Sunset family portraits are my favorite. I’ve been photographing my friends family for well, my entire photography career. For their family session this year we went over to Riverwalk park and headed down into the dry riverbed. Where wild plants grow and trees flourish. I Love the overgrown and wild look of this location. We don’t have a lot of places that get tall lush green grass so I look for places that have more greenery and texture.
This little family laughs a lot and you can see the bond they share even through the few photos I choose to share from their session. I always encourage my families to be a little silly and play with each other. Kisses from three year olds can be intense and make for some big laughs.
It can be a challenge to keep little ones interested and mixing in a little fun goes a long way. What kid doesn’t want to be on dads shoulders or asked to hug mom super hard? Big family kisses and silly faces help break up the posed family portraits and inject some personality and fun into a session.
I loved this location so much I used a few months later for my daughters session. I’ll be sharing those a little later, but if you come back and compare you’ll see how much the location changed in just a short time and is hardly recognizable as the same.
One of the things I love most about my job is the families that come back each year, I get to watch them add new members and and grow up through the years. It also has a funny way of showing me how much I grow each year as a photographer, even when I think I’m doing the same kinds of things each year. You can’t help but learn even when you don’t realize its happening.