HELEN & COLLIN | FAMILY SESSION AT LAKE TE KOO UTU
I’ve been photographing Helen for years now, and this was one of my favourite sessions with her and her family. The three girls were confident and enthusiastic from the start, coming up with their own ideas and jumping into every setup without needing much convincing. That energy makes a huge difference.
We shot the whole session in a small area at Lake Te Koo Utu in Cambridge. Willows by the water, big trees, open grass, all within a short walk of each other. It’s one of those locations where you don’t need to go far to get a lot of variety.
There were plenty of combinations, the whole family, parents together, the sisters in different pairings, and individual shots. The laughs and interactions were all genuine. I gave them prompts and scenarios rather than asking them to pose, and the girls ran with it.
One moment that stood out was when I asked Collin to tell each of his daughters something he was proud of about them. It caught a couple of them off guard, and there were happy emotions. The real stuff doesn’t happen when everyone is smiling at the camera. It happens when someone says something that matters.
The rest of the session was all energy. Jumping, hugging, silly faces, the sisters throwing their arms around each other. This family is easy to photograph because they actually like being together, and that shows in every frame.
— Tony
