When you book TWO family photo sessions! | Familjefotograf Stockholm

Sometimes you really want to get your entire family together for a portrait session, but they live in different parts of the country and can’t all get together for a specific date. What do you do then? You book TWO family photo sessions that’s what!

That’s exactly what the sweet mother/grandmother of this family did. She’d seen my work at an exhibition, loved it, and started plotting to get the entire family together for photographs. Logistically, it proved difficult to gather everyone for one day, but this woman was not deterred! We soon worked out dates and times and had one family session at the end of autumn and the other at the start of winter! I’m happy to report she now has lots of beautiful Jolly photographs to fill her home, and need not feel so far from her family :).

If you appreciate how important family portraits are, feel free to get in touch via the Contact page above or mail me at sandra@sandrajolly.com. I hope to have availability from mid-February. Don’t be a stranger ;)

Peace and love xoxo

Best of 2020 | Stockholm Family Photographer

Here we are in 2021, folks! Am I the only one who thought 2020 FLEW by?! I actually feel like I blinked and it was all over - a kind of wham, bam, thank you ma’am! Maybe that was for the best though… I hope you all had a good Christmas, unusual as it was :). I usually do my Best Of post at the end of each year, but I decided to make December all about family, so I pulled back from social media and indeed mass media, and enjoyed the time with my family instead.

I am now officially taking bookings for portrait sessions for 2021, with two ‘snow shoots’ already booked for this weekend! Please say a little prayer for my fingers as they will battle freezing temperatures while I photograph families outdoors!

From now on, I intend to post more here on my website. I would really love and be very honoured if you would check in here to follow my work. Please feel free to send me your email address via the Contact page above or via my FB business page (link below) if you would like to be added to the Jolly mailing list, and I will happily send you a Jolly note, containing links to any new blog posts/session availability/special offers, etc.

I hope you enjoy this selection of my favourite shots from 2020 - I tried to cut it down, honestly, but it was a very busy year and there were so many images I truly loved!

In the meantime, I wish you peace, calm, health, and happiness in 2021.

Peace and love xoxo

I Think My Mother Is a Zen Master | Familjefotograf Stockholm

This autumn was a very busy season here at Jolly HQ. I knew in advance it was going to be a hectic time, but I hadn’t anticipated the last minute bookings for family photo sessions. I thought everyone was ready to go into hibernation early this year - I for one quite fancy the idea of sleeping until oh, I don’t know, maybe my birthday in March next year! That was not the case however and life at Jolly HQ got quite hectic.

As grateful as I am to have been so busy this autumn, there were a few occasions where I could feel myself starting to get stressed. Between business and family life, there was a lot going on and NO help! I realised one day though that I didn’t want to identify as a stressed person. I didn’t want to be the person rushing around in a flap, telling everyone how stressed I was, shallow breathing, pulling my hair out, and well, basically missing out on my actual life. What does all that achieve anyway?

And then I thought about my mother. I thought about her zen-like qualities. Her unflappable cool. The way she does things slowly and deliberately. The way she lives in the moment. The way she never hurries for anyone. The way she doesn’t take life too seriously. Stressed people are easy to find. Zen-like people, not so much. I knew which camp I’d rather be in.

With all that in mind, I gave myself a good talking to. I reminded myself I’m human (we tend to forget this sometimes). Everything doesn’t have to be done right now. You can let some things slide, but not things like looking after your mind, body, and soul. They should be your top priority. Do you know what I did then? I took even longer walks. I did yoga in the mornings and in the evenings I did longer, restorative yoga sessions. I meditated more. I drank more water. What use are we to everyone else if we’re not creating the best version of ourselves first?

I may not ever be a zen master like my mother. I can try though. I can remind myself to slow down, to breathe, and to actually be in my own life.

On that note, I’ll leave you with some of my favourite personal pictures from autumn 2020. I hope you enjoy them.

Peace and love xoxo

Fun Autumn Family Session | Stockholm Family Photographer

When it comes to photographing people, I notice there is a pattern in the kind of people I like to have in front of my camera. They have a certain openness, are unguarded, smile and laugh easily, don’t take life too seriously, have positive energy, and bonus points if they laugh at my bad jokes! ;)

If you were to have a family photo session, what would you look for in your photographer? You would want someone who would make it a fun experience, right? I mean, we’re not pulling teeth here! We are creating family legacies! As I often say, photos are rarely significant at the moment they are created. It is the passage of time that makes them priceless. In 20 years’ time, this family will look back at these images and wonder at how much everything has changed!

Feel free to get in touch via the contact page above, or mail me at sandra@sandrajolly.com, to start planning YOUR Jolly portrait session.

Peace and love xoxo