Portraits

We all love looking at photographs of our children and seeing their development over the years but (deleted random comma here) there are also benefits for our kids themselves. Did you know it can boost our children’s confidence? Psychologists and experts have done some work in recent decades exploring the link between photography and self confidence.

There was a revealing study conducted in 1975 with a group of fourth graders at a Murfreesboro, Tenn. school. The study was conducted by Jerry Fryrear of Tulane University and Mary Ammerman with Murfreesboro City Schools.

What The Study Discovered

The children were selected from a set of test results indicating they had self-esteem scores below the median score of all the fourth-grade students. These chosen students participated in a carefully set-up study over the course of five-weeks.

During those five weeks, the children took polaroid instant photos of themselves with provided cameras in a variety of assigned poses, compositions and expressing various emotions. The children worked with the printed images of themselves and created scrapbooks once a week over those five weeks.

Testing of the students and teachers at the conclusion of the five weeks revealed a significant increase of 37 percent in the students’ average self-esteem behaviors as seen by their teachers versus a control group which showed just a 10 percent increase on those same scores.

Here is the link to the study

I love working on family shoots, check out some examples of my portrait photography with children and commercial portraits.

Ampthill park in the summer

Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire is a fantastic location to have your portrait taken. In the summer months you can enjoy the beautiful lush landscape and utilise the wood for an interesting backdrop.

I love getting outdoors and taking photographs as every session is so different. Nature is a beautiful backdrop for any portrait with many textures shapes and colours complementing your subject. Over the year I have moved away from using a studio setting for my photography as I feel I can get such a variety of portrait photographs when photographing outdoors. Don't get me wrong I still do photograph indoors and I am very comfortable working in a family’s home but I enjoy the fun and no boundaries of the outdoors. I guess I enjoy being kept on my toes as you never know if a stray dog might come bounding into the shots or a large gust of wind is thrown into the mix and I have to think quickly on my feet to overcome these curve balls!

I recently photographed a beautiful little girl for her 3rd birthday. I have loved building up a relationship with this family as I photographed their wedding and I have taken a family portrait for every birthday since she was 1.

"I have been commissioning Becky for 4 years now, first for my wedding then 3 further times for photographs of my daughter. It goes without saying that her photography is excellent. But especially with children it is not just about capturing the moment but being able to create it. Becky is very patient and sensitive and comes up with a myriad of ideas, which produce beautiful and natural results. She is nonintrusive and floats around like a butterfly. This makes everyone feel very comfortable and fosters lovely photographs." - C Johnson

A family portrait session

When photographer, Becky Kerr, suggested doing a family photo shoot together, we loved the idea because we never ever seem to get any photos as a family – and least of all any pictures of me as the mum. I’m too busy taking photos of everybody else!
As the day approached, I started, however, to get a bit nervous. I hate having my photo taken and I wondered what it would be like.
Why I worried, I really don’t know! Even though we felt like we were mutton dressed as lamb in the middle of Ampthill’s beautiful forest – we had dressed up nicely for an occasion which would be more akin to a wedding reception than a muddy autumn walkway ! – Becky quickly put us all at ease and made it so much fun that soon we were laughing away. Her relaxed manner made us pose naturally rather than hunched up and we all secretly admitted afterwards that we loved every bit of our first-ever family shoot.
Becky has got such a fabulous knack that it felt like a treat. We can’t wait to present the photos this Christmas to our family and the lifelong happy photographs created that autumn afternoon will live with us for a very long time. We can’t wait to have another photo shoot in the months to come – only this time with our new puppy!

Commercial Portrait

Workshop & Play is Ampthill's newest business venture it has been lovingly created by Emma. Accessible and fulfilling workshops will be delivered to you in the beautiful, tranquil inspire space Emma has lovingly created. I had the pleasure of being one of the first through the doors to visit and photograph this wonderful space.

Bedfordshire Workshop & Play will be delivering a range of workshops including (but not limited to...) interior design, calligraphy, knitting, sewing, yoga, photography, floristry, social media and other small business related talks, all you need to do is pick the one for you. I am extremely excited as I will be hosing a beginners photography workshop inthe summer of 2018.

Blue Bell

Spring is here and the blue bells are in full bloom. It is such a pretty time of the year too take family portraits. I love the light at this time of the year and that I can take photographs in the evening time. A splash of blue in the background of a photo adds a new dimension to the image. Why not colour co-ordinate what you are wearing and let the blues sing out to you.

Children love to play outdoors and tend to feel far more comfortable in front of the camera, Adults are not different and I find if we bring a dog to an engagement shoot they instantly feel more relaxed. I think the focus is removed from them and they are concentrating on their dog rather than the camera.

Childs play

In any season we have the great outdoors to use as a backdrop. It is important for children to keep relaxed and comfortable when they are having their portrait photographed. Natural photographs are moments that can be frozen in time and treasured forever. Children love to play outdoors and the autumn leaves are the perfect tools to use for natural photographs.

Alameda walk in Ampthill Bedfordshire is a beautiful backdrop for a portrait sitting, letting the children have fun with an overall loose general direction allows their true character shine through and sets up the perfect photograph.

Home comforts

When a child is in familiar surroundings we are able to get natural, relaxed photographs. I let them play, run, jump, read a book or play with their toys and capture all these moments in a reportage style of photography. Documenting everyday moments might not be top of your list for a family photo shoot but are great to look back on to see the development of your baby. When he starts to eat food you are too busy worrying about the amount they are eating or whether it is ending up on your floor. Playing with your baby, you are interacting and bonding with them to remember to pick up a camera to document this moment. My portrait photographs will show the love between parents and child or bond between siblings.

Family fun

What do you buy that special member of you family for their 70th birthday? We had great fun getting the whole family together for this top secret photoshoot. The outfit have been discussed, the kids were briefed not to tel Grandad. Let just hope he does not come for a walk in Ampthill park and spoil the surprise!

The gift has now been given and he was over the moon with the efort his family had gone and loves the beautiful photos.

Commercial Portraits

Commercial portraits for a stage school portfolio. I planned to take these photos outdoors rather than in the studio as I though she would be more relaxed and less self-conscious. We were able to get a number of great different posses which were very benifcial to her portfolio. I think you will all agree she looks lovely in this shot.