Deciding on the Best Location for Your Family Photo Session
There are so many different options for your family’s photo session! But, what makes the best location for your family?
1. Your family’s style.
Are you laid back? Adventurous? Goofy? I want to make sure you’re in a location that will best suite you and your family. For example, my family is kind of loud and we are a bit casual. So, I love to photograph my family at a location that may have bright colors. In Arizona, The Mesa Arts Center in Downtown Mesa is great for colorful images! I have a teenage boy, so I would also want to make sure it accommodates him and his personality. If I am photographing a family with multiple toddlers/children, I also want to make sure that they don’t get bored of the location.
2. Variety in one place / location.
I also want to make sure there is a variety to photograph. When I am first photographing your family, we will do your posed shots first. Then we will “play” if you will, a little. When I mean play, I want your family and you to interact with each other. To me, as a photographer, those are the authentic images you want. Let’s go back to the Mesa Arts Center...there are a variety of places with different backgrounds. And so many colors and textures! There is a stairway, another spot with giant yellow circles, and a water set up.
3. Environmental Colors.
You will also want the right colors for our session. How are you displaying your images? Are they being hung in the family room? Or the hallway? How about the kids’ bedrooms? A photo album? There are so many different ways for you to display or keep your images. You don’t want to display images of your family on the wall in your farmhouse style home if they don’t “match” the aesthetic. A lot of families that live in Arizona, have Arizona themed styling in home, so families choose to do their sessions in the desert locations I have chosen. The cacti in the images and the colors, definitely complement your Arizona styled session. Some families have a more modern look, so we may want their location to be somewhere more classic or maybe a warehouse type theme.
4. Distractions.
We also want to make sure there aren’t a lot of distractions during your family session. Especially with small children. Sometimes, a lot of activity at the park will distract your little ones. Sometimes, there is an event nearby where there are a lot of interactions happening. You will never have to check for events happening during your family session when booked with me though, I will check that beforehand! But, it is a consideration if you choose this location anyway. Or if you’re having an engagement session if your honey, you will want your significant other’s full attention when he or she is looking into your stunning eyes!
5. Do you want it to be meaningful?
You can also decide on a location that has meaning to you and your family. For my husband and I, we are planning an anniversary trip to have a photo session where he proposed (on top of a mountain in Colorado!). That location, I want to always remember. Did your husband/wife or fiance propose at a special spot? Let’s plan it there! I’ve had a family photograph their children in front of the construction of their future high school being built. Mom also wants me to photograph their senior session there...what a meaningful image she will have!
I will always want your input when choosing a location. For families that have not been photographed by me previously, I don’t know you guys yet! I want you to give me your ideas so we can decide which location is going to fit you the best. Some families have been shooting with me for 5-6 years. How do we decide then? We pick different locations as the girls get older, to “match” them with how their personality is at that time.
I am excited to hear about which location you decide on!