Family Photographer in Central London

The short answer

Do you do family photoshoots in Central London?

Yes. Kaushik Bathia travels about 14 miles from Northwood to photograph families in Westminster, and about 15 miles to the City of London, either at home or in a park such as Paddington Recreation Ground or Finsbury Circus Gardens. A session usually runs about an hour. The Royal Parks and the City's gardens each have their own permit rules for organised photography, which we build into the plan. Session prices come by phone or WhatsApp, and travel from Northwood sits in your written quote.

Where to go

Play areas and open lawns from Maida Vale to Aldgate

Paddington Recreation Ground covers 27 acres behind the mansion blocks of Maida Vale, with an athletics track, tennis courts, a café and a wildlife area. It gives older children room to run, and the wildlife area makes a softer, greener background than the courts. A little to the east, St John's Wood Church Grounds sits north of Regent's Park beside Lord's Cricket Ground, with a refurbished playground, formal gardens, a camellia collection and a small nature reserve.

Further south, the Causton Street play area on the Millbank Estate, behind Tate Britain, has a play space for children aged 3 to 7 and a games area for older ones, divided by a green planted with wisteria. Dogs are not allowed there, which some parents of toddlers will count in its favour. It is a neighbourhood corner rather than a sight, so the pictures look like everyday life in Pimlico and Millbank.

In the Square Mile, Aldgate Square has a central lawn and a water feature of parabolic jets that children can play in, which means splashing and laughter on a warm afternoon. Festival Gardens, created for the Festival of Britain in 1951, puts a lawn and fountain right beside St Paul's Cathedral. Finsbury Circus Gardens, laid out in 1815, holds the City's only Japanese pagoda tree. For City families, see also family photography in the City of London.

Ages and seasons

Timing a city session around naps, visitors and the light

Central London parks fill up at weekends and in the middle of the day, especially around St James's Park, where pelicans have lived by the lake since 1664 and are a magnet for small children. An early morning session gives quieter paths and softer light, and it suits babies and toddlers who are brightest after breakfast. Summer evenings suit school-age children once homework is out of the way.

Late spring to autumn gives the fullest trees and the most colour. The Green Park, with no formal flower beds, only mature trees, grassland and wildflower meadows, looks its best when the meadows are long. In winter, a session at home or a covered spot such as Leadenhall Market, with its 1881 wrought-iron and glass building, keeps everyone dry; older children may recognise it as the approach to the Leaky Cauldron in the first Harry Potter film.

Toddlers do best with a play area nearby and a short walk. Children from about five upwards enjoy a destination: watching the pelicans, spotting the Elizabeth Tower, or hunting for the black circle in Guildhall Yard that marks London's Roman amphitheatre. Teenagers tend to relax when the session feels like a walk through the city rather than a formal sitting.