When the photographer becomes the client – our family photoshoot with Nina Mace!

If you have been to the studio before you will no doubt have heard me say that I base most things in my business on myself as a customer. By putting myself in my clients shoes I can identify areas to improve, change and grow. And photographers are notorious for never actually stepping in front of the camera as we are always busy photographing other families! As Ollie is starting school this year I decided we needed an up to date family portrait. He has changed SO much since our last family photoshoot and I wanted to capture the boys as they are just now. Lewis is now in S2 and days away from becoming a teenager so who knows if he will be so willing next time?

Lockdown weight gain meant I wasn’t feeling my best I’ll admit. But my kids dont care what size jeans I wear (who am I kidding, I haven’t worn jeans in over a year!) or if I have a bit of double chin going on. And the photos Nina captured of me looking at my boys are SO special to me. But more importantly it means that they’ll always have a photo of their mama looking at them with pure love. 

In the run up to the photoshoot I ordered new outfits and shoes for us all so that we had a coordinated colour palette that I knew would work with the background colours. I didnt want our clothing to distract from the overall image or facial expressions which are key in family portraits. 

When I book a family photoshoot with clients I am always happy to help pick out clothing and make suggestions. With this in mind I sent Nina screenshots of what we had planned so that she knew in advance the colours we would be wearing. I think the pale blues really work beautifully against the shades of green and Im already planning how to display them in our home (in the new Scandi frame which will be available to see in the studio soon!)

Much like when I photograph families, Nina gave us very little direction instead allowing us to interact, chat and have fun! She chose lovely spots with beautiful light and I’m so happy with the final images.

We had a lovely time having our family portraits taken and I am so gld we did it despite me feeling nervous! 

If you’d like to see more of Nina’s work you can check out her website here. Having trained with Nina on several ocassions in the past I knew she would put us at ease and make us all comfortable so we could enjoy the whole process!