Taking family portraits in a park is such a fun and easy way to create a lasting memory of your family. Even without the photography, an afternoon in a park is a great way to spend time with your family. Put away the phones, turn off all notifications, and just spend time with each other. It’s a simple, yet often overlooked way to reconnect with each other and nature. Using a park as natural setting for a series of family portraits is also a fun thing to do on these summery afternoons. 
I was recently hired to create some memorable family photographs by a dad whose daughters were growing up and moving away for school. As a parent of a young daughter I was sympathetic to how he might have been feeling. I look at my little girl and can’t imagine her more than an arm’s reach away, but of course, they grow and spread their wings. Which is what we want them to do and what we spend our lives preparing them for, but still…it’s a little bit sad to say goodbye, even if it’s for all the right reasons. When taking on this contract I really wanted to do a good job for my client and give him photos he would be able to treasure of his beautiful daughters. I imagined myself being in his shoes one day and did for him what I would want someone to do for me in the same situation.
The photos almost shot themselves. In Westmount Park (in Montreal), there is an abundance of settings and backdrops to choose from. We began in the greenhouse and just wandered down one of the paths leading to the small lake at the other end of the park, stopping along the way wherever my instincts told me to stop. I’m pretty proud of the results and my client was delighted with his photos, a sample of which are included here.
Family Portraits in Westmount Park
