What’s the best time of year for family photography in London?
Which season to choose for your family portrait session
Are you wondering what’s the best time of year for your portrait session to take place?
This guide will help you see the pros and cons of each season for your photographs.
I can give you beautiful photographs no matter the season.
I incorporate the best of each season into your photographs.
Spring – outdoor family photography
The light becomes warmer after the Winter months. This gives a lovely brightness to your photographs.
If you’re keen on vibrant colours in your outdoor photographs, there’s no need to wait for Summer. Lots of brightly coloured flowers bloom in Spring. Wysteria and tulips look gorgeous, as do brilliant yellows of buttercups and daffodils.
The greens in parks or commons tend to look just as green as in Summer.
We’ll have fewer members of the public and passerby to contend with. This is great as it gives us more flexibility in where we can take the photographs.
Spring Showers
If Spring showers present themselves, we’ll simply keep an eye on the weather and go outdoors in a break in the weather.
There’s usually at least a half hour break in the weather on any given morning.
I use weather tracking apps that give forecasts in ten minute intervals.
While it’s raining, I’ll focus on the indoor photographs in your home. If your children enjoy looking out of the window, this can make for very atmospheric photographs as the rain trickles down.
Summer
The light in Summer is lovely and bright, and colours are intense.
Summer sessions lend themselves to longer walks in the park, lots of running around and playing in open outdoor areas.
I’ll look for locations in your favourite park where the children can run free but where we won’t have to dodge too many passersby.
We’ll find places where the light is soft and gentle.
If the sunlight is really intense on the day of your family portrait session, we’ll find a pretty area under light shade where the light will be softer. These are also places where your children can play without feeling the heat.
Where there are bright flowers, we’ll incorporate those as there’s nothing jollier than a daisy or a tree in full bloom!
Of course, this being England, it’s quite possible that we’ll catch a rainy spell. If we do, we can either head out armed with wellies and umbrellas. Or, we can monitor the weather on my weather-tracking app, and wait for a break in the weather.
Autumn
The yellows and oranges of Autumn are incredibly atmospheric. These colours make some particularly memorable photographs.
The grass is often still green right through Autumn, so there’s a lovely variety to the colours available.
The brighter yellows tends to be at their best in October and early November, with the more muted oranges coming through in mid-November.
Wearing brightly coloured wellies and rain jackets give a real pop of colour to an autumnal scene. Or, wear your usual clothes and let the autumn colours do the work for you!
Babies and toddlers making their way through carpets of fallen leaves are so emotive. For older children, playing with piles of leaves is so much fun. It always brings out fits of giggles and big smiles.
Winter
Winter light tends to be quite soft and gentle – perfect for portraits.
The beautiful oranges of Autumn are also often still evident in late November and even early December, so if we pass any coloured foliage I’ll look to incorporate that into your photographs too.
Little kids wrapped up in snuggly coats, hats and gloves look so cute. These photographs can also make very seasonal photographs for Christmas presents. You can see more suggestions on what to wear for your photo session.
If the cold’s really biting and you don’t feel like an outdoor excursion, we’ll simply spend your session in your home. We’ll use several rooms so you have the same level of variety in your photographs.
“Louise could not have picked nicer moments to capture our little ones, both at home and outside in the park (and it was a freezing winter day!).” Irena
In All Seasons
I look out for flowers or foliage that will lend atmosphere and colour to your photographs. I love choosing the colours and light that will work best for your photographs.
The conditions I’ll find to take the photographs in are actually quite similar across each season.
We’ll hunt down a pretty spot with gentle shade to avoid squinting and harsh shadows.
Overcast skies might not be the ideal picnic weather, but they’re a gift for photography. They create lovely soft light for portraits, and can create brilliant graphic shapes.
A brilliantly sunny day is perfect for an afternoon out, but the light is very harsh for portraits. We’d hunt out some light shade to provide softer light.
The weather in England is so unpredictable that months that are traditionally lacklustre often deliver bright blue skies. Mid-Summer months are as likely to be overcast. This is where years of experience comes into its own. I can make the most of each weather condition, and of each season’s light. I work with the weather rather than against it.
Ultimately, you’ll have a gorgeous set of photographs no matter the time of year.
A London park through the seasons
This video gives a great sense of how the colours and light changes throughout the year, in Hampstead Heath: