Mum & Daughter Portraits with Jane, Emma & Lucy

Mother-of-two Jane was looking for a portrait of her two daughters to gift to their Nan. Happily, Jane was also open to getting in a couple of the images, too…

Emma, 11, and Lucy, 8, are fab sisters who were a delight to photograph. They particularly love dancing, and can often be found dancing around the house to the latest tunes.

I wanted to ensure mum Jane had a range of portraits to choose from and print for Nan, as well as some individuals of the girls and a couple of all three of them, too.

The individual portraits could be displayed with one of the girls together, like this montage on the white studio background:

I love how both the girls are facing in towards the middle image, and how they are are on opposite sides in that one. This way, they alternate when reading the frame from left to right: Emma, Lucy, Emma, Lucy. It takes a little planning, but looks great when put together. At the end of the shoot, Lucy told me that the central one here was her absolute favourite.

Next up was a traditional-style portrait, with a classic pose and the girls’ eyes and faces looking just off-camera:

These grins are genuine: the girls were looking towards their mum, who was goofing around next to me, helping me prompt a smile.

Of course, portrait photography shouldn’t just be about the happy expressions. I think it’s important to capture more aspects of a person’s personality, which is why I love more serious portraits and gentle smiles, too like these:

Next, I invited mum to jump back in for another portrait of all three girls together:

I love how close everybody is, and the girls’ clasped hands at the front.

We already had some standing poses on the white, so we followed up these with some seated portraits:

Then, for the final portrait, both girls cuddled up to mum:

I love the symmetry here, the contact between everyone and the limited colour palette of whites and blues. Don’t they look so good together, too?

After the shoot, Jane said, “They are fabulous! Thank you for making the girls feel at ease, we thoroughly enjoyed it.”

If you’re interested in capturing relaxed, natural portraits of your family, please get in contact by emailing [email protected] or by submitting the form below:

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

(c) Sarah Plater Photography