Sunday was the perfect spring day in Spring Hill for this combination Family & Senior portrait session. I loved getting to know this wonderful sports-loving family. I always encourage people to include items that are special in their portrait session. For little ones, that sometimes means a special lovey, stuffed animal, or blanket. But this advice works for teens and older kids too. Anything that both says something about the person or family being photographed and also helps clients to be more relaxed at a session is a win. For this session (and another recent session), a football was that item. I’ve also had clients include books and instruments in a session.
If you had to choose an item that was special to you, and represents what would you choose?
I would love it if you could follow me on Instagram. Thatโs a great place to keep up to date on future openings. Also, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions. In addition to Senior photos, I love photographing families.
I wrote an entire blog post just a few days ago, and I think that is my limit for this very busy week. So for this beautiful family portrait session in Spring Hill, I think I will let the photos speak for themselves. These sweet boys are getting so big. Happy fifth birthday, Ty!
Are you following me on Instagram? Thatโs a great place to keep up to date on future openings. I have a couple spots left for my Holiday Family Mini Sessions. Or are you looking for a senior photographer? Either way, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.
As I sit here on the super cold morning, I miss the perfect Fall day we had just two days ago. I wanted to take the chance to talk about when to book a family portrait session if including fall colors on the trees is important to you. I wrote about this last year, and none of that information has changed, but if bears repeating. I still have many clients who assume October is the best choice for Fall color.
First of all, I want to say that any time of year is perfect for a family portrait session. The important thing is to get them done, and to do it regularly, preferably at least once a year as our littles ones grow so fast and are constantly changing.ย Beautiful memories can be captured any time of year. Iโmย now booking Januaryย photo sessions, and those can be absolutely beautiful (you just need to dress warmly!)
With that being said, lots of my clients really want that gorgeous fall color, and ask me when they should schedule family portrait sessions to get that color.ย I always hesitate to answer because mother nature is unpredictable and I cannot promise you we will get beautiful fall color at all.ย Sometimes, an early freeze or drought conditions or other things can put a damper on that beautiful autumn color.ย ย
But I can tell you, after some experience and actualย forecasts, when to schedule your session to get the best chance of gorgeous color, and that is the first or second weekend of November (the last weekend in October is a good second choice).ย Thatโs when our fall colors peak here in Middle Tennessee.ย I find a lot of clients who assume it happens a lot earlier than that, and thatโs probably because it does up north. Our friends in Michigan saw their autumn peak several weeks ago (and now they are getting snow!).ย
I said all of that same information last year, and here, as further proof, is one of my sessions from Sunday, November 10. I adore this family and loved getting to hang out with them again. I’m thrilled they were able to book this session and indeed did get gorgeous fall color.
If you book a family portrait session with me most times of year, one of the questions on your booking paperwork will ask you where you’d like to shoot the photo session. I have a page on my website that will tell you about locations I frequently use, and I’m here to help you if you want it.
But you may notice that if you book a session for a weekend in October or November, that I’ve already chose a portrait session location.
The reason for this is that in the busy season, I generally book 3 back to back sessions on the weekend, with only about 15 minutes between them. This is just enough time for me to switch memory cards, so I don’t have time to drive to another location between sessions.
I used to let the first client who booked a particular date choose the location, and then those who booked the date after that would have to agree to that spot. But this complicated the booking process.
Also, I have more requirements for long shooting days than I have for just magic hour sessions. For the rest of the year, most of my sessions are scheduled for the hour before sunset…known in photographer lingo as “magic hour”. Magic hour lighting is pretty great anywhere. But when I am booking sessions earlier in the day, then I have to be sure that a location has some shade available, because the sometimes harsh sunlight of earlier in the day is not ideal for photos. But the proper location can allow a shaded spot from which the sun comes through the trees beautifully.
But for this session and the two before it, the bright sun wasn’t a big concern because it was a nice overcast day.
These two sweet brothers did an amazing job for their session. Those eyes! How can you not smile from looking at them?
The last time I blogged about this beautiful family for their Fall family portrait session, I left out some information. Mallory had told me before her session that she was in the early stages of pregnancy. I wasn’t sure if that was public knowledge or not, so I didn’t’ mention it in the blog post.
But here we are, not quite a year later, and this lovely family has an adorable new addition. I’d been following baby Mia and big sister Margot on Instagram, and was so excited to be able to finally meet her. (If you aren’t following me on Instagram, please do! I’d love to interact with you there.)
