Family outdoor portrait photography in Bayside.
The Beach: an epic location for your outdoor lifestyle family photography session.
Every spring and summer, my family and I love to spend our time exploring the Melbourne coastline. After a long walk, we love to wrap our warm weekend afternoons with some fish and chips at the beach. How do you love to spend the afternoons with your loved ones? What are some epic memories you have of enjoyable moments together?
Melbourne has an incredible variety of outdoor locations to explore and enjoy with your loved ones. Late afternoons (5pm onwards) have the best light of day: filled with golden light and warm tones, that’s why the outdoors is also a great idea for your family photography session. Through this guide we will explore the different options and things to keep in mind when planning your photography session.
Outdoor Family photography in Melbourne: Things to keep in mind.
It wouldn’t be Melbourne if there wasn’t unpredictable weather around. Melbourne is renowned for having the 4 seasons in one day! Don’t be scared if the day is overcast, that is actually a great type of light as the clouds act as a reflector of the sun light and it becomes softer and even light, avoiding harsh shadows and harsh light that tend to highlight harsh features.
Outdoor sessions can take place both at the beach or at a park with rolling hills and tall trees. One of the great advantages of the beach is that the kids will keep busy with the numerous activities that can be done like hunting for shells, picking up rocks, sand castles, picking up drift wood and sprinkling water on each other.
10 Ideal locations for your family portrait photography session at the beach
Over the past 7 years, I have photographed numerous families and I’ve had the opportunity to explore a variety of locations. Here is a list of my favourite places around Melbourne to photograph families in a relaxed environment. Do you have a favourite beach that didn’t make it to the list? Shoot me a message so that I can explore it and have a look!
Altona Beach
Princess pier in Port Melbourne
Jawbone Conservation Centre
Point Ormond Lookout
Edward Street beach
Half moon Beach
Ricketts point Beach
Mordialloc Pier
Chelsea Foreshore reserve
Beach boxes at Chelsea Beach
Styling: what to wear to beach family photoshoot
The colours that you choose for your outfits will vary depending on the season of the year.
Summer: The best option is to wear pastel colours if you have pale skin with lilac, pale blue and neutral shades. If your complexion is darker or more Mediterranean then more vibrant colours will work amazing for you.
Winter: The landscape changes and also does the light. Cooler colours work well for all complexions: Jeans and browns work well, as well as neutral colours like grey. Don’t be scared of choosing something bold like black and whites or navy blue.
Spring: Fort his time of the year, colours that are warmer work well. Peach and coral work well for this time of the year. The best way to complement these colours is with a pastel blue.
Autumn: This is a great time of the year to embrace colours like mustard or beige.
Earthy tones : A number of labels are getting back to nature, choosing to work with natural dyes and natural fabrics like cotton and linen. Mustard and earthy colours like brick orange and deep red are a great palette to choose if you have fair skin or mediterranean complexion. Opting for outfits with neutral colours will allow you to layer your outfit with accessories and maybe wraps for your bub that have prints, without overwhelming your images.
Some of the labels included in this inspiration board are:
Moss green is a great colour for dark complexions: dark hair and brown eyes. This colour works really well paired up with grey or creamy white. Linen and natural fibres like cotton work well as it is a natural dye. When making a decisions on the outfits that everyone is going to wear, choose one person to be the leader, and then combine the rest of the outfits of the family and the accessories around it.
Avoid choosing outfits with numerous patterns and writing, if you would like a
Pastel pink, and vintage pink as well as coral work really well with light complexions and for fair skin. This is a great colour to be paired with white and khaki. This type of outfits work really well for outdoor sessions at the beach.
Best brands for mums ton consider for your family photos:
5 Ways to get your family outdoors
The Australian culture is closely linked to the outdoors. We are very privilege to have mild weather in most of the Australian territory and a vast territory, those are great reasons to head out and enjoy the daylight. Being in touch with nature has allowed me to keep grounded and to keep taps on my anxiety, it has also been a great way to connect with my kids and family. Spending quality family time is vital when growing up and it’s also a cheap activity to enjoy. Every year our family’s schedule seem to get busier and busier with social and sport commitment, so much so that sometimes I look at our stressed out weekends and I wonder if all this running around is worth it. This year I decided to make time and head to the outdoors more often with the only intention of spending time with each other. Through this little guide I hope that you will make time for more adventures in your life and also I hope it will help you while planning your outdoor family photography session.
1.- Brainstorm your next adventure:
Some days it’s easy to make a snap decision and head outdoors, however most epic adventures start with a plan, even if it’s a loosen idea on how your day will go you still need to know where you will be heading. Sometimes if you don’t have time for an epic adventure you can still consider activities like a bike ride or kicking the footy.
2.- Be present:
Remember the point of this adventure: to spend some quality time together and enjoy each other. If you have a busy schedule but you still want to enjoy some time outdoors remember to loosen up the pressure on yourself, you can still have a great time just by heading to your local beach or having a walk down to your local coffee shop. Once you decide on your adventure make an effort to be present in the moment and leave your phone in your pocket, that footy score update can also wait until you finish your walk.
3.- A little bribe will take you far:
Sometimes the first reaction I get from my girls when I tell them that we are heading for a walking trail is a chorus of : “NOOOO!” … yes, it always happens. Don’t take any notice, just be patient and you will see it will pay off. Try to engage your kids and explain why this is important to you and you hope you will all get from it. Remember to compromise, maybe it’s an ice cream at the end of your adventure or a visit to the pub to finally check that footy score at the end of the day. Also look for ways to keep everyone engaged.
4.- Keep them engaged with a mission:
Look for ways to keep your kids engaged on this adventure: for the smaller kids, you can lead the way to this epic adventure. The smaller kids love make believe, so if you engage them just with your exciting voice by telling them a story about the place you are visiting or imagining a foreign land. If your kids are a bit older or school aged kids you can do a treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt to keep them busy. For the older kids sometimes the best option could be to have a competitive streak, maybe a short race.
5.- Having a quiet one is also ok:
If you feel that your family is not very engaged in the activities, just compromise, pack a picnic and have a meal under a shady tree. Make the most of the warm summer days, you will see how the extra oxygen and vitamin D (from the sun) will make you feel alive.
I hope that these ideas will help you to get the troops outdoors to enjoy a day filled with adventures and great memories.
Fran Jorgensen is a Melbourne lifestyle photographer that serves families around Melbourne metro and Geelong. Family portraits sessions can take place indoors within your home or outdoors at the beach or a local park.