We braved the weather at -1C
In January I met with Vane’s beautiful family of 3, with her husband Donovan and her 9-month-old baby Elizabeth for a winter family photoshoot at Big Ben.
We met under the clock at Waterloo at 7:30 am and walked to Big Ben together. The sky was beautifully displaying a gradient pink glow. We stopped twice to get a photo on Forum Magnum Square and a street with the London Eye in the background.
We got to the riverside walk and had to get started pronto as the sun was already high in the sky. I think the next time I should get there 15 minutes earlier. Regardless, with a bit of selective editing, we got a beautiful pink glow on the iconic Big Ben.
We then used the beautiful pedestrian walk arch and got a silhouette shot with Big Ben in the background.
As it was rather cold -1C!-. So I checked on everyone to see if they were comfortable and took my hot water bottle with me to warm up the baby in her pram. We carried on our adventure and got a few more shots on the other side of Westminster Bridge before taking a break. We found a coffee shop on our way and took a 20 minute break to warm up with a cup of coffee and some breastfeeding.
Baby Elizabeth was happier once fed, and we went on our way. I mentioned using Thames beach during our shoot preparation but we abandoned the idea as the location I spotted was too far. To my surprise, as we walked, we found another beach! The idea overjoyed me. Coming from a seaside town in France, I awfully miss photographing people on the beach, but this was a great alternative. The tide was low, and the place was relatively clean and almost empty, apart from the occasional dog walker. The place was filled with a gorgeous light that I used to backlight for my subjects
We did some walking shots, some sitting on a wooden beam breastfeeding the baby, and Donovan got a good shot at stone skimming. It was a great experience, it felt out of time. We bounced off lots of ideas; I was on a creativity high!
We ended the shoot by hunting for a pedestrian crosswalk, which we didn’t find but we ended our shoot capturing some couple portraits at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Photographing Families in Winter
I love doing Family portraits in winter. As the trees in parks are all bare and sad looking, I mostly shoot in the city during winter. I generally work at sunrise, during the golden hour which brings a beautiful morning light with stunning pinks in the sky. Shooting early in the morning is also much needed if you wish to shoot with city landmarks like we did. A sunset shoot wouldn’t be suitable as your photos would be photobombed by tourists.
Conclusion
Overall, it was cold but we kept moving, and warmed up with coffee and a water bottle when needed! It was a great experience walking around with this family. Vane and Donovan are very interesting people, and it felt like a fun morning with my group of friends.
If you wish to have your own adventure around London and get beautiful portraits just like they did, don’t hesitate to email me at the link below. I would love to be your photographer!
Alba x.
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