An edgy portrait photoshoot in London's Shoreditch

When my clients bring their unique sense of style to a session, like this portrait photoshoot in London’s vibrant Shoreditch area, my creative heart SINGS!

These photos were actually part of a family photoshoot to celebrate their daughter’s special sweet 16th birthday.

They wanted some iconic London backgrounds for their family photoshoot, and then somewhere that celebrated their daughter’s personality and her unique sense of style.

Where is the best place to have a portrait photoshoot in London?

If you are booking a portrait photoshoot in London, then I’d always ask you tell me something about the kinds of backgrounds that appeal to you.

If it is a sophisticated, classic vibe you are after for your portrait photoshoot in London, then the upmarket Mayfair area with it’s classic architecture is perfect for you.

If you love spending time in nature then consider booking your portrait photoshoot in one of London’s beautiful parks (Regent’s Park for an English garden vibe, and Holland Park’s Kyoto garden are favourite haunts of mine. For something a bit wilder and open, you simply cannot beat Richmond Park at sunset).

And if you want something vibrant and edgier with an inner city vibe then you need a portrait photoshoot in London’s Shoreditch area. It’s a place famous for it’s incredible graffiti art, cool cafe’s and edgy bars.

What is the best time of day for a portrait photoshoot in London?

I am always going to recommend that earlier in the morning is the best time for a portrait photoshoot in London.

This is so we can avoid heavy crowds on the streets and around the main sights, and also so we get the best light of the day.

London does occasionally boast amazing sunsets, so a sunset photoshoot can be a good option, but we will have to work around crowds.

We started this summer photoshoot at 8:30am. Since we were doing the family pictures first, we selected a unique London location I really love (St Dunstan in the East) and London’s iconic Tower Bridge as our first stops.

The Tower of London opens at 10am, so in the summer it is incredibly crowded in this area from 9:30am to around 10:30am as people queue to get into the Tower for their tours.

We managed to avoid most of the crowds for some family photos. We did a few individual portraits of the two sisters in the area around the bridge, before hopping on a train for the 10minute journey to Shoreditch for our celebratory Sweet Sixteen portrait photoshoot.

How long should we spend on a portrait photoshoot in London?

If you are booking a portrait photoshoot for one person and only want one location in your pictures, then an hour is the perfect amount of time.

If, like this family, you want some group photos and then portraits of your teenager (for high school senior photos for example, or to celebrate a special birthday), then you’ll want longer. I suggest a two-hour photoshoot in this case.

Can I change outfits for my portrait photoshoot in London?

If you are booking a longer photoshoot, then a change of outfits is a great idea. I wouldn’t recommend more than three different outfits, and you can always change things up by layering up with jackets, scarves and jumpers and include sunglasses and different bags etc for a different look.

In this case, the girls had outfits for the family photoshoot and then changed into something else to reflect their individual personalities.

I absolutely adored the goth pixie vibe my client had going for her Sweet Sixteen portrait photoshoot, which couldn’t have been more perfect for Shoreditch’s surroundings.

We could have spent another hour touring all of my favourite sites in Shoreditch, but as we only had 30minutes for the portrait photoshoot part of this session, we stayed in the area right outside Shoreditch station.

There is lots of great graffiti art right outside Shoreditch station. And to make our portrait photoshoot in London even more perfect, a really lovely bloke who was admiring some of the graffiti on his vintage bike, allowed us to use it as a prop in our photoshoot.

How do I book a portrait photoshoot in London?

This is the easy bit! All you have to do is head over here (or tap the button below) to get in touch with me.

You’ll need to let me know what dates you are looking at for your portrait photoshoot in London, and also your preferred area.

And if you have no idea where you’d like your photos, then let me know a little bit about your personality and whether you’d like something classic and sophisticated or edgy and vibrant and I can come up with some suggestions to match your own unique sense of style and personality!