This August family photoshoot began perfectly, with warm summer weather and pockets of sunshine. The children hopped through the mud and leaves, gathering fistfuls of feathery ferns, exploring dens.

One minute they’re pointing in the distance to their make believe farmhouses and then suddenly, around us patters heavy summer rain that was NOT predicted by Accuweather. I say it will stop soon but it doesn’t. There is no phone reception so I can’t check my weather app.

My autofocus struggles with raindrops. Fingers slip off smooth plastic as I struggle to put my lens caps on and untether my cameras from their harness. I chatter nervously and look up. Gasping at the beauty of it all, the muted colours and warm air, all the hard lines blurred by rain.

The children scatter joyfully, leaping around in the rain shower, hair plastered to foreheads. This is romantic rain; it’s-caught-out-in-your-gown-in-an-Austen-novel rain.

Eventually the rain eases off and we have a chance to raise our heads, reassess. Ice creams are promised. Blow drys are ruined. Our walk back to the cafe is interrupted by more showers but everyone has given up on being photogenic. Instead they look dishevelled and radiant. I laugh with the parents and they talk about how they met.

A reindeer trots towards us, unbothered, lazily picking leaves from low branches. We slowly make our way along the path.

I snap away.

I loved this shoot particularly for two reasons:

Firstly, the family I shot were open to things going ‘wrong’. With four kids, I expect you learn pretty quickly to take things in your stride. They were in beautiful outfits, with coiffed hair. We all got soaked and there was nothing we could do about it. It didn’t matter.

Secondly the rain and sunshine gave us a story. And there we have it. This family sesh reminded me about the joy in finding and embracing a narrative within a shoot.

We explored our space. We bonded in the rain. We tried sheltering under trees and got close enough to talk more. One boy picked up a make believe spear and fought an imaginary monster in the downpour. The children welcomed the warm summer shower; it loosened things up a bit. A deer emerged, empowered by the sound of the rain and lack of people. We shared relief when the sun came out. We followed the lure of ice creams.

What a gift.

Here’s to learning to love and embrace the unexpected – after all, it makes for the best stories.