So I know sometimes it might look like all these amazing photographs you see on Instagram just happen, but the more you grow and learn, you realise that luck just doesn't come into it. Planning and scouting is so important, and thinking about exactly where you are going to take a client and when ahead of time really makes for a special session, and will always make your client feel so much more at ease. 

For this special family, I knew we were going to try for a sunset session with a little one in tow, so timing and organisation would be even more important. That doesn't mean spontaneity goes out the window, you can still react to what's going on in the moment, but having a good idea about what your next set up is going to be and where you are going just make the session go so smoothly and the more you can keep up the banter about what's coming next, the more comfortable your client will feel.

So the day before the shoot I decided to use my training run time wisely and drove to the location and did my kilometres all around the area, which gave me the time to really look at all the bit of the parks and get a good idea of where I would go and what time. Checking the sunset times is so important as we have such a short window for sunset photography so you need to look at the map, decide when you think the sun is going to dip behind the trees and plan accordingly. If you can visit the site close to your shooting day so you can see for yourself where the light will be. 

Then once you are in the session, be sure to move around your subjects, and try lots of different angles. Capturing the light from different places ensures you are going to have lots of material to work with in the edit, and what doesn't work out quite like your thought, might give way to an even better image that you hadn't planned. Sun behind is always lovely for hair lights, but don't miss out on that gorgeous skin glow you get from the final moments of dying sunlight direct on the skin. 

As for settings, I always shoot dark for sunsets, so don't be afraid to underexpose. Just keep your iso low to preserve detail, and don't be scared of the dark images you see. You'll be able to brighten them up in post and all that beautiful sky detail will be there to pull back if you want it. I usually shot quite wide open at f 2.8, but for sunset where you really want to bring in more of the background then maybe consider moving up to around f 5, especially if you are using a prime or zoom lens at around 70mm.  You don't want to loose the background completely as this is what will give your images depth and feeling. 

And that brings us full circle back to location. Sunset locations are all about the setting. Nature really does bring sunset photography alive, so you need to think about where you are going to shoot and what is going to be in the background. In this case it was all about the grasses, the trees and the water and making sure I was placing me subject in the place that brought all of these things in, and then positioning myself to get those light leaks in just the right spot. And when you miss the burst of sunset, you can always enhance in post. Always check out what happens when you apply a gradient filter or radial filter. You might run your first edit and think you have a bland sky once you've brightened for skin, but the magic happens when you take the next step and lower the exposure again just on the sky.

Have fun playing! 

Love Gemma xx 

Photography is so subjective. What I love and see in an edit, might not be the style you love. Which is why there is nothing more pleasing than a family that comes back you year after year for their family photographs. Firstly, it is so special to be able to develop a special bond with their little ones, and get to see them now and change. Each session becomes more fun as the barriers are immediately down, they know what to expect from you and you from them, and you get to have a good old catch up along the way!

However, there is also the added benefit that it gives you a good boost of confidence to know you are producing a photography product that will keep people coming back for more. For me, client relationships and making my lovely clients feel conformable with me, and happy with what I deliver is top of my list of things to achieve from a session. When they want to see me again and keep coming back for more, I feel like I've nailed it. 

My return client list is steadily growing, but this special family has to be one of my most photographed, so I was so delighted when they managed to bag a spot on my corona self-isolation give away. It was the double bonus of working with clients that I love to see, and giving something back to them in the process! 

So here is a little overview of the gallery from lovely Smith Family, just doing what they do, in the beautiful woods where they live in Brandenburg (triple, double bonus for the amazing location on their doorstep!) There were so many beautiful family moments to share, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed doing the session. 

Love of love 

Gemma xx

#berlinphotographer #berlinphotography #familyphotographer #coronaphotography #inspiredbylight #brandenburgphotographer #brandenburgfamilyphotographer #berlinfamilyphotographer

I don't know about you, but when we first went into lockdown in Berlin and Brandenburg, my reaction was to prepare for home schooling (including turning our dining area into a school), come up with a daily plan, think up lots of activities to keep the kids busy, and take the opportunity to cook some nice food! We made banana bread, we made parachutes, we did kids yoga (or at least it was on and they watched it). I was full of energy and determined to make it a stress free, enjoyable experience for my family, and nail the home learning too! Go me!

