A breakdown of my 2024 creative session.
“To see in colour is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul” . - Andri Cauldwell
My goal was to really expand on the timless edits I have been playing around with this past year. I have really grown to appreciate the really artistic images that make you feel like you are looking at glimpses of an old timey movie. At first it felt strange adding grain to images and things that kind of went against what I have learned in school but, as an artist I know its good to open yourself up to new ideas and follow your muse wherever it may lead you.
I also know when you have a style people tend to expect this of you so this is why I love creative sessions! In these sessions I can be free to expand on my ideas fully and see where it takes me. I have been itching to do a timeless black and white session for some time now. So, here it is!
Now, let's chat about the session. I knew I wanted to work with a family as I am realizing more and more this is where my photographer heart is. I adore working with families and documenting life's fleeting moments. Since having children myself I have come to realize how fast these moments pass and it has become more clear to me how important it is to document each phase.
When this mama and I chatted I knew her sweet family would be the perfect fit. They were welcoming their fourth beautiful baby into the world and I just knew there would be so much genuine loving moments to document. I was right!
Now for the location. I decided it was best to choose a spot that had significant meaning to the family. When doing this I feel it helps families feel more at ease and when choosing a place that is tied to happy memories, usually some of those memories come flooding back and spill into the session creating genuinely happy photos. The session was set to take place at a local peach farm and honestly I couldn't have picked a better location. Most of my sessions you will see the odd photo of nature or scenery. I like to document the location as well. I feel it helps set the tone and tell the story along with the subject. I imagine if my clients did a gallery wall it would make a nice addition.
The story, The story told within these images is about a family welcoming their newest member. I feel this is probably the sweetest story you can tell. You can see in the images how loved this baby is and how much joy this family shares. I chose to do my edits in black and white as I wanted limited distractions from my subject matter.
One goal I always will set for myself in my sessions is to document the human connection/ love within my subjects. I do this by letting my families/couples know to always keep that connection alive by touch or looking at one another. This helps me avoid the "I don't know what to do with my hands moment".
I just adore how this little guy is staring at his mama pictured here. You can see the love in his eyes. Also, the gentle way dad is using his hand to support mama and how he looks at his son demonstrates so much love and care. This is exactly what I look to document.
Now the subject. When working with young children you will realize things may not go as planned and that is okay. really, it's okay! I prefer it this way to be honest. I prefer my sessions to be child led. I will use prompts to get the children engaged and play games with them but often they will lead the session in another direction. For example wanting to pick and eat the peaches. I am totally fine with this as I know it will bring out natural smiles in the children and not just those forced "say cheese" smiles.
The prompts I use in each session will change baised on the vibe I get from the families and with these littles I knew they wanted to play and have some fun. So I got them moving!
One of my favourite moments I had documented with this bunch was after asking mama and dada to hold onto baby and look at the little life they created while asking the other children to stand at my side and when I say "Go" run around and hug mama and dada. Ready, set, go!! They loved it. After this prompt I could see the children's eyes really light up as they knew they were free to be themselves and play. It didn't take long until they started making suggestions. Who said photoshoots can't be fun?! Now I imagine these kiddos will be pumped for more photos in the future.
Why I choose prompts over posing? Prompting allows natural looking photos with movement. Movement brings your images to life and tells a story as it naturally unfolds. It will relax your body and give you a distraction while having your photo taken. Prompts also allows me to be a hands off photographer. I do not want to be picking at and moving my clients. I prefer you do what feels natural to you and maybe even forget I am there.
Shout out to this beautiful family for welcoming me to one of their favourite locations and allowing me to document their moments.
Feel free to scroll the gallery below and view this session as well as visiting my website or social media to view more of my work.
If you are intrested in a session with AGP, let's chat!
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