A Year Photographing Families on Film

There are so many reasons I choose to shoot film over digital: the grainy texture, the luminous aesthetic, the dynamic range and flattering skin tones… the list goes on and on! For me this timeless aesthetic enriches the quality of photographs in any season, from the golden low light of autumn to the pops of natural colour in spring.

So as we head into this new year, I thought I’d pause to look through my portfolio and select a photograph (or two) from every month which demonstrate the unique quality of film photography. Plus I’ve added a few notes on my favourite photography locations and props for your family portrait session, in a bid to prove that there is no “bad month” to have your photo taken on film!

January

You might not immediately think of January as the best time of year to have your family portrait session, but there are three things to consider:

1 - Availability. January is a quieter time of year for photographers like me, so you’re likely to find greater flexibility on when your family can schedule to have their photos taken.
2 - The light in January is low and incredibly soft, so for outdoor portraits on film even a glimpse of sun creates the most beautiful glow.

3 - Snow! I’m based in Cheshire and this week, like much of the UK, we’ve been blessed with enough of the white stuff to have my girls squealing with delight when they look out of the window to discover that Olaf and Elsa have paid a visit! Given that the start of the year is the UK’s most likely time for snowfall, scheduling your family photo session in January could mean that, if you’re lucky, you’ll have a winter wonderland as your backdrop.

And no a family photography session in the snow hasn’t happened for me yet, so this is a favourite photograph of my parents walking my naughty spaniel! I just love how film retains the highlights in snow, which are so often blown out and lost when you expose for the skin tones with a digital camera.

February

That middling month where we’re not quite into spring, but we’re well past the excitement and buzz of the festive and New Year celebrations, is a great month to schedule a Day in the Life session.

If you have small children you’ll relate to the adage: “The days are long, but the years are short”. My objective with these documentary photography sessions is to capture your family’s daily rituals and fleeting moments of connection on classic black and white film, so you can freeze those memories in time.

Because this session takes place in your home, February is an ideal month to do it. Your family is likely in the last few weeks of hibernation mode and we’re not restricted by the inclement weather.

March

As Mother Nature starts to wake from her winter slumber, we begin to enjoy longer days and the clocks change at the end of the month, March is a lovely time for an outdoor family portrait session on film.

These first pops of natural colour are so welcome, from carpets of vibrant crocus to sunshine yellow daffodils. It’s lovely to photograph little people out and about, discovering Spring in all its glory.

March is a great month to get outside for a family portrait session at your local park. You could even bring your own bunch of spring flowers to use as a prop, add some floral seasonality and root your photographs in time.

April

Aside from the pesky April Showers, I love to photograph families in April. As we dare to dream of a long summer ahead, the great outdoors beckons once again. The days are beginning to warm up, which is very good news for children and grown ups alike!

I can think of few better natural settings for your family photography session than a British woodland in April, with trees covered in blossom, seas of primrose and wood anemone underfoot and the first bluebells making their annual appearance. Pop back in a few months to find out about my favourite bluebell woods in the north west.

May

By May you can often leave your coats and wellies in the car and embrace your summer wardrobe! By this point there are countless location options from national parks to river walks, stately home gardens and local village greens. Most green spaces look pretty spectacular in May.

With two bank holidays in the month, why not make the most of your additional days of annual leave by scheduling in some quality family time somewhere beautiful and inviting me along for the ride!

Imagine laying your picnic blanket onto freshly clipped grass on a sunny day, surrounded by colourful border filled with flowers. You pile on to the blanket and play games, relax, cuddle, perhaps watch the kids run around and burn off some steam whilst I capture every precious moment for you on film… sounds nice right?

June

Isn’t there something so quintessentially English about a strawberry field in June? It’s one of those annual summer traditions that doesn’t seem to lose its wonder as you age. Strawberry picking is a gorgeous intergenerational activity where Grandma has as much fun as her Grandchildren and everyone gets a good dose of vitamin C to boot!

As an inclusive setting, it makes a great backdrop for your family portrait session; giving the children an activity to keep them busy and offering an open landscape flooded with natural light and that pop of red to add interest to your photographs.

