Christening photography at Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair – Reception in side room of church

The family wanted extremely discreet coverage of this Christening, so I photographed the service from the gallery of the church, out of sight. It was interesting photographing entirely from overhead, and I enjoyed the challenge of looking for emotive moments and still documenting the key moments from a very tight viewpoint. I looked out for especially symbolic moments that would still read well from the tops of heads: holding hands, symmetrical patterns and important items such as the christening candle.

Grosvenor Chapel is stunning – with a huge, arching ceiling in very pretty pastel colours.

Before the service, I photographed friends and family arriving and greeting each other – these are always wonderfully emotive moments to look back on.

I always have a range of lenses with me to allow different perspectives, and to enable to photograph close-up if I have to stay far back from the action – definitely the case with this service! I don’t often use a 135mm lens for christenings, but I used it for much of this service as it allows me to photograph much closer in.

My high vantage point also gave me a great view of the organist, who was playing some wonderful music throughout the service.

I came back down to ground level to take some gently posed family group shots by the altar, as well as some with the godparents. It was all so overwhelming that this gorgeous little baby opted for a snooze as soon as the baptism was over.

The reception was held in the side room and garden of the church. The atmosphere was wonderful, helped along by live music from a wonderful string quartet.

It was lovely to see the affection and love between this family, and the huge amounts of joy on such a special day.