Family photos with 4-month-old Florence

Cath was fast asleep when the bedroom door opened. She heard the famous bars of the Jaws theme tune, and she prised open a weary eye. The cutest little shark was swimming though the air and fast approaching the bed.

That day, Craig was on the 6am shift to let Cath get some much-needed rest. When choosing what outfit to put Florence in, his eye drifted to the shark costume, and he was feeling mischievous so thought, ‘why not?’.

At the end of his shift, he made his musical entrance for the parental handover. Florence was in his arms, her head peering out between a set of foam white teeth as he ‘swam’ her towards the bed. It was the perfect way for Cath to wake up, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Florence looked distinctly unimpressed with the whole situation, which of course made it all the funnier 🙂

This is what life is like in this family. Between Florence’s happy babbling and Craig’s singing (‘Radio Gaga’ is currently the top request), plus their two super-fluffy cats – Basil and Sybil – there’s never a dull moment, and nor would they want one. They love playing together, and especially so when their antics earn a big grin from little Florence.

Seeing her first real smiles was an absolute highlight for them both, and they’ve been busy earning more of them every day.

Luckily, Florence is happy to oblige, lighting up my studio with her grins and giggles during our family photoshoot.

Between shots of all her lovely expressions, there’s lots of outfit changes, and there’s no shortage of options. Never mind the BBC’s Great British Bake-Off, these guys are competing for the Greatest Baby Costume with another client, the parents of this little cutie. They met at their NCT group, and go along to the same baby yoga, massage and sensory classes each week.

Sometimes those classes include a specific theme. One recent one was Space Week. Their friend wore a NASA T-shirt and put their baby in a babygro illustrated with planets from the solar system. Next week is Beach Week, and these guys are determined not to be out-done this time, hence the shark costume.

After all, life can be tough. It can be serious, tiring and monotonous. Making the effort to create laughter and light-hearted moments makes all those tough times bearable.

That’s why Florence is so lucky to have these guys as her mum and dad: they have an incredibly joyful sense of humour, and I can already tell they are going to have a shark-load of fun together 🙂

After our shoot, Craig said:

“From the initial consultation through to the end results Sarah was brilliant. She is clearly very passionate about getting all the right pics that we wanted on the initial brief, her studio in her home is incredible, (the coffee and cookies were very well received!) … Communication is brilliant and the results surpassed our expectations there was even a decent pic of me which I can assure you is no easy task!… i would have no hesitation recommending Sarah, its clear how she has won so many awards. Thanks for everything Sarah!”

Craig, Family photography client from Thame, Oxfordshire

If you would like to capture your family’s memories and milestones, or if you have any questions about family photography with me, please get in contact:

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning, fully qualified family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).