These girls were just the sweetest and did a great job at their photo session. We ran into a little trouble with my location being over-crowded but we moved around a little and made it work.
Last year, Margo had brought her baby doll and carried her for the entire session, which was perfectly fine with me. This year, she brought a different doll…Rapunzel to our session. For me, if a beloved toy helps a child to be more comfortable at a session, then I say let them bring it. My favorite part was when Margot broke into songs from Frozen. I’m also a big fan of Elsa. โ๏ธ
If you haven’t booked your Fall family portrait session yet, please don’t wait. I have a couple of openings for November but they won’t last long. One fantastic spot just opened up because a client needed to reschedule for December. Book your session today!
This lovely family just moved to Spring Hill from Chicago and found me on Google when looking for a family portrait photographer.
In my client questionnaire, Justine said that the family was a little homesick, but was enjoying getting to know Spring Hill and Middle Tennessee. What tips would you offer them for acclimating to our area? Any favorite businesses or outings? When I moved to Spring Hill 16 years ago, there wasn’t much to this tiny little town, but now there is a ton to explore and do. In the comments, tell me your favorites. Be sure to tag your favorite businesses, so she knows where to find them.
Justine also mentioned that her fear for the portrait session was that Nolan (like many toddlers) was pretty squirmy, and she was a little concerned about getting a family picture. That wasn’t an issue at all. I would say this was one of the easiest portrait sessions I’ve photographed in a while. Nolan did a fantastic job. My other portrait sessions of the day both included two very young siblings. One toddler is generally very easy to photograph. It’s when you start trying to get two or more of them together that it gets more challenging.
๐ Great Opportunity if you haven’t booked fall photos!
I’ve had a client who had to reschedule a session, leaving an opening for a family session at Chapman’s Retreat Walking Trail (shown below) on November 10 at 3:15 (magic hour!!).
I also have a 1:15 spot open for that day. โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ
In case you haven’t heard me preach this before, contrary to popular belief, October is NOT the best time for fall color in Middle Tennessee. Early November is. Of course, I can’t promise anything, but there is a good chance this might be one of the best weekends of the year for Fall photos, and I have two spots open. Don’t wait.
I can’t even with the cuteness in these photos. The girls were just everything. โค๏ธ
In online photography forums, you can read a lot about finding your ideal family portrait clients. I don’t know precisely how to put into words what defines a perfect client for me, but I know it and get excited when I see it.
Isla (3 years old) and Evie (1 1/2 years old) are at my absolute favorite ages of children to photograph. They brought their special Panda lovies to the session. I adore capturing young children with their special objects. The girls were so much fun to be around – wild and free and full of wonder about their world, which is everything I love about photographing kids this age.
Mom and Dad were more interested in capturing authentic, emotional images than in Pinterest perfect posed shots, which is the best kind of client for me. We danced and played and had a fabulous time.
This is a family who thought about the constraints of studio portraits with very young children and realized what a nightmare that could be. One thing that is extremely important to me is that family portrait sessions not be a stressful experience for families. I want to make it fun for the children, and for happy memories to be associated with the photographs. What good is a beautifully posed image if the memory associated with it was of a horrible experience?
I want to point out, though, that creating an enjoyable experience does not mean that everyone is happy for every minute of a session. It’s important to note this because I don’t want parents to become stressed out if there is a tiny bump in the road. Toddlers and preschoolers, by nature, have SO MANY EMOTIONS and not enough words to express them. I do not expect, nor need them to be happy and joyful every minute of a session.
First of all, that’s not real life. Second, the pouty moments are beautiful too. And third, and most importantly, toddler moods are like Middle Tennessee weatherโฆif you don’t like it, wait a few minutes and it will change. As long as no one over reacts to momentary grumpiness, they will typically forget the mood in a manner of minutesโฆespecially if we move on to a new activityโฆwhich I will generally do if they become impatient with what we were doing.
Can we talk about these outfits for a minute? These girls (mama too) look fabulous!! The color combinations are gorgeous! The cheetah print and floral prints are so fun and coordinate beautifully together. I talk about adding texture to clothing choices in my online “What to Wear Guide.” The girls’ vests accomplish this perfectly and are so adorable. The sisters were coordinating but not wearing the exact same outfits, which I prefer. But most of all, the girls seemed happy and comfortable.
Don’t be surprised when these images end up in my guide, once I have time to slow down and stop editing. LOL
Y’all, I’m editing my booty off, and I’m running out of words to put in my blog previews of my family photo sessions.
