7 reasons for having your family photoshoot outdoors



Sometimes my kids pull out family albums, and I hear their happy chatter, remembering what happened in that photo, what kind of adventure they were having, who did the most silly thing - splashing each other in the sea, Maya putting sand on her brother's head, jumping on hay bales, having picnic on a hill watching sunset. I love hearing this, because I loved those moments.

And as a family photographer, this is the kind of photos I want to take for you.

Just imagine. Instead of dressing everyone nicely, driving to a studio and sitting still for 15-30 minutes while lights and reflectors are adjusted, posing is corrected and photos are taken, you are going outside to play, explore and have fun. You will share this experience as a family, and you will have natural and unique photos as a result. In all my years as a family photographer in Scotland and here in Sicily I've done dozens and dozens of shoots outdoors, parents and kids both love them, and here's why.



1. Photo sessions outdoors are great for those who might feel uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Things get busy very quickly when you are outside with your kids - you start to follow them, play and explore together, or just make sure they don't go too far. You relax, have fun and forget about the camera, that you were worried about posing before, or you were not sure what to do with your hands. You simply have no time for this - you are too busy! Plus, with natural style of photos there is no need to look at the camera all the time.



2. Nature

Depending on the time of the year, you can capture different seasons, colours and atmosphere in your photos. Outdoor locations offer a variety of backgrounds that will make your photos more versatile. In a forest or park there will be layers of vegetation, different shades of green, and the texture of plants. On the beach you have water with its changing color from shallow to deep, horizon, sky, possibly waves or clouds, rocks. Natural details like tall grass, blooms or leaves are great accessories for portraits, giving you truly unique and outstanding results. In a photo studio, you don't have so much diversity - changing the color of the backdrop is a change, but still it's only about the backdrop color.



You can also pick a location that is meaningful for you, where you go regularly. Beach is a special place for your family? So have the shoot on the beach with sandcastles, splashing and watching the sunset. These photos will always remind you of happy summer days on the beach. 

Love to be in the green, and stick is the most favourite toy of your kids? Then go to a park, forest or other natural area as the location of your family photoshoot. 


3. Natural light

Is another big bonus of a photoshoot outdoors. You have plenty of light everywhere, and don't need to always look in the same direction because of how the studio lights are set up, or wait while the lights and reflectors are being adjusted. 

If your shoot is taking place at sunset - it's even more special, it's impossible to replicate the golden sunset light in a studio. It's called golden hour for a reason, and the photos taken at this time are magic.



4. Space and freedom

You have plenty of it outside. On the one hand, you can move and play, your kids can run, hide behind the trees, climb rocks, chase each other, kick ball - whatever they feel like! Or you can just walk together and have a chat. You don't need to worry that they are too loud or doing something wrong for the photos, there is no such thing. Plus your photographer has space to move around you, capture different angles, big views and close ups.



5. Your kids will have a lot of fun, and you will too 

and the photos will show it!

Do you enjoy posing and smiling for the camera? What about your kids? Sure they do it when you ask, when the family is together or grandparents come over, or when you are visiting a new place and want to snap a photo for memories. But think about all the times you called them to look at you and pose for a photo when they were busy with something, playing and just being kids? Did you get nice expressions and smiles? 

During an outdoor family photo session, your kids are free to play and be themselves. They can make up stories and adventures, look for treasures or chase pirates - wherever their imagination and creativity takes them. You get all sorts of natural expressions and emotions - laughter, mischief, giggles, serious faces, happiness that all get captured in photos. You can smile or ask for a hug for the camera, but it will never look the same as the natural ones. 


6. It's more personal and unique than a studio photoshoot

Studio photos are always generic, even if they have nice décor and accessories, still they are used for many families, many photos and poses in the same way. Plus you can barely move in a studio, so all photos are either standing or sitting. Photos of your kids playing with rocks on the beach, or epic stick battles in a forest can never compare to sit-on-this-nice-chair studio portraits.

You can pick a location for your photoshoot, and go for a place that has a meaning for your family, like a favourite park where you often spend summer evenings. You can decide what to do, jumping on tree stumps or chasing each other, exploring plants, reading and cuddling, walking together on the beach or building sand castles. Each outdoor photo session is a different experience, and you get completely different photos that reflect you, your personalities and cheeky smiles of your kids.


7. They capture the most important thing

Love in your family, and happy childhood of your kids

Family life is not all nice and easy - there are busy days, late dinners, too much homework, running circles between school-pool-work, sorting out sibling fights and picking Lego on the floor. There are also silly jokes and banter, holding hands and surprise hugs, tickles and belly laughs, cuddling together on the sofa to watch a movie, cooking together, all the energy and laughter of playing or walking outside together. These are the moments that make family life special and precious, these are the things we want to hold close and remember.

And this is what I will capture during your outdoor photoshoot. Photos that show the happy childhood of your kids, how much fun you had, how much you loved them. When you look at them in the future, you see that you were there as mom and dad, not worrying about dinner or dirty clothes and long drive home, but there with them playing, hugging, loving them. You see images filled with love and joy, your imperfectly perfect and uniquely you family.

Like the idea of an outdoor family photoshoot? Get in touch, let's chat about taking photos of your family!

Get in touch!

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