Jacksonville Family Photographer

Where families shoot in Jacksonville

The beaches are the default, and Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach all photograph well at the end of the day. They are also busy, so earlier in the week is calmer if you have the choice.

If sand is not your thing, the river neighbourhoods and the parks give you shade and architecture instead, which suits older children and families who would rather not be barefoot.

• •Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach at golden hour
• •Riverside and San Marco for shade, brick and tree cover
• •Ponte Vedra and Nocatee, between the two
• •Your own home, which is the right answer more often than people think

How long you need

Thirty minutes works for a small family wanting a refresh. An hour is the right default and handles most families comfortably. Two hours is for larger groups, outfit changes, or two locations in one evening.

Extended families coordinating several households should take the two hours. The extra time goes almost entirely on getting everyone in the same place at the same moment.

Making it painless with young children

Feed them first. Bring whatever snack is non negotiable. Do not threaten them with the photographs on the drive over, which is the single most common reason a session starts badly.

Beyond that, let me worry about it. A child running away from me is a photograph. A child being marched back into position is not.

What to wear

Choose two or three colours that sit comfortably together and let everyone pick within that range. Identical outfits make a family look like a team photograph, and they age badly.

Soft fabrics that move are worth more than anything else, especially at the beach where there is always wind. Skip large logos and tight stripes, which both distract from faces.

• •Two or three shared colours, not identical outfits
• •Fabrics that move: linen, cotton, anything with a bit of drape
• •No large logos, no tight stripes, no brand new shoes on children
• •A spare top for whoever is most likely to spill something

The best months for photographs here

October through April is the comfortable window in Northeast Florida. The light is good, the humidity is survivable, and the beaches are quieter on weekday evenings.

Summer sessions still work, they just have to happen at the very end of the day. If you are booking for holiday cards, book by early October, because the last three weeks before Thanksgiving fill first every year.

Extended family and multiple households

Large group sessions live or die on logistics rather than on photography. Pick a meeting point everyone can find, send the address twice, and plan to start fifteen minutes after you tell people to arrive.

I shoot the big group first, while everyone is together and nobody has wandered off, then break down into smaller combinations. Send me the list of groupings you want beforehand and the whole thing runs about twice as fast.