Where will you see your images, what will you be wearing, and where do you feel most like yourselves?

– Where will you be displaying your images?  Think of the colors of your home.  Will  beach images look odd among your home decor? Will Urban look out of place in your super modern home?

– What are you going to wear? You don’t want to be wearing high heels and pearls on the beach, so consider what you are wearing. If you want to wear high heels and pearls, then lets choose a formal country club with lush landscape and paved walkways.

– Where do you feel comfortable?  You want your images to show your family and the joy you have together.  Think of a location that helps you feel comfortable, relaxed and where you can be yourselves.

Your Home:

I’m personally obsessed with getting my family photos taken in our house every once in a while.

By choosing to have your photos taken at home you are able to get a more “lifestyle” feel to your images.  It is as though, you are living your everyday life and it is being captured. Its honestly truly special, especially with young children. For tips on a in home lifestyle session click the link below: https://butterflykissphotos.com/6-tips-for-your-in-home-lifestyle-session/

Beach:

Do you live near the beach and want to capture the location you spend your weekends at?  Maybe you are on vacation and want to remember the beautiful scenery.

The beach can be a great place to take family photos.  When looking for a great beach try to find one that isn’t just the sand and water.

More than sand: See if there is a board walk or tall grass near by.  Having these other areas to take pictures give can you some variety which would be great for an album or wall collage.

Think about your family:  Do your kids need a place to burn off some energy in the middle of the photo shoot?  The beach may be a perfect place for that.  They can run around and play with beautiful scenery so your photographer is still able to capture some amazing images.

Urban:

Urban photos are really popular and can be a lot of fun.  The texture and colors that an urban setting can offer are fantastic.  Again, think about your home and your style.  Is an outdoor urban setting for you?

Map it: Map out where you want to go and share that with your photographer.

Time: Take into consideration the time it takes to walk or drive to the different locations.  If you want a lot of props and urban location may be a bit more of a challenge to carry all those items with you.

Crowds: Keep in mind as well how busy the area is.  You do not want a ton of people in the background of your family photo. 

As a Photographer, I look for interesting locations, but also I look for the best light! You can have a so so background, but if the light is gorgeous and coming through perfectly, thats more important!

Fields:

Tall grass with golden light is very beautiful as well!  A field full of weeds can be surprisingly dramatic in a photograph.

Fields create their own set of issues as well as any other location.

Creepy crawlers: You may want to bring bug spray if you are doing a field photo shoot.  Mosquitos, ants, and spiders love tall un-mowed grass and may decide to join you.  And worse, snakes like it too so keep that in mind. I’ve thankfully have not encountered a snake on a photoshoot.

Property: Just because the field looks abandoned to you it is probably owned by someone.  Do a little research to figure out who owns it and get permission before you hop onto someone’s land.

You would be surprised at all the different locations a good photographer can make look amazing.  I’ve have taken pictures in a parking lot, and those too are amazing!