That positivity lasted about three weeks, after which things went downhill rapidly. The eldest did not want to be home schooled, and it was a daily battle to get him through the mountain of work set by the school. In the meantime, while I sat beside him coaxing him through every line of work, the younger two ran round the house like banshees, fighting, arguing and generally destroying any area that I had managed to make somewhat inhabitable! Pants for the smallest became optional as we potty trained, and I gave up trying to get them to do some exercise at the start of the day, instead giving myself the benefit of at least 20 mins yoga before I knuckled down to the school work with Milo. The banana bread was still being made, but more as a way of me being able to escape to the kitchen for 10 mins peace. 

My saving grace became a photo diary of our exploits which gave me something positive to focus on, and allowed me to remember the good bits of the days when I sat down to edit in the evening. 

But I desperately needed to get out and have some time outside the family, before I well and truly lost the plot! So, I decided that I would set up of little offer of free family photography sessions to document other families in lockdown, and I have to say it felt amazing when I went to do them. Just to be driving out to do something I love, which didn't involved dashing for food essentials when my husband got home from work! 

So here is the second of those sessions, visiting the lovely Engelmann family, who I know from my days as an aerospace engineer. So it was a double bonus of catching up with an old colleague and seeing a little girl that I hadn't seen since she was a tiny baby wrapped up in her mama's sling. Such a gorgeous session, and I was so happy to be able to do this for and them and also for myself! I really love doing photography session reportage style, it brings me back to my roots, and these guys were just so relaxed and amazing during the session. I really feel like I got a little glimpse into their daily life, and it was an honour to be able to capture it! 

Lots of love,

Gemma xxx

You may be recall that a few weeks ago, as a little gift to my loyal followers and supporters, I offered five free sessions to chart how different families around Berlin have been living through lockdown and social distancing, capturing them doing what they do when they have the chance to be outside in the fresh air!

Things are returning to normal a bit here, so I think my final sessions of the group will be more of a celebration of more normal activities, but I wanted to share the first of those sessions, shot a few weeks ago before everything started to open up! I hope you love it as much as I loved doing it!

​If nothing else, I was just so happy to be out of my own home, doing something for myself, that didn't involve trying to home school a reluctant 8 year old, contain the chaos of his brother and sister, and tidying the house eleventy billion times! And of course, catching up with a beautiful family and my lovely friend, and fellow (amazing) photographer Nina! 😘

So here is the amazing Harwick family!

Lots of love,

Gemma xxx

We moved house last year, to our first proper home in Germany. One we own, and one where we hope to raise our family in the amazing community that we love. But it's old, and really tired. Built in 1936 and still showing clear signs of that, we are talking renovation from top to bottom! Luckily, that's something both Jon, my husband and I love to do, but it does mean I've lost my studio for now. 

We will be building a new studio for me, extending out the basement and adding some gorgeous floor to ceiling doors to bring in all the light, but for now it means every time I want to do a shoot I have to go outdoors, to a client's home or set up all my equipment in the kids playroom. 

Luckily I had to survive without a studio before, and it's amazing what you can do with a simple backdrop stand, a roll of photo paper and a single light! Because I photograph babies, very often parents really aren't ready to leave the house when baba is tiny, and that's totally understandable. With just a space cleared in their lounge I can bring a studio set up to them, and honestly, you wouldn't know the difference! Or we just go to my favourite style, which is lifestyle, capturing a family just being! I just love doing this style of shoot as it's so easy and authentic.

So in reality, you don't need to have studio to capture amazing images, it just gives you another option. Even once the studio is built, I won't stop offering clients to option to go to their homes. When you are dealing with tiny humans, doing what makes them and their parents feel comfortable is first and foremost, and that's the most important thing to me! 

Here are just a few examples of shoots I have done in a client's home! 

With three little crazies, it's been a while since I was able to actually leave the house easily on my own, especially during the hectic tea time, bath and bed gauntlet we run every day. However, luckily Anja decided to finally accept Daddy putting her to bed, just in time for me to do this wonderful golden hour shoot for a fellow Berlin photographer. Simona had her heart set on sunset in a meadow, and luckily for us, we got just the right day with beautiful evening light and Britzer Garden did not disappoint for our gorgeous location. 

