It was a partially cloudy afternoon on Saturday at Fingal Bay Beach, Port Stephens.

The waves were rolling in nicley and the sun slowly setting behind the hills at the time I met up with James, Fran and their families.

With the family coming together to celebrate James and Fran’s wedding anniversary, they found it to be the perfect time to join together in an extended family portrait session.

Now, getting the family together at the best of times can be hard.. but when one part of the family comes home from over seas, you know that this is the time to make memories.

With Cousin’s finally all together, adult siblings and mum and dad. These are the moments we live for.

I love to capture kids being kids! Depending on the kids of course, but if I feel I have a playful bunch of kids with me, I will in-corporate short games to bring out their personality and true happy faces!

Those “must have” Grandparent” photographs, of everyone looking at the camera, will of course, also be included.

The great thing about Fingal Bay beach, is that they have installed “rubber footpaths” along from the surf club entrance. This allows for easier walking halfway down the beach. So, If your not a huge fan of beach walking, but want to get to the waters edge, choosing the right tide and selecting Fingal Bay beach as your location, could very well be the pick for you!

Let’s go for a walk along the beach!

I love a nice stroll along the beach, holding my husbands hand and gazing out of to the ocean. Snap back for a quick hug and the scene has been set.

Just watch out for those waves and don’t get your toes wet.. or do.. cause they can make for some great fun photographs too!

Same, Same but different!

Using the same concept, each family will get their chance to do their own take on a set up. This allows us to have a smoother run session, as well as being able to create your own individual ness.

Let the kids, be kids and the big kids… be big kids too!

You will love to incorporate games during your session, for a funner, more relaxed session.

After the sun has set, you will find the most beautiful light in the East. Sometimes you can get pink and purple fluffy clouds and other times, this amazing blue light!

I recommend having your session run through this time, for the most gorgeous, soft effective images!

The timeline for this particular session:

Winter session (August)

Start time 4:30pm

Sunset time 5:23pm

How are extended family portraits different to a standard family portrait?

When you are combining two or three immediate families, with the Grandparents. You need more time to photograph each family. The extended family photo sessions run for one hour (opposed to 40mins).

In a extended family session, we focus on groupings with everyone together, plus cousin’s together and with grandparents, along with the immediate family household photographs being together.

In an individual family session, you will find more variations of mum with children, dad with children, individuals etc, that we may not have time for in an extended family session.