Deciding when to have your photoshoot?
So it’s time for your summer family photos – that means there’s a lot of things to pick! But one of the most important, is choosing when the session will take place. Now, if you’re booking a mini session, or taking advantage of a photographer’s exclusive sessions for the season, then you might not have a whole lot of options, because those types of sessions are specifically designed to be limited. And that’s okay!
But outside of mini-session situations (which are totally super cool in their own right, but I’m not going to change the subject) most of the time, you’re going to get to pick the time of day that your session will take place in (within reason). Which means for outdoor sessions, you’ve got the whole day to work with! And that includes golden hour.
What’s Golden Hour?
For the uninitiated, golden hour is that special time of day just before sunset, where the light is… well, golden. During different seasons and in different places across the world is lasts for differing lengths of time. So the timing window for golden hour in Minneapolis might be completely different from the window in another city.
The magic of golden hour is fairly well known – it shows up in photography everywhere from luxury fashion shoots to family photography, as it should. It’s objectively beautiful (yes, I will die on this hill).
But just like with everything, there are trade-offs to golden hour photography sessions, and honestly? Sometimes they’re just… not for you. Objective beauty and all. And if you’re in the process of trying to decide whether a golden hour photoshoot is what you need for your next family session, these are the handful of things to look at most closely while you’re choosing!
Consider the schedule your little ones work best with
The first thing I tell any family to consider when they’re deciding what time of day their photography session will take place in, is what schedule works best for their kiddos. There are a ton of reasons for this – but most important to me personally, is we want to make sure that your session is as low stress as possible for everyone involved. That means you, AND your children. And kiddos who’ve been overstretched and overstressed and overstimulated up long past their bedtime… let’s just say they’re not the most cooperative in front of the camera. Or in the car on the way to the session. Or when you’re getting them ready to come see me.
I’m a mom. I know exactly how rattling it can be trying to get frustrated kids to do what you want them to, especially if that thing feels high pressure, because you’re going to get an album of photos of it at the end. What I’m saying here, is that although I truly can work magic with kids of all ages and attitudes… we want as many variables working in our favor as we can possibly manage.
And since golden hour is sometimes past little one’s bedtimes, it might just not be workable for your family. And that’s okay!!
Think about what’s going to look amazing printed in your home
Next up on your list of things to think about, is how the final images are going to look hung in your home once they’re printed! Your final images deserve to do more than gather pretend digital dust on a hard drive forever. They deserve to be seen, and to prompt the amazing memories from the day you took them.
And that means one of the things to think about before any session, is how it’s going to match up with your home decor! We’ve already talked about how golden hour is objectively gorgeous – but… it does have a specific look. It’s warm. It’s golden – it’s out in nature. And although I personally think photos with lush florals and bright pops of sunset belong in any room, I also know that not everyone shares my (sometimes eclectic) style. So think about whether images taken at golden hour, edited in the style of the photographer you plan to work with, will look the way you want your images to look in your home! Will they line up with the vibe of your livingroom? If so, then golden hour might be a good plan. If not… there are always other options!
Remember photographers are magicians… but we don’t control the weather!
This one is kind of a big deal. Look, photographers are super cool. We can make seemingly impossible imagery happen. We can draw smiles out of sassy teens. But what we definitely can’t ever do… is control the weather.
We don’t get to have any influence, whether we want it or not, on whether it’s going to end up overcast during your session four weeks from now. We don’t know whether it’s going to rain. And if either of those things do happen, we’re as powerless to change it as you are. Most of the time, if a session truly needs a rain date, it’ll get one – but rescheduling to a day with a different look in the sky… usually isn’t as on-the-table.
So before you get your heart set on a golden hour session, it’s a good idea to also take a look at the portfolio of the photographer you’re hoping to work with, and check out their cloudy-day work too! You want to truly love the potential options, whether it’s going to be cloudy, or it’ll be a show-stopping golden sunset.
Golden hour photoshoots are amazing, but they don’t work for every family
Like I’ve said, I’ll be the first to tell you how incredible the final images from a golden hour session can be. Whether the sun is just peeking through the leaves, or the sky looks painted on, they’re just gorgeous. But that doesn’t mean a golden hour photoshoot is the best choice for every family, every session, or every situation. So think through these questions, before you choose the time of day for your next family photo session!
Thinking about scheduling a family photo session?
If it’s about time to get your next session on the calendar, then it’s ALSO about time we have a chat! I’d love to help walk you through the sessions I have available, whether any of my seasonal mini-sessions would work for you, and whether or not Golden Hour is the best time for your photoshoot. And if you’re hoping to hang the final images in your home… I can help with that too!
Golden hour really is pure magic for photography! The soft, warm light adds so much depth and emotion to family portraits, making them look timeless. I love how the natural tones enhance skin tones and create a dreamy backdrop. We also use similar principles in design — timing and lighting can completely transform the final look and feel of any creative work.