Family Portraits

Caroline has captured a wonderful moment between her daughter and two dogs going for a walk through this colourful bluebell woods at sunrise. Shooting in the golden hour has flooded her scene with magical golden light, and positioning the sun behind her subjects has given them fantastic backlighting.

Haikun’s image is full of mystery which caught our attention. The father kneels beside the road with his two children and dog all looking out of frame pensively, which makes for a captivating image and makes the viewer question what they’re all staring at. Haikun’s composition is strong and the exposure is spot-on too, with no burnt out shadows or highlights and even tones across the frame.

Kim’s taken a cracking group shot of two butlers serving tea to the owners of Craufurdland Castle, Simon and Adity with their two daughters Indra and Manisha. As the library was fairly dark Kim expertly set up two off-camera flashes to bring the scene to life and freeze everyone in place. Great job!

Adam took this brilliant engagement photo in Jackson, Wyoming, a fantastic outdoors location with incredible snow-capped mountains and gentle sunset sky. Adam used a wide aperture of f/2.8 to bring attention to the couple, which is the focal point of his shot, and to blur the amazing scenery behind. Great job!

Graham took this dark and atmospheric portrait in a studio using a single strobe fitted with a beauty dish and diffuser positioned to the left of the model. He was totally right to follow his instinct and shoot this unscripted pose. Great job!

Marco’s fantastic street shot shows a mother and father with their three young boys all crowded onto a single motorbike in Qazvin, Iran. We love the expression Marco has captured on the boy’s faces and his black and white toning works superbly well on his candid street scene. He’s also used a wide aperture of f/3.2 to blur the background giving it a cinematic quality and expertly used a fast shutter speed of 1/400 sec to eliminate camera-shake. Great job!

By shooting at the coast with crashing waves coming in Juliet has taken a lovely family photo with a difference and instantly caught our attention. Crashing waves behind and narrowly avoiding the odd splash looks like a brilliant way of adding some fun to family photos. She’s also posed the two parents and kids nicely making sure they’re all in sharp focus and making eye contact with the camera. Her shutter speed of 1/320 sec was also fast enough to freeze the sea spray still.

Mark has taken a family photo with a twist by setting up his camera to shoot a self portrait that includes both himself and his father. It certainly stands out and caught our attention. The black and white processing works well, with a subtle colour pop drawing the viewer in to the shared blue eyes. Great job!

Ziv’s caught a wonderful moment between mother and daughter at sunset in this cotton field. Ziv has been bold and brave by shooting towards the sun and while this bright highlight has clipped to pure white, Ziv has made sure that his two focal points are correctly exposed and in sharp focus, with fantastic rim lighting too. The use of a wide aperture has also turned the surrounding cotton plants into beautiful bokeh.

It's often best to have fun with family photos, especially those that involve young children where you need to fight to keep their attention. The bright silly glasses and inclusion of the family dog in this image make it one that I'm sure the family will cherish forever. Great job!

Pete’s done a fantastic job with this newborn baby photoshoot. He used a single large softbox above the baby to create a bright photo with gentle lighting and shadows. He also used props, clothing and blankets that all fit in with the colour scheme. Great job!

This is a touching moment that Anthony has been able to capture with this self portrait of him and his son. It's perfectly sharp and heart warming to see both of their expressions clearly. The lighting is also beautifully soft with incredible blurry depth of field in the background. Great job!

Madara's picture surprised us and caught our attention with its interesting double exposure style. She's caught a lovely moment where the couple is smiling and looking happy and the additional image of birds overlaid on top gives this shot a wonderful retro film double exposure effect.

This is a wonderful moment of a family out for a walk on a beautifully sunny day. The photographer has caught a special moment between them where they're all full of smiles and laughs which make it a particularly heart warming image. Great job!

The photographer has caught a wonderful moment between two children playing outside. Shooting in the golden hour has produced some wonderful tones and soft lighting, the choice to use a wide aperture of f/2.8 has also helped separate the kids from the background and also include some brilliant out of focus bokeh circles too. Great job!