6 Tips for your Family Photo Session

6 Tips for your Family Photo Session

by | Jun 11, 2020 | Advice and Information, Family

6 Tips for your Family Photo Session

Book Your Photoshoot

Top Tips for your Lake District Family Photo Session

One of the questions I hear most frequently is, What can I do to make my Lake District family photo session more enjoyable?  Read on for some helpful tips. 

Now kids and partners are not usually bothered about a photo shoot, even one based outdoors in the beautiful Lake District and well, frankly, can be a little bit grumpy about doing something they would rather not do, so I thought i’d put together some hints and tips that will help ease the situation.

Tips for your Family Photo Shoot

1. Comfort Breaks

Before we start (especially at an outdoor location) make sure everyone has been to the loo.  I do try to make sure I know were the local facilities are however, this is the Lake District and they are often quite far away. 

I know going to the loo is really obvious however this can cause discomfort and embarrassment if you don’t.  There’s nothing worse than being miles from anywhere and needing the loo, if you catch my drift?  Wild wees are not for the fainthearted! 

2. Snack Time

 Again this might seem to be a no-brainer.  Kids, our partners and ourselves have all been known to get a little hangry when we need food so snacks (preferably ones which don’t stick in your teeth) are a must.  Ideally, make sure that there is minimal rubbish and that any waste can be carried to the nearest bin.  Our aim is to keep the countryside beautiful for everyone.

On a side note, chocolate covered faces can make for cute photos but baby wipes might be needed for the clean up!

3. Thirst Quenchers 

The same goes for drinks.  No-one functions at their best when they are dehydrated so drinks are a must.  Just be careful to balance this with the toilet situation!

Drinks, like food, can provide a useful distraction – see point 4 – when things aren’t quite going to plan.  They also act as a calming moment and can help to change the tempo of the photo shoot e.g. moving from fast paced action to more contemplative time. 

lake district family photo session, cumbria family photo session

4. Distractions

Young children can become upset or frustrated for a number of reasons and nothing is more stressful than your dearest being red-faced and tearful when you’re trying to get the perfect family photo.  I mean, you’re determined that everyone is happy and smiley, right?  Relax about this, things don’t always go to plan.  It’s a good idea to bring something small like a teddy or toy car which will distract them before behaviour takes a turn for the worst.  Likewise don’t ban your teenagers mobile phone.

5. Sporting Events

And finally, for the sports fans in our lives… If your other half or children love sport try not to book your Cumbria family photo session during important games/matches.  We’ve all been to those special occasions where the fans stand outside with the only signal they can get following the ins and outs of the FA Cup final on their phones!  True story!

6. Family Photography in the Lake District & Cumbria

It’s worth noting that for any outdoor family photo-shoot in the Lake District and Cumbria, waterproofs and appropriate footwear are essential.  You never know what the day could throw at you from becoming suddenly overcast with cold winds to boggy paths, jumping over stiles and kids that just want to splash in the water.  We recommend you bring these to your photo session regardless of the location or time of year.

Need more family photography advice?

For real families, inspiration and tips check out our blog.

View All Blog Posts
Buttermere Engagement

Buttermere Engagement

Claire and Ollie chose a beautiful Buttermere engagement photoshoot as the perfect place for...

Buttermere Engagement

Buttermere Engagement

by | Apr 12, 2020 | Engagement, Family, Lake District Venue

Buttermere Engagement

Is my date free?

Buttermere Engagement Portraits

Claire and Ollie chose a beautiful Buttermere engagement photoshoot as the perfect place for them.  Giving their dog, Ruby, plenty of room to run, spash in the water and let off steam.  Having images of themselves in the Lake District was really important to Claire and Ollie as their chosen wedding venue was too far away for wedding day images.

The walking route around Buttermere just happens to be one of the most popular low level walks in the Lake District.  You can walk the entire way round with spectacular views the entire time.  Why not check out the iconic and much photographed ‘Lone Tree’? And admire one of Wainwright’s favourite fells – Haystacks.

Crummock Water is also stunning and a great place for an engagement or wedding portrait session.  There are waterfalls and shingle shores to walk along.  Beautiful rocky outcrops provide the perfect vantage points and will show off your wedding dress to perfection.  The beautiful Rannerdale Bluebells are gorgeous and are just a short walk from the road.

