6 little kids, 3 big kids plus partners, a dog and Mum and Dad. Easy! (Ummm … might need to rethink that!)
You might recognise some of these lovely people. I’ve done a couple of shoots for them before over the last couple of years, documenting their growing family – and before that at Greenbelt, where the (now) oldest two, always somehow found their way on to my path at the festival on my way to a different tent across site and provided fantastic shots, whatever they were doing!
This time, a family holiday brought them together with extended family and we met up on the last day at Padley Gorge. Littlest was a tiny babe last time we met up, but had grown into a little explorer, right in the mould of bigger brothers and sister and was wanting to join in from the get go. Cousins joined in to and off we went! After a quick hunt for suitable sticks started us off, the obligatory pooh sticks was played before we ventured into the woods.
Stepping only on rocks, then climbing trees, looking for fish, following those sticks through the water and clambering in and out and under rocks was the name of the game, alongside finding a tree of coins, jumping off tree trunks and finding wands to weave magic with.
The light was beautiful in the dappled shade of the trees and although we dabbled in a few gently posed images, most came from inviting the kids to try climbing that, or explore that cave. Good job really as these guys generally never stay still – which is a delight, and brings back so many memories of my two always exploring and being so at home outside, working out their limits and pushing beyond them, but also makes me work to capture everyone together- which in such a big group was a challenge! However, I know their thoughts are the same as mine here – an imperfectly posed shot, that captures the essence of those involved is treasured way above that staged, posed image.
Capturing adults is sometimes tricky too, especially if they are like me, and would rather avoid the camera! I usually find, that if the kids are happy and, once they see I’m relaxed and happy to go with the flow, if the kids don’t ‘do this’ we’ll go for something else, that it’s not a problem – they tend to relax and drop their guard too, even forgetting that I am there, or atleast that the camera becomes a more a accessory. Perfect! Then I get the chance to make those natural images from the sidelines and capture those memories they’ll love to look back on over the years.
Ice cream of course was the perfect way to finish and I left the fantastic group enjoying their treat at the end of a lovely couple of hours.
Looking forward to being able to capture their next set of exploits when I am sure littlest will be independently finding trouble with her siblings!