Find out why Taylahs family photos in Barcaldine were so cool

When we want to create the best photos, photographers often talk about sunset. They are right…. The sun low in the sky creating long shadows, the beautiful golden light, and just after sunset, the incredible soft light that is emanating through the atmosphere from the sun below the horizon.

These are all great reasons to go out taking photos in the late afternoon, but what if it is summer in Central West Queensland and the temperature is going to soar through to 45 degrees?

Taylah contacted us looking for some photos of her family a couple of weeks ago. Of course, we immediately started planning for an afternoon photo session. Usually the first thing I will do is check what time the sun is due to go down, and then plan photos half an hour either side of that. As the date got closer and summer really started heating up, I walked outside at 7am one morning and it was (only) 30 degrees and the sun was still just rising.

I started formulating a plan in my head. Imagine if we took photos at 7am when its cool instead of 6pm when it is hot?

It is hard work, and not everyone is an early riser but for the sake of skipping those ridiculous temperatures, getting out of bed and getting ready for some photos is a small price to pay!

Taylah’s parents-in-law were visiting for Taylahs 21st birthday party, and it was a great opportunity to hang out with their grandson. We see it as important when taking photos of children, to let the kids lead the way. This young fella said he loved climbing trees, playing hide and seek and reckoned he could throw stuff into the water the furtherest. So we went with his suggestions.

If you can get kids involved, they will enjoy themselves more. The same goes for adults. We use a variety of prompts and activities to make our photos more interactive and natural compared to the stiff posed photos of yesteryear.