We had talked about this shoot for a while, and as a fellow photographer, I knew I had to make it super special for her and her family. But it also really reinforced for me how important a couple of key things are when planning a session and making sure that I get the best result possible for my client. 

SCOUTING OUT THE LOCATION

As soon as Simona told me that she had a vision of a summer meadow where the kids could run, ideally in the south of Berlin, I was constantly on the lookout whenever I travelled around the city. I saw so many beautiful verges, filled with wild flowers along the roads around Teltow and Lichterfelde, but clearly these had to be ruled out for reasons of child preservation! Most of the outlying meadows seemed to just be grass, so I decided to go and check out how the meadows in Britzer Garden were doing.

Despite my fractured ankle (that's another story), I had a wonderful morning (slowly) strolling around the gardens, looking at all the different areas and settings, thinking about where the evening sun would be coming from and what would give me a lovely background for this beautiful family! Know what time of day we would be shooting, the mood we wanted to create and what two small children might need in terms of freedom shaped the session entirely. Sending photos back and forward to Simona, and with her visiting later that day too we were really able to nail a common vision for what we both wanted to achieve from the session.,

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

This was a family maternity session, so I knew I wanted it all to be about emotional connections and with two little crazies in tow, it needed to be about fun as much as capturing some beautiful shots. Luckily, this is right up my street and I just love a session that is just about capturing the love and feelings of a family. In fact, one of my favourite phrases is 'I don't want you to look at me, just look at each other and feel the love'. For this shoot, I really wanted to create something emotive and special, not bound by the the traditional posing and trying to get the kids to look at the camera and smile. I love my studio work, which by it's nature tends to be more posed, but I really loved getting back to my candid roots, and just a capturing a gorgeous family playing, connecting and just being! I really hope you love the results!

Much love

Gemma xx

I take so many photos of my own children, but mostly on my iPhone as it's just so convenient and the quality is pretty good - it works so well for Facebook snap shots and Instagram. But nothing quite compares to a proper photo, with a professional camera, fully artistically edited and finished. 

This weekend we went over on the ferry to Kladow and had a wonderful time in the Spring sunshine. enjoying the park and playground all afternoon. So happy I decided to take my 'proper' camera along to capture my gorgeous little lady picking flowers! This one is going on the wall! 

Hope you are all enjoying the return of the sun too! Let me know if you fancy making some special Spring memories of your own! 

Lots of love

​Gemma xxx

Pregnancy is an amazing time. It's hard, and there are many sleepless nights (especially if you are trying to sleep on your left as much as possible - whoever designed that particular body feature was clearly not a lover of a good nights sleep). But at the same time, you are growing this amazing little person, and it does something wonderful to our bodies, despite the aches and pains. There is something so beautiful about the pregnant mama form, whatever shape and size, and although I have to admit I was not a particularly happy pregnant person throughout my three pregnancies, I did love the body and bump love that came with it! I mean, I had actual boobs for the first time in my life - what's not to love!

You will only be like this maybe once, twice or maybe more times in your life (if you are slightly crazy like me), so it really is worth getting some amazing photos of your beautiful bump taken, so you can look back and remember the feelings and the experience. 

Here are my top tips for an amazing maternity photo shoot! 
​
1. Pick the right time

We really want to be able to see that beautiful baby bump, but at the same time you don't want to be so heavy you can't move, or be in the nesting stage when you just want to be at home and not far from where you intend to have your baby. So I really recommend scheduling your shoot for between 32-34 weeks, so bear this in mind and see how you feel. If you are on your second or third pregnancy you will know that bump just pops out super early anyway (I looked about 6 months pregnant from about 12 weeks), so you might feel you can do it earlier. The main thing is to be at that lovely round bump stage which will really show off your baby and your body. 

