A lot of people approach me looking for St Albans family photo shoots and one of the first questions they ask about is rescheduling if the weather isn’t in their favour. I understand that we’ve been conditioned to think that family photography has to be outdoors surrounded by pretty scenery with everyone looking into the camera saying cheese to a photographer, but by now I hope you also know that I think there is so much more to capturing your family than that.
The magic of capturing your family lies in having photos of real life, of the interaction between you all and of the little moments of wonderful that happen in your everyday. And yes of course, it’s nice to have a mantlepiece shot for grandparents too but it shouldn’t be the main goal of a shoot.
1. Consider going ahead with your photo shoot no matter the weather
While it’s lovely to be outside, it’s equally great to be outdoors if it’s dry in winter. Throw on some colourful bobble hats and embrace the weather. I think we’ve become very averse to the seasons (and I totally put myself in that category!) so remember that light drizzle doesn’t show in photos and if you’re wrapped up warm you can have some photos outside!
2. Embrace the great outdoors whatever the weather
Why not just enjoy the fact that it’s getting colder and make the weather a fun experience? Toast marshmallows or drink hot chocolate snuggled up on a bench. If it’s snowing build a snowman together or have a snowman fight. Consider taking umbrellas and go puddle jumping in wet weather suits? These could end up being the most incredible non-traditional family portraits from your session.
3. Have a split photo session and gamble on the weather
During any photoshoot, I often recommend that families split their session between in-home and outdoor anyway and winter is the perfect opportunity for that. You can start at home and tell you family stories with some pictures at home – after all, isn’t it the place we spend the most time (especially after the last two years?!). This is a great way to capture your little ones being themselves, playing with the things that they are really into at the stage they’re at right now.
Then we can nip out and take some photos outside and get some photos outdoors as well. This is exactly what Tom & Tash did. The weather forecast was set to be poor so we banked on an indoor shoot, but it ended up being dry so we wandered to the nearby park.
As winter rolls round, don’t let it put your off booking your photos until next summer again. Your children will be that much older and summer brings with it all the distractions of holidays, meet ups with friends, parties and more. As we all snuggle down for colder weather, isn’t this the perfect time to get some snuggly photos of you all together?
Contact If you’d like to chat about how we can make cold weather family photos the perfect time for your family to capture your family memories then I’d love to t to you about it. Take a look at some more photos in the St Albans family photo gallery to get an idea of how it is to work with me.
