Family Portraits in Bicester with the Pickering Family

Mum-of-two Laura got in contact with me after seeing family photographs I’d captured for one of her friends. Laura had wanted a portrait of her family for a while, and saw her opportunity to get it done in time to get some images printed for Christmas gifts, too. Here’s how we got on.

We got lucky with the weather. It was a chilly Autumnal day but the sun was shining as Alfie, 4, skidded around the corner on his red bike ahead of his family. Dad soon appeared, carrying Toby, 2, who was reluctantly waking up from a nap. Dad warned me that Toby hadn’t been feeling well recently, and was currently battling a cough and a cold.

Alfie, however, was full of life and energy. After I introduced myself to the children, we headed into a little patch of woodland and started the session.

I focused my attention on Alfie initially, to give Toby a little bit of time to wake up and start to feel more comfortable around me.

As we walked to the location for our first game, Alfie got to swing from his parents’ hands, his face lighting up with smiles as his toes pointed to the sky:

I love that the whole family is in the frame here, even while the focus of the shot is very much Alfie, with his bright smile and direct eye contact with the camera. The lift of mum Laura’s hair and the blurred movement of Alfie’s trainer lend the image energy and dynamism – the opposite of a static family portrait!

We reached a favourite spot in the woods and stopped to play a few games. In between rounds, I grabbed this portrait of Alfie with the winter sun breaking through the trees in the distance:

I love his cheeky grin and the wintry feel of the light and backdrop behind him.

Toby still wasn’t quite ready to join in yet, so I took a couple of portraits of Alfie and his mum together, including this one:

I love how the outer edges of this boardwalk act as leading lines in the composition. Leading lines draw the viewer’s eye towards the subject, almost like compositional arrows pointing us in the right direction. I love mum and Alfie’s expressions, too, which are full of love and laughter.

It was immediately after this photograph that Alfie ran towards me and decided to examine my camera lens, which gave me the opportunity to capture this very cheeky close-up!:

With the sun heading quickly towards the horizon, it was time to get Toby involved. Dad volunteered to tuck himself behind some branches for an impromptu game of hide-and-seek, and this caught Toby’s attention. Mum, Alfie and Toby advanced towards dad’s hiding place together, while a glimmer of a smile danced across Toby’s cheeks:

Now Toby was engaged I went in for the full family portrait. I used a couple of games to prompt some natural interactions, leading to this lovely group image:

I was delighted: finally, Laura would have her family portrait! I love how close together everyone is, with their bodies turned towards each other and bright smiles on their faces. I’m also pleased with the sense of place the background provides, with brown branches and white tree trunks lending texture and winter detail behind the family. Studio portraits are great for many things, but location shoots like this one do provide more visually interesting backdrops.

To finish off, I evened up the shoot by now focusing on Toby, capturing this portrait with mum…:

…and this one with dad:

Happily, Toby was able to briefly forget how he was feeling. He smiled away for the last few minutes of the session, enabling me to get all the images that I had hoped to capture and provide Laura with everything she needed for her Christmas gifts!

If you are thinking of getting some portraits done for your wall or for Christmas gifts, please get in contact so we can get you booked in!:

Sarah Plater is a portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

(c) Sarah Plater Photography