Little personalities:
a portrait series in the grid
As any parent, I remember quite vividly the love at first sight when my son was born or more honestly, after the first sleep following our 27-hour long home birth. We were all so exhausted but after that, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was perfect to me. The funny faces he involuntarily pulled, the yawns that were too cute, the never ending milk-drunk dazes.
I always planned to rest when he slept, but I would lay there, ogling him, touching him, completely in awe. Those were our restful moments. I photographed him endlessly – from every angle imaginable. A bit over the top if you ask me now. In hindsight, he was my little guinea pig at the very beginning of my newborn photography journey – without knowing it at the time.
But this isn’t about newborns.
This is about our deep adoration of our children’s expressions – at any age.
Why I care about more than smiles in photography
I’ve been round the block three times! But now they are older, they are less cute but more funny. We are regularly stared down with one brow raised, disgust or indifference on their faces. It makes me laugh (sometimes with some delay) and sometimes, I just want to whip my camera out because their faces are a picture.
When I was little, having a photograph taken meant an occasion. My godfather was the documentarian in the family (funny, I’ve never spoken to him about it). There was no endless digital storage, no hundreds of near-identical images or every angle imaginable. Having a photo taken with a birthday cake was that kind of special event and it was always about smiles – wide, all teeth showing, ready or not.
Even now, as a photographer, I often hear parents urging their children to smile. I politely discourage them. Not because smiles aren’t beautiful or wanted, they are, but because I’m far more interested in genuine emotion than rehearsed ones.
But also, it’s not just joy that’s worth capturing.
All of it matters.
The idea behind these portrait series
My last session of 2025 was a Christmas mini shoot, without the Christmas décor. My clients asked to capture the many faces of their two-year-old to create a series of canvases as a gift for the family.
Smiles weren’t the ultimate goal as we wanted to capture his personality. And if you’ve ever worked with small children, you’ll know two things to be true:
They’re (wonderfully) unpredictable.
At 2, emotions live right on their faces.
In just half an hour, he didn’t disappoint, at times, it was super chaotic and loud but at the end, we captured a great variety, entirely unprompted, totally him.
“We contacted Petra for some last minute photos. She went above and beyond and got us booked in the same day. The photos were perfect and I have recommended her to family and friends. ~ Dylan M.
And that’s when Little Personalities: a portrait series was thought of. And more I thought, more I liked the idea of this mini session.
Coming full circle in my 18-year career in photography
If you’ve known me long enough, you’ll know my training wasn’t academic. I learnt family photography on the job, in a local studio, quite accidentally. You could say 2006 was rather transformative for my career.
After leaving there, I never returned to traditional family studio sessions. There was a lot of unlearning over the years, finding my own style, learning my own rhythm and what genuinely inspired and mattered to me.
These sessions feel like coming full circle, just reimagined.
They are free-style portraits, natural light, child-led as much as possible.
Do I need children to sit still? Not really, it’s not about posing or getting them to smile.
It’s about allowing them to be just as they are.
What are Little Personalities sessions?
A moment captured in time.
Sometimes I glance at the photographs on our walls and think they were taken just a couple of years ago – only it’s been like five or more. The days felt long when they were little, but the years pass so quickly.
Chubby cheeks disappeared as soon as the school started. Our boys’ curls got chopped without me being ready for it. They changed so much!
We hear the term of “pictures freeze time”and I used the phrase in the past too but these feel like honouring this time rather than stopping.
A small window into who your kiddo is, right now.
Studio-based portrait mini sessions
30 minutes long (short enough to keep it focused but engaging)
For children of any age (I recommend from around 7 weeks onwards for variety of expression)
Focused on expressions, personality and presence (but not forced)
One child per session
Siblings welcome (we will add time to first photoshoot)
What’s included in the session
Because we’re working with children, one size rarely fits all. Plus I love to provide you with variety. That’s why I’ve created two core grid options, with flexibility built in.
You’ll choose your grid after your session and if you fall in love with more images than planned, we can create a bespoke grid and size.
Starting packages:
4×4 image grid — £250
4×5 image grid — £300
Your grid will be printed on a 10×8″ fine art lustre print in colour or B/W, ready to be framed. You will also receive all digital images used in the grid.
Siblings receive their own grid at half price (includes extra half an hour photoshoot, their mounted grid and digital images from their own grid).
For FAQ and booking, click here.