PENELOPE (BABY AND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY)

ONE OF THE MANY PRIVILEGES OF MY JOB, IS DOCUMENTING NOT ONLY HUGE LIFE EVENTS, BUT SEEING THEIR LIVES AND FAMILIES EVOLVE. HERE, I RETURN TO THE GORGEOUS FAMILY HOME OF THE BOWENS, TO PHOTOGRAPH THEIR SECOND BABY GIRL, PENELOPE. HERE, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SHARE TWO DIFFERENT SESSIONS; THE FIRST WITH PENNY AT FOUR MONTHS, THE SECOND AT SEVEN MONTHS. THE CHANGES IN BOTH PENNY AND HER BEAUTIFUL SISTER ALICE, AND THEIR DYNAMIC AS A GROWING FAMILY, GOES A LONG WAY TO PROVING HOW IMPORTANT IT CAN BE TO TAKE PHOTOS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not implying you should hire a professional photographer to come and shoot in your home once a month for ten years! But look at the transformations here, in just 3 months. Not only has Penny's gorgeous little face begun to show even more expression, but the chemistry between the sisters is really starting to blossom.

Whilst I was shooting Penny in the first session, I was already seeing fleeting glances of her sister Alice. Amidst the flashbacks of our first baby shoot with her big sister, I noticed the tiniest of expressions on Penny's face. But then there were things which were totally unique to Penny; her smile being one of them.

SHE LAUGHED AND GIGGLED WITH HER MOTHER SO MUCH,

it was hard to stop smiling behind the camera. Alice had grown up so much too! 

When we shoot together, we always try and take a little family stroll in the woodland near their family home. Not only is it fab to get the kids outside, but it's also a place which means so much to them. They often take walks with their dog here, and using it as a photo backdrop makes perfect sense. And since it was Autumn at the time, I couldn't get out their with my camera fast enough.

IS THERE ANYTHING CUTER THAN A LITTLER PERSON IN WELLIES, HAT AND COAT? 

I'll leave you with these photos, and encourage you all to get out there with your own kids and cameras. And every now and then, when you can't get a single look to camera, or you can't get them to sit still, give one of us professionals a call. 

Thank you to this awesome family for having me back, and to every family who trusts me to document their lives like this. This is such a heart warming part of my job, andI'M THANKFUL FOR EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO A FAMILY LIKE THIS.

I'll leave you with this poem, which a teacher at my school used to read every year in assembly. It feels particularly apt here:

"When I was a babe and wept and slept,
Time crept;
When I was a boy and laughed and talked,
Time walked.
Then when the years saw me a man,
Time ran.
But as I older grew,
Time flew.
Soon, as I journey on,
I'll find time gone."

Pentreath's Version of Henry Twells

GWx