Portrait photographer. Marie Curtis Park a great outdoor location.

Portrait photographer. A family Portrait session at Marie Curtis Park.

As a  portrait photographer it’s great to have a studio. Controlled lighting, the ability to schedule a session anytime of the day. Temperature control. As you see there are a lot of benefits to shooting in a studio space.

Yet when photographing families with young children sometimes we need to get outside! This means we are always on the hunt for great outdoor locations.

As a professional what makes a great location? Surprising not a lot.

• Accessibility

For me a great location needs to have parking nearby. Or be accessible by public transit. The distance to our shooting spot should be a spot less then a 10 minute walk away. Anyone with young children will understand why. I still need to carry my nearly 3 year old a lot (30 extra pounds) and I know I’m not alone.

• Light

The location should offer areas of open shade. One of the challenges of shooting outdoors is finding great light. The last thing a family wants is to be squinting in their family portraits. Or worse to have hash shadows under their eyes and nose. Shooting in open shade is a great solution.  Often this is available along the side of a building or under a large dense tree.

• Backdrop

A great location also offers more then one type of backdrop. Allowing us to create a variety of portraits within a small amount of time. Generally with young children you have about a 20 minute window to get the magic. That may be the first 20mins of a session or it may be the last 20mins. We never shoot longer then we need to. A family portrait session should be fun! This is about capturing a glimpse into how you connect as a family. It’s about creating beautiful artwork, to display and admire.

Today everyone has the ability to take family pics. You hire a professional photographer to create art and priceless heirlooms.

One of my new favourite outdoor locations is Marie Curtis Park in Etobicoke.  It offers it all. It’s very accessible, offer a variety of backdrops and nice light. Marie Curtis Park , is located in the farthest southwest corner of Toronto. Throughout the park there is plenty of greenery,  walking trails, and a beachfront. All offering beautiful scenic backdrops.

These are some portraits of a family I recently had the pleasure to photograph at Marie Curtis Park.

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