Early Morning Family Portraits At Vasona Park

Three Reasons Why You Should Consider Early Morning Family Portraits At Vasona Park

When it comes to lighting, the best time to take outdoor portraits is going to be in the early morning or in the evening. A this time of day, the sun is low in the sky and it creates soft, flattering lighting. But what is early? Of course, “early” means something different to each family – but early in terms of photography is around 8 am. Depending on the time of year, the sun will have risen no more than an hour or so at this time. And the closer to sunrise, the better. If you’re able to schedule family portraits in this window, I would highly recommend it. For this family portrait session, we chose to have it at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. Here are three reasons why your family should also consider early morning family portraits at Vasona Park 🙂

Other Than The Evening, The Early Morning Has The Best Lighting

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the early morning has really beautiful lighting. For family portraits, you want the lighting to be as soft as possible. This lighting occurs when the sun is low in the sky (mornings, evenings). With the sun being low in the sky, you are also able to shoot at a lot more locations within a park or venue. One of the most common misconceptions with photography is that the more light there is, the better. This is actually not the case. Although there is a lot more light in the afternoon, the quality of the light is very harsh. A way around this would be to shoot portraits in the shaded areas of the location. Locations with a lot of shade are ideal for afternoon shoots. However, the early morning has a lot of open shade and options for backgrounds 🙂

The Park Is Way Less Busy In The Early Morning

Another reason why you and your family should consider early morning family portraits at Vasona Park is that it is less busy. Around the mid-morning, the park starts to get pretty busy. The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad typically opens around 10 am on the weekends and it is a major attraction for families with kids. Vasona Park is also a popular place to have birthday parties and other large group activities. By scheduling your session in the early morning, you can avoid all of this 🙂 If you happen to be a little more shy around people, when you are taking pictures, this is also a benefit.

You Can Go To Breakfast Afterwards And Plan A Fun Rest Of The Day!

Last but not least, another benefit to scheduling early morning family portraits at Vasona Park is that you have the rest of the day! For a lot of people, your family portraits will be the main event of the day. However, the fun doesn’t need to stop at the end of the session 🙂 Doing something fun after the session is a way to extend family time. For example, going to breakfast afterwards. If you have younger children, you can also promise them play time at the park. This gives them a positive incentive to cooperate and have fun during the session 🙂

If you are planning family portraits, hopefully this quick article has been helpful 🙂 Thanks!