Blog « Katrina Campbell « Family portrait photography

Sep

Norah’s Brownies – all dressed up for the party.

When I first met Leah, the baker behind Norah’s Brownies I was immediately struck by her incredible energy, infectious laugh and effervescent enthusiasm for pretty much everything. Then I saw her brownies. Just the most beautiful, colourful little creations, and delicious too! So, when she called me to photograph her at home. I jumped at the chance.

With a background in fashion, and a career in catering, Leah has thrown all her talents, plus her heart, soul and energy into her new venture – making Norah’s Brownies as delicious and as beautiful as possible. She’s the driving force behind the business, designing her own website and new packaging too. These luxury, gourmet brownies are free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar. She was busy decorating a batch when I arrived one sunny afternoon in late August. The large open plan kitchen in her Hackney home where she lives with husband Tommy, is a perfect space where she can work, bake and watch her two little girls playing in the garden.

Jun

Two Sisters, One baby

Sometimes you don’t have to travel very far to capture a beautiful image. Very recently I was lucky enough to create a portrait at home of two people who have a rather extraordinary story to tell. A local friend told me some months ago that she was pregnant. I gasped of course, (she already has three young children), but before I could draw breath she revealed that it was her sister’s baby and that she was acting as a surrogate. I was taken aback. And then begged her to let me photograph them together.

Here she is at 9 months pregnant with her sister. Theirs is a story of generosity, trust and above all, love. Love not only between the sisters themselves, but from the family all around who are now supporting both women as their journeys continue in different directions.

“I’m really pleased that everything is going so well. I am overwhelmed by the support that we have had from family and friends. I feel very hopeful as we are so close now to the due date. It still feels very unreal, like the stuff of ‘other people’s stories’. “

As a result of health-related events, my friend offered to be a surrogate and to carry the biological child of her sister and her partner. When the time came, she explained what she was doing to her own children who were very accepting and understanding and are now very excited to have such a special cousin.

These photographs were taken at my home just days before the baby was safely delivered, and again just days afterwards. A healthy baby boy was delivered at the Whittington Hospital by planned C-section, and both families were present at the birth, so that the new parents were able to bond with their son moments after he was born, and my friend’s husband was able to give full attention to his wife after the delivery.

“I feel incredibly positive and reflective too. I’m just so happy that it all went well. I still feel overwhelmed and very joyous too. I’m now at home, recovering, enjoying the peace (the children are at school) and spending time with my husband who has been so supportive. “

“How can we be so in love with a little person that we’ve only just met. It’s unbelievable.”

These two sisters are quite a pair. They were bursting with enthusiasm and excitement at both photographic sessions, and seemed to be taking the whole experience in their stride. I feel really very lucky that I was able to capture this very special part of their story, and indeed look forward to photographing this little boy and his family over the course of his first year. Hopefully through sharing their story, they will provide inspiration for many others too.

Feb

The art of photographing your children: a workshop (new dates)

Happy to say that there are a couple of new dates in March – 24th/25th

This workshop will help you to learn to create beautiful photographs of your children. You may have a ‘good camera’ (DSLR, mirrorless or bridge camera) but would like to get to know it better, and use it more regularly. Designed to inspire, educate and offer good practical tips on how to improve your photography, this will be an informative, hands on workshop. There will be a practical part to the session where we can put tips and techniques into practice.

TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

Get to know your camera – don’t be afraid of ‘manual’

Be inspired by your kids – get down to their level

Using natural light and the environment to create stunning photographs

Practical session – putting techniques into practice in everyday life

Printing and photo books ‘Off your device and into your life’

TESTIMONIALS

Just frustrated that I didn’t book a session like this before!” Jess
“Thank you so much for such a fun morning. I learnt a lot and will definitely put it into practice. It was so nice not feeling silly that I didn’t know very much about my camera. You made it so easy and understandable.” Sue

VENUE:

Friends Meeting House Winchmore Hill

DATES:

Friday 3rd March 10 – 1

Saturday 4th March 10 -1

Friday 10th March 10 – 1

Saturday 11th March 2-5

Friday 24th March 10 – 1

Saturday 25th March 9:15 – 12:15

PRICE:

£50 for 3 hour workshop

HOW TO BOOK:

Email katrina@katrinacampbell.co.uk

Places are limited so please get in touch soon.

(Bring your camera and manual)

Nov

A day in the life…with Hungermama

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to spend a few hours hanging out with the very lovely food blogger Bethie Hungerford and her two children. If you don’t know her, you should check out her delicious meal plans at hungermama.com which are full of simple, delicious everyday kind of meals – we are now totally hooked on her wonder pots which involve noodles, prawns, lots of healthy ingredients and of course just the one pot!

