Kaushik BathiaPhotography
Family of four in red and black lying on the studio floor

Christmas Photoshoots for Hertfordshire Families

A festive family portrait, booked in time for the cards, taken at the Northwood studio just over the Hertfordshire border, in your own front room beside the tree, or on a crisp walk in a county park.

★★★★★ Rated 4.8 from 580+ reviews

Call 07956 505383 WhatsApp us Enquire

The short answer

Where can I book a Christmas photoshoot in Hertfordshire?

Kaushik Bathia runs Christmas mini sessions at his Northwood Hills studio, under four miles from Watford, Bushey, Oxhey and Rickmansworth. Each mini is a guided family sitting of around 20 to 30 minutes with a small set of edited images. Session dates are released for the season, so call or WhatsApp 07956 505383 to hear what is open. Families further into Hertfordshire can also ask about a session at home by the tree, with travel quoted in writing.

Our usual session area is within about 20 miles of the studio. Further out in Hertfordshire, sessions are by arrangement, with travel quoted in writing before you book.

Google reviews

What families say

4.8 from 580+ Google reviews

Brilliant photography session with the whole family! Great service and would definitely recommend to anyone looking to take outstanding photos.

Dev V., Google review, 2016

Kaushik was great when he took photos of our wedding, and was equally great when doing a family studio session, involving entertaining 8 children (ages 0 up to 11).

Sean C., Google review, 2017

Highly professional and took very nice pictures of our family, most impressed. Will surely be coming back in the future. Thank you

Hitesh P., Google review, 2022

Read all the reviews on Google

The calendar

Working back from your Hertfordshire card-posting date

Christmas cards set the pace for everything else, so start from the day yours need to go out and work backwards. If cards travel to relatives abroad, or are handed round a Watford office or a St Albans school gate on a set day, tell us that date when you get in touch and the session is booked in time for it. The general timing advice sits on our Christmas photoshoot page.

We do not publish a fixed list of mini-session days on this page. Dates are released for each season and fill at different speeds, so the reliable way to find out what is free is a call or a WhatsApp message to 07956 505383. Prices are given the same way, on request, so you hear the current figure for the session you want rather than an old one.

Three-generation family in black and red, studio group portrait

Studio minis

Why the Northwood studio suits Watford, Bushey and Rickmansworth families

The studio sits at 21 Joel Street in Northwood Hills, two minutes on foot from the Metropolitan line station. For the strip of Hertfordshire that touches it, the trip is short: Oxhey is about 1.8 miles away, Carpenders Park 2.3, Bushey and Rickmansworth 3.6 and Watford 3.8. Chorleywood and Rickmansworth are on the Metropolitan line too, so a family without a car can come by train.

Indoors, December weather and the early dusk stop mattering. A mini moves briskly through a couple of simple set-ups, with every pose guided, and small children set the pace. Grandparents, cousins and the family dog are welcome; tell us who is coming when you book so the space and the posing work for the whole group.

At home

Your own tree in St Albans, Hemel Hempstead or Hitchin

Some families want the picture to look like their Christmas: the tree they decorated, the stairs the children sit on every year, the armchair a grandparent always takes. For that, Kaushik comes to you. Before the day, think about which room gets the most daylight and clear the clutter from one corner rather than the whole house. Switching the tree lights on and the main ceiling light off usually gives a warmer look.

An at-home festive session works anywhere in the county, from Oxhey on the studio's doorstep to Royston, about 35 miles away near the Cambridgeshire edge. St Albans is about 10.9 miles from Northwood, Hemel Hempstead 10.6 and Hitchin 24.6. Travel from Northwood is quoted up front and set out in writing before you book, so the cost of a visit to the far north of Hertfordshire is clear before you commit.

Three-generation family in saris and suits, studio group portrait

Outdoors

A winter walk in Cassiobury, Verulamium or Ashridge

If your family would rather be outside in coats and scarves, Hertfordshire has big parks that look good in cold light. Cassiobury Park in Watford, once the estate of the Earls of Essex, runs from the Rickmansworth Road to the Grand Union Canal with the River Gade flowing through it. Verulamium Park in St Albans covers 175 acres on the Roman city, where stretches of the wall and the outline of the London Gate still show.

Further west, the National Trust's Ashridge Estate near Berkhamsted has ancient trees, chalk downland and over 80 miles of paths, and well-behaved dogs are welcome across it. Shenley Park's walled garden is another option: the Shenley Park Trust allows professional family photographs there for a fee paid to the trust in advance, so we check that with you before the date.

Winter light is short, so outdoor festive sessions sit around the middle of the day. If the forecast turns grey and wet on the morning, a park session can move indoors to your home or to the studio instead, and the children stay warm. Ashridge and Cassiobury both get muddy in December, so wellies for the walk in and clean shoes for the pictures save a lot of fuss.

