A Nousha Photography photo shoot for timeless children’s portraits

In autumn I started feeling like an expert in photography. When taking Big Girl to play dates I suddenly realised I was able to correctly identify which photographer families had chosen for children’s portraits. The reason was that I discovered several friends had the very same favourite London portrait photographer.

One friend was raving about the photo shoot experience, and another had been so happy they’d gone twice. The photography studio in vogue is Nousha Photography in Battersea, and the photographer mums are talking about is ex-Royal photographer Lionel Cherruault.

Cherruault previously specialised in photographing the Royal family, invited to cover Royal tours and engagements, and he and his wife opened Nousha Photography in 2009. After seeing his beautiful children’s portraits around Chelsea, Fulham and Battersea I was thrilled when Cherruault contacted me and invited us for a photo shoot for review.

The entire experience seemed incredibly professional, with an email to help us prepare for the shoot arriving days before. I was as always behind schedule and ended up reading it at midnight–nine hours before the start of the shoot–and at that point there wasn’t much to do about points, such as going to bed early or having a good reason for a pedicure, as the family was going to be barefoot during the shoot.

The good news was that Nousha is mainly about children’s portraits, capturing the expressions and innocent looks we will want to treasure and remember as they grow up. My non-existing pedicure was less of a worry on the day. I might wish I’d had more than two minutes to comb my hair and splash on some eye shadow in the hall as we were leaving, but I had at least managed to get Big Girl and Baby Boy dressed in relatively appropriate clothes.

All images are in black and white, and families are recommended to turn up in whites, greys or blue tones, which work well against the background. The recommended dress code was smart casual, and I think we all managed that apart from three-year-old Big Girl, who picked a big white dress for the shoot.

When we arrived we were taken into a waiting area reminding me of an art gallery, and Cherruault soon turned up – prepared with the names of our little ones and bending down when talking to Big Girl.

I was immediately impressed. He came across as funny and approachable. He didn’t waste any time either, and we went straight to the studio next door, starting out with some family photos before it was all about the children. Cherrault had a conversation with Big Girl throughout, at times reminding me of a talented children’s entertainer who connected with her and made her giggle and smile.

We were watching from the sideline, but other friends with older children have told me they’ve waited outside the studio door to avoid interfering. The point is that it’s fine not to get involved here. As we walked out, Daddy T and I whispered ‘wow’ to each other. This was really professional and a memorable experience for the whole family.

READER OFFER: For 50% off any shoot booking with Nousha Photography, use code Mummy16
when booking online. The offer expires 6 March 2016. The full price for a photo shoot with Lionel Cherruault is £500, and the full price for a photo shoot with a qualified Nousha photographer trained by Cherruault is £250.

The images used in this article are from the Nousha Photogrphy Heroes portfolio, courtesy of Nousha Photography

Tags: Children's photography, Family photo shoot, Nousha Photography, Photo shoot, Photographer, Portrait