Finding The Light

A couple of years ago, I took the photo above and I posted it on Instagram and Facebook. And then an intriguing comment appeared, "Ooh, that looks just like a Vermeer". At this point, please forgive my ignorance. What's a Vermeer, I thought. One quick Google later, I knew. I didn't think I'd heard his name before, but I had back in school days, I just hadn't retained it. What I did remember, in those dusty recesses of my mind, was looking at those beautiful paintings in over-sized books in the school library. 

It was the start of a new year, and I'd been itching to take photos a little differently. This moment was a turning point for me, I knew I loved this image, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. I loved the tones, the simplicity of it. I've always been drawn to the dark, but a dark that's shattered by a pop of light, whether from a window, a gap in the trees, or a sunny spot on a staircase. Especially with shoots in a family home, I naturally look for this type of light. It's the light that really makes me tick. Suzi always knows when I've found it as I'll take a sharp intake of breath! Looking at more Vermeer paintings online, I was so taken with the light, the contrasts and shadows and how he managed to capture the beauty in the everyday in such a striking way.

There are a few theories that Vermeer used a camera obscura that may have helped him to create depth and composition and intensify the contrast between light and shadows. To me he is the ultimate lightseeker. The way he used light went hand hand in hand with his style.

Since then, I've been seeking a more painterly quality in my photos and using light a little differently to how I was before that photo of a mother and her new baby. 

We've been discussing how we use light on our retreats too, we love passing on what we've learnt. It always seems to be the subject that people get most excited about. If you'd like to join us on our next retreats, just let us know, or take a look at the retreats page on our website here.

And keep a look out for those gorgeous pools of light spilling through curtains in the morning, illuminating your favourite walk through the trees, or highlighting the stairs. There's magic in the everyday.

At Home With Freyja

Sitting on the kitchen tiles warmed by the sun, I was taking photos of Freyja, next to the penguin doorstop, as the light streamed through the window. It's these fleeting moments that really stay with me.

I know I've said it before, (and I'm going to pre-empt now that I'm more than likely to say it again), I have been so drawn over the last few months to taking photos of children in the home they are growing up in. Freyja had crawled along the hallway, and after that journey, she rested against the kitchen door. We took these photos before she was walking, but we heard last week, she's now taking her first steps. So that journey will be a little quicker now!

Back in 2015, we took photos of Lou and Nick's (her parents) beautiful wedding. It feels such a privilege that we're invited back into lives we've documented, especially when there's a new family member!

No Place Like Home

I've been thinking a lot about home lately. As some of you know, my parents moved out of the house I grew up in a few weeks ago, and it was hard to say goodbye. When me and my sister were helping clear out the cupboards and drawers, we came across new bundles of old photos. Those saturated Kodak moments, the glossy paper with dates scribbled on the back, our younger selves staring up at us.

In my family photography, I've always been about the great outdoors, letting kids be the young explorers they are, with this glorious landscape and the changing seasons as a backdrop. And this won't change, but lately I'm being really drawn to doing more shoots in a family's home too. I've been wanting to try something new, try different ways of approaching a shoot, and take photos a little differently. So I challenged myself a few weekends ago when I spent a morning with Cat, Toby, Rowan and Holly. I freelensed this whole session. I've talked about this technique a bit, it's where I've detached the lens from the camera body, but I hold it closely to it, and make subtle changes to the angle it is at. It felt good to do this.

There's something about the light in the photos that takes me back. I see echoes of myself in these photos too, and I really think this is what I've been searching for. These are the colours of my childhood. It felt like I'd come home, it feels right to shoot like this. Home, Heart & Soul.