What to wear

Dressing for a Roman wall, a bluebell wood or your own front room

Think about the backdrop before the outfits. Against the flint of the Roman wall at Verulamium or the bare winter trees of Whippendell Wood, warm colours stand out; in a front room already full of tree lights and cards, quieter clothes let the decorations carry the picture. Agree a small palette between you rather than matching, and keep big logos and slogans out of the frame, unless the Christmas jumper is a family tradition worth recording.

For a park session, bring a spare pair of gloves and a hat for each child, and something warm for the car. Diwali and Eid sittings for Hertfordshire families run in the same short studio format as the Christmas minis, and a Diwali sitting can also come to your home; see our Diwali photoshoot and Eid photoshoot pages. Our Hertfordshire photographer page lists every service in the county, and the Christmas card guide has more on timing.

Parents in traditional Gulf dress with their young daughter, studio portrait

Planning

Planning around Hertfordshire

01

Studio from the south-west

From Oxhey, Bushey, Watford or Rickmansworth the studio is under four miles away, which makes a short indoor mini the easy choice in December.

02

Shenley Park's walled garden

The Shenley Park Trust lets professional photographers take family pictures in its walled garden for a fee paid in advance. Ask us to check before you pick it.

03

Verulamium in winter

The Roman wall and the outline of the London Gate in Verulamium Park give a St Albans family portrait a backdrop no other park in the county has.

04

The far north of the county

From Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock or Royston, a session at home by your own tree saves the drive south, with travel set out in your written quote.

Winter settings in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire parks and open spaces that work for a winter family walk, with the source for each.

  • Harpenden Common: Harpenden Common stretches almost two miles south from the town centre over 233 acres, is managed by Harpenden Town Council, has held a Green Flag Award since 2007 and is home to over 400 species of flora and fauna. 1
  • Stanborough Park: Stanborough Park, also called Stanborough Lakes, is a 126-acre park in Welwyn Garden City with two lakes created by gravel extraction during the building of the A1(M). 2
  • Tring Park: Tring Park is a 132.94-hectare (328-acre) Woodland Trust site of broadleaf woodland and unimproved chalk grassland, designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, about a 10-minute walk from the Natural History Museum at Tring. 3
  • Cedars Park: Cedars Park, the former site of Theobalds Palace, covers over 19 acres and was awarded Green Flag status again in 2019. 4
  • Danesbury Nature Reserve: Danesbury Nature Reserve is historic parkland once linked to Danesbury House, with large mature trees and rare grassland, reached from Codicote Road, North Ride, Danesbury Park Road and Roman Road; dogs should be kept on leads while cattle graze from spring to autumn. 5

Sources, facts checked October 2026

  1. Harpenden Common | Harpenden Town Council
  2. Stanborough Park - Wikipedia
  3. Tring Park - Visiting Woods - Woodland Trust
  4. Cedars Park | Borough of Broxbourne
  5. Danesbury Nature Reserve - Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Town by town

Christmas sessions across Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire towns with their distance from the Northwood studio. The closest are an easy trip for a studio mini; further out, a session at home may suit better.

Good to know

Christmas photoshoots in Hertfordshire: questions answered

Dates are released for the season, and the studio does not publish a fixed list. Call or WhatsApp 07956 505383 to hear which days are open. If your cards have to be posted by a particular day, mention it on the call so the session is booked in time for it.

Yes. Kaushik comes to your home with everything he needs, and the session works around the room with the best light and your tree. Harpenden is about 14.9 miles from Northwood, and the travel is quoted up front and set out in writing before you book.

Yes. Rickmansworth is about 3.6 miles from the studio and Chorleywood about 6, and both towns have Metropolitan line stations. Northwood Hills station is two minutes' walk from the studio door, so you can come without the car.

Yes, as a short outdoor family session in the middle of the day, when winter light is at its strongest. Watford's park rules need council permission for any event and do not allow gazebos or tents, so a park session is kept simple: your family, warm clothes and a walk.

Session prices are given on request by phone or WhatsApp on 07956 505383, so you always hear the current figure. For a session at your home, the travel from Northwood is quoted separately in writing before you book.

Yes. Grandparents, cousins and the family dog are welcome at the studio or at home. Let us know who is coming when you get in touch, so the timing and posing suit a larger group and nobody waits around.

Yes. You receive high-resolution files that any card printer can use, and you can also order prints, frames and albums. A framed print for grandparents in Hertfordshire or further afield is worth ordering soon after you choose your favourites, rather than in the final week before Christmas.

Christmas in Hertfordshire

Ask which festive dates are still open

Tell us your town, how many of you there are and whether you would like the studio, your home or a park. We reply with the dates on offer and a written quote for any travel.

No obligation. How we use your details

More in Hertfordshire

Other counties