PHOTO GALLERY
New House Farm Wedding Photographer. Kissing on the shores of Crummock Water. The perfect location for your wedding photographs.
Low Hall The Lakes Wedding Photos

Engagement Photographs near Buttermere and Crummock Water

Ensuring your lake district wedding photographer has plenty of local knowledge is key.  There is lots to be said for choosing a photographer based in the lake district when considering your options.  These include knowledge of the best spots for your images, where to park and how busy the area is.

 

How else would you know, for example, that in May nesting birds mean that the area you had your heart set on is out of bounds or that the floods a few years ago took out the access bridge and the only way across the water is to wade?

Wedding Venues near Buttermere

There are always interesting views to be had around Buttermere and Crummock and if you’re getting married in Cockermouth or Lorton and have time in your wedding day this area is definitely worth a visit.  You’ll come away with images from one of the most famous views in the Lake District!  If you don’t have time on your wedding day itself how about getting your gladrags back on the following day for gorgeous images.

Loweswater, Crummock water and Buttermere are in the North Western Lakes and are in easy reach of the following venues:  New House Farm, Low Hall The Lakes, Hundith Hill, Wordsworth House, The Trout Hotel, and Cockermouth Town Hall if you’re looking for those beautiful lakeside photographs.

Need more advice?

For real weddings, inspiration and tips check out our blog.

View All Blog Posts

Lake District Engagement Shoot, Windermere

Lake District Engagement Shoot, Windermere

by | May 19, 2019 | Engagement, Family

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that mean the most and todays Lake District engagement shoot, based in Ambleside and on the shores of beautiful Lake Windermere is simple, beautiful and captures the couples laidback personalities perfectly.

As part of our wedding planning meetings we like to get to know you both. What do you like, what do you both do for fun? Why have you chosen a Lake District Engagement photoshoot? We try to build these into your engagement session so for example if you love walking in the park, fab let’s base our shoot in your favourite park. Obviously, based in the Lake District we have to get those fells in the shot too! After all they’re the reason you choose the Lake District as your engagement shoot location.

Alternatively, if he proposed over fish and chips by lake Windermere, lets recreate the romance!

And of course we’ve got to include the ring shots!

 

Lake District Engagement Shoot, Windermere

Contact Us

Ambleside Engagement Inspiration

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that mean the most and todays Lake District engagement shoot, based in Ambleside and on the shores of beautiful Lake Windermere is simple, beautiful and captures the couples laidback personalities perfectly.

As part of our wedding planning meetings we like to get to know you both. 

 

PHOTO GALLERY

What do you like, what do you both do for fun? Why have you chosen a Lake District Engagement photoshoot?

We try to build these into your engagement session so for example if you love walking in the park, fab let’s base our shoot in your favourite park. Obviously, based in the Lake District we have to get those fells in the shot too! After all they’re the reason you choose the Lake District as your engagement shoot location.

Alternatively, you might enjoy a romantic super of fish and chips on the lake shore?

Of course no engagment photoshoot would be complete without those ring shots!

Gorgeous Supplier Info

So there you have it beautiful photos set in the heart of the English Lake District. No inspiration blog would be complete without giving you details of the creatives involved:

Photography

Couple

Clothes

Jewellery

HMUA

Shoes

Organised by

Radiance Photography

Lucy and James

Couples own

London Victorian Ring Co

Hair and Makeup by Saskia

Couples own

The Alternatives

Photography | Radiance Photography

Couple | Lucy & James

Clothes | Couples own

Jewellery | London Victoria Ring Co

HMUA | Hair & Makeup by Saskia

Shoes | Couples own

Organised by | The Alternatives

If you love this photo-shoot inspiration be sure to check out our autumn engagement inspiration.

Need more advice?

For real weddings, inspiration and tips check out our blog.

View All Blog Posts

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

by | Mar 2, 2019 | Advice and Information, Bride, Family

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

contact us

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

photo gallery
One of the questions I hear most frequently is, How do I choose my wedding photographer?

 

We all know there is a lot of choice out there when it comes to choosing your wedding photographer so I put together the following blog to help you find your way.