2. Find the right photographer for you

We all have our own style, so it's important you love what your photographer does. Go on Pinterest, Instagram or Google, search through images and find some styles that you think could work for you. Ask you friends and baby groups for recommendation, and hunt for a photographer that can show you examples of the type of photos you like. Every photographer will be willing to work with you to create images you love, but you can get an idea of their editing style and approach from their website, Facebook page or Instagram feed. 

At the same time, don't be afraid to get creative - you might never have done a portrait session in you life, but don't let this hold you back. Your maternity photographer will do everything they can to make you feel comfortable, beautiful and take your requirements into consideration. You might see an amazing maternity image you love and think you couldn't possibly do that, but a great photographer will help you recreate that look in a way that works for you. Just have fun and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. You are rocking a tiny human growing body after all, and that pretty much always looks amazing! 

3. Wear something that makes you feel amazing (or maybe not much at all)

Whether it's your husband's white shirt, a flowing maternity dress, tight fitting bodysuit, or just your underwear, wear something that makes you feel special. You are so beautiful, so wear something that makes you feel fantastic. Your maternity photographer will likely have a selection of outfits you can choose from, specially designed to make you feel special, but if you have a dress that makes you feel amazing, or if you feel more comfy in a pair of pjs then take them along.

At the same time, don't be afraid to strip down. Your bump is beautiful, and like your doctor, your maternity photographer has seen it all, so don't be afraid to bring a special underwear set, or even go totally nude! You don't have to post those photos on Facebook if you don't want to and trust me, whatever your size, your body looks glorious! Take some sets of light and dark underwear to your shoot (leave the massive, grey, granny pants at home) and see how you feel. And if you fancy doing a nude shoot then let your photographer know and go for it! You are beautiful, so celebrate it! 

​4. Bring the family along

Whether is just your right hand guy or girl, or a gang of older siblings, this is a time that will be just as exciting for them as it is for you. Celebrate their involvement and their support for you by including some photos of them with your growing bump. There's nothing more cute than an older sister chatting away to her future brother, or an expectant father looking loving at his gorgeous mama to be! 

5. Brave the outdoors

​One of my favourite maternity shoots was of a gorgeous mama, in the morning light, just looking serene in my favourite Berlin lake. I'd love to show it to you, but that's a private one. But anyway, the great outdoors offers so many amazing opportunities for maternity photos, so don't be afraid to get out and about and choose an amazing location with your photographer. Pregnancy is such a natural life stage, and there's somethings about a beautiful mama standing in a woodland, or sitting by the side of a river that just looks so right! 

​6. Take your time

Your photographer will know that you are in the process of growing a tiny human, so don't be afraid to state your needs, whether it be rest, a little sit down, water or food. Don't push yourself, because this is all about a special experience for you and if you need to take a breath or a break don't be afraid to do so. We want you to enjoy your session, not go into to labour so make sure you go at a pace that is comfortable for you and that allows you to have a fun and relaxed shoot! 

Congratulations to all you expectant mamas out there, and big hugs to those of you already on the other side of the journey. You are all fantastic! 

​Gemma xxx

I don't know about you, but everything has been pretty hectic here in Chez Barsby for pretty much forever! We so need this Christmas break. Had a very rare day off with my lovely husband today, and was very tempting for both of us to just sit on the sofa and soak in the quiet, but we dragged ourselves out for some lunch and a Gluhwein! Just got this baby girl's gallery and a family session to finish over the holidays, but so looking forward to the new year! 

Hope you enjoy this little squish as much as I did - she was amazing! 

​

I first met this gorgeous little lady for her 6 month sitter session. In fact, her lovely mum requested the flower crowns, which introduced me to a whole new craft, and a burnt finger! Note to self, hot glue is very hot! 

Our session was so lovely, so I was absolutely thrilled when Leah's parents got back in touch and asked me to do a shoot for her first birthday. I always love seeing how these little crazies are getting on, and am so honoured when families come back to me again for their family photographs! I was even more excited when her mama suggested a shoot at a typical Deutsch Kürbis festival, in Schöneberg. Totally inspired choice! I really love this tradition and it really helps the transition out of summer, into autumn to be a bit less painful. People really know how to mark the seasons in Germany! Just wanted to share a few of my favourites, from this lovely little lady's gallery.  

Much Love

Gemma
xx