It was that time of year again where I get to head out for a bit of a Family Photoshoot with the Shaw Family! This time we head out to the lovely little Fountain Valley Reserve, just off South Road in Happy Valley.

It’s fun that Miranda and Jake shooce to head to different spots each year to get a bit of variety in their yearly family photos! Last year we were in a pine forest, and the time prior, another small park in Happy Valley.

This time their choice was the Fountain Valley reserve which at this time of year boasts a bubbling brook streaming through some delightful weeping willows and lots of long, lush grass. I had a lot of fun at their Fountain valley Reserve Family Shoot! The light in the morning was beautiful combined with the natural beauty of the place made my job pretty simple!

Two sisters playing in grass

Sisters portrait

Fountain Valley Reserve family shoot

Mum and Bub

Dad throwing little one in sky

Smiling Dad and Daughter

Family photo through the weeping willows

Fountain Valley Reserve Family Photo

Kids on a tree stump

Mum and Dad standing in the green trees

Family fun in the weeping willows

Family Photography under weeping willows

Family photo under the leaves

um and little one

Mum and little one on slide

Baby in swing

Annie Reserve, Happy Valley Family Shoot

It’s so much fun to shoot the same family as I have done in the past to see how the little members of the family are growing up. In this case I head out for a Happy Valley Family Shoot with Miranda and Jake to celebrate little Hadley’s second birthday, just as I had done a year prior for Hadley’s first birthday!

Miranda told me that having family portraits done at about the same time each year was a bit of a family tradtion in her household, and she wanted to continue it which I think is fantastic! Especially consdiering the benefit for children seeing their family portraits hanging on the walls around their house.

Taking photos during the winter months makes things easy in a lot of ways as a photographer – as the sun is usually not casting overly glaring shadows on faces, and the colours of the surrounding nature really comes alive. In the case of Annie Reserve for this Happy Valley family Shoot, we were also treated to a well stocked creek with running water that little Hadley thought was amazing!

We began the shoot rather early in the morning which further enhanced the fact that there were no harsh shadows anywhere, and also allowed for that magical feeling you can get walking through a park like Annie Reserve on a cold winter’s morning.

We made good use of the running creek, the beautiful trees and even the rocky outcrops dotting the shoreline throughout the park for some lovely photos I hope the family cherish forsever!