It’s one thing to plan an intimate family shoot with your partner and kids and another to plan a session that includes all of your extended family. In most instances, family needs to travel from different locations, and you need to account for different age groups too.

Before you get too stressed out though, have a read through these key considerations.

-         Accessibility. Whether it’s older family members or those with special needs, make sure that your shoot location caters to this. The easier it is for everyone to get to and around your location, the better. For example, you may have your heart set on an outdoor location but if there is a lot of uneven terrain, someone could fall and injure themselves. 

-         Backgrounds. Since there are already a lot of people in your photo, you want to avoid locations with busy and distracting backgrounds. What’s more, a location with lots of distractions could make it more difficult to coordinate smaller children.

-         Lighting. Ideally, you want to shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. If this won’t be possible due to scheduling, aim to find a venue with good lighting. And by this, we mean, natural lighting. If you need to shoot at an odd time of the day, search for an indoor venue with lots of windows. 

-         Weather. Lastly, keep the date of your shoot in mind when choosing a location. What is the weather likely to be and would this still work with the location you have in mind? It will also help you better plan your outfits. 

These basic considerations are all you need to find the ideal location for your extended family session. And if you’re fresh out of ideas, your photographer can always help with a little inspiration! When shooting with me the location possibilities are endless as long as there is good signal of course!

If you would like to get on my calendar or have any questions, hit reply for the link and I am happy to give you answers and send you whatever info you need!