I head up north of the city recently to meet little Odella and her Mum and Dad for a bit of a photo shoot in amongst the greenery of the Little Para Linear Park in Paralowie.
Little Odella’s parents had been given one of my gift certificates and had waited until Odella was big enough to sit on her own before organising a time to have their photoshoot done.
She wasn’t overly keen on smiling throughout our outing, but was otherwise very well behaved! And the glowing smiles from Mum and Dad certainly brightened up the photos regardless!
I head out to the delightful Veale Gardens on south terrace recently to meet this loving mother and her two sons who had asked me to conduct a simple little Adelaide parklands family phtoshoot with them!
We began in the small carpark behind the Pavillion Restaurant, which alowed us to start with the gum trees and have a more Australiana backdrop to their first photos. As the weather hadn’t been fantastic lately, there was plenty of puddles to use, while the greens were lovely and lush throughout.
We then head over the hill, walking along the man-made river that courses throughout the Veale Gardens and using some of the vantage points I know have worked throguhout my many years of using this same area for portraits while covering weddings.
The aim of this Adelaide Parklands family photoshoot was to simply capture some nice family photos for Mum to put up on the wall, in particular some individual portraits of her boys, while also having a bit of fun together, and I think our little walk about the park ceratinly achieved that!
Family photo on driveway of veale Gardens
Family photo between gum trees in Veale Gardens
Family photo leaning next to tree
Individual portrait of young man near tree
Portrait of lady leaning on tree
Fun family photo of Mum leaning on tree with sons hiding behind
Full length portrait of man near tree
Portrait of two men standing in Veale Gardens
Adelaide Parklands slice of life portrait
Mum with sons family portrait in front of puddle
Family portrait in the Adelaide Parklands
Brothers leaning on a tree together
Mum sitting with brothers during their Adelaide Parklands photoshoot
I was recently asked to head out for a quick little Somerton Park Family Photoshoot to commemorate the 90th birthday of a family member. It seemed that everyone present had all grown up in the area, but had all moved on with their lives interstaate, so it was lovely to see and hear that most had travelled back to Adelaide for this momentous occasion!
The original plan was to head out to the beach from the bed and breakfast that the family had organised on the Somerton park foreshore, but it was soon realised that getting down there and back up again might be a bit tricky for the older members of the group, so we head to John Miller Reserve to make use of the grassy area there.
I was told that what the family wanted was some very simple shots of each of the gathered groups of the family, nothing too fancy – just wanted some family photos to mark the occasion.
So after spending a little time in the park, I realised that there wasnt much in the way of nice backdrops there other than a few spindley little trees, a chainlink fence and the surrounding roads and houses, so we went for a short walk to a road that was lined with some pretty beach trees that provided some shade and a nicer backdrop. It was here that we had a few other members of the group literally jump off their plane and meet us here.
After using both the middle of the road for big group shots, and then nearby a tree on the footpath for couples and individual portraits, we left the birthday girl at the top of the Somerton Park beach cliff and head down to the beach to finish up.
The beach’s tide was very high so there was some neat sand bars made within the water which we made use of by climbing over one of the sand bag brides that were put there to fight erosion. On the sand bar we took a few more couple photos and small groups, with a little more fun thrown in – at one point I asked the couple to push each ver – and boy did she lean into the push! 🙂
It was a delightful little family celebration that I was glad to be a part of! Happy birthday to the young birthday girl, and I hope you enjoy the family photos from your Somerton Park Family Photoshoot!
Somerton Park Family Photoshoot
Hugging couple in Somerton Park
Smiling couple on the grass at a park
Smiling couple on the grass at a park in Somerton Park
Last weekend, I found myself with no weddings booked so I figured it would be neat to offer my services at a very cheap rate in what’s known as a ‘minishoot’ or mini session. It was one week prior to mother’s day so I figured it might be a fun way to get some nice photos of the family for Mum!
The best thing about a mini shoot is that it’s really geared for people who aren’t overly keen on being in front of a camera, as the session only lasts for 15 minutes – and if the photos dont turn out as expected – ie the little one was upset, or the dog wasn’t looking, etc – then it’s no big deal as it was not that expensive!
