Extended family beach sessions are some of my most favorite sessions during the summer months. Your family vacation is the PERFECT occasion to have beach family portraits taken. This is likely one of the only times you and your extended family are all under one roof together and just having fun without the stress of a major holiday. Or maybe you’re getting together to celebrate a milestone birthday or wedding anniversary. Whatever the occasion, these sessions are so special because they allows me to highlight all the legacy’s that exist in your family for you to be able to cherish.
When it comes to extended family beach sessions I start all of them the same. After I arrive at your Sandbridge rental home, we will all make our way to your closest beach access point. I’ll introduce myself to your crew and go over a few tips and reminders before we start. First we take a large group photo with everyone together. This is usually the hardest one to capture so starting here ensures we get several good ones before moving into individual families.
Next I capture each individual family. I typically capture everyone together, the kids together & individual, Mom with kids, Dad with Kids & Mom & Dad together. I make sure to include a portrait of the Grandparents with each family. These are my standard groupings that I find most of my clients like. I will send you a family questionnaire in advance where you have the opportunity to tell me any specific groupings you would appreciate. I also ask you list out all of your family members and group them by family. From this I can make an organized group list to have with me for your session. This allows for efficient shooting which which everyone appreciates.
I like to work with the families that have the youngest children first. In my experience they appreciate this and I want to keep our littlest clients happy. That said, sometimes my youngest clients might need a few minutes to get comfortable or acclimate to this evening activity and in those cases I simply move to the next family and circle back. Flexibility is key.
After capturing all the families individually we move into other fun combinations. I love to capture the grandparents with all their grandchildren. It’s also a great chance to capture all the grandkids together. Depending on the ages of the grandkids this can sometimes require a little assistance from the parents.
I also love capturing the grandparents together as a couple, it’s so sweet.
Then, depending on the dynamics of your family I can capture special groupings. Some of these include parents with adult children, adult siblings or multigenerational combinations.
Because we’re shooting on the beach and the placement of the sun, I begin all sessions with the dunes behind you. As we get half way through our time together the sun comes down. Once it does I can flip you so that the waves are behind you. This will give you a little more variety in your final gallery.
As we wind down the session I like to capture a few candid images of your family enjoying the evening on the beach together. I always bring along a surprise for my littlest clients to reward them for “doing a good job” and allowing me to take their photos. This usually helps facilitate a few more smiles 🙂
Vacation season is around the corner and I invite you to inquire with me for availability during your vacation week here in Sandbridge. I would love to be your family photographer while you’re enjoying your beach vacation!
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