Angela Higgins – Lifestyle Photographer » Lifestyle Photographer of kids, babies, families and weddings

This week I was so fortunate to have been commissioned for a portrait session all the way up in Broome.

It had been far too long since I had seen that vibrant red dirt and its contrasting blue skies. I have spent more than half of my life in the north-west of Western Australia and even thought this was my first time to Broome, it kind of felt like coming home when I saw that familiar sparse landscape and felt the heat when getting off the plane onto the tarmac. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as we landed.

One morning, I packed up my gear and hit the road to explore a little and scout some potential shoot locations. This is what I saw.

In part 2 of this beautiful family session, you can feel the difference in mood. Owen was all smiles on this particular day and I discovered his beautiful laugh. I found it hard to work the camera while he laughed – it was so cute and very distracting Look at that gummy mouth! So adorable.

At a recent family portrait session, we managed to schedule it for what turned out to be one of the worst storms in Perth. It was a horrible weekend and we were stuck inside for the shoot but the result was some moody, poignant portraits that I have fallen in love with. Creatively it was a challenge for me as I tend to work exclusively outdoors but I love the quiet feeling I get when I look at these images. I can breathe in deeply and revel in the simplicity of them.

We managed to meet up again a couple of weeks later and when the weather was a little nicer to venture outside for some very different images bursting with colour and gummy smiles, which you’ll get to see later, but in the meantime here are a few of my favourites from our first session.

I realised it had been a while since my nephew Liam was on the blog. The little guy has grown so much recently and just last month he turned 5. Its so much fun watching him grow from a baby into a little boy and no doubt much too soon he will be turning into a young man.

Liam got a bike for his birthday and when he came over to stay this weekend, he was so excited because he knew it meant he was going to learn to actually ride his new bike – without the training wheels. He did so well and was off and cycling, albeit a little zig-zagged, like a pro on the first try.

We thought it was way too good to be true until we were on our way home and he forgot to look where he was going and rode full speed into a steel bollard in the footpath. He bit the inside of his lower lip and then this big bruise developed on his chin by the evening. He was so brave though and today he was back on the bike and rode about 4km non-stop without any crashes or further injuries. He was so proud of himself I just wanted to stop that moment and bottle it up for a rainy day.

He’s a big boy now. And so proud of it.

Adison came a few days earlier than expected and when I came over to take her portrait just this weekend she was a tiny 7 days old. Adison’s mummy was generous to “lend” me her new addition to test out a few conceptual images. While she was wide awake the entire time, I am very pleased with her little collection and of realising some concept ideas.

If you are expecting within the next couple of months and would like to take the opportunity for a newborn session for free, I have just 1 more availability as part of the conceptual series.

However, if you would like a full portrait session when your new addition arrives feel free to contact me before your baby arrives so we can lock it in. I can see newborn portraiture becoming an addiction.

I love delving into my memory banks to recall my history with my family with fondness and know those moments have shaped who I am today. In particular remembering summers with my grandparents in New Zealand and much colder autumn and winters with my other grandparents in England. Perhaps because I have minimal memories of my own grandparents as they were overseas in different countries I latch onto those few and far between moments that I experienced as a child with them that did happen. I am fortunate that I have a lot of photographs documenting those moments too which of course makes it easier to remember and hold close.

I hope these images will hold similar meaning for these 3 generations of beautiful women who I was fortunate to spend an afternoon with recently. We made scones and had a little tea party in the back garden and there was lots of reminiscing of years gone by and poignant moments. Its an afternoon that I know they will always remember as being entirely about them and their relationships and I felt very privileged to be a part of it.

I love the concept of having a session just because. Just because. It doesn’t have to be a celebration or a birth or a wedding. You can document your relationships with the respect they deserve at any time of the year just because you can.