During the lock down this year, I had very little choice in the way of photoshoots. Once the main restrictions had been lifted I was contacted by Kim and Kay from the Queer Parenting Partnership. The Queer Parenting Partnership facilitates inclusive antenatal and postnatal education for all family types, and they wanted photos taken for their upcoming website.
Fantastic! This would give me another opportunity to use my Sony A7iii and the Sony 85mm f1.8 lens stuck to the front. Both worked very well for shoots at the beginning of the year so I was eager for another go.
We met at Brompton Park station and walked to a small park in a residential area. The first thing I noticed was the number of dog walkers. To be honest, if I was a dog I would be annoyed coming to this park, as soon as you get some speed up to chase after a ball you are out the main gate and halfway home again. This means the park was small so I had to watch where I was pointing the lens, I did not want to include someone’s house in the shot.
While Kim and Kay were getting prepared I took a quick candid. I always do for a couple of reasons. It makes a quick check of the camera in case I have left a few settings from the last shoot, and can show a bit of background for blogs and the website if needed.
So as the shoot began I took stock of the surroundings and as they were wrapping themselves in rainbow flags I wanted a bit of colour besides the abundance of green, so I choose the purple leaves of the tree behind where we set up.
As you can see there was a lot of hilarity throughout the shoot, which I find to be a good thing as it gets everyone smiling and results in a more relaxed shoot.
After the laughter had died down we swapped to a picnic type shoot while sitting with two Demo Dolls.
It seems picnics are incredibly funny as well… or I could have told a joke at this point and where would we be in lockdown if it were not for a sign of the times photo with face masks….
After the shoot, we retired to a pub in Fulham where Kim and Kay had a look through the shots and we could relax. In total there were around 250 shots to choose from. Thanks to both Kim and Kay for this shoot, I had been stuck indoors for a long time!
KAY
Has been a qualified midwife for three years and has worked in a range of settings including community, home birthing, on hospital wards and in teaching hypnobirthing and parent education.
KIM
Is the co-creator of The Queer Parenting Partnership.
Has worked in the childcare industry for 15+ years and was a finalist in the UK Nanny of The Year Awards 2019.
The Queer Parenting Partnership
Kim and Kay became Facebook friends in 2019 when Kim was looking for queer birth workers within the UK. More than a year had passed when Kay reached out to Kim seeking a consultation to set up an antenatal education business for LGBTQ+ clients. Kim had already been thinking about creating something similar and proposed they both do it together - thus, The Queer Parenting Partnership was born, with Kay covering the medical side of things and Kim covering the practical side of things. The two got together soon after for a photoshoot and it was clear immediately that this was a match made in queer heaven! They were like old friends who hadn’t seen each other for some time having a catch-up!
Website: https://www.parentingqueer.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentingqueer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parentingqueer/