The best time of day for family portraits is sunrise or sunset, when the sun sits low and the light turns soft and golden rather than harsh overhead glare. We plan every session around one of these two windows, then choose which one based on your children's age and daily routine rather than picking arbitrarily. Sunrise suits families whose children wake early and settle quickly; sunset suits families who need the morning to get everyone fed, dressed and out the door without rushing.
Why the light matters more than the hour
Midday sun sits directly overhead. It casts hard shadows under eyes and noses, forces everyone to squint, and flattens the gentle depth that makes a portrait feel alive. In the hour or so around sunrise and sunset, the sun sits low on the horizon. The light comes in sideways, wraps around faces evenly, and carries a warmth that no amount of editing fully replicates. This is the reason we don't offer a midday slot at all. If you'd like to see what that quality of light looks like across the ranges, golden-hour sessions in the Dandenongs go into more detail on how we use it through the seasons.
Because the sun's position shifts across the year, sunrise and sunset don't fall at fixed clock times. A winter sunset might start well before five; a summer sunrise might mean leaving home before six. We'll confirm your actual call time as your session date gets closer, once we can check the forecast and the light with more certainty. This is also why we build in a little flexibility around the booked time rather than treating it as a fixed slot: cloud cover, a passing shower, or a spell of unusually still air can shift the best window by ten or fifteen minutes either side, and we'd rather chase the better light than stick rigidly to a time on a page.
The setting matters here too. In the Dandenong Ranges, tree cover changes how early or late that low light actually reaches ground level, so a clearing that catches beautiful morning light might sit in shade until well into the afternoon, and a spot that glows at sunset might be flat and cool at dawn. Part of our planning at the consultation is matching the time of day to wherever we're shooting, whether that's the studio garden or a location further afield.
Sunrise: calm light, a fresh start
A sunrise session means an early alarm, but it comes with real advantages. The light builds gradually rather than fading, so there's more flexibility if we need a few extra minutes to settle a nervous toddler or wait out a stray cloud. Many children, particularly younger ones, are also simply more themselves first thing: rested, curious, not yet worn down by a full day of activity. If your family already wakes early, or your children tend to unravel as the afternoon wears on, sunrise often gives us the best version of them.
The trade-off is the morning itself. Getting a family dressed, fed and calm before dawn takes some planning, and there's less room to sleep in beforehand. Clothes laid out the night before, breakfast eaten early enough that nobody arrives with jam on their chin, and a car ride timed so children arrive settled rather than freshly woken all make a genuine difference. We'll talk through what that morning looks like at your consultation so it doesn't feel like a scramble, and we'll factor in the drive from your home so the timing works from the moment you wake, not just from the moment we start shooting.
Sunset: an easier lead-up, a different mood
A sunset session removes the early start. You have the whole day to get organised, feed everyone properly, and arrive without rushing. The light at this end of the day tends to carry a richer, warmer colour as the sun drops, which suits some families' portraits beautifully.
The trade-off runs the other way. By late afternoon, especially with very young children, energy and patience can be running low. A toddler who skipped their nap or a baby due for a feed can make the last hour of the day harder work than the first, and a session that starts fifteen minutes later than planned can eat into the very light we're chasing. If your children are prone to afternoon meltdowns, that's worth naming honestly at the consultation, so we can plan around it rather than hope for the best. A short nap built into the afternoon, or a snack packed for the car, can be the difference between a relaxed last hour and a tired one. Our guide on preparing toddlers for a portrait session has more on reading your child's rhythm before you commit to a time.
How we decide together
At your consultation, we'll ask about your children's ages, their sleep and meal routines, and which part of the day they're generally at their best. A family with a strong-willed two-year-old and an easy-going baby might land on sunrise, since the toddler is more biddable before nap time overtakes everything. A family with older children who are groggy in the mornings but relaxed and chatty by late afternoon might prefer sunset, when everyone has had a full day to wake up properly. Families with a baby in the mix often find their child's feed and sleep pattern makes the decision for them, and that's a perfectly good way to choose. There's no single right answer, only the one that fits the people in front of the camera, and part of what the consultation is for is working that out together before the day is locked in.
Location plays into this too. Some spots in the ranges suit one end of the day better than the other, depending on which way they face and how the tree canopy sits. If you're still deciding where to shoot, family portrait locations across the Dandenong Ranges covers how location and light work together, whether we're at the studio or out among the ranges.
The goal isn't a perfect clock time. It's your family, lit well, at the point in the day when they're most themselves.
Whichever window we choose, the session is built around your children first and the light second, because the best portrait comes from a family who feels at ease, not one performing on a schedule that doesn't suit them.
Every portrait begins with a conversation at the Belgrave gallery.