The Best Time To Take Beach Maternity Portraits

Advice On The Best Time To Take Beach Maternity Portraits

Scheduling maternity portraits at the beach can make for really nice images. Images at the beach have a really calm and peaceful feel to them. And they are much different than images taken at a park, for example. While the beach is a great place for portraits, they do need to be scheduled at certain times. Here are a few tips on the best time to take beach maternity portraits.

Early Mornings Or In The Evening Has The Best Lighting

One of the most common photography misconceptions is that the more light, the better. While light is very important (you cannot take pictures without it), the quality of the light is what makes for good images. A lot of this has to do with the angle of the sun. When the sun is really high in the sky, this creates really harsh lighting. What this means is that there are very hard transitions between bright and dark areas. If you take a look around, in the middle of the afternoon, you can clearly see this. There are areas all around you that are shaded and there are areas that are also really bright. Similarly, this will be the lighting on your face – if you were to take portraits. If you ABSOLUTELY had to take pictures, you could. But it would require the Photographer to work a lot harder than they probably want to!

Rather than taking pictures when the sun is really high in the sky, you’ll want to take it in the early morning or in the evening. At these times of the day, the sun is at a much better angle. And rather than the lighting being harsh, it is really SOFT. This is what you want for portraits at the beach 😉 This applies to most situations – but it is particularly important for sessions at the beach. The main reason being is that there are not trees or other structures that create shade. If you have to take pictures in the middle of the day, you’ll want to take them in shade. Shade also creates soft lighting.

Weekdays Work Well

If the weather is really nice, there is a good chance that the beach will be crowded. By scheduling the session on a weekday, you can almost guarantee the beach to yourself. In my experience, most people prefer to take images with less people around. You’ll also want to make sure that “high schoolers” are not on break. During breaks, kids are on the beach pretty much all day 🙂

Overcast Days Work GREAT As Well

Last but not least, overcast days are also really great. Similar to the lighting in the early morning and evening, overcast weather creates soft light. If the weather is supposed to be overcast all day, taking portraits in the middle of the day would not be a problem. Predicting this may be pretty hard to do though 🙂

Hopefully these are some useful tips on the best time to take beach maternity portraits! If you are interested in taking pictures at the beach – or any other location for that matter, I’d love to connect. The best way to reach me is through the contact form on my website. Thanks!