During the hot summer months, sunset field sessions are my absolute favorite. Because of the time of year, sunset tends to be closer to 8:30pm in New England. That means that sessions often need to start later than some children’s bedtimes. While that can be disruptive to a family’s schedule, it often is worth it for the amazing light.
Sunset Field Session: Wardrobe Styling
For this family’s sunset field session, the mom selected Topsmead in Litchfield, Connecticut as the location for the session. She reviewed several options, using my favorite locations as a guide. Topsmead is close to their house and they knew how familiar I was with it. Over email, we planned the wardrobe for the sunset field session. Because the mom was confident in her sizing, she decided on a dress with one back-up option for me to plan that night. Dress consults are always available, but this mom didn’t think it was necessary. And I totally agree with her!
Once we had mom’s dress options selected (both in the same color scheme), we planned the wardrobe for her husband. I encouraged him to dress to match his wife’s level of formality. They ended up choosing a button-down and khaki shorts. From there, I was able to share my Client Closet for kids. Mom selected a gorgeous dress that she admitted she wouldn’t necessarily have purchased for her daughter on her own. We were both stunned by how fabulous it looked and photographed.
After the session, mom sent me this email that just reinforced how awesome the Client Closet is: I also just wanted to tell you how much I loved my dress from the client closet. It definitely made things so much easier and a giant stress reliever. The next few weeks I’m slammed with events and having one less thing to plan an outfit for was AMAZING! Adding in the dress for Mackenzie was seriously a god send. I personally hate spending money on dresses for her that she will only wear once, growing so quickly! I would have never bought something like that for myself or her and it really makes the photos that much better! Thank you again for helping pick something out for both of us and then even giving advice on what colors my husband should wear. I will definitely use it again!
Sunset Field Session Posing Flow
Because this sweet girl was around two years old and we knew we were bumping up against bedtime, I shared with the parents that we were going to follow her lead. While I still had a posing system in mind to get all the shots we wanted, there is a balance to it. For this reason, I started the session in the tall grass with the little girl on her own. I was able to capture some natural smiles with silly games and noises behind the camera.
Once we had those shots, it was time to get the priority shots. Because the light was so amazing at that time, we were able to shoot wherever we wanted. I was sure to get pictures with both parents, then the little girl alone with each of her parents.
Time to Play!
With the posed pictures done, it was time to play! We headed up to the top of the field for sunset. That is where we played games with the blanket, explored, did bubbles and let the family interact and make memories together. It was a gorgeous evening for a field sunset session and we all left, tired and happy!
Want to see more images from this sunset field session? Check them out here!
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