Surf City NC Beach Photographer - How to Get Beautiful, Timeless Family Portraits You Love
Yes, you read that correctly: How to Get Family Portraits you LOVE.
We want all of our clients to have portraits they want to share and post and print and hang up on their walls. Photographs and portraits are quite literally our memories frozen in time. That is a super big deal! You should absolutely fall in love the moments a photographer creates for you. Our goal to help you have the very best collection of your moments to cherish forever.
We can also help you if you aren’t a client of ours, or won’t be visiting our little island home any time soon and would like a bit of guidance for your next family session with your own favorite photographer (wherever you happen to live!).
There’s no great secret to getting portraits you will treasure, but there are a few things you will want to keep in mind before you show up to your portrait session.
Hire a great photographer who’s body of work you LOVE.
If you want to love your own portraits, than the first step is always going to be to figure out which photographers create artwork that speaks to you. Did you see a portrait on Instagram that absolutely stopped you in your scroll and made you say “wow,” and something that you would like for yourself? Take a moment to figure out what is awe-inspiring about that particular image and look for photographer’s work that is similar. Was it the colors used, the setting of the photograph, the emotional connection between the subjects in the image?
Reach out to those photographers and look through their portfolios. See which photographers you think will be the best fit for you both creatively and professionally. Don’t be afraid to call a photographer if you really want to get to know how they work (I know, I know…phone calls can be such a pain sometimes, but they really can be effective too). At the very least, you should be able to email or text your photographer and have an idea of their personality, their enthusiasm, and their willingness to listen to your ideas.
Don’t expect the photographer you admire who creates amazing works of art to be the cheapest. Or even cheap. Like anyone at the top of their craft, working artists deserve to be paid for their experience, their time, and their talent. Very often cheaper photographers who also create beautiful work are just starting out (and haven’t achieved a profitable business model yet or perhaps aren’t operating as a legal business that files business taxes), or hobbyists who work on a more limited basis around another profession. However, when you place your trust in a seasoned professional who runs a successful, full-time photography business (who also makes artwork you love), you should expect to pay a fee commiserate with their expertise.
2. Plan your portrait session.
You will want to work together with your photographer on this one, but you should have at least a vague idea of the type of portraits you want, and how you want to use your portraits (for a wall canvas, to post online, for your annual holiday card, for printed gifts for family, etc)… and then you can run ideas by your photographer to get their creative input for your vision. Are you looking for a beach themed session, or maybe a garden inspired session, or perhaps a session in a field of wildflowers?
Your photographer can help you make your ideas come to life, and also advise you of what is or isn’t feasible. For instance, over the years, I’ve been asked to take portraits at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington many times (it’s sooo pretty there and worth the effort!) but many clients are not aware there is a photographic fee for working there, and all portrait sessions must be approved and scheduled in advance. This is a fee that would be incurred by the client, on top of any fees the photographer would charge. Your photographer should know if a location requires a permit, and will take care of any necessary planning for you regarding potential session locations.
Your photographer will also advise you on the best time of day based on optimal lighting conditions—this is key to getting the same quality of work you loved in the photographer’s portfolio. Take any advice the professional gives you to heart—thrust that they know what they are doing!
3. Plan and style your outfits.
This part of the process is often tedious, but it makes a world of difference in the final product.
When you look at a photograph, there are few key elements that elevate it from a snapshot to a portrait: the composition of the subject matter, the stylistic and technical choices made by the photograph in the camera and in the editing, the location of the photograph (foreground and background), and if human subjects are present…the way they are styled and posed. Out of those key components, your photographer will handle all of them, with the exception of one: the outfits you choose to wear.
The effort you put in styling will show in your portraits—your outfits will make your family look both great and frame-worthy, which is precisely the goal.
You don’t have to wear formal gowns and suits to look great (although we do love a good suit and are always here for gorgeous gowns!!). In fact, you should dress in a way that expresses your own style but still shows putting forth the effort for something you would want to hang on your wall. As in, you are going to want everyone to wear something nicer than what they would roll up to the grocery store in.
Everyone in your group should look coordinated (usually that also means you don’t want everyone to be completely matchy-matchy) and everyone should wear colors from a cohesive color palette.
You should also dress for your location and for the time of year. At the beach your will want to keep in mind the blues of the ocean and the sky, along with the neutral colored sand. You also will most likely not want shoes on for beach portraits. If your portraits are in a field of sunflowers, you will need to coordinate outfits to go with sunny yellows and garden greens, and you will want to remember to coordinate shoes along with your outfits.
As a mom of four who is in charge of outfits for my own family of six, I know this is no easy feat! A lot of planning goes into the outfits, but you will thank yourself when you see how it all comes together in the final portrait.
I always suggest starting with one person who is harder to dress, or with one outfit you really have your heart set on (maybe a dress for mom, or a precious little vintage sunsuit for your toddler) and then build other outfits around the first pick. Lay them out on your bed and see how you like them together—just don’t forget the pants/jeans/shorts/shoes because those details will be just as obvious as a brightly colored shirt, and again, you want to make sure all the pieces work together.
