One of the most common questions I receive from clients is ‘What’s the best time to have our family photographs taken?’

As a professional photographer, I can honestly photograph your family in any light. However, my favorite time to photograph family portraits is during Golden Hour.

What is Golden Hour?

Golden Hour is the magical hour right before the sun sets. The sun becomes a beautiful golden color with nice, gorgeous back light. It’s the light a lot of people see in photos with the sun flares and sunbursts in the background.

It is my favorite time of day to shoot photos for families and children outdoors!

I love being able to manipulate the light to create gorgeous family photos!

During the summer, the sun sets later which puts golden hour around 7:30pm-8:30pm at the peak of summer hours. Once the time has changes, golden hour moves up significantly from 5-6pm or when the sun sets at the earliest, golden hour could be as early as 4:30-5:30pm.

Whenever my clients as what a good time to have their family portraits taken, I suggest golden hour first and foremost. Unless it’s an overcast, cloudy day, you will not be disappointed with amazing light in your family photos.

Check out these family photos taken during golden hour in the middle of summer!