Winter Family Portraits: The Hayles Family

I just cannot believe that it was December last year that I met with Rachel, Paul, William and Evie at Lake Bolam in Northumberland.

It was the most beautiful of winter’s mornings.  The sun was still coming up over the horizon (it was 9am, but it felt like sunrise – things take a while to get going up here!), and there was not another sole at the Lake.  It was perfection.  The plan was to take Teddy the dog for a walk and then head to Rachel’s Step-Mum’s home down the road to check on Bumpy the horse and enjoy a spot of tea and cake.  I was just their shadow.

Take a look at their images.  Apart from a couple, these images are NOT posed.  These are not portraits.  I’ll be frank.  I can’t and I don’t do family portraits.  I capture moments in time.  I want you to be relaxed.  Most importantly, where children are involved, I want them to be relaxed.  That is how you capture the true you.  I really find it hard to put my families and children on the spot and make them smile.  It just doesn’t feel natural to me.  That’s not how I photograph my own family.  I want real emotion, feelings, love, honesty to radiate through.  So yes, whilst Rachel booked a ‘lifestyle’ session – my ‘lifestyle’ images are really only ‘lifestyle’ in the loosest sense.

Yesterday our car broke down, I had to call out the AA.  My little boy Harry was fascinated by the AA guy – Wayne was his name.  After he finished fixing the car, Harry, who had been playing with a camera, wanted to have his photo taken with the AA guy and you know what came out of my lips?  “Harry, say cheese!”  Oh my days!  I can’t remember the last time I said that and wasn’t being ironic.  And you know what, it was one of the worst photographs I have taken of Harry – ever!   He is so forced in the photograph.  You can see him thinking it over in his little mind.  Why on earth am I standing here, next to Wayne, holding a spanner (or whatever it was) saying cheese.  Are we having cheese for lunch?  Anyways.  I digress.  My point is, it’s just not natural is it?

So.  I don’t post many ‘lifestyle’ sessions on my blog, because honestly, I don’t book many.  But I thought I would try to explain to you the difference between lifestyle and documentary photography.  But having relived their session as I went through their lovely images to choose which ones to share with you today, I realised, that I just don’t really do lifestyle!  Because, really, I just followed them around as they took Teddy the dog for a walk and went to enjoy tea and cake.  Whatever you want to call this style of photography, lifestyle, documentary, storytelling, semi-documentary, reportage – whatever, I hope you’ll agree, these guys take a lovely looking photograph and everything you see here is REAL!  REAL LOVE.  REAL EMOTION.  REAL FAMILIES.

Thank you for sharing your EveryDay with me guys – you were great fun and nearly a year on, I still LOVE these photographs – I hope you do too.

xx