Imagine the perfect beach vacation. You might think of sunsets, a nice ocean breeze, and possibly family photos? When planning your next family vacation, consider booking a photo shoot for the whole family to commemorate your trip. It’s the perfect way to capture the memories! You’ve already set time aside on your calendar and the whole family is together. You can turn this session into a fun vacation activity! After dinner, you can get the family dress up and head over to the beach. I love making my photo sessions full of laughter and movement. The sand and water is a great way to keep the kids occupied.

As a farewell to Summer, I made the drive out to Cape May, NJ to meet this wonderful family in the middle of their vacation. We had this date in my calendar since the new year! As a photographer, this gives me the perfect opportunity for a day trip. I spent the afternoon shopping on Washington Street with my mom. Later, we made our way to Sunset Beach to relax by the water before my golden hour photo shoot.

This wonderful family arrived by 6:30pm, just in time for the sun to set along the water. Since Sunset Beach is on the bay side, we’re able to photograph the sunset and the ocean behind us. I always to begin my family photo sessions with out big group photo first. It’s so important to really get this shot right! I like to add in a few fun prompts between smiling poses like this one. It helps to break up the stiff poses and bring out some laughter. I’ll encourage some tickle fights or prompt families to giggle at each other.

From there, we moved into varying groupings like the kids with grandparents, immediate families, sibling, and parents. I’m always sure to capture our basic smiling shot before moving onto fun prompts. It’s so important to add movement into longer sessions like these. I let the older boys pick a fun pose for a brother’s photo. They decided to hop onto one another’s back for a piggy-back ride! I gave the youngest girls a chance to play in the sand, twirl in their dresses, and walk through the water. This really prevented any upset kids and gave them a fun task.

One of my favorite things to do during family photo sessions is to give the parents time to focus on each other. It’s so rare that parents get to have couple’s portraits anymore. I love giving them that opportunity! I prompted each couples to walk hand-in-hand along the water and look at each other. I’ll capture the hand holding and the smiles this pose brings out.

Lastly, what’s a beach day without running through the water?! By the end of this beach session, it was time to have a little fun. We let the kids run through the water together and I just captured the candid laughs and movement. These are some of my favorite photos in the gallery. I adore the childhood joy captured in these moments!