So not so long ago I got to go back to Liverpool, my home time to see the lovely Edie and her legendary proud creators Lou and Andy. It was an extra special shoot for me as I went to Uni with Lou and we lived together in Manchester before she made her escape from Manchester back to Merseyside and found her awesome husband to be Andy. So it was lovely to catch up and have a natter and get some photos (of course!) of Lou, Andy and Edie together as a family.

Getting Rare Photographs of the Family Together

One of the major reasons a lot of people book family shoots is it can be hard to get a photo of the whole lot of you together. a lot of the time Mum or Dad is holding the camera or phone and one of you get missed out so it’s good opportunity to get some lovely photos of all of you together.

The Family Home

I like getting photographs of the house and street when I first start the day. Your home and where you live is an important part of your story. You might not live there forever, the house will change over the years, you may even forget what it looked like at this time in your lives. It doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact I’m a strong believer that a little bit of mess in photos here and there helps tell the story. Will help you remember in 20 years when all your little liver birds (or whatever species you have released into the wild) have flown the nest, you can remember what it was like to have all those tiny clothes piled up. However you feel about those little piles that happen now, there might be a day when you look on those little details fondly.

The number 125 of the families house in Liverpool.

A egg shell blue door opens onto a mat that says "Welcome" at a families house in Liverpool.

A red headed Scouse baby is held my her father, she has a funny quizzical expression.

Baby clothes piled up on the dining table at the families house in Liverpool. In the back ground the family cat sits of the sofa looking out the window.

The baby sits in her walker she needs a cushion as her feet don't quite touch the floor yet.

New Expressions, Downy Hair and Tiny Feet.

Of course the house is just a small part of the story, the tiny human or humans (and animals) you’ve filled it with are the main event! Photographing children at this age is always pretty awesome and kids tend to start finding their personalities and expressions which as you can see Edie has in buckets even though she still needs a cushion under her feet to sit in her walker!

Capturing all those little things that grow so quickly, the tiny hands and feet, the beautiful baby hair can be a great way to remember the moments of your little monkey being tiny, before they start running about and all that fun begins.

The Liverpudlian baby crawls up to the camera while drooling.

Mother and baby sit together at their home in Liverpool.

If you know anything about me you’ll know I love a good silhouette. Lou and Andy’s place in Liverpool was perfect for it. With all the the beautiful bright colours of there home decor sounding them. They were able to have a good old stand in front the window and pester Edie for a bit. Edie soon put a stop to it though as you can see in the last photo. Clever girl!

Family stand together in front of a bay window in their family home in Liverpool.

Family play together in their living room in Liverpool.

Mum, dad and baby stand for a photo in their family home in Liverpool.

Strong baby struggles to get free and escape the family photo.

Baby tells it's mum to be quiet with her hands.

Photographing the Family Together

Although the style of the shoot is mainly documentary. I do take some photos were you and your tribe can look at the camera and give a big goofy grin. Like the one below in Lou and Andy’s very purple back yard.

I really feel like the magic happens when you guys are just doing your own thing, like Lou, Andy and Edie sitting down together to watch Formula One. Something that Edie no doubt will get into as she grows older, or even if she doesn’t it will certainly be one of the things that makes her think of family time and Mum and Dad.

As you can see she’s pretty engrossed in the race even at this age…

Family watch Formula One together at their home in Liverpool.

Baby watching formula one in black and white.

Baby watching Formula One and eating her own hand in colour.

Breast Feeding

When I delivered the photos to Lou and Andy. Lou commented that one of the photos that stood out to her was the one of her breast feeding Edie. Lou said that she never gets to see herself and Edie together that way and it’s a beautiful moment to capture between mother and child.

Relics of that Time in the History of Your Family

I couldn’t help but snap a little photo of Lou’s Trump protest banner. Hopefully one day when politics in both of our countries has got a little less like a cartoon, they will be able to look at that photograph with the nostalgia of that brief time when UK and US politics turned into a bit of a Pantomime. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

I also love to grab little photos including the art work that is in the house. Knowing Lou and Andy well it was a little easier to know what to focus on. I knew that New York was a very special pace to all three of them as a family. Hence the poster print in Edie’s Bedroom.

Can you spot the legend David Bowie sneaking into any of their portraits? Obviously it would be a crime not to have him feature! The picture of the breakfast holding hands is one that Lou and Andy have had in their house for as long as they have had their house, so I felt like it had to be included. It also kind of sums up their humour and Lou’s love of breakfast and bacon!

For the last photo we went up to the master bedroom to get a nice family portrait of them playing on the bed together. Above them is some spray painted art that Lou did on her hen do. Lou and Andy then used it as their guest book on their wedding day. So it’s an important piece of art and draws the eye away from Andy’s dirty feet, that I promised I wouldn’t mention! Sorry Andy! lol. To be fair we were making him traipse around the garden with no shoes on so it’s half my fault!