It’s also great for people who want some nice family photos done, but don’t want to spend too long getting them!
The mini shoot was an up front cost of $65, which included the shoot and editing of the photos before being supplied via my online store, and each shoot received a $30 credit to spend – making the whole thing effectively only $35 and you get to go home with either some prints, or digital files – however you’d like to spend that $30 credit!
As a result, the sessions booked up fast, with 12 bookings coming in – the majority being young couples, with little kidlets in tow, but also a few couples and whole families. I held the shoot at the Cherry Garden’s Soldier’s Memorial Gardens with the aim of using the autumnal colours from the falling leaves with the park, while also making use of the impressive memorial trees that cast quite a bit of shade.
Each booking received an average of 54 photos in their album to choose from – which surprised myself, as generally I like to have 100 photos done for an hour photo shoot, let alone 15 minutes – but I guess that’s the benefit of a minishoot, it means that i am familiar with the surrounds and know what will work when for each group coming through. I can then use this knowledge to move quickly and get each shot.
All in all, I think the winter minishoot results speak for themselves – the autumnal colours of the leaves, and the happy smiling faces of each group really made for an awesome experience, that I’d be looking forward to doing again in the future – I’m thinking Christmas? Watch this space.
Southern Adelaide Winter Minishoot Results!
Little Ones
All the little ones who came through were really well behaved and quite enjoyed being in front of the camera! This made things rather easy, as the surrounding autumn leaves did the rest making for some awesome shots!
Baby boy sitting in autumn leaves
baby girl in autumn leaves
baby under autumn leaves
Boy climbing tree
Smiling baby girl under autumn leaves
baby talking to stuffed elephant
Boys throwing leaves
Smiling girl under autumn leaves
Baby lying in autumn leaves
Brothers laying in autumn leaves
Bothers hugging in leaves
Sisters in autumn leaves
happy baby sitting on fluffy mat under tree
Boy under autumn tree
Boys climbing tree
Family
The autumn leaves also made for some nice family portraits. I had the family groups walking through the trees, sitting on the dry leaves and basically treating their time with me as if it were a quick family outing to a nice park.
Lifting baby into sky
Baby peeking over shoulder
Family standing behind long grass
Family sitting toegtehr under autumn trees
Holding baby girl
Family sitting on bench
Family hugs for baby
Family sitting in leaves
Family sitting on ground with baby
baby getting cheek kisses
Carrying baby through trees
Family sitting in autumnal leaves
baby flying in sky
Holding baby in the sky
Family standing under autumn leaves
Couples
I had two sets of couples come through, which was treated as a simple date idea, and they got some nice photos out of it at the end!
Couple sitting in the autumn leaves
Happy couple leaning against tree
Couple walking between trees
Couple walking under autumn leaves
Couple standing looking through leaves
Couple holding one another
As far as winter minishoot results go, I feel as though we got some incredible photos, using the stunning natural light that filtered through the autumn leaves nicely. If there was one thing I would have done differently would be to schedule the last session a biut earlier as the light was fading quite a bit – but we still got some great shots!
With all the happenings of the modern world the idea of heading to such wide open spaces and experiencing complete silence while surrounded by nature can seem quite impossible to some. It’s a big reason why I love heading up the Murray river on a houseboat – as although you’re never really too far away from civilisation, the act of saling yourself down the middle of the river makes you feel as though you’re the only people within miles – particularly during the winter!
Last week I got back from one such family holiday where my family and I sailed up past Renmark, into Victoria and New South Wales and back again. While doing so I made sure to make a bit of a family photoshoot near Renmark, where I made the best of the camping nature that you get on a houseboat making fires, and also the stunning natural beauty on display along the sides of the river.
Heading out to the Riverland for photography is very much like visiting a different country! the creative juices get flowing being surrounded by such different scenery and allows everyone to be relaxed while being in front of a camera as everyone is having a great time! The changes in weather – particularly in the winter really makes for some stunning changes in scenery too! One morning we woke up to a thick pea soup fog which I quickly ran off the boat to meander through the bush – really reminded me of Hans Heysen’s paintings.
