Photos After Lockdown

It’s been a long time coming. Four long months without picking up my camera capturing family photos , well, taking photos of someone other than my children that is. I’d forgotten just how much I relied on my work to bring me happiness, ground me, and help maintain an good mental health.

I missed more than just pressing the shutter and capturing those family photos. It was more than that. I missed the interactions, the conversation with fellow adults. Working as a photographer can be lonely at times and I yearned for some normality. Subsequently, my mental health during lockdown like many others suffered. I held onto so much hope, watching the news with anticipation, waiting and praying that my time to start to capture these treasured family photos would come soon.

I had some of the best first few photo shoots after lockdown. Consequently, these will stay with me for a long time. Faces of joy on children, newborn babies, and their parents happy their children not mentally scarred from months of separation and segregation. It was my drug and it was filling my metaphorical cup right back up.

Daises and more Daisies

Some may say luck others may disagree, but whatever it was that meant I was able to work to capture your family photos again coinciding with the fact that daisies were in full bloom will forever make me smile.

Tracking down daisies, and finding a field of that is suitable for families to come to for their photos is no easy task. It is something I’ve had on my mind since last summer. It’s not just a case of finding a field full of flowers, there are many considerations that we need to take into account as photographers when finding a location. Great light, easy access, secluded, and many many other factors come into play.

As luck may have it, a fellow a photographer friend of mine had has a tip off from a friend about a lovely secluded space near Southampton that wasn’t too far from my home. My opportunity to shoot started to get within reach.

The best kind of clients!

It’s not a secret when I say I love photographing other photographers. I know that’s not a popular opinion and lots of photographers get very anxious when they’re booked by a fellow colleague. For me, it’s about being able to be as creative as I possibly can knowing that they have booked me for one reason and one reason only. They love my work and they trust in me. Curating memories for any other creative person is nothing short of a honour. Knowing these family photos would adnore they home filled me with so much happiness.

One of the many families who booked me for their daisy photo shoot was the family of photographer Beth. Beth travelled from Bournemouth to Southampton for their family photography session with me.

I spent some time with Beth helping her choose her outfits, putting her fears aside ( yes, even photographer can get nervous) and ensuring that the whole process was seamless and simple. There was just one goal for us both, incredible stylish family portraits to hang at their home.

Blowing my own trumpet!

I’m not great at blowing my own trumpet but I will leave you with the words of Beth after she received her images:

Carley is not only an incredibly talented photographer but a genuinely wonderful human. We booked Carley for a mini shoot and despite my children being somewhat of a handful (I’m being kind when I say that!) Carley remained professional, calm and produced some of the most beautiful family memories of which we will treasure forever.

As a fellow photographer I chose Carley because she demonstrates such skill and I had full faith she would be able to capture our wild children in the most natural, honest and beautiful way possible.

We received a huge gallery for a mini session of which I instantly decided I needed all of. I cannot wait for our prints to arrive!I would book again in a heartbeat and I’m so thankful I now have someone to take photos of me, who I know and trust and enjoy being around!

Thank you Carley!

The Wilson Family

Finally, it wouldn’t be a great blog if I didn’t show you some of the Beautiful family photos we created in the daisy field together.

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