As 2019 comes to an end, and a new year starts, I wanted to talk about timing of photos. I often get asked “what’s the best time of year to have photos done?!” I completely understand your concern; besides the financial investment of capturing your family as you are right now, you are investing time out of your busy schedules and it’s valuable time. You want it to be the best.

I honestly think anytime of the year is great! As long as it’s not pouring (or a snow storm!) I don’t reschedule my sessions.

Of course there are a few things to consider though;

1. Time of day. Depending on the season, sunset can be really early or extremely late. Since I try to schedule sessions about an hour before sunset, during the summer that means we might not start until 7:30. I can certainly work with your schedule if you have really young kiddos that don’t do well staying up past bedtime. We will work with a location that has open shade, or even do a morning time session. During the late Fall, sunset can be as early as 3:30, and that can be hard for busy extra curricular activities on the weekends. So keep the timing of year in mind.

2. Clothing. What do you envision your family wearing? Do you want a lot of skin showing? If so Spring and Summer sessions are great for tanks, shorts and lighter colors. If you want more vibrant colors and a cozy feel, you’ll likely be wearing chunky sweaters and layers in the Fall and even coats in the winter. So make sure you think about the feel you want your photos to have.

3. Locations. Depending on the time of year, where you have your photos can change. In the Fall, a local park with beautiful foliage works well. Where as summer, the beach or stream can be beautiful at sunset, but too cold any other time of year. During the winter, more of a downtown urban feel can be fun, or an open field with the snowy hills behind you.

   No matter what time of year you have photos done, the most important thing is that you are spending time with your family, laughing, playing, loving on one another and letting me capture your beauty and connections for you to look back on for years. So don’t worry so much about “the perfect time” as there really isn’t one 😉

P.S. This month I’ve joined a group of photographers around the country to share our work! Tanya Moon is a Nashville Tennessee Photographer/Educator. She’s sharing some great tips on photography projects to help improve your photography in the New Year! I’ll definitely be checking it out and hope you will too. Happy New Year!