Thirty Minutes of Gold Light: A Pajaro Dunes Family Session

Some of my favorite sessions happen because one person in the family finally said “we’re all going to be in the same place, let’s just do it.”

That’s how this one came together. The whole family was staying at Pajaro Dunes for a vacation week, everybody under one roof, and the daughter reached out and booked a sunset mini session so they’d actually have a photo of all of them together. Not one person holding the phone out at arm’s length on the deck. All of them.

Mom, dad, the sons, the daughter, and everybody’s person. Seven people, one beach, about thirty minutes of really good light.

They made it easy

I always tell families they don’t have to be good at this, that’s my job. But I’ll say it anyway… this crew was so fun to be around. They were laughing with each other the entire time, poking at each other the way families do when they’ve known each other forever, and not one person complained about sand in their shoes. When a family is already comfortable together, my whole job is to stay out of the way and catch it.

We started up in the eucalyptus grove where the light comes through the trees all warm and hazy, got the everybody-together shots and some smaller groupings, then walked out to the dunes as the sun got lower. Mom and dad got a few of just the two of them, which they will be glad about later even if they felt a little goofy about it in the moment. Everybody always does.

Why Pajaro Dunes is such a good spot

If you’re renting a house out there, you already know the best part: you don’t have to go anywhere. The beach is right there. The walk from most of the houses is short and flat enough that grandparents and little kids can do it without anybody getting cranky.

A few things I love about shooting there:

• The dune grass. It catches the low sun and turns gold, and it gives me something to shoot through so the photos feel like you’re inside the scene instead of lined up in front of it.
• The eucalyptus grove near the entrance road. Great backup light if it’s windy out on the sand, and it looks completely different from the beach, so you get two locations without driving anywhere.
• Wide open beach. Even on a busy summer weekend I can almost always find a stretch with nobody in the background.
• Sunset over the water. Monterey Bay curves just right there, so you get the sun going down over the ocean instead of behind a hill.

The wind is the only thing to plan around. It usually picks up in the late afternoon and settles some right at sunset, which is another reason I like starting late.

When to book it

For a beach session I want to start about an hour before sunset. That last hour is when the light goes soft and warm and everybody stops squinting. Look up the actual sunset time for the dates you’ll be in town and we’ll plan backward from there.

A mini session is thirty minutes, which sounds short until you’re standing there and realize thirty minutes of a family being together is a lot of photos. It’s plenty for a big group, and it’s short enough that nobody’s patience runs out. You’re back at the house for dinner before it’s dark.

If your family is coming out this summer

This is such an easy thing to add to a vacation week. Everyone is already together, which is the hardest part of family photos to begin with. Everyone is already relaxed. And you go home with something better than a group selfie on the deck.

I photograph families all over Santa Cruz County and the Monterey Bay, and Pajaro Dunes is one of my favorite places to shoot. If you’ve got a week booked out there and you want to sneak a session in, reach out and tell me your dates. I’ll tell you the best window for the light and we’ll go from there.

You can email me or text me at 831-328-3113 🙂

Warmly,
Brittany
Britt Honey Photography