What to wear at a family beach shoot in Cape Town

February/14/2022

What to wear at a family beach shoot in Cape Town?

In a nutshell, keep it simple. Similar colours work well. Lighter colours / pastels look amazing. 

Don't wear exactly the same thing! It looks like a uniform and quite contrived. Avoid patterns and bright colours. 

Here is another article I did on Styling for a family shoot.

Beach family shoots always look good.

I love using the beach for family shoots, the pictures always look amazing and have a great clean look. They also look great in frames and wall mounted.

This was a special family shoot for me. I've known the Rouse's personally for over 25 years. It was lovely to see how their family had grown from syblings to grandchildren, nephews, nieces and cousins. In fact I was quite surprised when I saw how many 'new people' there were! 

Location for a beach family shoot?

We chose Noordhoek beach. We had to consider tourists, since it was December, the other well known beaches were very busy! Noordhoek is quieter and it's also one of my favourite beaches too.

Best time for family photos?

If in full sun, the best time is early morning or late afternoon. By early morning I mean eeeeearly! As in just after the sun has come up. Even better, when the sun comes up, if you can wrap your head around that. A huge advantage of shooting early means you have the rest of the day ahead of you. 

Late afternoon is when most people choose to book. I like to shoot 40 minutes before the sun sets and a little after. 

Ugly backgrounds can clutter the pictures.

If you are doing the photos indoors or have shade to work with, just about any time of day can work. But remember to check what sort of background you have to work with as ugly backgrounds can clutter the pictures