A Golden Hour Family Photography Session on Chiltern Street, Marylebone

A Golden Hour Family Photography Session on Chiltern Street, Marylebone

There’s a particular kind of light you only get on a summer evening in London, when the sun drops low and turns the whole street gold. This family session, with a mum, a dad and their two small boys, was built around chasing it through the streets of Marylebone, and Chiltern Street, with its gorgeous shopfronts and warm brick, gave us the perfect stage. Towards the end we hopped on the tube to Big Ben for the final shots!

If you’ve been putting off family photos because your children are too little to sit still, this is exactly the session I’d want you to see. My two youngest subjects here were very much on the move, and that’s the whole point. I didn’t ask them to pose, we just walked, played and let them lead, and I photographed what actually happened.

Wandering past the elegant window displays, the boys stopping every few steps to investigate something new. One of my favourite moments was the littlest one leaning in nose-to-nose with his own reflection in a shop window, completely fascinated, the golden street glowing behind him. Further along, big brother caught my eye over his shoulder as the two of them scampered up a ramp hand in hand, all sun-warmed stone and long shadows. These are the ordinary, in-between moments that, as a Marylebone family photographer, I care about most, because they’re the ones that actually look like your children.

Of course there was plenty of the good stuff between the four of them, too. Mum swung her eldest up onto her hip for a piggyback while he wrapped his arms around her, both of them laughing. Dad crouched down to their level, grinning as the boys chattered away, and later scooped the youngest up for a nose-to-nose moment over a bright red toy bus. Even a quick pause by the station, buggy and backpacks and all, became its own little portrait of family life in the city — a bit chaotic, completely them, and lovely for it.

Why Marylebone is such a beautiful backdrop

Marylebone does so much of the work for us. Chiltern Street alone gives you that timeless London feel without trying too hard. The boutiques, the awnings, the brickwork, the pretty painted shopfronts. As the sun moves, every corner offers something new: warm reflections in the glass, pools of light on the pavement, shadows stretching down the street. It’s a setting that feels grown-up and characterful, while still leaving plenty of room for two toddlers to simply be toddlers.

Golden hour is my favourite time to photograph families for exactly this reason. The light is soft and forgiving, everything glows, and there’s an easy, end-of-day happiness to it. We keep things relaxed and unhurried, the boys set the pace, and the images come together on their own. no forced smiles, no “everybody look here,” just your family enjoying an evening out together.

If you feel like this is the kind of session you’d love, warm, natural, a little bit of magic in the ordinary;. I would be so happy to photograph this chapter for you, whether that’s in Marylebone or somewhere that means something to you.

And if your summer takes you further afield, I travel too. I photograph families on holiday in the very same relaxed, documentary style, turning a trip away into a set of images you’ll treasure long after you’re home.

Dreaming of a Golden Hour Family Photography Session in Marylebone? Take a look at my vacation photography sessions and let’s plan something beautiful together.