{For Photographers} Family Sessions workshop with Brooke Davis

I’m bringing you something a little different on my blog today! Last week I escaped Paris for a trip to the English countryside to hang out with fellow photographers at the Photography Farm.

The Farm is an awesome venture set up by the fabulous Lisa Devlin as a creative place to nurture and support like-minded photographers. I have long been coveting a place on one of their workshops, but have been very nervous to do so as I am still so new in my business journey. Most of the alternative wedding photographers I admire in the UK are Farm graduates, and being in such esteemed company was very daunting to me!

However I plucked up the courage to book a family photography masterclass run by the exceptionally talented Brooke Davis from Blush Photography. Her family shoots are breathtaking – honest and passionate and hugely inspirational. I knew I would be able to learn so much from her and was not disappointed!

Brooke was so open and honest, sharing everything with us from her marketing strategies and pricing profiles, to client interaction, shooting tips, posing techniques and post-production workflow. We were also lucky enough to watch her pose two very different families, both indoors in very low light and outdoors, and then were given an opportunity to snap away ourselves.

I was so impressed with the way Brooke effortlessly combines professionalism with warmth and friendliness, instantly connecting with her clients. During shooting and post-production she is fast and efficient, whilst still paying attention to detail and the little things that matter. But most of all I took away her attitude to family shoots – how important it is to capture the essence of childhood. To shoot the chaos! To give clients something they can’t ever replace – the fleeting moments of motherhood, even when they include the tears and mess. Mothers want to remember what it feels like to have their child in their arms, rather than a picture-perfect version of reality.

She, and the supportive community of photographers have given me inspiration and motivation to work with more with families, and the confidence to work in low light. I can’t wait to put new skills into practice with some of the lovely family shoots I have coming up in Paris!

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Lisa for organising the workshops, to Brooke for being so generous with her knowledge and experience, and to the two lovely families who so patiently modelled.

NB please note that although the images below were taken by me, some of them were posed by Brooke during the workshop.