Veronika and I had planned The Shuttleworth’s Family Portraits quite a few weeks before. But there were a few things that had to all come together at the same time. The big one being that Veronika wanted the Jacaranda’s to be flowering and of course – looking their best. I always feel they are best before the heavy rains come. So, with this in mind we went about planning the family portrait session.

As luck would have it

The day before The Shuttleworth’s Family Portraits we knew that the session could potentially be a bit touch and go. There was rain predicted. Heavy rain predicted. But after discussing it, we opted to try go ahead. (As in, if it was pouring just before we would move it. Or if it poured before we got a solid range of photos, we would move the session out)

Their portrait session day arrived and just like predicted the weather was looking miserable. But we were lucky!

On the way to the location I drove through some light rain (and was convinced I was going to have to make the call to move the portrait session). But when I arrived, the rain had let up. The trees were absolutely beautiful and the family was ready to get some beautiful photos!

Our luck continued when we even had about 5 minutes worth of sunshine.

Then we only just managed to dodge the rain

I got to work photographing the family instantly. And made sure to not get carried away chatting too much. As I worked through a bunch of different looks ensuring they had range of photos, I started to hear thunder. It was just as we were starting to wrap up their session when the thunder started to get really close. And the sky just in the distance turned black.

We grabbed a couple more photos and quickly made our way back to our cars. (which were literally like 20m away – we made sure to stay close the entire time, just in case).

And as we got to our cars, the drizzle started! We considered trying to get some epic rain shots – and tried one or two… but the rain hadn’t started coming down enough just yet. And since we didn’t have umbrellas to keep up dry, we chose not to get anyone soaked, cold and sick just for a photo.

But that does mean I’m still looking out for a family prepared to have some fun in the rain for some epic rain photos ;)!

Are you brave enough?

Quick Tip about Lifestyle Portrait Sessions in Summer

As we all know, summer is our rainy season. That does mean that if you are booking an outdoor lifestyle session with me in summer (and actually, even occasionally winter) there is a chance that we will have to move your session. Or take a gamble, like we did here. Or move your session indoors. If you are a little nutty like me, you also have the option to have some fun in the rain and get some ridiculously cool shots.

Keep this in mind when you are thinking about having your portrait session! And keep in mind what you would want your back up plan to me – because that’s up to you! I’m here to capture the incredible photos that you want! 🙂