Mars Family Portraits: Scheduling for Your Best Time of Day

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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.

cranberry area portrait

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!

twins portraits

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.

lifestyle photography at the playground

It’s unscripted, pure joy at this age!

photographing kids at play

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

family photo at the front door

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

family with dog

family portrait with pet

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!

Pittsburgh Family Portraits: Riverview Park

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Family portraits with kiddos this little keep me on my toes. They actually used to intimidate me before having my sons who have trained me well in the four years since I became a mom. However, I still feel that before every session with young children, I need to manage expectations, mine included as I know how it feels as a mom to want just one perfect photo of my boys at their best behavior in adorable clothing, with no distractions in the background and good lighting. Actually, I’m not sure most moms have put this desire into words, and even more unlikely those words, but I feel they want something along those lines.

Before becoming a mom, I would have disregarded this photo below. But now I know better to appreciate it. Isn’t this the way it goes sometimes? Wardrobe is carefully planned. Everyone is looking great and there’s just this one thing that isn’t working for this family – this little guy hates laying in the grass. Mom and daughter look great and Dad is trying his best to comfort his son, but it’s just not happening. But fussy baby boy and all, aren’t they a sweet family? And this moment is one that should make them smile someday—remembering what they did in pursuit of the perfect photo. It’s real life and this image was a part of the set in their gallery. We never did get all four of them to smile, or just look at the camera, while they were laying in the grass in this beautiful lighting, but how could I not share this sweetness?

family portrait laying in the grass

There’s something I love about photographing one-year olds. I love how they can look into the camera with no inhibition and really just study it with no pretense for smiles. I have some portraits like this of my sons and they’re still some of my favorites to this day.

happy baby boy

And then they get bigger and learn how to turn on the charm for the camera (when they’re in the mood to comply, that is!) and that is just downright charming.

big sister

For little guys like this one, a ride on daddy’s shoulders is a sure-fire way to get some good father and son portraits.

father and son

And this little sweetheart just did something funny that made her mama laugh and this was the embrace in the moments that followed.

mother and daughter

We did get a couple of family portraits where everyone is looking at the camera and content to be photographed. And that’s a reasonable expectation when it comes to family portraits with little ones. The expectation of getting all smiles is sometimes a tall order, depending on the age and particular mood of the kids in that moment. I do share some things I’ve learned about trying to cultivate a positive environment for photo shoots on my Getting Ready page and it’s definitely worth checking out before your session. I’ll continue to add what I’m learning along the way because I want sessions to go well and understand all of the pressure that comes with getting ready for a photo shoot.

family portrait

And here’s the moment where this little brother and big sister simultaneously shared in big smiles—as they were looking through this park bench! I’ll take it!

brother and sister all smiles

Family Portraits: North Boundary Park, Cranberry, Pa.

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This family portrait session was rescheduled due to rain and when we finally got together to shoot, we had a double-dose of sunshine at North Boundary Park in Cranberry, Pa. And the weather was truly fitting for this sweet family as they are fostering to adopt this precious little boy and girl, only a few months apart in age—a double dose of sunshine for sure!

piggy-back portrait

This family is in different stages of adoption and foster care for each child. And I’m only sharing photos that don’t show the little girl’s face for her protection and the protection of her “first” family and foster parents. So this set of photos is short, but I think you’ll agree, there’s no shortage of sweetness! Just love seeing them play and having fun.

playing with daddy

And this capture might be my favorite of the day, it’s Super Girl!

super girl!

Foster and adoptive families have a special place in my heart and I know that this mom and dad feel strongly about foster care too because I asked them before sharing these photos on my blog and I just need to share what this mama said, “Our family was created differently and may not be permanent; however, the love and care we have for one another is. There are so many things that can be hard and emotional about fostering; but you know what? It’s not about me and my husband…it is about her and him and the love they need at that moment. These pictures capture that and can also help piece together important parts of their lives.”

Oh the tears! It’s just such a beautiful expression of love.

family walking together

Blessings to this dear family!

From the Everyday to the Time-Stands-Still Moments

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When my friend asked me to come and photograph the reuniting of her family after her husband’s deployment, I knew I was being invited into an emotional and very personal victory in the life of her family, one that represents overcoming incredible sacrifice and the sheer joy of embracing after a long separation.

lifestyle portrait

My friend is like no other woman I know. She is strong and fearless—and while I know that no matter how strong she is, what she has done over the past 10 months while her husband was away is really hard. She cared for their three children, gave birth to their fourth, ran a household and just didn’t slow down the entire time her husband was serving our country overseas.

super mom

I just have to note, their baby’s onesie reads, “I’ve waited my whole life to meet my daddy.”

waiting for daddy

The kids were such troopers waiting for their daddy, even with a one-hour flight delay.

He's here!

This is their first sight of his bus that shuttled the soldiers in from the tarmac.

At last, daddy's home!

The kids ran when their mom said, “there he is!” and there was some confusion on where he was coming from, but they eventually all found one another.

a soldier meeting his baby

And here’s where daddy gets to meet his baby girl for the first time. I’ll just share the rest of these because my eyes tear up every time.

Looking at her daddy face-to-face

their second "first kiss"

snuggles

teary-eyed embrace

Going home together

This day couldn’t be happier and I’m so moved with thanks and awe at what this soldier and his family have done.

Cranberry Family Portraits

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Family portraits can be tricky especially when multiple families are involved, but this family made it easy and I got to photograph them in their beautiful wooded backyard again so this session was a walk in the park, or more literally, the woods. Ha!

We started with the largest group so I could make sure we achieved their main goal, which was the whole family in one portrait, as part of the family lives overseas so that doesn’t happen very often.

extended family portrait

Then we did smaller groupings of the individual families.

family portrait in woods

With all of the foliage, I brought along some lighting gear, especially to accommodate the extra depth of focus needed for larger groups in low-light. And I love how the light blends with the natural light of the sun, bringing some dimension to the trees in the background and highlighting them from behind.

young family portrait

Here’s a shot with all of the grandchildren.

grandchildren portrait

And this brother and sister were really having fun while their grandma was making them laugh from behind my camera.

siblings portrait

I’m a sister, and my close cousins are both sisters, so sisters portraits are so sweet to me. We have lots of portraits like this one throughout our family.

sisters portrait

And while we were at it, we couldn’t leave out the couples. It’s always nice to remember who we were before becoming parents and take a little stroll down memory lane.

husband and wife portrait

married couple portrait

grandparents portrait

With a little time left in our session after crossing off all of the groupings they wanted for their portraits, we headed down the path to this beautiful lake. It’s so vivid with the setting sun, that I feel like I have to note that it’s not a backdrop or manipulated in Photoshop. This is the real deal, and it is gorgeous!

large family portrait