Second birthday photos with two-year-old Florence

July 2020 update: The above portrait of Florence has just been awarded a Highly Commended Rosette by the Master Photographers Association (MPA). Ray Lowe, Chairman of the MPA, commented, “I love the little twist, as if she’s looking over her shoulder playing peek-a-boo. I love the chair that you’ve photographed her on; it’s cute, a lovely chair that works… I love the whole image.”

I’ve been lucky enough to photograph Florence a few times. The first was when she was just an 18-day-old newborn, back in June 2018. I then captured some Christmas-themed portraits in the lead-up to the 2019 festive period, and Florence became my model for that year’s mini sessions (check them out here).

I also captured this image of Florence when she was just over a year old:

It’s still one of my favourites (those eyes! her graceful hands!), so we decided to recreate it, one year on:

Hopefully Florence’s fab mum Louise will bring her back into the studio every year so we can watch her grow – a portrait version of this fab video 🙂

Talking of growing, one of Florence’s favourite things to do is ride on the back of her mum’s bike across to the family’s allotment. She loves helping out on the plot, and is particularly fond of watering the weeds. 🙂 Happily, she loves munching on all the fresh veg they grow there, too, and is an especially big fan of sweetcorn!

Florence has got the cutest, cheekiest smile, as you can see. However, I also wanted to capture her more serious side, so her fab parents can look back and remember just how big and stunning her eyes her when you see them at their fullest.

Luckily, I got two opportunities to do this – once as she showed me a birthday card that perfectly matched her pink outfit:

And also at the end of the shoot, as she peeked out the studio windows:

All-in-all, we had a perfect first shoot after lockdown (with my visor on throughout, windows open and plenty of space between us, too, to keep everyone safe). The day was made extra-special by being able to see adorable little Florence again and create some relaxed, beautiful images for her and her family to enjoy for many years to come.

After our shoot, Louise said:

“Having had a recent photo shoot with Sarah since she restarted up after lockdown I can thoroughly recommend her services. She had clearly thought the whole process through and worked hard to make it as safe as possible. The experience was however still friendly, relaxing and had a very enjoyable feel to it. On top of that the photos from the shoot were just beautiful! Thank you Sarah!”

Louise, children’s photography client from Bicester, Oxfordshire

If you’re interested in COVID-secure milestone birthday portraits of your children and you’re based in or around Oxfordshire please do get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn child, and 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).