South Wales Portrait Photography - School Portraits
I love taking portraits and I've been visiting my children's school for a good few years now to take the annual school portraits. Although I visit lots of local toddler groups and nurseries, this is the only primary school that I visit, which makes it super special to me. This year, I realised that I've been photographing some of the children there since they were in preschool - and now they are in Year 6! I got a little bit emotional when I realised that and probably embarrassed them all, going on about how I remember taking their preschool portraits years ago! Sorry guys!
Now my daughter has actually moved onto secondary school and my son is already in Year 5, it won't be long before I'll be visiting and not taking my own children's portraits. I was lucky this year because my daughter had an inset day so I managed to sneak her into a few with my son at the end of the session.
I take all the portraits outside and it gives them a natural feel. In the past I've struggled with high winds, rain and bright sunshine but this year the weather was on my side. Thanks Mother Nature!
Here's a few of my favourites. If you would like me to pay a visit to your local preschool, nursery or children's group for a pop-up portrait session then drop me a line.
Gem x
Pop-up photo sessions in Cowbridge with Gemma Griffiths Photography
Well, my pop-up mini photo sessions are going down a storm at the moment and I've just announced a new date for June! The pop-up sessions are 10 minute, free photo shoots for your little ones. There's no tricks up my sleeve, so secret sales technique, you can buy one image, three images or ten images, whatever you fancy. There's no surprise price list, in fact the price list is very simple - it's £12 for a 5"x7" print and £15 for a 10"x7" print. If you want digital files they are also available at £15 each. Simples!
As they are only 10 minutes long the sessions are only suitable for 1 or 2 children at a time, or child and Mummy or Daddy, so we can't squeeze a whole family shoot into one slot. The slots are also booked back to back so if your little one arrives and decides that they aren't in the mood for photos then I can just add you onto the list for the next pop-up session instead. (Note: chocolate buttons are a good blackmail technique. Just saying). There will be one more pop-up session in June and possibly one in July and then that's it for the time being. Keep your eyes peeled on my Facebook page for new events.
A lot of my pop-up clients are repeat customers that have already had a full family shoot or nursery shoots with me in the past and are updating their images. If you'd like a family photo shoot and don't want the constraints of a 10 minute pop-up then I offer lovely family shoots out and about around the Vale. There's no time limit to them and we get the choice of different locations, outfits and loads of variety in terms of family groups, siblings together, individual portraits etc. You can see more from my family shoots on my family portfolio page.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this gorgeous set of images from a recent pop-up session at Llanblethian Baby & Toddler Group, just outside Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. These images were taken in a 10 minute time slot with two beautiful sisters. There's only half the set featured here, so there were plenty to choose from!
If you're interested in my pop-up sessions or would like to book a full family shoot, please get in touch for a chat.
Gem x
Pop-up portrait sessions with Gemma Griffiths Photography
The main bulk of my work is photographing families on location in the beautiful countryside of the Vale of Glamorgan but a few times a year I offer pop-up photo sessions at local playgroups or seasonal mini sessions. This year, I changed the way that I work a little bit. I have experience as a headshot and school portrait photographer so I used the same methods to take portraits of little ones at their toddler groups. I used to aim for around 4-6 images per child and always try and make sure that I had the 'eye contact' shot and focussed on producing a few head and shoulder portraits for parents to choose from.
This year after a fab training session and some market research amongst my clients I discovered that parents didn't just want the head and shoulder portrait. They actually wanted a mixture of posed and unposed shots. They wanted images to show off their child's personality and the environment they are in. Well, this was music to my ears because I've always preferred unposed and natural images, so I decided to experiment with my Spring toddler groups and tried to capture more than just a portrait.
The response has been awesome from parents. I've presented between 10-30 images to families with a variety of posed and unposed images. Images that have more authenticity than a 'say cheese' picture and it feels brilliant!
At these toddler sessions I only have 10 minutes per child, so most of the images have been taken in the same spot. I wanted to show you an example of some of the images from this little girls gallery - she had 33 images in total and I've only shared 16 here. As you can see, you can get a gorgeous set of images in a short space of time. You can see her cheeky little grin, her thoughtful moments and a little bit of sass thrown in for good measure. The session took place at the Colwinston Baby & Toddler group which is held in the village hall in Colwinston, just outside Cowbridge. The garden behind the hall has a carpet of wild forget-me-nots at this time of year and they provide such a lovely backdrop to my Spring portraits here.
If you run or attend a local playgroup and would like me to visit for a pop-up portrait session then please get in touch to let me know. You can also keep in touch by following my Facebook page. I'll add new events as they get scheduled throughout the year.
If you have a group of friends or family members that are interested in a photo session then there is also the option of booking a private Group Mini Session for you all. Group Mini Sessions are a longer than my pop-up sessions and can include whole families, friendship groups and cousins etc. You can find out all about the idea behind my Group Mini Sessions on my blog.
Gem x
Autumn Portraits at Cowbridge Baby & Toddler Group
Autumn portraits at Cowbridge Baby & Toddler Group!
I visit local playgroups twice a year in the Spring and Autumn. These images are from my visit to Cowbridge Baby & Toddler Group last October. Such a bunch of gorgeous little dollfaces! Each child has 5-10 minute slot and we try and get as many photos as we can in that time. There's no session fee or obligation to buy anything and parents can choose from their images in an online, password protected gallery.
I'll be back at Cowbridge Baby & Toddler Group on Tuesday 24th April 2018 and I'm now taking bookings in advance, so if you'd like a slot, then please get in touch.
If you know of any playgroups that might like me to pop in for a visit to take some natural outdoor portraits, then let me know!
Gem x
Toddler Group Portraits
My last set of Toddler Group Portraits this Spring was at Llanblethian Toddler Group. We had a gloriously sunny day, which gave us a fantastic bright and sparkly backdrop to our portraits. Lots of beaming smiles again from this lot. An abundance of cuteness. I've shared a few of my favourites from the session below.
This time I've included some black and white ones too which capture such a lot of emotion. Sometimes the more thoughtful look shows off a child's personality more than a smile...
I'll be back in the Autumn time for more toddler group portraits!
See more of my images in my family portfolio.
Gem x
