Every season of the year you’ll find Jonathan photographing sessions outdoors. The most important aspect of family portraits is capturing the people you love most and honoring the relationships that matter, and when we live in such a scenic place, portraits that feature the people you love in the beauty of the outdoors is the most popular setting for portraits. Here are our thoughts on the seasons and how they impact outdoor photography:
SUMMER (June-August) is a favorite for the most vibrant, lush green tones throughout the outdoor landscape. We often have the consistent afternoon showers in June making that one of the best months for green. Summer also boasts the fields of wildflowers, best from mid-July through August. With daylight extending well into the evening, session times land after parent work days and golden hour is magical. It’s the warmest time of the year, though since we schedule our outdoor sessions for best light, you’ll always have an evening session during the summer months when the temps lessen from the heat of the day.
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FALL (September-November) offers pleasant temperatures and golden tones across the natural landscapes. At Colorado Springs’ elevation, the true fall colors emerge in October, but our natural grasses already transition from greens to golds beginning in September. For leaves on trees, we recommend completing your session before November.
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WINTER (December-March) offers a cooler palette in our outdoor settings. Snow on Pikes Peak and sometimes on the foothills is our favorite benefit of a winter session, and there’s certainly chances for snow! Since you can’t plan ahead for a snow session, we keep a list of families hoping for a snowy landscape for sessions and wait for the right days to come to see if everyone can make it happen. Our snow days can be few and far between, so snow for your session is never a guarantee. We also lean to certain locations over others in these months as locations with evergreens and a more consistent variety of year-round colors present better than those with deciduous trees during the winter months.
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SPRING (April-May) is often one of the shortest seasons in the mountains and one of the least predictable as one day to another can feel like a completely different season. You have the potential for snow, rain, or a gorgeous warm day with newly-opened leaves on the trees and the early greening of the grasses. Flowering trees can be a special part of this season. Wind is most prevalent in Spring and definitely a factor to expect during an outdoor session in this season. We guarantee you’ll love your portraits with us, so when and if weather interferes on your session day, we will always reschedule or pivot to our indoor studio space. Spring sessions are often most in demand around graduation time when extended families are all together to celebrate a grad, and the days right after graduation celebrations are perfect for a short studio session to capture your Grad in Cap & Gown with the diploma in hand.
Ultimately, whatever time of year gathers your loved ones together to create family portraits is the time to do them! When you have flexibility, we hope our thoughts above guide you to your desired season. June through November are peak for our outdoor photography calendar, so it’s important to start the conversation with us weeks (or months!) ahead of when you want to be photographed. With Jon’s talented eye for composition and mastery of natural and augmented lighting, our families love their portraits regardless of the season, and each season has something to celebrate.