The Healy Family
This shoot was a surprise Christmas present from Andy to his wife Val of his four kids. In order to pull off the surprise Andy had to smuggle the kids out to his sister’s house in Gartcosh for the afternoon and it was there that we took the pictures, early in December. We had Andrew the oldest, then there was Lauren, Daniel and last but not least little Olivia.
When I first arrive at a house or location I try and take 10 -20 mins just waffling away so that the kids get used to my woeful chat but more importantly they get used to the idea of having their photograph taken. A way I find helps is to get the kids to help out in the set up of the lights, reflectors etc as it gets them involved and familiar with the equipment. One trick is to get them to fire the flash with the press of a button on the remote. Sometimes that can swing the other way as my right retina is still recovering from the bombardment little Daniel gave it. I’ve never seen that button pressed so many times in such a short period of time, I swear I could hear the flash curse me under it’s breath 
As usual at the start it was shots inside at the window using natural light, which in my opinion is the nicest light, with all four of the kids and then we moved outside where we got some really nice shots of the kids playing away. Each took at turn at either holding the light stand or reflector which was a great help to me 
I even managed to persuade Andrew to take a shot of his sister Lauren, proving how easy it is to take a great photograph. The one he took was used in the final DVD and it was a cracker
Hats off to Andy who managed to keep the kids from spilling the beans to their mother for so long although it was no surprise to me as the four kids are something to be very proud of.
Here are a few of my favourites from the day, starting with Andrew’s shot of Lauren.
Grace
She’s only two weeks old but already she’s bright as a button and absolutely beautiful, meet little Grace
It was an absolute privelege to photograph this little one who never made a peep throughout the full shoot. She was full of different expressions and took an instant interest in the beep and click of the camera, which is always a good thing For once the sun was out and the light was ideal so we made best use of it inside. Mum and Dad, Laura and Stuart were brilliant throughout, nothing was too much trouble, even my request to get Stuart’s top off was met positively Just two seconds after the shot with Stuart and Grace the little one decided that her bladder was full and needed emptying…. all over dad, good on you girl
We even managed to get outside for a couple of quick shots of the three of them and then with Grace safely inside I felt it was only proper to get Stuart and Laura in front of the lens for a few, tops remained on however. It was well worth lying in the snow to get a couple of shots of the the two young lovebirds
Thanks to Stuart, Laura, little Grace and Auntie Lesley (reflector holder extraordinaire) for all of your help.
Here are some of my favourites from the day.
Irene and her family
Some people like to book a portrait session a couple of months in advance, as they have a specific date in mind they would like the pictures to be taken. This shoot was booked over a YEAR in advance so Irene takes the prize for the earliest booking yet
The reason it was booked so early was that one of her daughters Kathryn and their family were visiting at Christmas and had come all the way over from Switzerland. Irene’s other daughter Gillian joined us on the shoot as well. The shoot took place on another freezing day, just for a change it was snowing again! Irene’s house had an excellent garden with lots of places to take photographs but the prize for me was the old volvo truck at the side of the house, it made an excellent background for some of the shots of Alan and Kathryn’s oldest son Ruben. Next up for some shots was little Luke and then the lovely little Elsa. We also managed a few group shots inside and I managed to persuade everybody outside for some final shots in the snow
Here are my favourite shots from the day.
Paul, Julia, Christopher and Olivia
McGuigan isn’t the most common of names, it’s the best but you don’t hear it too often so I was delighted to be contacted by Suzanne McGuigan to photograph her lovely family Paul, Julia, Christopher and newborn Olivia. It seems that Suzanne too has been asked the dreaded question that I must have been asked a million times, ‘Are you any relation to Barry?’. Erm, no (cue tumbleweed).
Anyway, on to the shoot Just for a change it was another freezing day so most of the shots were inside again. Suzanne’s house was an ideal location with nice bright colourful rooms. I had two great little assistants in Paul and Julia who were great at holding the reflector when needed. To finish off we headed out to the nearby park to get some snowy action shots. I had to laugh at little Christopher eating the snow off the swing with a huge grin on his face.
I always try to do a natural walking shot of the family if I can so for my final shot of the day there I was lying face down in the snow, camera poised with Suzanne and the kids about 100 yards away when this guy came from nowhere, leaned right down to me and asked a pretty leftfield question ‘Are you shooting a Specsavers ad?’ ……. ‘Em, no mate, I’m taking some family shots.’ He then nodded and shuffled off. I’ve been asked quite a few things on shoots but that question has to be the most bizarre
It was an absolute privelege to photograph such a wonderful family, Paul, Julia, Christopher and little Olivia are all kids to be very proud of
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day.
Adam and Lauren
It’s a small world, it really is. For a good few years now I’ve walked past little Adam and Lauren’s house and thought it would be a great location to take photographs in, specifically the front porch which has amazingly colourful windows. I know that’s a pretty sad thing to admit but there you go I’ve not done many shoots in my hometown of Strathaven up until now so when Catherine got in touch to ask for photos taken of her family the first thing I did was go right onto Google maps to scout the location. And there it was, the house with the colourful front porch! The pressure was on
It was a bitterly cold day so we decided on staying indoors for most of the shots. Adam and Lauren were totally relaxed in front of the camera and Adam even laughed at my lame attempts at humour which makes him a good guy in my books.
Many thanks goes to Catherine and Angus and the grandparents who popped in as well. Nothing was too much trouble and the tea was excellent thank you
As for the porch, well I got my one shot in. Adam’s expression in the shot is probably down to a couple of things. 1) The temperature, it wasn’t warm 2) The position I was in, lying on my back, legs in the air holding the camera in one hand and the flash in the other, all the time checking if the flash outside the porch was firing as well. I was like an upturned crab.
There were a couple of Adam smiling but this was my favourite, what an expression
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day, starting with the crab shot