It’s the height of peak season. We were gone all weekend to my beautiful nieces birthday party in Ohio. But someone I still managed to shoot 5 sessions in the past week, with one more tomorrow, and another three on Sunday (please pray it doesn’t rain on me.)
I’m keeping up, but if you need to find me, I’m probably at my computer. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know it sounds cheesy, but I really love being a part of shooting these moments for families, especially when I get to see the same ones year after year.
For example, It makes me smile to think about how much little Jace has grown since I first started photographing his family three or so years ago. I love meeting and photographing new families too, but I especially look forward to seeing repeat clients each year. โค๏ธ
If you are a procrastinator, I do have two November spots open…once just recently opened up because a family needed to move their session to December…it’s a magic hour session too! You can book your portrait session online from my scheduling calendar or contact me if you have questions!
Photographing young children is something that I do regularly. If I had to choose one genre or age group of photographs to take, it would be families with pre-school age children for sure. It’s where I am most comfortable. It’s the age group that I am most passionate about shooting (though I still love taking pictures of people of all ages).
I have to remind myself that my clients do not do this regularly. This might be the first time they’ve been to a photo session like mine, and at the very least, it’s the first time they’ve done family photos with a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old (or whatever the case may be.)
Because of that, I try to reassure my clients throughout a session that this is normal. I swear. Listen, photo sessions with multiple pre-school age children is by nature, a little bit of organized chaos. One client I had once called it a beautiful mess, and I love that term. Your kids are doing great. Really, they are.
I think one thing that makes parents nervous is when I start asking small children to do things, and maybe (probably) they don’t do what I ask. Please believe me when I tell you that I have NEVER met a two-year-old who did everything I asked. Never. Expecting them to follow all my instructions is not age-appropriate or realistic. Also, it doesn’t bother me one bit if they aren’t interested in something I suggest.
There are three main reasons it doesn’t bother me:
I have LOTS of tricks up my sleeve. Some kids like racing, some like flying, or Ring around the Roses. Some want to talk. Quite a few like to talk about farts (though I let them initiate that in case mom and dad don’t approve). Others want to interact only with mommy and daddy. That’s all OK.
I take a LOT of photos. I will delete tons, particularly at a session with small children. But I’m always left with plenty of keepers.
The only thing I want from your kids is for them to be authentic. Two-year-olds don’t know any other way to be, so whatever happens, we are winning.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes an image doesn’t tell the whole story. Today I want to talk through what happens at pretty much every session with small children ever, using photos from a family portrait session. So you can read what was happening in real life, and see the resulting image. I’m hoping this will prevent any future anxiety when you think “my kids aren’t cooperating.” I promise you; they are doing exactly what I want them to do.
Me: “Hold hands and run together.” Sisters: ๐ Result: Adorable. Me: “You wanna sit on this crate together?” *Baby sister sits down for 2 milliseconds then jumps up to play*. Result: I got it. It only takes a millisecond.
Me: “Wanna sit in daddy’s lap?” Toddler: “No.” Me: “OK how about attack him with hugs?” Result: Precious
Me: “Run under this blanket together.” Result: We never quite achieved “together” but I love these anyway.
Me: “Let’s play Simon says.” Sisters: “Let’s pick flowers instead.” Result: Perfect
Me: “Hold hands and run together. Sisters: Still no, but closer. Result: Still adorable.Me: “Very gently, hug your sister. Result: Close enough. ๐Me: “Wanna go sit on the blanket?” Toddler: “Shhhh, we are looking for squirrels.” Result: I love a girl who knows what she wants. She’s perfection.Me: “Sit in mommy and daddy’s lap and I’ll give you a sucker. Result: Suckers always work. Mom: “Take a big lick of your sucker, like this.” Toddler: Licks imaginary sucker like mom did, instead of actual sucker in her other hand. Result: Hilarious.
I offered the suckers a little earlier in the session than I normally do because i really wanted to get the family shot I posted earlier. So there are suckers in several pics after that point. Result: Photos of happy kids with suckers are still beautiful. Me: “Hold hands.” Result: The third time’s a charm.Me: “Show me how you dance.” Result: These kids are flipping fantastic. Me: “Give your sister a kiss on the cheek.” Result: Well, kiss…lick, same thing.”
These wonder-filled little girls are exactly everything I love about photographing children. They are perfection.
So as you can see, these two beautiful sweet girls did an amazing job. They did exactly what I wanted them to do….to be wild and free and full of wonder. Because that’s the way it should be. Here are a few more photos from their session.
It’s supposed to be Fall Family Portrait Season. Someone needs to tell summer it’s time to go.
