There is a particular quality to autumn in Lincolnshire. Low light that arrives at an angle a studio could never quite replicate. Gardens turning colour by the week. A stillness between the trees that you feel before you can explain it.
I noticed it the first time I walked the grounds at Aubourn Estate, just south of Lincoln, and I have been thinking about it ever since.
Why I Chose Aubourn Estate for Family Sessions
When I began planning my portrait sessions in Lincolnshire, I was looking for a location that could hold a family, not just frame them. Somewhere with space for children to move, with a sense of history and beauty and with the kind of natural detail that changes by the week.
Aubourn Estate is that place.
When you arrive for a session here, you have the space and privacy to move freely through the gardens. The access is exclusive and included the with the photoshoot session.
Children have room to run, to explore, to pick things up and look at them. The grounds become an adventure, and that curiosity and movement is precisely what makes the photographs feel alive and genuine. When children are excited rather than asked to stand still, everything changes.
Adults, meanwhile, can relax. The hard work is getting everyone dressed and out the door. Once you arrive, the day is yours. You walk, you take in the gardens and you enjoy it.
What an Outdoor Family Session Actually Looks Like
I have been a portrait photographer for over a decade, working across the United States before moving to the UK, and the sessions I remember most are never the ones where everyone stood still.
They are the ones where something real happened. A child ran ahead and picked up a beautiful leaf. Someone started an in-joke, the family chased and laughed and then gathered again and we kept photographing.
That is what I am working towards in every session at Aubourn. Not a series of posed arrangements, but a record of how your family actually is right now. How your youngest holds your hand. How tall your eldest has become. The small things that are already changing.
A session runs around one hour. We explore the grounds together, we find what is beautiful and interesting and we let the children set the pace. It is intentionally paced for the for children to stay genuinely engaged.
Before the session, I provide colour guidance so your family arrives looking coordinated and considered. There is no wrong colour, only suggestions, and knowing a few combinations can make a real difference to how your images feel.
Photographs That Last
I am passionate about print. Photographs are most alive when they leave the screen and take on a physical form, whether that is a framed print on the wall, a set of cards to send at Christmas, or an album that sits on a shelf for decades.
All sessions include access to a private online gallery, and a full range of print products is available to order. I work with professional print labs and can guide you through wall art, framed prints and album, so that what we made together finds its proper place in your home.
In ten or twenty years, a printed portrait shows your children exactly who they were at this age, in this particular autumn in Lincolnshire. That is something a screen rarely does justice to.
Autumn Is the Best Season for Outdoor Portraits in Lincolnshire, I say this not because autumn is my own season, but because what is happening in the gardens right now is genuinely beautiful.
Aubourn Estate moves through extraordinary colour in October and November. Copper, amber, deep red, pale gold. The borders and mature trees create something no location scout could manufacture. It is brief and it will not last, and that is precisely why it is worth capturing.
An autumn family photoshoot in Lincoln, Lincolnshire gives you something that a summer session in a park does not. The warmth of the palette. The texture of the season. A very particular moment in time.
A Note on Children and Social Media
I am aware of the conversation around children's images online and I take it seriously. As much as possible, I do not post identifiable images of children on social media, which is why my portfolio shows fewer family images than you might expect.
This is a deliberate choice, not a gap. Your images are yours. They go into a private online gallery, they go into print if you choose and they stay in your family's hands. I will be sharing only with your permission.
Booking a Family Session Near Lincoln, Lincolnshire
I am based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire and serve families across the county and the wider East Midlands. Sessions take place at Aubourn Estate, just south of Lincoln, or in my private photography studio in Lincoln.
A small number of October and November dates remain. Images from these sessions are ready in time for Christmas cards and for the wall.
To enquire or check availability, find the contact link or email info@martinazando.com
Spaces are limited and will not last.
Martina Zando Photography offers family portrait sessions, personal branding photography and colour analysis in Lincoln, Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. Sessions take place at Aubourn Estate.