location portrait photography

If I had a pound for everyone I bumped into in October telling me they needed to book in and update their family or children’s portrait, I’d have £23 in my pocket. Another year goes by, followed by another and another and if you don’t book it in, I can guarantee you’ll wish you had.

Zara’s mum Lena made the effort and booked her in for a location session. When her mum and dad look at the images of their daughter they will see her personality, her youth, spirit and zest for life. They don’t need to know how many megapixels my Canon camera fits into a photo or how many portable lights I have used to give the image some punch on a dull day and add some sparkle to her eyes.

Hi Gary, Graeme is delighted with the framed photographs, he said it is the best Christmas present ever. He loves them!!! Huge thank you x Have a fab Christmas with your family. Thanks again Lena and Zara x

2019 is almost over and it’s not only the end of another year, it’s the end of an entire decade. Your Professional Portrait Procrastination needs to be addressed NOW!!! You should take the opportunity as you approach the new year and the new decade to finally book me for some location portrait photography. Don’t put it off a moment longer.

My studio is filled with lights, hand painted canvas backdrops and a handful of posing props. Ideal for natural family and children’s studio portraits.

My local locations include Victorian parks, nature and wildlife walks, quiet beaches, country house landscaped parkland, The Walled Garden and Woodland Walk at Wynyard Hall. The North East and North Yorkshire have some beautiful backdrops for natural location portrait photography.

If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse – Jim Rohn

With a big birthday looming and a catalogue of bad birthday presents the pressure was on Robert (name has been changed to protect his identity) to excel. Guess what, he only knocked it out of the park…

Every morning when Robert’s wife comes down the stairs she looks at a framed portrait of her two most precious humans. This frame has had pride of place for over 12 years and is now more valuable as the children are now 18 and 15 years old. This framed photograph was taken by me on a cobbled street in Norton, I know what you’re thinking, I can’t be old enough! Sadly I am, but thankfully I’m still going strong and our studio on Norton High Street has been established 20 years this year.

Anyway back to the present buying victory. So Steve, I mean Robert, peddled from Ingleby Barwick to Norton (this was a man on a mission). His idea was to book a session, select an image and then have it framed in time for his wife’s birthday. With experience, I took a sharp intake of breath and decided to advise Steve (I’ve given up on the alias, I think his achievement should be celebrated), my advice was to book the shoot and then work out a plan to get his wife to Norton, call in to see me to say hello and then I would ask them through to my viewing room to get their opinion on a new wall product. At this point I would kill the lights and start the slideshow of images that I’d taken the week before.

Thanks to my Oscar winning performance (TBH more of a Golden Raspberry Award), we pulled it off. The family of 4 turned up, we bumbled our way into the viewing room, I could hear sniffles over the top of the slideshow viewing music and when the lights came up a very happy teary red eyed mum said she was delighted. Dad jumped up and asked if he’d done good, followed by a very positive hug.

When I sit in with a portrait viewing I’m always moved at what parents see in the images I’ve taken. It would be very easy to get too wrapped up with the technical side of photography, but these moments remind me of why I still very much love my job.

Thank you to 2 teenagers who made my job very easy. When they were brought as little children they had no choice, now they are big children they could have refused.

My morning walk to senior school involved a field, a tied up horse or not on some occasions (the not tied up horse is where my horse phobia began). As I approached the field I would see kids preparing themselves for the equine run, even though I ran for the school (and once for the county) I knew the outcome of feral horse pitched against a teenager in Dr Martens and the odds for me were never good. I’m sure some of the other kids would tic tac as I approached.

The more I photograph horses the more I calm down in their company. I no longer put on the longest lens I own and stand behind a five bar gate. I’m still very wary, but when I see the way the owners bond with their horses it does put me at ease. More importantly I love the results and I love it when the owner comes to pick up their frame, which will get pride of place on the walls of their home (sometimes replacing portraits of their children).

If you’d like me to photograph your horse please contact me at the studio and we can make a creative shoot plan… studio@garywalsh.co.uk

a timeless portrait, thoughtful, memorable and emotive…

£60 gift voucher with 3 months expiry, includes a studio session using a beautiful posie of hand tied flowers or we could get our creative heads together and come up with something special for you, a private screening of the images taken, a beautiful square desktop frame and you take the flowers home, hand tied with string and sat in a jam jar of water.  

Listening is the new way to be heard. Before I book a portrait location session I will speak to my clients and plant a few creative seeds, do you have a location that’s relevant to you, do you have a favourite place you like to go walking or do you have somewhere in mind for your shoot? Then I stay quiet and listen, this is normally when the magic happens and I’ll take some notes as they are sharing ideas with me. I’ll then use my knowledge of the area to fine tune creative options. When we arrive at our chosen location I will be guided 100% by my clients to the best vantage points and when we reach the location, I’ll look at lighting and composition and what works best for me as a photographer.
A recent session with Amanda and Andrew up by Roseberry Topping was a good example of listening. When we got up there apart from me being shattered (these two set the pace of Olympic fell runners, if fell running was an Olympic sport), I have been up by Roseberry Topping a number of times with my camera, but Amanda and Andrew walk up here quite a lot and they knew of some beautiful vantage points. Once we reached these areas, I was able to tweak things to suit my agenda. The outcome is images that they love at a location that they love and that makes me happy. I’ve also now got some more lovely options to share with my next session up there…

I keep an open mind with every portrait session I book as I’m continuously trying to grow creatively.

Pure Portraits are about capturing the heart and soul of your child, using no props or distractions. It’s about styling and lighting, but most importantly to me it’s about taking a timeless image of your little one that will give you years and years of pleasure…

The session takes place in my fully equipped studio on Norton High Street, just outside Stockton on Tees.

Introducing Henry, he loves pasta and angel delight (not in the same bowl).