Family Photo Shoot: Zeinab and Ayman’s Wellington Point Session:
Date: 3rd February 2016, 10.30am
Location: Wellington Point, Redlands
The biggest issue with being a family portrait photographer is that you never get photos of your own family! Oh, the irony! Most photographers are infinitely more comfortable directing people from behind a camera than posing in front of one, and then there’s the critique aspect: why is the photographer doing that? Why are they standing there? And how much are those prints gunna cost?! So in spite of having two kids (a 4 year old boy and 4 month old little girl), the only photos we have are the one’s we have taken ourselves! And aren’t I constantly reminded about it?! So my advice is this: if you have a family, have some professional portrait photos taken! You won’t regret it. I promise.
Zeinab and Ayman certainly didn’t! We met at a warm and slightly cloudy Wellington Point a few weeks ago and after a brief chat to ascertain the sort of photographs the guys were looking for, we started snapping! Wellington Point jetty is a fantastic place to start and makes for a fantastic backdrop, and luckily we had it all to ourselves that day. As is always the case with family portrait shoots, the star of the show was Eleny, Zeinab and Ayman’s beautiful daughter! Fresh from a snooze and raring to go, she smiled for the camera as we captured some beautiful child portraits and then added Mum and Dad (better get them in a few I suppose!)
The guys looked fantastic in matching black and white, and Eleny looked so cute with her little bow. Shame it spent more time off her head than on it! The sun eventually came out so we headed to arguably my favourite spot in Brisbane for family portraits: Wellington Point’s amazing Moreton Bay fig trees. They look more like something from Lord of the Rings then Brisbane’s bayside, with their gnarled and twisted roots, but aside from looking great, they provide shade; a very good thing on a warm day like today!
I let the guys be themselves for a while and stood back with the big zoom and captured the family as they laughed and chatted – Eleny loving being on dad’s shoulders and playing with his hair!
I find that the best photos from any family shoot are the natural, spontaneous ones; there isn’t the stigma and awkwardness of posing (especially when there’s young kids!) and reactions become more relaxed and authentic.
Of course, there is a place for some nice posed photographs with everyone looking at the camera, and although the hardest to capture are probably the ones you will put on your wall.
I also made sure I got some photos of Eleny with Mum and Dad separately – it’s lovely to watch how kids interact with each parent (and makes for a great Facebook profile pic!). Usually dads will start launching children into the air, whereas Mums go for cuddles. Both make for great shots and I always encourage interaction!
From this point, Little Eleny started to tire so again I stood back and captured her as she cuddled into Ayman’s shoulders – how beautiful:)
Just a few more shots by the carpark and the hour was suddenly over – it’s amazing how quickly the time goes, but the guys got some lovely memories and can look back at the photos when Eleny turns 5, 10, and 21 and remember how great she looked and what a beautiful family they make!
“Hi Andy, I have just gone through the CD and absolutely love the images! Really beautiful moments captured. Thank you again!” Zeinab