I like my weather forecast with a side of humor. When you are in a job that is so weather dependent, it helps to be able to laugh. If you aren’t following US National Weather Service Nashville, you are missing out. Not only do they do a great job keeping everyone informed, they make me laugh pretty often.
The good thing is, I think this LOOKS like a Fall Portrait Session. I mean, would you have known it was 100 degrees outside if I hadn’t told you? Well, I guess they aren’t dressed in way that would make you think “chilly, fall day”, but they are gorgeous nonetheless.
I’ve been friends with this beautiful family for about five years now and have been photographing them since 2015, when they won their first session through a Silent Auction for the school. Looking back at those photos from four years ago, it feels like time is flying so quickly. These babies aren’t babies anymore. What’s funny is that I see them quite often, but sometimes it takes looking through the lens to really SEE how quickly they change, even since last year. #Dontblink
I am grateful to have them in my life and ot be able to capture their wonderful personalities. Some of these photos made me laugh out loud when I was editing. ๐คฃ
It’s officially the busy season. Like accounting, family photography is a very seasonable business. It doesn’t have to be…you can have beautiful family portraits taken any time of year. But many people prefer their family photo sessions to be booked in the fall. So if you need me, I’ll either be shooting, or editing. Or at the ice rink editing, because it’s also almost hockey season.
There are still a few spots left, but they are going quickly. Don’t wait too long to book yours today.
It would be nice if someone would tell the weather that it’s Fall portrait session season because this weekend was way hotter than I had hoped, but my clients were troopers.
These beautiful people are old friends of mine that you might remember from last Spring. I’ve been photographing Lucy since she was very young, and Arya literally since her birth. Arya was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor as a baby. You can read about her story here. She is one of the little ones who inspired me to get involved with the Gold Hope Project. She had her most recent MRI in April and continues to show no signs of cancer. ๐
This Spring Hill photo session included two of my favorite things…toddlersย and lovies. As a photographer, I absolutely love including a child’s favorite objects in a photo session.
Margot loves her special doll and carries her everywhere, and she did not want to put her down for our session, and that is absolutely OK with me. I’m good with the lovie or comfort object for two reasons. ย First, Margot is a little bit shy and allowing her to carry her doll all throughout the session made her more comfortable and that’s exactly what I want to do. ย But besides that, I really like having the doll in the photos anyway because it is a part of who she is at this moment. ย It makes the photos more meaningful because someday she will look back on them and smile as her parents remind her how she use to carry her doll everywhere she went. ย โค๏ธ
If your child has an object or lovie they are particularly fond of, I recommend you bring that item to your family portrait session. Not only will having the object be a comfort to them, but it will also make for great memories when you look back at the photos. Lovies can come in all kinds of forms. If you think your child’s lovie is unusual, check out this article about one little girl’s unusual choice for a comfort object. LOL
Oh and don’t worry about little Margot in the photo of her towards the end where she’s crying. She had fallen down and got a tiny boo boo, but she only cried for about half a second.ย
Are you looking for a Spring Hill photographer? Contact me today to book a session. for your family.
What a gorgeous day for a photo session for sweet baby Abigail. Who would even know that it was December already because the weather for this Sunday’s sessions was absolutely perfect, sunny and fairly warm. My only complaint is that it was muddy, which isn’t the best when you are trying to photograph a baby, but with some blankets, we made it work.
And isn’t she just the cutest thing? This sweet girl did such a great job for our session. She so clearly adores her mommy and daddy and they were so easy to be around and to photograph. I think my favorite photos are the ones on the swing at the end. Abigail really enjoyed swinging with her parents, and the light was just gorgeous.
First of all, I want to say that any time of year is perfect for a family portrait session. The important thing is to get them done, and to do it regularly, preferably at least once a year as our littles ones grow so fast and are constantly changing. Beautiful memories can be captured any time of year. I’m now booking January photo sessions, and those can be absolutely beautiful (you just need to dress warmly!)
With that being said, lots of my clients really want that gorgeous fall color, and ask me when they should schedule family portrait sessions to get that color. I always hesitate to answer because mother nature is unpredictable and I cannot promise you we will get beautiful fall color at all. Sometimes, an early freeze or drought conditions or other things can put a damper on that beautiful autumn color.
But I can tell you, after some experience and actual forecasts, when to schedule your session to get the best chance of gorgeous color, and that is the first weekend of November (the last weekend in October is a good second choice). That’s when our fall colors peak here in Middle Tennessee. I find a lot of clients who assume it happens a lot earlier than that, and that’s probably because it does up north. Our friends in Michigan saw their autumn peak several weeks ago (and now they are getting snow!).
