When we’re choosing how to shoot a family and tell their story, there really are so many different ways you can do it.

I reckon we have around three seasons in the UK where we’re pretty lucky with the light and locations, and where we often choose to shoot outdoors, connect with nature and allow the experience of freedom and less limits to enjoy these moments with our kids. It’s our personal choice to shoot in this way as it seems to offer a kind of calm, a place where everyone can relax and free flow a little more.

Charlotte booked a shoot with us in the summer and also asked that we shoot some film. I wanted to show you the difference in two separate posts. There was something about both sets of images that really meant something to us, as I know from Charlotte they did too.

We’re asked a lot in our coaching, how to shoot in a more natural way. I guess the last thing you want is to feel awkward and in turn make the family feel it too, so for us it’s a lot more about YOU than US.

Getting to understand your camera so it’s a part of you, an extension of yourself is one of the best tips we can give. Learning the particular style you would like to shoot in, and understanding the light will also help you hugely. It’s a lot about mastery and much less about changing lenses and gear a lot.

Learning to shoot with just one fixed lens on our digital cameras, and mastering shooting slow and steady with film, have really made all the difference.

Both kinds of photography tell a story, but I would love to know how you feel about each different post?

So here is the digital story, perhaps one of our last shoots with our much loved Canons’ and their beautiful fixed focal lenses.

There’s something playful about them, the digital camera allows us to quickly move in and out along with the kids and capture moments as they move. Shooting in this way feels a little safer perhaps, and you can trust it to capture most situations and allows your creativity to flow.

Thanks so much to Charlotte for allowing us to share these intimate images with you.

Up next -

Film.