July

By July we can start relying on the weather a bit more, which is why I’ve chosen a coastal photography location for family portraits in July.

For me a trip to the British seaside is a tradition that connects us with our ancestors; from walks along a pier to building sandcastles in the sun and braving a dip in the sea. It’s what we islanders have always done the moment the sun comes out and there is a massive archive of seaside photography stretching back to the Victorian era.

There is something so dreamily nostalgic about having your family portrait captured on film at the beach. You’re following in the footsteps of countless generations before who were equally keen to embrace the sun, sea and sand!

August

I often think August weather is reliably poor in the UK, which is so frustrating as for most of the northern hemisphere this is peak Summer! So I was very pleased with myself last year, when I scheduled a family portrait session on what turned out to be one of those rare summer days when the air was balmy, the bees were buzzing and the flowers blooming.

Ness Botanic Gardens is on my doorstep and one of my favourite settings to photograph families. I have so many personal memories there having visited regularly since I was a child and I know the place inside out. There is a vast variety of backdrops from deep shade to open meadow and everything in between, so I can readily find the perfect spot for any time of day.

August is the month where wild flower meadows are at their most beautiful and there are plenty of other locations across the UK where you can have your family photograph taken among the flowers, from the sunflower fields of Pembrokeshire to the petal fields of Shropshire.

September

As we approach the autumn equinox towards the end of September, the golden hour comes into its own making it one of the most beautiful times of year to have your portraits taken towards the end of the day.

The leaves starting to change colour, the occasional chill in the air and that sense of the seasons moving on makes it a poignant time to have family portraits captured. It’s a popular time of year for parents to have photographs taken with their little ones as they start school for the first time and begin a big new adventure of their own.

I love rooting my photographs in time and space, so any location that tells the story of the time of year immediately appeals to me. One environment I’ve photographed families in with great success in September is orchards. Sturdy branches tempting children to climb are laden with apples ready to be harvested. And of course that soft, calming light that I keep harping on about completes the magic formula for film.

October

The light can be lovely in October too and there’s plenty of scope during the month for seasonal props such as pumpkins and conkers, making pumpkin patches and woodlands great locations for your portrait session.

Whatever month you’re having your photos taken in, think about how your clothing will complement the scene. In October, younger children look super sweet wrapped up in Paddington Bear-style coats with wellies on their feet for impromptu leaf-kicking and puddle splashing. While woollen knits and cosy scarves in warm tones give an autumnal feel for every member of the family.

November

Depending on the weather in preceeding weeks, November can be a time for incredible Autumn colour or it can all be over. If the trees are increasingly bare, then actually into the great British forests in November means you’ll be rewarded with lots of natural light which is ideal. In the summer shooting in woodland can be quite dark, but as we enter winter the naked trees allow the daylight to reach the ground – for which my Contax and I are grateful!

One of the many reasons I shoot outdoors is to promote that natural desire to play which all children have. Come November, woodlands are a wild playground ideal for capturing kids being kids, from den building to log-balancing; they’re often having so much fun they forget I’m even there!

December

In December 2024 I asked some friends to join me at a Christmas tree farm in Cheshire to have their photos taken. I wanted to capture all the festive goodness of winter without inviting a jolly old man with a white beard, or posing toddlers in front of an elf backdrop, surrounded by fairy lights with a candy cane in each hand! I basically wanted to strip the cheese from Christmas family portraits and show that it was possible to nod to the season, whilst also creating portraits my clients would be happy to display in their home all year round.

So I got in touch with the good people at Tarporley Christmas Trees and they kindly gave us access their Nordmann Fir woodland for a few hours. The results were exactly what I’d been hoping for; December family photos which capture the wintry season without being overtly festive. The perfect end to my year in photographs.

Which month would you choose for your family photographs?

We’re a week in and I’m already receiving enquiries for 2025, so if you have a month in mind don’t miss out! Get in touch as I’d love to talk with you about how I can help you make this the year you capture a snapshot of your family’s story.