Family portraits
It’s a cliché how quickly children grow up, but what do you do if you want natural, informal family portraits?
My approach makes it easy for you to have wonderful family photographs in your home – pictures of your children relaxed and having fun. This attention to detail runs right from arranging the shoot through to delivery of your pictures. Before the session, we’ll talk about exactly what kind of photographs you’re after: family groups, just the children, at home or in one of the wonderful North London parks. Afterwards, I’ll help you select the best pictures, print and frame them and deliver them to you.
I come to you from my base in Islington to ensure that the session is stress-free and minimizes the disruption to busy family life. Travel within 15 miles of Islington and Highgate is included, so my portrait sessions cover North London, much of East and West London, Central London and South Hertfordshire.
Lifestyle portraits on location or at home
Your family will be photographed in a familiar environment – either at home or choose a favourite London location. Depending on your children’s mood, I can stay in the background as I shoot or play with your children to get them to interact with the camera.
15 years of photographing politicians, celebrities, and the occasional riot has been great preparation for taking portraits of your family. Subjects who don’t sit still or even stay in the room are all in a day’s work. Whatever the distractions, the photographs of your children will be relaxed, capture their mood and personality, and of course always in focus.
Click here to see lifestyle portraits in Highgate, Islington and other London locations.
Parents often ask me for pictures of children playing their favourite sport. This is a great way to make sure that they enjoy the shoot! I’m happy to combine the photography session with most sporting activities – you’ll just need to get the organiser’s permission. I’ve covered Islington junior rugby; click here to see a shoot at a rugby training session.
Contemporary studio portraits
Contemporary portraits against a white background can easily be taken in your home. I bring a small studio setup with me if this is the style you’re after. Click here to see some contemporary portraits.
After the shoot, I edit the pictures to select the best images and illustrate different artistic effects. Within a week you’ll have the images to review and I’ll show you the various print and frame options.
When you’ve decided what prints, canvases or albums you’d like I take care of the rest. You just get the pictures you won’t take yourself…
Photography Tuition
For those of you who’d like to improve the pictures you take yourself, I offer tailored tuition on how to get the best from your digital SLR. The workshops are very interactive and cover the features of your camera, composition and feedback on your photographs. Click here for more information on photography tuition.
What people say:
We had our session with Michael at home and we are so pleased with the results. Beautiful close-ups of our baby and fantastic informal shots of our 3 year old. Prices are very reasonable. I would definitely recommend to anyone! Emma, Haringey
The photographs that you took of our daughter are simply superb, and will help frame our memories forever of her at this age. Martyn and Alison, Islington
Michael has taken photographs at two recent charity events for me. He is able to get great results in his photographs of children in spite of the rather chaotic nature of these events. The photographs he took of my son really captured the essence of Nicholas. Natasha, Islington NCT, June 3, 2009
Michael's photography is inspiring. He has taken the most beautiful photos at various events for us and we are always delighted with the high quality results. Use him whenever you can as he's totally the best. Oliver, Islington
My mother loves her album, and all our friends wish they had one of when their children were small. Brian, Salisbury
Please do say a big thank you to Michael for the photos. They are great. Kerry, Kent
Galleries:
Gallery 1 shows the kind of images that Michael achieved in a short visit to this boy’s Sunday rugby match.
Gallery 2 has some highlights from a recent commission. The shoot lasted 2 hours and generated hundreds of images out of which Michael selected and edited several dozen for the family to review. Each shoot is different, but you’ll be shown a range of pictures from which to select your favourites. Michael’s always happy to discuss how post-shoot editing can change the artistic style of the photograhs. As part of his editing process he ensures that each image shows his subjects at their best – removing minor blemishes (eg scratches) is all part of the service.