light also tends to be much prettier at either end of the day. Usually an hour is absolutely ample for a family photoshoot with a baby - they often take a little while to warm up to me and the camera (you can see Joshua's expression is slightly dubious in the first few images!) but after around 45 minutes they have usually had enough!
Spring family photos
This was the week that spring finally arrived in the UK! I think this was the very first day that the sun had really appeared and suddenly everything is blossoming and the parks in London were full of people enjoying the amazing weather. These family portraits were taken in Holland Park in West London which is a favourite spot. It is relatively small and does get quite busy, but the ornamental gardens are full of flowers and so pretty! I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for photoshoots with older children as there is limited space to run around, but it is perfect for baby and toddler photography - the little pathways and flower beds provide such a lovely setting. I know the park so well that I am also skilled at keeping people largely out of the background with my choice of lens, aperture and angles! Now that the weather has changed I am getting very booked up for spring photoshoots at the weekends (now is the time for blossom photos!), but I do still have plenty of space for weekday sessions and would be absolutely thrilled to photograph you and your family, whether for a first birthday or otherwise!
