Toddlers...

I was recently asked to photograph the local toddler group. Traditionally the group has used a more formal, posed style of photography but decided it was time to try something more natural.

Party Time.... no1

Always a time to celebrate when it's your eldest child's birthday. Mollie had a joint 7th birthday party with best friend Lily. These images show the two sides of Mollie, one just before the party the second when in full flow!

The Balloon Man!!

The balloon man was the entertainer (www.brilliantballoons.com) at Harvey's 5th birthday party, Harvey is in the third image. He has a pretty unique act and kept the kids (and parents!) mesmerised for a whole hour which is no mean feat. His act culminated in him disappearing into a huge balloon...!

William

About 12 months ago I photographed a baby called Joseph, yesterday I was lucky enough to photograph his 4 week old brother William. For the most part he was very calm and relaxed but he certainly let me know when he'd had enough!

Scarlett

It was a pleasure to photograph Scarlett on Sunday...

Kids....

Photographing a wedding is perhaps one of the most intense photographic experiences there is, it's physically, mentally and creatively challenging - though the reward at producing and delivering a set of images that thrills the bride and groom makes the whole photographic journey an incredible experience. By contrast photographing families and children is one of the most relaxing photographic experiences, letting children do what they naturally do, capturing their wonderful and unique expressions.

I've just added a kids link to my website of some kids/family images - david long photography kids

Grace & Libby

Another day at the woods with another photogenic family! I like to shoot naturally, no posing or asking people to smile, may be just a bit of coaxing to get people to the right shot.  The McCredie's were naturals, in particular Grace and Libby who had a great time in the woods, not at all bothered by the camera. Here are some of the shots...   

Joel

Joel had a very difficult first few weeks of life so it was a tremendous pleasure to take pictures of a little boy with such energy and character. He squirmed, he wriggled, he smiled a lot and occasionally he let me take a picture!

Joseph

It's difficult to coax babies into posing for the camera... which is fine as I like to shoot natural and unposed whether this is a family, wedding or baby. It also makes it a challenge, shooting round a wriggling baby with limited patience! I was lucky with Joseph, he was very chilled out... I love the detail when taking pictures of babies, particularly hands and feet. Here are some shots of Joseph that I took recently.

Family Norris

Having had a very relaxing Easter break I have 2 shoots tomorrow - In the afternoon I'm helping out an excellent photographer who I've worked with before and who has established a great business with some 'exclusive' clients. Client confidentiality etc means that I can't go into detail - how mysterious! The morning shoot is at Alice Holt near Farnham. It's a beautiful location and great for family shoots such as the one here for the Norris family taken a couple of weeks ago.