When I first started photography, my love for it was really deeply rooted in storytelling and in this idea of holding onto a moment. I think I’ve always felt this need to archive life in some way, and particularly family life, because families and the relationships within them are everything to me.
I’m incredibly nostalgic and probably far more romantic than I sometimes like to admit. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I love joy and I love people, and I think I’ve always had this innate need to spot those little moments of connection between people and hold onto them somehow.
So it makes complete sense to me that family photography became such a huge part of what I do.
But as I started learning photography properly, and really understanding the craft behind it, I became fascinated by something else as well, which was light.
Photography is, after all, quite literally about writing with light, and I think the longer I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve realised that my job isn’t simply to spot a wonderful moment. It’s to understand the light well enough that I can bring the two together.
For me, that’s when a photograph really happens: when the light and the moment collide in exactly the right way.
The outdoors has become my studio
I love photographing families outdoors, particularly around Cobham, Esher and across Surrey, and perhaps some of that comes from having spent years in corporate life and simply not wanting to be stuck inside anymore.
I love being outside. I love nature and space and room to breathe, and I particularly love what being outdoors gives children, because they can move and explore and play rather than feeling as though they’ve been brought somewhere specifically to have their photograph taken.
There are some beautiful places for outdoor family photography in Esher, but for me choosing a location has never been simply about finding the prettiest backdrop. I’m looking at how a family will be able to move within it, how it will feel for them to spend time there and, crucially, what the light is doing.
In many ways, I think of the outdoors as my studio.
When I’m photographing a family, I’m constantly looking at where my main light is coming from, what direction it’s travelling in, how it’s falling on somebody’s face and where I need to place them to make that light work beautifully.
Then I’m looking beyond that. How can I create separation between them and the background? Is there light behind them that I can use almost as I would use a hair light in a studio? Would backlighting them give me the feeling I want, or do I want something softer and more flattering from the front or side?
All of those decisions affect not only how somebody looks in a photograph, but how the photograph feels.
In a studio I might physically position lights to create those effects, whereas outdoors I’m finding those same elements in the light that already exists around me. The principles haven’t disappeared simply because the lights aren’t sitting on stands.
Natural light doesn’t mean leaving things to chance
I think this is one of the things people don’t necessarily realise about outdoor family photography, because when it’s done well it should feel very natural.
You shouldn’t be aware of all the decisions I’m making.
You don’t need to know why I’ve stopped in one particular place rather than another, why I’ve moved you a couple of metres or why I’ve asked you to turn slightly. You don’t need to understand where the light is coming from or whether the sun needs to be behind you.
That’s my job, and actually I think part of being very good at it is being able to carry all of that technical complexity without making the experience feel technical for you.
I want you to be able to concentrate on your family, because that’s where the other part of the photograph comes from. I need you to laugh properly, play with your children, cuddle them, talk to them and respond to each other, because while you’re doing that I can watch what’s happening between you and wait for the moments I know I want to photograph.
At the same time, I’m still watching the light.
Why I love photographing families in autumn
Autumn is probably one of the easiest times of year to see what I mean by all of this, because we can have this gorgeous low, directional sunlight that creates the most beautiful warmth and separation around people.
I love using that light behind a family because it can create an almost halo-like effect around hair and give an image incredible depth and warmth, but it can also be quite strong and technically challenging light to work with.
I need to understand how to expose for it so that I retain the detail I need, how to balance the brighter areas of the photograph and, ultimately, how far I can push that light without losing what matters.
I wrote about the best time of day for an autumn family photoshoot in Surrey several years ago, and I’m still just as fascinated by what that lower autumn light allows me to create.
Of course, there’s another part to an autumn shoot that clients tend to be far more concerned about than the direction of the sun: what on earth everyone is going to wear. I’ve put together my advice on what to wear for an autumn family photoshoot too, because the colours and textures you choose can work beautifully with those rich autumn surroundings.
The family I’m photographing doesn’t need to know all the technical stuff is happening. Hopefully, they’re simply enjoying being together while I deal with the rest.
That, for me, is part of the skill.
Sometimes the right decision is to create the light myself
I also absolutely love artificial light and the possibilities it gives me to sculpt, shape and completely transform something. I’m using it increasingly in some of my maternity photography because there are times when I want to create something very deliberate and beautiful, and having complete control over the light allows me to do that.
But understanding artificial light has also taught me that knowing how to introduce light is only part of the skill. You also have to know when not to introduce it.
If I’m photographing a family in their home, for example, there’s a reason we’re there. Their home means something to them and it’s part of their story, so if I suddenly fill the room with lights, stands and equipment, I risk changing the very atmosphere I’m trying to photograph.
It’s one of the reasons my bespoke family photography sessions can take place either outdoors or at home. The right environment depends on the family, the photographs we want to create and what will actually mean something to them.
There will be times when I choose to create the light myself and times when I work entirely with what is already there. Neither is inherently better. What matters is understanding light well enough to make that decision deliberately.
Do I need to know what to do in front of the camera?
Absolutely not, and this is probably one of the things I would most like people considering a family photoshoot with me to understand.
You really don’t need to arrive knowing what to do. You don’t need to know where to stand, how to pose your children or which direction you should be facing, and you certainly don’t need to worry about whether the light is flattering you because I’m already thinking about that.
I’ll find the light, I’ll put you where I need you and I’ll guide things when they need guiding, but then I want to give you enough space to stop thinking about me.
Because ultimately, however much I love the technical side of photography, I could create the most technically beautiful photograph in the world and if you don’t feel anything when you look at it, then for me I’ve missed the point.
The technical skill has to be there, but so does the connection.
Why print makes all of this matter even more
My work has always been deeply rooted in print, and I think that has made me even more particular about the technical side of what I create.
I don’t photograph families with the intention that their photographs will only ever be seen as small images on a phone. I want them to be printed beautifully, framed and hung on walls, or made into albums that become part of a family’s history.
When you take an image and print it properly, particularly when you make it big, there really is nowhere to hide. The focus matters, the light matters, the detail, depth, colour and composition all matter, and all those little technical decisions I’ve made while taking the photograph suddenly become very visible.
But again, technical perfection on its own isn’t enough for me.
I still need to see you in it, and I need the photograph to take you back to something, whether that’s the way your child laughed, the way they reached for your hand, a look between you or simply what it felt like to be your family at that particular point in your lives.
And then I want those photographs to become part of your home. If you’re thinking about what that could look like, I’ve also written some tips for displaying photographic wall art. I help my clients work through this as part of the experience too, so you don’t need to arrive knowing whether you want one large statement piece, a wall gallery or an album. Jo Robbens Photography
That is why, after all these years, I’m still completely fascinated by photography and still constantly learning. Wherever I am, I’m looking at light, noticing what it’s doing and thinking about how I could use it differently, because I genuinely love the craft of what I do.
But all of that learning comes back to the same thing that made me pick up a camera in the first place. I want to hold onto something that matters, and when I can bring together beautiful light, genuine connection and a moment that could never quite happen in exactly the same way again, that’s when it all comes together for me.
That’s the photograph.
Jo x
Thinking about your own family photographs?
If you’re in Cobham, Esher or elsewhere in Surrey and you’ve been thinking about creating something really special with your own family, you can find out more about my family photography experience here or get in touch with me and we can start talking about what you’d love to create.
