How to Prepare for Spring Family Photos in Portland
Get Prepared for Your Portland Spring Family Photos
Spring is almost here and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready! If you haven’t booked your family photos in the spring here in Portland before, I suggest trying it out this year. There are so many amazing locations that only work in the springtime so you’ll get a completely different look than in other times of the year. Read on for my tips on how to best prepare for your spring family photos.
When should we book our spring photo session?
Spring is March 20th to June 20th and you really can’t go wrong with any time within there, but there are some things you may want to consider before booking your spring family photos.
Early spring is great if you’re interested in being photographed in cherry blossoms or tulips. Another thing to consider is that I book sessions close to sunset and sunset gets later and later this time of year. The earlier you book, the earlier sunset will be.
Booking your family photos in mid spring is great for magnolia trees, lily fields, and later blooming cherry blossoms, as well as wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge.
Late spring brings peony farms, rose gardens, and local wildflower fields.
What should we wear for our spring photos?
Clothing is a big part of your family photos, so you want to be sure to choose outfits that will look good with your surroundings. Once we decide on the location for your session, I can give you some recommendations on colors that will look great with the surroundings. But if you want some inspiration now, here are some color combos that look great in the spring time!
Pastels look great for spring family photos, but so do bolder colors. Pick one person’s outfit first, and then decide the rest based on what would look good with that. And remember that I’m here to help!
Some other posts about what to wear for family photos:
What colors to wear for family photos
How to choose the right patterns to wear
What NOT to wear for family photos
What to wear for maternity photos
What Portland locations are good for spring family photos?
I send out a location guide when you book a session with me, and it has all my favorite spots for family photos around Portland and beyond. But aside from that, I can help brainstorm some beautiful places if spring flowers are your goal. Depending on when you want to book your session, I will give suggestions based on what is in bloom. Here is a list of some different location possibilities for your spring family photos:
- Peony garden in Salem
- Wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge
- Lily fields in Camas
- Wildflower field near Oregon City
- Cherry Blossoms in the Portland area
- Rose garden in Clackamas
- Tulip Festival in Woodburn
- Other beautiful spring locations without fields of flowers but get amazing light during the springtime
How can we keep our family photos stress-free?
I have lots of tips on how to keep your spring session stress-free! The first one is to book your date early. You want to leave yourselves plenty of time to figure out what you’ll wear, choose a location, etc. and in my experience, last minute bookings are usually the most stressful. Of course, I can help take the stress out with my client closet full of dresses and kids clothing perfect for spring, that way you don’t have to worry about shopping if you don’t want to!
Another way to keep your session stress-free is to just go with the flow and allow your kids to be themselves. Your kids get to be as silly as they want, and I don’t expect them to be calm and “good” during their session. I actually wrote an entire blog post on why I want your kids to misbehave during their photo session. It’s a fun read! Kids can feel their parents stress levels and that can cause them to not nap, so do your best to relax on the day of your session. And you totally can, because I’ve got you!
Treat your family photo session like a fun family outing! Sing songs or play games in the car on the way there, really enjoy your family during the session and leave the hard part to your photographer (that’s me!). You can also plan to go out for a treat afterwards to keep the fun going. But don’t use it as a bribe, use it as something exciting to look forward to because the whole evening is family fun time!
My last tip for keeping your session stress-free is to get to the location a little early. If you’re feeling prepared and ahead of schedule, you will be much calmer, and in turn so will everyone else. I’ve also noticed that some kids need extra time to get comfortable with a new location, so give yourselves way more time than you think is necessary to get ready. Trust me.
How do we find the right Portland photographer for our spring family photos?
Well my obvious answer is going to be that you’ve already found her! I’m right here! But I realize that everyone is different in what they are looking for, so if you’re looking for a fun, easy-going experience with less posing and more games, then I’m probably going to be a good fit. On the other hand, if you’re looking for very posed shots of everyone looking at the camera, then you may want to keep looking.
Once you decide what kind of experience you’re looking for, what editing style you like, and the kind of personality you vibe best with, you can base your decision on that. And if you decide that I’m not right for you for whatever reason, feel free to message me for recommendations!
After looking through my portfolio, checking out my pricing, and making sure my personality is the right fit, if you are thinking that we will be a great match then I invite you to check out my booking calendar and book your spring family photos. I can’t wait to meet you and have some fun!
