Mars Family Portraits: Scheduling for Your Best Time of Day

There are two ideal times of day for outdoor portraits when it comes to finding the best light: early morning and early evening. And depending on the time of year, your family’s makeup and routines, one of those times will be much better than the other. In the summer, I might suggest as early as 7 or 7:30 a.m. and I know that sounds like madness at first, but for some families with young children it makes a lot of sense because kids can wake up well before then. Plus, it’s still cool and the kids are still well rested. As a mom myself, I can say hands down, that my children are at their best in the morning. I’m sure that’s not the case for all little ones, but I think it generally applies to most children. And with my children, they’re less consistent in mood and behavior closer to dinner time, so for now, we are best photographed in the morning. And from a photography standpoint, the shadows are more spacious and open shade is where I like to spend most of my time photographing families because the light is even and soft. You really want to have the light coming from a low angle, behind or from the side, just not from above like it would at noon, causing squinting or shadows in the eyes. And for a warm, sunny look, it’s nice to use the sun as a back light in the early morning or at sunset.

But for the most part, I look for open shade, because kids like to move around a lot and I can focus on capturing the moment rather than having the distraction of continually adjusting my exposure in the changing lighting. On overcast days, lighting is a breeze just about anywhere and we have a lot of days like that in Pittsburgh, but you can’t count on it, so it’s best to plan for closer to when the sun is rising or setting. And if your family is not made up of morning-people, then early evening is your best bet. It is really the better of the two best times of day, because shooting into sunset, the light gets prettier and prettier, where as shooting after sunrise, the light gets increasingly harsh as the sun continues to rise. But that’s not to say that you can’t capture great portraits in the morning.

Another trick I like to use for little ones on the move is to bring chairs. Not for their form, but all for function. When you have the right sized chair, kids will sit for a bit, and this was the perfect way to keep these darling two-year old twins off of the wet grass and stationary enough to get them looking at the camera at the same time. Plus, their mama’s trick of singing Happy Birthday with some fun variations got them giggling and we all started cheering for them and what a good job they were doing and it was like magic!

We walked around their neighborhood in Mars, Pa., and stopped at the community playground for some candid shots on the playground. This is such a natural opportunity for lifestyle photography. Love the smiles when kids are at play.

It’s unscripted, pure joy at this age!

And we walked back to their home for some portraits in front of their front door, which happened to be in open shade.

After getting some great shots of the family, we brought in their dog for a few. What a sweet family!

And if you’re not sure what time of day, suits your family, give me a call. Sunset and sunrise changes throughout the year, so there’s a wide range of times depending on the season. I’d be happy to help you figure out your best bet!