 

Tips for Choosing your Wedding Photographer

If you’ve not got time to watch our video on our facebook page, these are our 5 top tips. Click on each one for more advice.

1. Set Your Wedding Budget

As you start looking for your wedding photographer you’ll notice that price can vary considerably with photography packages ranging from £200 to £2000 for a full-day wedding.  As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. So, the question you need to ask yourself is “How important is having photos of my wedding to me?”

If the answer is “not very” feel free to make your decision based on price alone. However, if your wedding photography is important to you, look for photographers who are within your budget or who offer payment plans. If you’ve fallen in love with a particular photographer’s work see if you can book them for a shorter period of time if their full-day price is too high.  Another option is to add the beautiful folio box or album you want to your gift list so that your guests can help you.

Finally, wedding photographers who are establishing themselves, such as myself, can be budget friendly and provide great quality images with a high level of service.  The key thing here is to do your research.

2. Decide on the Photography Products You Want

You have a wide range of options available to you including digital images, digital images and prints, large wall art, albums and folio boxes to name a few.

It’s a good idea to let your photographer know what you would like before your wedding as this can impact on the images taken.

A wedding photo album will be shot with certain page spreads in mind so your photographer will make sure they get everything they need.

If you’d like a large wall image it may also be a good idea to look for someone who has experience in preparing images for printing and creating this kind of artwork.

3. Choose Your Favourite Photography Style 

Now, style is a big topic, one which I could dedicate a whole blog to, so I’m just going to give a quick overview.  To me, a photographer’s style is what you see in the final image.  This is made up of several artistic choices like lighting, posing (if any), composition and the final edit.

The combination of how each of these things are done is unique to each individual photographer like a fingerprint is unique to you.  By composition I mean where the happy couple are placed within the image and whether the image is tight to the couple or shows the action within the whole room.  The final edit is based on colour and tones, some photographers don’t like green so they choose to tone it down, others like their image to be dark, and moody with muted colours, others love light, airy, pastel shades.

Look though lots of wedding images, create a Pinterest board of your favourites.  What are your preferences?  Dark, light or natural colours?  Close up or whole room included in the image?  These are your preferences, there is no right or wrong, and they should form the basis of your search for your photographer.

Please don’t ask a photographer to change their editing style.  That’s like asking Vincent van Gogh to paint with acrylics when he’s known for his watercolours.  Find a photographer who’s style you love.

4. Look at Real Wedding Examples

Once you’ve narrowed your wedding photographers down it’s time to talk about their portfolio or body of work.  Check out my images here.

Ask to see at least three real weddings if possible. You need to look for consistency in their images meaning are the colours and tones the same?  Other questions you might ask yourself are: Is the style of photography similar throughout?  Do the couples look relaxed and comfortable.

Look for any weddings where the photographer has shot at your venue.  This will give you an example of what can and can’t be achieved.  It is also worth asking to see any weddings that were taken around the same time of year as your wedding.

Overall, the most important question to ask yourself is; do you still love their style of photography?

5. Meet your Potential Wedding Photographers

So, you’ve narrowed down your choice of wedding photographers, confirmed they are available on for your date.  The next step is to meet them.  You want beautiful images, however if your photographer doesn’t make you feel comfortable this will show through in your wedding photos.  It’s worth noting that your photographer may also see you partially dressed during your preparations.  Make sure you are ok with this as you don’t want to miss out on the photos of all the fun and emotions you’re having getting ready.

 My recommendation is to always meet your photographer in person where possible.  If the distance is too far, Skype is a good alternative.  I’d also recommend having an engagement shoot so you can get to know how your photographer works and begin to feel more relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera.  It will make a big difference!

6. One Final Note

Once you’ve made your final selection please spare a thought for the photographers who you’ve met and decided not to use.  Just drop them a quick email thanking them for their time and letting them know you have chosen elsewhere.  Many photographers will hold your date as provisional for the duration of the enquiry so this ensures dates aren’t being held unneccesarily and also means your inbox isn’t filling up with follow up emails you don’t have the time/energy for.

Need more wedding or photography advice?

For real weddings, inspiration and tips check out our blog.

View All Blog Posts

5 Reasons to choose a premium folio box?

5 Reasons to choose a premium folio box?

by | Oct 14, 2018 | Advice and Information, Bride, Family

 

Our premium folio box is just stunning.  Don’t believe us?  Read on to find out why we think they are so special.

