Family Session at McLaren Park | Family Photography in San Francisco

Looking at the images in this gallery, I see the beautiful long light, the awesome location, and the relaxed family, and while so much of the magic happened in their interactions, a lot of the goodness came from thorough planning. That’s right. Putting yourself in the path of whimsical magic comes from lots and lots of planning. 😜

The exact spot we shot at was scoped ahead of time by a very dedicated mama - thank you for being such a collaborator, Alexa. The magic hour light was used very intentionally, with a concerted effort to create bold lens flares and backlight the golden grasses to make them glow. We made sure to shoot during a clear and sunny day (after rescheduling the first shoot when the fog rolled in). This family knew what to expect, what to wear, and how to prepare because there was lots of communication via email, phone calls, and text messages ahead of time between me and them. 

This way of planning and communicating might seem like an obvious way of preparing, but it wasn’t always the case. Recently, I was thinking back to the days when I was just starting out with my client work. In the early days, I didn’t yet have good systems in place for communicating with families and I wasn’t diligent and boundaried about where and when I would shoot outdoors. I distinctly remember showing up to my first full client shoot at 1030am on a sunny day at Crissy Field. It was full blazing sun and the beach was super crowded. I cringe just thinking about that! In case it’s not obvious, this is NOT a good situation to shoot in: harsh and unflattering overhead light, everyone squinting, and loads of people in the background. 

Needless to say I learned so much that day! Over the years I’ve continued to learn what kinds of locations work best for family photography, what strict times of day I’ll shoot outdoors in, and  how to make the best of a sunny vs an overcast or foggy day.

I share all of this to say that having that magical family session doesn’t just happen accidentally. When you schedule a session with me, I’ll give the straight dope. I’ll tell you whether that shoot time or shoot location is going to work or not. You might groan that I insist that we meet earlier than you want to and you might wish I’d meet you in front of the Painted Ladies on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But I’ll steer you toward a situtation where we have the best potential for success. We’ll make some magic! 😍