The Best Time To Take Beach Family Portraits

The beach can be a BEAUTIFUL setting for family portraits. But due to lighting challenges, I only recommend beach family portraits at certain times of the day. Here are a few tips on when to schedule beach family portraits 🙂

When To Avoid The Beach

First and foremost, there are certain times that taking family portraits at the beach is not ideal. Perhaps the worst time to take beach family portraits is on a Holiday or long weekend. Holiday and long weekends tend to be MUCH busier than a normal weekend. This can not only make it difficult to take pictures – without people in the background. But it can also make it hard to find parking.

The Light Is The Best In The Evening

The ABSOLUTE best time to take beach family portraits is in the evening. In the evening, the sun is low in the sky – which creates soft and flattering lighting. People often also refer to this as “golden hour” because the color of the light in the evening is a very vibrant, golden hue.

Cloudy/Overcast Days Are Also Great For Soft Lighting

Although it is difficult to coordinate, cloudy or overcast days are also the perfect time for outdoor portraits. When the sun is high in the sky, this creates harsh, unflattering lighting. For this reason, I do not recommend scheduling family portraits at the beach when the sun is high in the sky. However, if there are a lot of clouds in the sky, they can diffuse and soften harsh afternoon lighting. And it creates lighting similar to the evening.

Weekdays Work Better Than The Weekend

If you’d like to avoid crowds, a great time to schedule family portraits is during the week. During the week, there are times where it seems like you have the beach all to yourself. Especially if you are self conscience about people being around while you are taking pictures.

Hopefully this brief article has been helpful. Thanks!