One of the main question we are asked when families, usually mums, are booking a family portrait session is whether they should go for a studio or an outdoor session. Our answer at the studio: it depends.
The first thing we need to know before helping with the choice is the age of the youngest child in the family. If that little family member isn’t able to sit up on their own then a studio shoot is usually the best choice otherwise they spend most of their time with a face in the sand, water, grass or a blanket while the older kids are having a great old time in the outdoors – not really fair or conducive to a good family photo.
There are times when this can still work though and that’s when the parents are aware that the baby will need to be held for most photos if we are heading outdoors and going for more natural images. This can still be a good idea if the older kids don’t have the attention span or ability to cooperate in a studio environment for an hour or so. Individual photos of the baby can still be taken but a blanket or rug will need to be used for these images.
Once the kids are a little older (at least sitting up) then an outdoor shoot is preferable in my opinion. The kids are more relaxed, they aren’t confined to a single room/studio, it’s much less stressful for the parents having their children away from all the studio equipment and kids tend to more like themselves when outdoors.
Obviously if the weather is bad or a client has a preference for studio images, that’s fine – studio it is.
For newborns, studio is the best way to get some amazing images but more on that in a blog to follow shortly.
This was a really special shoot for me as I photographed Tamara and Andrew’s wedding, I think five years ago. Here they are as a young and happy family – it was like getting together with old friends.
Another special shoot. I’ve photographed Ross & Sue’s children a few times over the years. This years shoot was in their backyard – Copacabana beach
It wasn’t all smiles for everyone though!
Its difficult to get beautiful expressions and lighting like this in an outdoor environment with babies of this age.
The brief from Danielle & Luke was to capture natural shots of their family in the outdoors. I think I’ve captured that in these images and still with consideration for composition, lighting & backgrounds.
For Angela & Karl’s girls it was a toss up between the outdoors or studio but after some discussion on what they were looking to hang on their walls we decided to go with the studio. I’m glad we did after seeing these photos.
One of my favourite images of the day – I love the expression of little Miss while her older sister applies some lip gloss before her call up to the camera.
