What is the best time of year for family photography?

What is the best time of year for your family photography session? Well, ultimately, you can have your family photography at any time of the year! But there are lots of things to take into consideration, and I’ll run through a few of these here. Hopefully this will help you to decide when to organise your own family photography. I’m always happy to answer questions if you want to chat through options.

The two main things to take into account are the weather, and the light. Most families are mainly concerned about the weather when they book their session with me. I am always happy to be flexible with bad weather. If we need to postpone a session, then it’s never a problem to do this. I’ll chat through options with you, and we’ll always have a plan B in place. So don’t worry too much about the weather!

It’s actually more important to think about the light. The quality of light makes such an enormous difference in photography, and can really elevate your photos. Depending on the season, there will be times in the day when the sunlight can be incredibly bright. Softer light is much more flattering for family photos, and I would recommend planning around this where possible. Let me explain the seasons in a bit more detail.

Spring

Spring is always a really great option. The sunlight is lovely and gentle, and the days are getting warmer. Nature will provide a really fantastic backdrop, with new growth everywhere, spring flowers giving lots of colour, and blossom on the trees. It’s probably my favourite season all round! There is something so appealing about enjoying the outside after the winter months, so March and April are always really gorgeous for family sessions. It’s a lovely time to get out into nature and really make the most of the time of year.

In Spring, I’d particularly recommend sessions where we can make the most of any spring flowers. I really love soft sunlight filtering through leaves, and if there is also blossom on trees it can be such a beautiful backdrop. It’s particularly lovely to really get a sense of the time of year.

Here are a few examples of images from Spring family sessions:

Summer

Summer is hugely popular for family sessions and always my busiest time of the year. I’m often contacted by families visiting the South West for their holidays, and it’s an ideal opportunity to have family photos. However, there are a few things to really consider when planning a session at this time of year. In the summer, the sun is high and strong in the middle of the day and I’d suggest avoiding this where possible. A lot of my family photography sessions take place on beaches, and it can get so busy, particularly in the afternoon. It can also be really hot if it’s sunny.

So for summer sessions, I highly recommend having your session in the evening. If we are lucky with the weather, then the light will be soft and golden. Even younger children usually find that it’s exciting enough to head out at this time of day.

Have a look at the following images, which were all really wonderful sessions, but in the middle of the day with very bright sunlight:

And compare them to these ones, taken at a similar time of year but in the evening. The light is so much softer, the shadows on faces less harsh, and you get that lovely golden glow:

If you do want to have your session in the middle of the day, then I’d recommend an area with some trees or other greenery, and various different options, then we can work with the bright light and heat. These images are all from sunny summer sessions, but in locations with a bit more shade:

If you are not sure what would be the best time of day for your summer session, then don’t worry. I’ll always chat things through with you, and I can help suggest places that would work for your family at the time of day that you would prefer.

Autumn

Autumn has a different appeal as a season, and is absolutely wonderful for family photography sessions. You can get such beautiful colours in the trees as the leaves start turning. I know lots of lovely spots in Devon where we can find a bit of autumn colour, so do ask if you’d like suggestions. You’ll need to wrap up a bit warmer at this time of year, so it’s a session with a different feel to it. Chunky jumpers, scarves and hats all work really well with the autumn backdrop. There is something really wonderful about walking in the forest, playing in fallen leaves, etc. If we get a sunny day at this time of year then it can just be utterly gorgeous – soft, warm light. It’s also a great time to start thinking about Christmas presents. A lot of my families plan photography sessions for the autumn and have beautiful photos ready to gift over the holiday season.

Winter

You may be surprised to hear that I actually really love winter for family photography. I wrote a blog post about this winter session in the winter, which you can read here. I’ve talked a lot about the light, and this is why I love winter so much. At this time of year, any sunshine is always stunning. The low sun casts such a gentle light, and it’s just beautiful for photography. As it’s often pretty chilly out at this time of year, one option to consider is having some photos at home and just a few outside at the end of the session. Or having the main session outside and then some photos snuggling up at home afterwards. We can chat about what would suit your family best.

It’s absolutely fine to have whole session outside. If the forecast is bad then I’m always happy to keep things flexible, so we can find a slot that works. It’s a great time to wrap up in some lovely knitwear and embrace the season. I think that clothing colours and textures can particularly help at this time of year. If you’d like to read more advice about what to wear, then pop over to this blog post.

Find out more

I hope that this gives you a bit more information about what is the best time of year for your family photography. As I said above, I’m always happy to chat things through and explain more about what would work best in the different seasons. And you can always have a session at home at any time of the year! If you’d like to find out more, then please do get in touch!