Now, we know, it’s a tough decision when you’re choosing your photographer to determine whether you would like just digital images, a wedding or family album produced or if you would prefer to go for an alternative album product that is a little different but equally beautiful.

Luxury folio box-7

Less waiting time

Here at Radiance Photography we passionately believe in providing you with a product you will use.  Around the UK thousands of wedding albums are purchased each year.  Many albums are received long after your wedding excitement has died down.  An album can take as long as six weeks to arrive from the printer after it has been designed and approved.  So that’s up to 8 weeks for your photos to be delivered in peak wedding season and then up to a further 6 weeks for your album after you have approved it.  Folio boxes are available for you to collect on the day of your image viewing.

You choose how to display your images

When you finally receive your album you look through it, possibly take it to your grans, then put it on a book shelf or somewhere safe and only occasionally look at it again.  With a folio box, your images are individually mounted so all you need to do is choose how to display them.  Would you love a picture shelf where you can take several images from your box and display them?  Or, would you frame your images and hang them in a prominent place which will make you smile on a daily basis?  Don’t forget, you can change the images you’ve chosen to display as often as you like to suit your mood or décor.  You could also choose to keep them safely stashed away in their luxury box.

Luxury folio box-8

Image selection is your choice

Often in album design your photographer will choose for you, giving little choice in which images you’d like to include.  With a folio box the choice of images is yours.  We will guide you by choosing and printing a selection of the very best images from the day for you.  Don’t worry if your favourite image has not been selected.  This is easily resolved within a few days and you can still take the rest of your images home.

Luxury folio box-11

Personalise additional boxes with different images

When you purchase additional albums for parents they tend to be exact replicas of your own album, albeit smaller.  Ordering additional folio boxes with us allows you to select the images you want to include.  This means you can personalise each box with specific family members in mind.  The ultimate win when it comes to keeping your family happy.

Save room for next time

You do not need to fill you folio box initially.  Instead you could choose to include images from your engagement shoot to fill your box.  Alternatively, you could leave space for future images.  This might be particularly good if you’re planning a christening or other family event. We’re happy to assist you with this, just book and pay for your next shoot and then select the images you’d like.

Add your premium folio box to you Gift List

Would you love a premium folio box but just can’t afford it?  How about adding your box to your wedding gift list?  You choose between adding it as a single item or breaking it down into smaller amounts.  All you would need to do would be to pay the balance if the full cost of your box wasn’t covered.

The best way to help you decide if a premium folio box is for you is to ask to see one at your consultation.  Too feel the weight and solid build of your luxury folio box.  For information on how your box can be customised to your requirements see our post; Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

 

Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

by | Sep 23, 2018 | Advice and Information, Bride, Family

Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

We’re so excited to introduce you to our beautiful, luxury folio box.

So, what’s a luxury folio box?

I hear you ask.  Well put simply it’s a box to keep all of your prints in but it’s not just any old box.  Our luxury folio boxes have been hand selected by us as the best available and will contain carefully selected images you will treasure for years to come.  The premium metallic pewter faux leather of your soft touch luxury folio box comes complete with silver foiled branding and is simply stunning.

Family Heirloom

Designed as a family heirloom you can treasure forever, each box comes complete with up to twenty or thirty images which are  mounted individually.  Each mount is a 14 x 11 inch heavyweight, bevel cut mat which is made from professional archival board.  This conforms to the Fine Art Trade Guild requirements for Conservation (level 2).  Each board is specially prepared to have the right chemical balance to ensure that your prints last a lifetime.

Online Gallery

We know digital images are important to you so each of our premium folio boxes also comes complete with your individually hand-processed, high resolution digital files in an online gallery where you can like, comment and share the images to your hearts content.

Pre-Order

When you pre-order a folio box as part of your booking you will get the opportunity to customise it.  For an additional fee, you can choose a black, soft grey, metallic champagne or even a wooden box.  You can choose to personalise the front of your box with your name and date of your wedding.   Inside, the colour of the mounts can be customised with black, white or cream mounts or a mixture.

Click here to find out why we believe a premium folio box is better than an album.

%d bloggers like this: