If you’re thinking about a summer family session, you may be concerned that keeping your little ones up until sunset will be to tough for your family. The sun sets late here in the Seattle area in the height of summer, and many parents share this concern. Here are some tips to help you make your family session go as smoothly as possible when it’s later than bedtime:

Plan for a quiet day. Your session day shouldn’t be spent rushing around running errands, playing at trampoline parks or participating in hours of sports. Instead, try activities like reading, doing puzzles or snuggling on the couch.
Let your kids sleep in if they want to. Today is the day to avoid waking them up at their normal time. If you normally need to wake them for daycare or school, try not to keep them on their normal routine and let them sleep as long as they will.
If your kids still nap, try to push their nap out further into the day. While it may seem like your ruining their routine, one day won’t do much damage. If your kids don’t nap, try having some “quiet time” by reading books in bed or just resting for a few minutes.
To avoid them getting hungry during the session, bring a snack for them to eat right before we start. You may want to avoid changing them into their photo session outfits until after they’ve finished their snack.
Kids are often distracted in a new place, particularly if we’re photographing them in a new outdoor location. If they’re normally grumpy and having meltdowns at bedtime at home, they will more than likely be so distracted in a new place and by doing something outside of their normal routine, that they don’t even notice they should be sleeping.
Lastly, please remember that if you really want that beautiful golden summer light, that keeping them up past their bedtime will totally be worth if and every time you see your images on the wall, you’ll think about how beautiful they are, rather than the one day you skipped your normal routine.

If you’d like to schedule a summer session, please contact me here. I would be so honored to work with you.