Santa Cruz Beach Family Photography Session


As a Bay Area Family Photographer one of my favorite locations to photograph family sessions are at the beach! Santa Cruz offers plenty of beaches to chose from but for the Williamson family, we chose the Santa Cruz Harbor Beach for their fun family photography session.

Why you should consider a beach setting for your next family session.


There are hundreds of fabulous locations to chose from in the Bay Area but beach settings offer a unique approach to your next Bay Area family portrait session. First off, you cant help but be relaxed when you are near the ocean and you feel the soft sand beneath your feet. This can really help eliminate those pre photo jitters that most of us get. Second, if you have young kids, they can run freely around to help them get rid of all that energy and be relaxed enough for a quick posed photo with the family. And finally, you can make a day trip around your family photo session like having a fun meal at the Crow's Nest Restaurant or even making time to visit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

What to prepare for your Santa Cruz Family Photoshoot.


Sunscreen: Sunscreen and sunscreen! Santa Cruz is know for some beautifully sunny days and those are the obvious days to lather up with sunblock but most people forgot that the sun rays are even more powerful on cloudy days so always be prepared with your sunscreen and to avoid looking like the sunburned tourist in your photos.


Clothing: My recommendation is to wear casual clothing, nothing too formal and try to keep the family consistent with their color choices or rather, pick a couple colors as the theme. Staying barefoot is always a nice casual touch but you can always rock some flip flops or even your newest Vans slip ons.


Posing: The Will Sundquist Photography Team loves to help with posing. We understand that this is a huge fear for so many and we pride ourselves on assisting with all posing to keep everyone looking natural and at their best. Be prepared to do some light posing during formal family portraits and then some fun natural and candid moments throughout the rest of your Santa Cruz family portrait session.

Don't forget to have fun and be silly during your Santa Cruz family photoshoot.


I like to remind the adults to have fun during their family photo session and that its okay to be silly. Many of the great moments captured are the candids when everyone is relaxed, laughing, and being joyful.


Also, many family sessions are small reunions so really carve out the time to enjoy the multi generational photos of grandparents, great grandparents, and all the grandchildren.

Book your Santa Cruz Family Photo Session.


To learn more about our Bay Area Family Session please click below.