I don't know how we managed to dodge the (extremely heavy) showers, but we did. We even got our own chauffeur to drive us in a golf buggy to take us wherever we wanted to go, awesome! So much fun exploring the grounds of Gleddoch House Hotel with Lorna and Billy who just took the whole day in their stride.
Here is a small sneak peek for you all to enjoy.
There's nothing I love more than watching a family have fun together in the great outdoors. On this particular occasion, the forecast was grey and damp, but low and behold, somewhere beyond the clouds there was a big orange thing lurking and trying to break through. The resulting light was spectacular as I watched dad leap across the water to some rocks, closely followed by mum and their three children.
Lunderston Bay is one of my favourite locations to capture a family. There are so many textures spread across a relatively small area. Everything from beaches and rocks to long grasses and tree bark. Perfect.
Here is a small selection of images I captured on what was an amazing day. Enjoy!
Fancy a Lifestyle Family Shoot just like this one? Find out more here.
When I was asked if I could recommend a location for a family shoot recently, after looking at their locations where they lived, there was no other option than Quarriers Village. Having once worked in the Village for many years, I had embarked on lots of lunchtime walks and so it's fair to say I know it very well.
I parked up expecting to see Dawn and her family. It turned out they were all cowering behind Sommerville Weir Hall, home of Three Sisters Bake. Why? Because when you walked around to that side of the building, it was immediately clear that you were then sheltered from what can only be described as an Arctic wind. So everybody was slightly chilly and we hadn't even begun yet!
We started on the bridge, but I could see how cold everybody was so I made a quick decision to head down by the river, out of the wind and therefore out of the cold. It was to prove a wise decision and the sun shining did help lift the mood in the camp.
With so many nooks and crannies to choose from in Quarriers Village, every shoot I do there is always very different from the last. And this was the first time I'd done a family shoot down by the river!
Here is a small selection of what I captured that day, I particularly like the shots of the two girls with their dad. Maybe one day my own daughter will still love me this much in years to come.
I have a list of small businesses who I'd absolutely love to work with. Sometimes, I just stride right in with a hello and how about we do something like this? It doesn't always work though. But for Enchanted Forest Nursery and Enchanted Forest and Friends, it did! Only, it came by way of an endorsement on Twitter late one evening. Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time and I'm a great believer of things happen for a reason. You know the saying, 'If it's for you it won't go by you'.
I was about to go to bed one night when, all of a sudden, I found myself chatting to Three Sisters Bake on Twitter and in comes Enchanted Forest Nursery who were watching my tweets with interest. One amazing endorsement later from Three Sisters Bake laid way for a meeting with Enchanted Forest Nursery! Hurrah! And so the journey began . . .
Bernie & Mariessa Devlin
I had such an amazing first meeting with the owners of Enchanted Forest Nursery (heck, I'm going to refer to them as EFN or EFF from here on in) Mariessa and Bernie. And not only that, we met at Three Sisters Bake in Quarriers Village! There we chatted about our businesses, our passions and how we were going to work together. I've loved the EFN brand for a long while now, a collection of nurseries that are quite simply, amazing. But I was soon to learn of Bernie's passion for his creation, Enchanted Forest and Friends (EFF from now on!), a collection of woodland characters who would form the foundation of a brand new children's clothing range.
Zed Fox character backpack, find out more here.
A few weeks later I picked up the first batch of clothing from Bernie. My idea was to take it into some woodland and photograph all of the items. But the weather had other ideas. It would be another three weeks before we had our first dry and sunny day in Inverclyde and I was so pleased to finally get out and explore an amazing location that was perfect. Not only did I have the clothes, but also Zed Fox and Miss Bun Bun, two children's back packs complete with a fleecy blanket and they also double up as a travel pillow/companion.
The next part of the plan was to take some real children wearing the clothes out to the beach, but once again, the weather thwarted any hope of that. So we were forced to hire an indoor space where I captured lots of children wearing the clothes, just in time for the reveal of the brand new EFF website.
With all the clothing photography done and the website launched, it was then over to the nursery side where I was asked to capture a variety of settings depicting the activities that take place on a daily basis. The photography will be used in a brand new prospectus and will be available on their website. It was so much fun to spend time with the staff and the children and have the freedom to watch them learn, explore and get covered in all sorts of things. My favourite being where they squirted shaving foam into each childs hand and all over the play table. I was poised to take some photos when all of a sudden, the staff member told the kids to clap their hands. Cue me getting absolutely covered in the stuff, happy to report my camera came off okay! Phew.
I've thoroughly enjoyed working with Mariessa, Bernie and their amazing team and I hope to do more work with them in the future. Please please please, and especially if you have kids of your own, check out the new clothing range, it's pretty awesome!
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