Family beach portraits with teens has you rolling your eyes, I see you;) LOL! We all know that getting everyone on board for family portraits is not the easiest thing in the world, especially if you have pre-teens or older! I break it all down below to show you it’s possible!

Favorite location

My favorite location for family portraits is on a beach at the ocean. Why? Expansiveness, meaning there’s space to feel free, to move, to “escape” to “get into trouble”. Now! I’m talking the language of your kids! LOL!
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It’s amazing what space and movement will do to loosen up teens in family portraits. ⁠

⁠There’s so much opportunity to “get into trouble” at the beach that it’s a great place to get those emotive, super-close photos your heart craves.⁠ Fair warning though, this type of photoshoot is for you ONLY if you want messy and beautiful all wrapped into one. This is not posed and pretty. What family with teens is posed and pretty?

Prompting Trouble

I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve to help you get to that place of total freedom because that’s when the magic happens.

First, we get on the phone and discuss personalities. Who’s the trouble maker in your family – the one who likes to mix it up?

There’s ALWAYS, ALWAYS a way to get everyone forgetting that they’re in front of the camera and start playing. That’s what makes these family beach portraits with teens so fun!

What to wear

On our call I’ll also guide you on what to wear. I approach this as any other editorial style photoshoot I offer. Here are the basic guidelines, which we dive into deeper on the call:

Stick to a color palette of 3-4 colors.

Choose outfits that are easy to move in and have movement.

Coordinating rather than matchy, matchy works best.

Start with the person who is most difficult to dress and work your way back from there.

Scheduling Family Beach Portraits

A lot of families schedule beach portraits during their summer vacation at the beach.

The best time of day is either at sunrise, which can be a challenge for families or an hour before sunset.

It’s an hour long photoshoot (I don’t watch the clock, but that’s generally when the energy level starts fading).

I take on a limited number of family photoshoots during the summer. They are always at the beach and require pre-planning.

Get in Touch if you want images the feel like a hug and sound like laughter.

I create editorial style portraits with heart and soul.

Serving New Jersey shore, LBI and all beaches north. Long Island Hamptons.