I’m so glad that you have visited my website because this means that you’re thinking about a family photo session. So, you have come to the right place!
Outdoor session venues
There are so many beautiful areas in Sussex! Where is your favourite place? Mine has always been Tilgate or the beach but recently a client introduced me to Leechpool Woods, in the Autumn, which was stunning!
If you have a favourite place, we can discuss whether it is possible for me to travel to your favourite area or can choose a suitable place for you.
Or, if you have a favourite area to walk your dog, let me know as we may be able to head there for your photo session.
Being outside is ideal for families because it enables your children to be free. They are able to be themselves and play, ensuring natural images.
How does the session work?
Prior to the session, we arrange a date to meet up, which will only be cancelled if the session is heavily raining. A little bit of rain just makes for a fun session!
We will discuss who is attending your session because you can bring pets or other family members. The more the merrier.
I will also email over some clothing ideas but as long as you are comfortable, anything goes.
Once we meet for the session, we will head off for your walk, allowing the children to have fun. I will take a mixture of photos, some natural, photographing the children as they play and interact with you. Plus, some more formal ones by stopping along the way, making the most of the stunning backdrop.
If you have any questions please do visit my family page and complete the contact form or email me at clairewildersphotography.co.uk
A 1st birthday cake smash session, is a celebration of your babies 1st year! So much has changed and life has been crazy! But you have all survived and you have the most amazing little baby that is growing up so fast!! This is not only a birthday celebration but also a celebration of making it through your 1st year.
The session is split into 4 parts… family photos, individual photos, cake smash and finally the clean up.. ALL for ONE price!
family photos
The first part of the cake smash session is to capture some gorgeous photos of you all together. Celebrating that first year!
the birthday child
Prior to presenting the cake, is a great time to capture some cute photos of your little one, surrounded by banners and balloons. I like to keep my set ups simple, so that the birthday child is centre stage!
the cake smash
This is the part where the cake comes out. Now this doesn’t actually have to be cake.
It can be a bowl full of their favourite fruit, a donut or muffin, their favourite snack.. whatever you want.
One of the little girls above had a raspberry cake… she completely ignored the cake and went straight for the raspberries!! The look on her face was priceless and she just grabbed a handful (see below left)! In the end we had to remove some of them, to stop her eating the whole lot and making herself ill.
the clean up
For some children, they’re not bothered about the cake BUT they do LOVE the bubble bath!
This is a time for your children to play in the warm bubble bath and enjoy some splashing around. Some manage to make huge puddles around my studio but watching their little faces is a picture..
booking a session…
If you would like to book a cake smash session or would like more information, please click HERE and you will be taken to my cake smash page. All prices are shown. Normally, I say you will receive around 30 photos but quite often this can be more as we capture your child enjoying the session…. even when they don’t they still look cute though…
A few more of my favourites from sessions so far this year…..
What to wear for a bluebell photo session doesn’t have to be stressful. It is about choosing one outfit and linking all of the rest.
I love neautral colours with one main colour. For example:
Blues, whites and tans.
Yellow, blues and whites.
Burgendy and neautral colours etc
patterns or no patterns
It is also important to not have lots of different patterns. Ideally choose one small pattern and work the other outifts around this. For example, if dad wears a check shirt, pick colours from that to dress everyone else.
textures & accsesories
Textures also look fantastic when mixing outifts. Chunky knitwear and scarves can be a great addition.
Below I have chosen some outfits which will give you a few ideas…
Shein has a wide range of outfits so I wanted to find something that would look great but would also link with the rest of the family.
Lots of teenage girls currently like to show off some skin, so I decided to included some chunky over sized cardigans, to give an elegant look. These can also be paired up with crop tops or shorter skirts.
whereas for younger girls i went to h&m
and the boys, i also stayed at h&m
For the males, their outifts are pretty similar as linen trousers or chinos look great on them both. Paired with a linen shirt or jumper and they look gorgeous. Younger boys can even be in a smart pair of shorts with braces.
I really hope this has given you a few ideas about what to wear for a bluebell photo session but please do get in touch if you have any more questions. You can even visit my Pinterestpage for a few more ideas.
For more information on a family photo session please head over to my family sessions page by clicking HERE
Lockdown for photographers has meant we’ve had a crazy year with very little work. Being a non essential business we had to close down early and still aren’t open.
lockdown life..
In amongst home-schooling, providing snacks, entertaining my children, walking the dog, updating my website and keeping the house from turning into a complete bomb sight, I decided to enter some of my photos to a very prestigious photography competition.
what is the portrait masters award?
.
Sue Bryce is one of the worlds biggest names in portrait photography and her work is AMAZING! As a photographer trainer, The Portrait Masters Award was created to allow photographers to submit their work to be judged by a panel of international expert judges. Enabling them the chance to win prizes, accreditation points, and awards. The accreditation program, is for portrait photographers of all genres and is recognition of ‘high professional standard.’To find out more about this award please click HERE to visit Sue Bryce Education website.
why enter?
Entering competitions is a great way to help us grow and rather than competing against other photographers. It is about improving your own ability.
