What You Can Expect During Your Family Photoshoot in OC NJ
When Families book a photoshoot with us they often ask the same basic questions. What is the best time? Where are we going to meet? How long will the session take? Today I want to run through a typical photoshoot using a family I just recently photographed on 39th street in Ocean City NJ. I am going to explain the reasoning behind why I photograph certain photos in the order I do. All these photos are from the same photoshoot taken in mid August. Hopefully after reading this it will help give you a better idea of what you can expect during your family photoshoot in OC NJ.
Family Photos by the Dunes in OC NJ
After we meet at the beach entrance I will run through all the family shots by the dunes. There are a couple reasons I start photographing here:
- It’s close to the beach entrance and not a far walk
- The sun is the brightest at the start of the photoshoot and the dunes will help block it, especially sitting down shots.
- Because the light is not perfect its a good time to get the group comfortable with me and get everyone relaxed. I’ll still try and capture the best photos but naturally everyone is still kind of stiff and tentative. So it’s a good time to get those stiff posed shots out of the way while at the same time getting everyone warmed up.
You can see in these examples of the order of poses and how the light is still a little bright. I photograph with a Nikon camera and a fixed 50mm lens. Its fast and light and I can move quickly using it.
Portraits by the Ocean
After we have photographed some posed portraits by the dunes we will go down by the Ocean. Hopefully by this time the sun has gone down further and the light is softer. On this photoshoot the sun was still a little bright. This family was a smaller group than the average family so we ran through the poses quickly. You’ll see in these next photos how the sun really changed as we were photographing by the Ocean. Once we get by the water everyone is usually feeling much more relaxed. We can have some fun and do half posed and half candid photos. I’ll run through the family combinations again down by the water and do a little more relaxed pose. Just to make sure I capture every combination of families and family members again. It’s good to do that at every scene change. Not every location and pose is going to turn out amazing, the more variety you can take the better. If a family doesn’t like the look of the dune shots then there is a good chance they like the water shots or the next set of shots later in the night.
Once the relaxed poses are done I will just hang out a bit and take some singles of the kids and have them run around for some candids. Every family is different so the style of candids and what they want to do will vary. I like taking the shot off people walking on the beach in the wash of the ocean. It helps create a fun relaxing environment for everyone. Even if the walking candid photos aren’t the one people are going to blow up and put on the wall they are still a good photo to take.
In these next photos you can see the different photos we can take by the water.
Lifeguard Stand Sunset Photos OC NJ
After we finish photos by the water we will go to a lifeguard stand or a boat if they are nearby. If there aren’t any nearby we will usually just stay by the water. By this time the sun is in the perfect location and we’ve only been photographing for about 30 minutes. Everyone is usually winding down and knows we are finishing up the photoshoot. This time is when I usually can capture the best shots. Everyone is in a good mood and super relaxed and I can capture real smiles and expressions. This wonderful family ended up with close to 400 photos after this photoshoot was over.
If you would like more information on booking your own family photoshoot in OC NJ feel free to email us and ask for our price list!
