Tips & Tricks – Summer Photo Shoot Locations

The first day of summer was yesterday. HOORAY! And to celebrate, today I’m going to share with you some on point summer photo shoot locations. While I enjoy all of the seasons for their own reason – autumn’s crisp air & pumpkin everything, winter’s clothes are the best because they let you cover up the extra weight you put on at Thanksgiving & Christmas, and spring because it’s finally warming up after winter – summer time has my heart. I love the hot weather, sunshine, long days, laying out in the sun, & being able to take my dog with me to restaurants while we eat outside. But I think my absolute favorite thing about summer time is having endless opportunities to take photos outside!

Longer summer days means more opportunity for outdoor photo shoots, which us natural light photographers & natural light photography lovers LOVE! And the best thing is that our backdrops are in tip top shape. Of course, my photos are all about my clients’ beautiful faces, but having our backdrops looking their best just adds to that extra special something that makes our photos magicical. Of course we can get beautiful photos during any time of the year by playing to each season’s strengths. Today I’m giving you three suggestions for summer photo shoot locations that really play up that sunshine-y, warm weather vibe.

1. Waterfront

What says summer time more than water? Waterfront locations for your photo shoots scream, “hey y’all it’s summertime!” Whether it’s a beach, boardwalk, pier, dock, or waterfront town, planning your photo shoot to take place in front of a body of water during the summer time is always a good idea. If you can get your clients to go IN the water towards the end of the session or base your session in the water, what an cool shoot that would be! Ooh, adding that one to my photography bucket list!

2. Places w/ Lots of Greenery

This probably seems like an obvious one, but yeah – a location with a lot of greenery is the ideal location for a summer photo shoot. During the summer, trees, shrubs, & plants of all kinds are in full bloom & lush. That luscious greenery makes for beautiful backdrops where your clients will always remember it was summer time when they had these precious photos taken.

3. Shady Spots

OK, so shady spots don’t necessarily say quintessential summer photo shoot location, but hear me out. Summer time is hot. It’s humid. It’s sunny. All of that creates sweat, right? And we don’t want sweat showing up on foreheads or creating sweat spots on people’s clothing, and shady spots are definitely cooler than standing out in the sun. Start your session in the shade and then move out to the sunnier locations towards the end. Keep the sweat to a minimum & your clients happy.