Photographing a family is about capturing a feeling. To me, it’s more about the love between a family and spending time together. Recording a precious moment in time. It’s not about getting the perfect pose, it’s about your family connection. Capturing YOU together and creating a memory for you, to look back on with happiness!
Whereas, for a competition all the details need to be perfect, right down to the smallest part.
Because I was in lockdown, I chose to include 2 photos from newborn sessions and 2 photos of my children. Not everything is perfect but I do love these photos. (For example my sons socks definitely did not match the rest of his outfit).
the results
Choosing these four images meant it showed a variety of work that I do. Each photo is judge by 5 different photographers from around the world and the result is an average of these scores. To be awarded a Bronze you must score over 70 points.
Waiting for the scores to come out was very tense. But I couldn’t believe it, I was SO excited! I had been given a Bronze in all four images. I was expecting to be given a score under 70 but really hoped I’d get at least one bronze. So I was completely shocked to get four! And even more surprised that one of them was only one point away from a Bronze distinction!
This means that my photographs have been recognised to be of a professional standard by some of the worlds top photographers.
I am so proud of myself and my two amazing children, who are always there to support me. They are often dragged out to help me and rarely complain!
Next time, I will definitely set out to capture some “competition specific” photos to see if I can improve my score, so feel free to watch this space…
If you would like to book a photography session, when we come out of lockdown please head over HERE to my main website where you can find more information.
Things to do in West Sussex with children – Tilgate Lake
During lockdown, it is so hard to come up with things to do in West Sussex with your children, that
a; aren’t full of other people and
b; don’t cost a fortune.
Tilgate Park and Lake, in Crawley, is fantastic. It is the perfect place to go to, especially for the evening, after a hot day in the sun. It was away from the crowds and a wonderful place for the children to relax and enjoy.
Tilgate Park also has so much to offer . It has a a couple of lakes, large green to play games or picnic, wooded areas, play parks, trim trails, golf course, cycle trails and nature centre. It also has a cafe, restaurant and a Go Ape high ropes course. In the summer it has some fantastic inflatable games plus boating on the lake and in the winter Father Christmas comes to visit. There is so much to see and do, it really is a must if you haven’t been before.
About Tilgate Park.
The address for Tilgate Park is: Tilgate Drive, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 5PQ
There is one free car park near K2 and the rest are paying but procedes from the car parks do go back into the park!
Dogs are allowed in the park but not in the walled garden or nature reserve.
Our evening
This jetty was perfect for chilling out on but as we arrived a couple of teenage girls, also thought the same.
Unfortunately, for one, she managed to drop her phone through the slats of the jetty, into the water below. As we had fishing nets, we offered to help, also because she was panicking her mum would be really mad at her. We managed to locate the phone and helped to guide her underneath the jetty to pick it out.
I have to say, if this was my daughter, even if the phone had broken, I would’ve been so proud of her! She didn’t hesitate to get down to her swimmer, to enter the water to retrieve the phone. She even went under the jetty where there were all sorts of things lurking.
Having left, to give mum the bad news, we then had the jetty to ourselves. To enjoy the evening. From across the lake we could even hear music, from someones stereo, and the air was so warm, as the sun started to set. It was so peaceful!
Whether you want to walk, cycle or take your scooters Tilgate Park is great for burning of energy with your children. It is also perfect for picnics and playing games on the large green.
THE OUTTAKES
All photo sessions are meant to be fun!
A little bit of photobombing while taking some photos.
Family Photo Sessions
If you are interesting in booking a fun, relaxed outdoor photo session, capturing the true personality of your family please visit my Home page by clickingHERE
It only ever seems to happen in England…. A Lunar Eclipse…. longest one Britain will be able to see…. beautiful orange moon will be visible for much of the evening on 27th July so get your cameras ready!
Or maybe not..
I decided after weeks of perfect, cloudless skies tonight I would definitely be able to get an awesome photo of a blood moon! Tonight I would head to the beach, wait and get that photo.
However…
the cloud came and the heavens opened.. the long awaited rain came…. and the clouds moved in…for the evening!!
I had to be in Worthing anyway for a very tough session so I decided to clear my head and see what I could find.
I went on a little road trip and saw Patcham Windmill Brighton with a mean grey sky behind it..
The beach huts at Lancing whose colour look great against the rolling, moody skies behind them with a bit of clear sky around them
Even the boats looked full of colour as the skies changed again before the sun started to set
After this I ended up at Worthing Beach where I set up for the evening and waited for the cloud to clear so I could capture my perfect photo…
However I spent most of the evening talking to other people also trying to catch glimpse of the moon and then I got distracted by the awesome thunder storm out to sea that I missed any opportunity that arose to capture the moon.
I never manage to get lighting photos so I was extremely excited that if I couldn’t see the moon there was at least something else cool going on.
Worthing Pier looked pretty awesome all lit up and the storm just streaked across the whole sky
So while it wasn’t the time for me to get my “Moon Photo” I still had a pretty good evening
I hope you guys had more luck than me… and if not, we only have 6 months to wait for the next one. And you never know the skies may just be clear.
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