This beautiful family portrait session from this weekend is a bit past the peak. The sessions I did the weekend before had a lot more color, but I can’t share those with you at the clients request (some are surprise Christmas gifts, and we don’t want to ruin the surprise!) But I’m so glad that this family had such a beautiful day! We had actually rescheduled this session from earlier in October because of rain. Are they not absolutely stunning! I’ve known this gorgeous family for years, but this is the first time I’ve been able to photograph them. They were so much fun to capture and I hope they love the photos as much as I do.
The autumn leaves are going to be gone very soon, so get out and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous color while it lasts!
I wish that I could say that this was a lovely, easy experience, but that would be a lie.
Last weekend, I was quite surprised when my husband suggested that we do a family photo session of our own. It seems like every year I forget to Schedule time for our photos and end up scrambling to get them done. But he is usually the last one who wants his picture talken, so I was pleasantly surprised when he reminded me. So I set off to find outfits for everyone that two tweenage girls wouldn’t whine about.
I was lucky and found things that everyone was happy with, except my husband who complained that it was still too hot for long sleeves. Oh well … you can’t please everyone.
So I was all set, and then it rained.
And rained.
And rained some more.
And finally, yesterday, the sun came out. So we all got dressed and drove out to the new park that I had never been to but wanted the check out. And as soon as we got there, my oldest started complaining that her head hurt. Because I knew that meant she’d never cooperate, we went home. Of course as soon as we got home, she felt better.
But that is how it goes. So no problem, because guess what??? There are TWO magic hours inthe day! So we got up bright and early this morning and headed out.
The bad part was that it was super wet from the dew and the kids didnt want to walk too far in it to explore the farm. And I got soaked from kneeling in it. And we got there later than I I wanted and the sun was brighter than I would have liked causing horid grass colors.
But the dew in the grass and all the spider webs were absolutely stunning. And it wasn’t hot at all. We also finished in time to go to a pancake breakfast for a friend’s gymnastics team, so score!
When Jessica contacted me about doing this family portrait session, she told me that she was going through a divorce, and wanted a way to document a new beginning for she and her daughter, Kaila. She wanted the photos to show a strong, united pair.
I think that documenting new beginnings is a perfect reason to schedule a portrait session. I thought Jessica’s words in her survey to me were beautiful.
She said ” I want to show Kaila that we are still a family even though we’re divided now and that we will be stronger and better from everything. I want her to see how much love there is for her and how much fun we can have together.”
I love it when clients really put their thoughts and feelings in my client survey. It really helps me to have an emotional connection with them, and to understand truly what the photos mean to them. I can’t even explain why this matters. The closest I’ve come to verbalizing why it matters to me is the quote by David Alan Harvey that says “Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.”
Maybe it’s all in my imagination, but I somehow think I do a better job with the photos when I feel that connection to the clients story.
I know it felt super easy to capture a strong, united pair when I was photographing Jessica and Kaila. Photographing mothers with their babies (no matter how old!) is always one of my favorite things and I just loved watching these two interact with each other. It’s so obvious just by the look in Jessica’s eyes that there is so, so much love for this beautiful little girl.
I’m so in love with the beautiful wardrobe choices that my friend Emily made for her family’s summer portrait session. I admittedly don’t feel like the best person to be giving advice about wardrobe choices, as fashion has never been a topic I have felt particularly comfortable with, but I absolutely know what I like for a session when I see it, and this is it.
I’m drawn to colorful photographs and prefer rich, deep colors & jewel tones. I don’t mind a good neutral color scheme either, but its colorful choices like the ones below that I really love.
Lucy’s dress is definitely the focal point, and when choosing clothing for a family photo session, that’s a great way to start…pick one person’s outfit (doesn’t really matter who) to be the focal point and then build the rest of the choices around that one piece. I’m obsessed with this deep mustard like yellow color, as I think it looks beautiful in most outdoor photos (deep purple is also a fantastic choice). But I do warn clients to be careful with yellow, because if it’s too neon, it can create a color cast on the person’s face which is really hard to correct in post processing. But Lucy’s dress is just right.
And I love how Maggie is wearing a bit more neutral of a top to balance out the bold print of Lucy’s dress, but ties in the floral pattern in her shorts. And mom’s orange pants are the perfect pop of color and look beautiful with the mustard. It all comes together looking beautifully coordinated, but not to matchy matchy.
