While you are planning and preparing for your family pictures you will have lots of questions. What to wear? Which location is best? Will my children behave? What time will our photos take place? Can we bring our dog? Should we bring anything to the session?

All are valid questions and as your Tacoma Photographer I have answers to all of these and more. Today we will be talking about when the best times are have family pictures and I will tell you there are not 1 right answer. Everything depends on 1 thing. So Let’s get into it!

Mom and dad steal a kiss while their kids look on with joy. Brooke Holliday Photography. Tacoma Family Photographer

So are family pictures better in the morning or afternoon?

Light is the most important thing in photography. With out light a photo can not be made. So in short lighting is the most important piece about picking the best time for photos. There are times of the day that wouldn’t work because the light will be too bright or too dim. But there are a couple other factors that will determine what the best time for your family pictures.

Let’s break down the 3 key factors that determine the best time of day for family pictures.

The location
The weather
Time of year

Location

Flat Locations where there are no areas of shade to break up the sun light. ( hot tip: direct sun light is not an ideal situation for photos unless your photographer is highly skilled) In these types of locations, like an open field or the beach, you would need to start your session near sunrise or sunset. This is because the sunlight will be less intense and provide very pretty even light for your photos, which is flattering for you!

Wooded locations where there are tree breaks like a forest or park will provide more opportunity to start your session a few hours earlier/later than sunrise or sunset.

Mountain locations where you are in a unique situation where the mountain will cause the sun to set earlier in the day will allow for a later/earlier start time.

If your session is taking place in your home then this is almost always going to be a mid morning start time like 10-10:30 AM. This is when the light is the best where the sun isn’t right above but not coming straight in the windows.

Weather

Weather will effect the start time of your family pictures. Aside from rain/storms which would result in a reschedule we have overcast clouds or sun. If there is sun then the time frames that I mention in the Location section above will apply. If you session day arrives and the forecast is calling for overcast clouds then the start time can be pushed about 1 hour earlier/later depending on if you are starting at sunrise or sunset.

If you choose to have family picture at home then the mid morning still applies because the weather isn’t a factor. (the great advantage to at home sessions!!)

Time of year

Probably one of the important factors is time of year! Here is the PNW and where ever you might live the sun rise and sets at different times. In the summer sessions typically start very early in the morning or pretty late in the evening because we have much longer days. Then in the winter the days are much shorter so your session will start later in the morning and much earlier in the evening, sometimes in the afternoon.

And like stated before at home family pictures can keep the same consistent time of 10-10:30 AM year round.

So there you have it. There is no perfect time to have family pictures take place. There are 3 key factors such as, location, weather and time of year that will determine the start time. Your pro photographer should be a resource for you in answering all your questions including what time your family pictures should start depending on those 3 factors. If you have other questions don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments!

Here are a few other blogs taking about commonly asked questions!