The Best Time of Day for Outdoor Photos

Ask almost any photographer when to schedule outdoor family photos and you'll hear two words: golden hour. It’s true… but there are some exceptions. After nearly 20 years of photographing families, I can tell you the prettiest light in the world doesn't matter if your toddler is face-down in the grass screaming.

So here's the honest version. There's the best light, there's the best time for your kids, and the right session time is where those two overlap. When they don't overlap, I have ways to make great light happen anyway.

The Ideal: Golden Hour

The best outdoor light happens when the sun is low in the sky. That means two windows:

• Evening: the last hour to hour and a half before sunset.

• Morning: sunrise to about 30 minutes after.

When the sun sits low, light travels through more of the atmosphere before it reaches you. It comes in softer, warmer, and from the side instead of straight down. Skin looks glowy, there is far less squinting, and you don't get those dark raccoon shadows under everyone's eyes that midday sun loves to create.

Midday sun is the opposite. It's bright, harsh, and overhead, which is the least flattering light there is for faces.

Why the Season Changes Everything

Golden hour isn't a fixed time on the clock. It moves all year as sunset times change… and obviously has two big changes due to daylight savings.

In the middle of summer, sunset can be 8:30 or later, which puts golden hour right on top of bedtime. In late fall and winter, sunset lands around dinnertime or earlier, so an evening session can start mid-to-late afternoon and still wrap before anyone falls apart. That's one reason fall and spring are such a popular seasons for family photos… yes, the weather is better, but so is the timing.

Your Child's Schedule Comes First

This is the part most photography advice skips, and it's the one I care about most for family sessions.

I get this request all the time: a summer sunset session at 8:00 p.m. for a family whose toddler is usually asleep by 7:30. I understand the appeal. But a tired, hungry, overstimulated two-year-old is not going to give us the photos you're dreaming of, no matter how gorgeous the sky is.

For young kids, the best session time is usually the morning. They're rested, fed, and at their happiest. So before we pick a time, I'll ask you a few things:

• When does your child nap, and how long?

• What time is bedtime?

• When is your kid at their absolute best?

Then we build the session around that. Happy kids in good light will always beat cranky kids in perfect light.

How I Still Get You Great Light without Golden Hour

If your family's best window is 9 or 10 a.m., that's completely workable. This is where experience matters. Instead of fighting the sun, I work with it using a few tools.

Open shade. I look for spots where you're shaded but still facing open sky, like the edge of a tree line or the shadow of a building. You get soft, even light on faces without harsh spots or squinting.

Natural reflectors. Light bounces off bright surfaces. A white or light-colored building, a pale sidewalk, or a patch of open sky next to shaded trees all act like giant reflectors, filling in shadows and adding a glow to skin.

Backlighting. I'll often place the sun behind you. That gives a soft rim of light around hair and shoulders, keeps the sun out of everyone's eyes, and pairs perfectly with a natural reflector in front to brighten faces.

These are the same techniques I use at any time of day. They're just what separates a good outdoor session from a frustrating one.

Don't Fear a Cloudy Day

A lot of families see gray skies in the forecast and want to reschedule. Unless it's actually raining or heavy and dark clouds, please don't.

An overcast sky can work like one enormous softbox. Clouds spread the sunlight out evenly, so there are no harsh shadows, no squinting, and skin tones look beautiful. It also frees us from the golden hour window completely. On a cloudy day, a 10 a.m. session can look just as soft as one at sunset.

The Bottom Line

The best time for your outdoor family session is the golden hour that fits your family's real life. In summer with little ones, that usually means morning. In fall and winter, an early evening session often works beautifully. And if neither lines up, open shade, natural reflectors, and backlighting mean we can still create images you'll love.

You don't have to figure any of this out on your own. When you book, we'll talk through your kids' routines and your date, and I'll recommend a time that gives us the best light and the happiest kids. Reach out here to start planning your session. And, if you’re interested in a mini session… I offer them in the Spring and Fall. You can learn more here!