What do you think? What are your favorite colors for photographs?
I’m really struggling with how to start off this post, so I’m going to jump right into it.
This is my beautiful friend Chelsea and her daughter Molly. Chelsea is one of the most kind hearted and loving people I’ve ever met and would literally give the shirt off of her back to anyone who needs it. And my heart is hurting for her.
I’ve been photographing Chelsea & Molly for several years now. Last year, she wanted to include her parents and her brother Chris in their session. Chelsea’s brother, Chris, had recently gotten out of jail. He had struggled with addiction for years, but at the time, was clean and doing very well and the family was full of hope for his future. We met at Harlinsdale Farms and it was a gorgeous evening full of laughter and love, and of course photographs.
On Saturday, I photographed this session for Chelsea & Molly. They are one of my favorite families to photograph always, as the love and connection between these two is truly something special to capture.
On Sunday, Chelsea’s brother Chris lost his long battle with addiction.
Chelsea and her parents received the heartbreaking phone call that he had been found unresponsive at home and it was later confirmed that he died of an accidental overdose.
They loved him so and his loss is is heartbreaking for their family.
I sat with Chelsea last night and listened to her talk about her brother & how much she loved him. It has been years of heartbreak for her family, but she wants to focus on all of the good memories she has of him. I didn’t really know Chris at all, but I do know that he looked at his sister and his niece with such admiration and love.
As they mourn the loss of his precious life, Chelsea and her family hope that Chris’s story may help someone else to seek the help they need to overcome addiction. And to seek help again, and again and again, until they beat it, if that’s what is necessary. When lost in addiction, a person might believe that their life doesn’t matter. But I promise you, it matters. Addiction impacts so many people and has reached epidemic proportions. Below are the beautiful faces of people who have been heartbroken by this disease.
Chelsea & her family are asking that anyone who would like to honor Chris’s memory do so by making a donation to the Dismas House of Nashville. The Dismas house believes that second chances saves lives, and their mission is to provide a safe haven for offenders transferring out of prison to aid them in beginning a new life.
Sometimes, clients already have an idea of the type of location they would like to use for their family portraits, and other times they come to me for suggestions. Sometimes, my suggestions sound a little crazy and not like a “normal” place that you would want to have photos made.
You have to use your imagination.
Lucky for me, if you are a client who is also my friend, then you trust me when I say “meet me by the U-Haul place off the side of the street. That’s exactly what Erin did without blinking, and I love her for it.
I happened to notice the spot when I was scouting for light before our session, and it just called out to me. I snapped the first two photos below with my cell phone, just so I could show you how ridiculous it probably looked as a location option. It’s really kind of a dirty, uninteresting stretch of road with a broken down old building, a billboard facing the interstate, and a parking lot full of U-haul trucks.
But on this particular day, the light, the clouds, the wildflowers, a little fence and the way the weeds were growing caught my eye. Now, if I go back in a few weeks, I might find the place completely uninspiring, but for Saturday, it worked. So I wanted to show it to you as an example of how it might look to you, versus how it looks through my camera.
For when scouting out locations for a portrait session, the most important factor is the light, and then a healthy dose of imagination to see what it might look like through the lens of the camera.
Yes, it’s hot. I admit it. It’s summer in Tennessee. But it is possible to have a beautiful outdoor family portrait session in Summer, and to look as gorgeous as this family does, if you just follow a few easy tips.
1. Schedule your session for magic hour (the hour before sunset).
I always prefer sessions to be booked at magic hour, because that is when you get the most beautiful light. But this is especially true in summer, because let’s face it…none of us are going to survive the mid day heat.
2. Choose a location with lots of shade.
This walking trail is one of my favorite spots for summer (and all year really) because it has gorgeous light, and plenty of shade to shelter us from the heat and scorching sun.
3. Dress for the weather
If you try to make these look like fall portraits, you are going to end up a hot sweaty mess. Shorts are wonderful, and light weight summer dresses are perfect for summer sessions. It won’t matter how pretty your clothes are if you or your children are uncomfortable during the session. And remember my style of photography, and expect your kids to be running, jumping and playing…all the more reason to make sure their clothes are comfortable.
4. Stay hydrated.
I’ve taken to carrying a few water bottles with me recently to help clients stay refreshed, but if you think to bring along a few, that’s always a good idea.
I am so glad this family chose to brave the weather for a summer session because it was such a joy to meet them and photograph them. The personality in these two boys just had me smiling throughout my time editing these. I cannot wait to work on the rest of them.