We made a plan for a shoot that would document everyday life rather than a more formal session. Her little girl met me at the door, chatting away from the start and looking every bit like a character from my childhood – Milly Molly Mandy. While her mum busied herself getting her younger brother ready and handing out slices of chocolate cake (homemade of course) , we slowly got ready, choosing cardigans and buckling shoes before heading out the door for a scooter ride (kids, not us!) through the park and on to Dulwich village. Dulwich village lived up to all expectations as one of those magical parts of London, that make you feel as if you’re in a film. It was real life though, so there were tears of course, and over tiredness at times as with all small people, but they cheered up pretty quickly and showed me their favourite hang outs in the park, and blew bubbles in the sunshine. We needed sustenance so popped into local bakery, bought beautiful flowers just because we couldn’t resist and took a sneaky portrait outside one of their favourite local restaurants. What I love about this kind of photo shoot with children in tow is that you can photograph them in lots of different settings. Both the quiet in-between moments when they’re lost in a book or picking flowers, or when they’re playing up to you and smiling. There’s no need to coax or encourage them to face the camera, as they are kept constantly busy and engaged with the world around them.

We ended the day out with a bus ride back home, and I particularly love the final photo of Bethie with her little boy taken through the grimy glass at the bus stop. Characterful, and full of everyday moments. I hope tha these images will always remind them of this little chapter in their lives.

Oct

Grandparents

This was the year of grandparents for me. Over the last twelve months, I received so many requests for extended family photo sessions, with the aim of putting together bespoke albums or large framed portraits of the whole clan as a gift for a grandparent celebrating a particular birthday. (I’ve since realised that there is a reason for this spike in birthdays, seeing as 70 years ago, the second world war had just ended so there was plenty of cause for celebration…) It was really heartwarming to work on all these projects and certainly entertaining to be surrounded by hordes of (delightfully unruly) grandchildren, not to mention the dogs and horses!

strankssept2016-2567 Read More

Jun

” A stodgy parent is no fun at all….”

” A stodgy parent is no fun at all.
What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY. “
Roald Dahl, Danny The Champion of the World.

I chose these two photos of a father playing with his three year old from a recent shoot, because I thought it captured the way that fathers naturally play with their children. Read More

Dec

Radcliffe Road play street

Despite a few cries of objection such as “Winchmore Hill has plenty of good parks, shouldn’t the children play there or in their gardens, or is something wrong with their legs?” the first play street for Radcliffe Road N21 went ahead as planned one misty morning last autumn.

The traffic barricades went up and within moments the street came to life. Children busied themselves playing with chalks, hoops, soft balls and happily whizzing up and down the street on their bikes and scooters. However it wasn’t just about the kids. There was a real sense that that parents and older generations were genuinely enthusiastic about this new way of getting together with their neighbours. One family who’d recently moved to the area from Eastern Europe talked about how delighted to discover this on their doorstep and were excited about getting to know local people.

Dec

There is no such thing as the perfect time

People often tell me they’d really love to book a photography session but they’re just waiting for everything to be right. They want a summer tan maybe, or for their child’s front teeth to come through, or they just want to lose a couple of pounds. Whilst I completely understand that you want to feel your best, really there is no such thing as the perfect time.

Here is a great example.

Early one Sunday morning I arrived at the bandstand on Clapham Common to meet the effervescent and charming Vale family. Nicky had wanted to organise a session as soon as possible after the summer as Felix her middle son was due a spell in hospital. It was a warm, sunny morning and everyone was smiling, but Allegra, aged 6 was wearing a grey, woollen hat. A mini disaster was hidden underneath as she had decided to cut her own hair the evening before…. “Never mind,” smiled her Mum, “we’ve styled her outfit around this hat!”

Oct

Catapults and conkers

Brandishing conkers, armed with catapults, they came, penny boards under their arms, showing off and ready to play. Ten boys and girls sporting cool clobber messed around in the late afternoon sun, until finally they ended up in a tug o’ war heap, and all trooped off home with goody bags under their arms. Unprompted, they even thanked us for a brilliant party!

Except it wasn’t a party but a photo shoot for Catapult Clothing, a fashion brand for kids dreamed up by Lettice and Fede, two friends with six boys between them. Their idea is simply to create stylish clothes for kids to have fun in – simple and original designs, limited editions, using words like awesome, chill and disco. Check out their colourful t shirts, bags and hats here: www.catapultclothing.co.uk Go on, the kids love them. Read More

Jul

“playing out is good for everyone”

So say London Play, a charity who work to provide better play opportunities for children across London. They also help local residents organise play streets, where for a few hours, a road is closed to traffic, allowing children to play freely.

I’m very excited to be working with the charity to document the positive atmosphere of these play streets. I’ve visited a handful now and whilst they all share a similar joyful spirit, what I love is that each and every street, road, or cul-de-sac has its own unique character that is revealed in the way they ‘play out’ . It’s the individual personality of these mini communities that I hope to capture in these photographs. Whether it’s all about idly cycling up and down the street until your friends join you, creating chalk masterpieces on the pavements, playing skipping rope, or getting a group of adults to run an onion and spoon race, the fact is it’s all about coming together, letting children play freely with each other and getting to know your neighbours. It’s all good fun and a great way to while away an afternoon.

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