Holiday Family Photos on Siesta Key

Many holiday families have one picture in mind: everyone together, everyone looking at the camera, nobody blinking. With five people that is easy. With twelve, one person always blinks, one toddler always looks away. I shoot the group photos in quick bursts, many frames in a few seconds, and then pick the one where every face works. That is how the card photo of a big family gets made, and it is why I photograph everyone together first, while the light is soft and nobody has wandered off.

The color stays natural. Every photo is edited lightly by hand, so people look like themselves: faces stay yours, colors stay true. When the sun is behind you over the Gulf, I use a little flash, only enough to keep faces bright while the sunset stays in the sky. The card should look like your family, not like a filter.

Many holiday families rent one big house for everyone, often with a pool. If the beach in the evening does not fit your plans, because a grandparent cannot walk on sand or the day is already full of cooking, I can photograph you by the pool at your rental or indoors, and there the hour does not depend on the sun.

This big family met me at their rental on a bright day: the pool, the waterfall and the canal behind them told the story of the trip as much as any beach. If you want a time that is not in the calendar, write to me before you book with the address and how many of you there are.

The sand on Siesta is bright white quartz, so almost any color works, and solid white blends into it. For a holiday card, think of one or two holiday colors as an accent rather than red and green from head to toe: a soft red dress for one child, a deep green shirt for one parent, the rest in light neutrals. Coordinate, do not match. In a big family, give each household its own color from one shared palette: the group photo reads as one family, and each household still stands out in its own frames. If your family loves white for the card, wear it anyway: it still looks lovely against the water and the sky, and I work with the angles. Above all, wear what feels like you; comfortable people photograph better than perfectly dressed ones.

December evenings cool down fast once the sun goes, with average lows around 55 degrees, so bring a cardigan or a linen overshirt in your colors for small children and grandparents. Everyone goes barefoot on the sand. I do not bring props, hats or decorations: the Gulf at sunset is the backdrop.

Palettes for families of every size, and what to avoid, are in my guide to what to wear for beach family photos.

If it is just you and the kids and you want one strong card photo without giving up a holiday evening, a 30-minute mini on Siesta Key is enough: 35 edited photos, on one quiet stretch of beach, in fixed slots every morning and on Monday to Thursday evenings. The 30-minute mini also runs on a Friday to Sunday evening and on the holidays themselves, for $370 instead of $270. On the holidays the 15-minute mini does not run. The 15-minute mini gives 15 photos.

The difference between them is how much of the family I have time to see, not the quality. The 15-minute mini covers four people and the 30-minute five; more can be added in the booking, up to seven and ten, with the price shown before you pay. With grandparents and cousins, though, the hour gives every household its own frames.

We meet right by the water next to the sailboats, the masts you see in this photo, two or three minutes on one path from free parking. In the evening that parking fills before sunset, so come ten minutes early: I photograph one family right before you and one right after, and each mini starts and ends on time.