Family Memories With Your Okaloosa Island Photographer | 5 Tips

As an Okaloosa Island Photographer, I’ve learned a lot over the years, and today I would love to share 5 Tips for the best okaloosa island beach photographers portraits. I work with young families in Destin, Fl, and surrounding areas, who are looking for beautiful, connection-filled images of their sweet families. A lot of my clients travel from Atlanta, GA and even all the way up from Ohio, so planning from afar is even more challenging.

A session with your Okaloosa Island Photographer doesn’t have to be stressful

To some families, it can be stressful to even think about preparing for beach family pictures. Between choosing your Okaloosa Island photographer, a great location, the outfits you’ll wear, and convincing everyone to cooperate (hello toddler age). It’s a lot to consider; I get that. Your photographer should guide you in choosing the best location to fit your needs, family situation, and style that you want to achieve. A good photographer will even help you with outfit selection, or even offer outfits to use for the whole family*.

Here are your 5 Tips for the best outcome with photographers in Okaloosa island

I’ve put together five ways to have a successful family beach session. My tips are based on my own experience, business model, and interaction with clients, and I hope they might help you take some of the pre-session stress away and help you prepare with your photographers in Okaloosa island.

1. Outfits

Outfits are an essential part of your sessions, and choosing them is a strategic step in the process. Make sure you pick mom’s outfit first and coordinate other outfits accordingly. Flowy dresses, in neutral and pastel colors work best for mom. Solid muted colors help your Okaloosa Island photographer to create beach portraits that draw viewers’ attention to the subjects rather than their clothing. Therefore try to limit patterns, like large stripes, and stay away from big logos, graphics, and characters. Pay attention to how outfits compliment other family member’s outfits. Your family should be wearing clothing that flows together.

2. Time of Day

There are two main options for family portrait sessions at the beach – within an hour of sunrise or sunset. Once the sun comes up over the beach, the sunlight is harsh, and there is little to no shade available. The lighting is softer and very flattering at prime times. How do you decide which time of day is best for your family portraits?

What time of day is best for your family portraits?

Morning session Pro: A great perk to getting up early and having your pictures with your Okaloosa island beach photographers done in the morning is that you have the rest of the day off for other activities! If you want to avoid bigger crowds of people in your images, a morning session would probably be a good option. Are the kids in a better mood in the very early morning hours (I’m speaking of around 6.30 am)? Then you could benefit from scheduling a morning session.

Morning session Con: If you like to spoil yourself with hair and makeup services (highly recommended, please see next tip), most hair- and makeup artists are not available to get you ready in those early morning hours. Also keep in mind that some are grumpy morning people (not necessarily the kids ;)).

Evening session Pro: Evening sessions are magical because of the golden light. Here in Destin the sun sets to the right while looking at the ocean. It creates a unique opportunity to get beautiful backlit sun-kissed Okaloosa Island Beach photography portraits with the beautiful ocean in the background. As long as everyone isn’t tired from the day’s activities, or you have someone who needs to be in bed early, the evening might be the perfect option for your family. To avoid large crowds, I prefer weekday evening sessions.

Evening session Con: If your kids don’t get enough rest time during the day, the evening hours could be difficult for the littlest ones. I have a few tricks on how to entertain them, but sometimes you just have to embrace the mood they’re in. After all that is what they usually are during the early years <3.

3. Hair & Makeup: Recommended by your Okaloosa Island Photographer

For your Okaloosa Island beach photography portraits, I recommend a natural and relaxed look. Excessive makeup, a spray tan, an evening hairstyle, or a brand new haircut are things you should try to avoid. I always recommend beachy hairstyles like braids or wavy hair. It can get pretty windy at the beach.

Working with a Hair and makeup artist

Getting ready for a family photo session can be stressful, and I highly recommend to hire a professional for these services. You want to be relaxed and feel taken care of on your session day. Working with a hair and makeup artist does just that. Do you need someone locally in to do your hair and makeup for maternity/ family pictures? Once you book your session with me, I will send over my recommendation on who to book for these services.

4. Leave your belongings in the car, home or hotel.

Sunglasses, phones, bulky keys, large bags are all things you don’t need during your photo session. Storing anything in your pockets will show in photos and pull down your clothing which may also be uncomfortable. Just enjoy this time with your family to make memories with no distractions.

5. Must-have poses first – Okaloosa island beach photographers

Do you have a vision of your session? A lot of poses in mind? Ask your Okaloosa Island Beach photographers to get a few must-have poses first (like everybody looking into the camera), and then have fun at the beach and always go along with your photographer. He’ll know a few fun things to do with kids to capture the natural connections of your loving family. Just remember: whatever you do during your session, do it with a smile :).

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, it’s always best to take family memories to the next level with your Okaloosa island beach photographers. It’s not only great for the memory, but it’s also a lot of fun! Proposing a photo session is a great way to get your family out for some much needed bonding time. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of life and forget that plans can change at any given moment. One day these memories will be all you have left.

Since you are looking for an Okaloosa Island beach photographer, I’d love to chat with you about your family photography needs! Click this link to view my work and let’s start the conversation!

Looking for other Okaloosa Island photographer resources? Check out the links below!

• DESTIN FLORIDA PHOTOGRAPHERS
• MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY DESTIN FL