When to Book a Family Photo Session | Austin Family Photographer
When booking a family photo session, one of the decisions you’ll need to make is if you want a weeknight or a weekend time slot. Here are some Pros and Cons for each:
YES – BOOK A WEEKNIGHT TIME SLOT
1. LOCATIONS ARE LESS CROWDEDÂ – Considering the metro population of Austin is over two million people in 2025, you’ll find popular parks and urban spots have fewer people out on a weeknight. It’s even better earlier in the week on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
2. LESS LIKELY TO HAVE AN EVENT CONFLICT – Check an Event calendar in Austin, and yes, you’ll find fun things going on every night of the week (more so in good weather in Spring and Fall) – but for major events – those are most likely to happen on weekends. You’ll have more possible conflicts at your location of choice if you pick a Saturday or Sunday time slot.
3. CONSIDER AN AISD HOLIDAY – Not counting, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Spring Break – there are on average 13 extra school holidays you could use during the school year for your photo session date. You may still have work, but the kids will be out of school that day.
4. MORE CHOICE OVERALL – For myself, I offer more weeknight photo sessions per year than weekend, so if your family has busy schedules, there are more possibilities of dates that match.
NO – BOOK A WEEKEND TIME SLOT INSTEAD
1. TIME – You have more time to get ready without the rush of an after-school photo session.
2. CAN SCHEDULE HAIR AND MAKEUP BEFORE YOUR SESSION – If you’d like to get professional hair and makeup, you have more time (and won’t have to miss work or school to do so).
3. TIME CHANGE – With the earlier sunset from November to March, weeknight sessions have an earlier start to beat sunset. That might be too early for your family’s work and school commitments.
4. AVOID RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC – The best light aka “golden hour” – happens about an hour before sunset. Most of the year, that coincides with rush hour traffic.
This family met me on a Tuesday night at Pease Park, and we had the Treehouse area mostly to ourselves.
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Please check out some of my favorite images below and contact me if you’d like to book your own Family photo session (on a weeknight or a weekend) in Austin, Texas. Explore more photo sessions on my blog.
Client Feedback and Advice
- What do you plan to do with your digital photos? First and foremost, we will create our annual holiday cards with our photos. It’s a family tradition!
- What advice would you give to others planning a similar Family photo session? Ask for the advice of your photographer regarding location spots and take them up on their offer to scope out the place ahead of time. I appreciated you going after the rains to see how the park grounds looked.
- Anything else you’d like to add about working with Stephanie Friedman Photography? Remind your photographer about any specific needs you/your kids have so they are aware of limitations and peculiarities (sensory processing, physical posturing, etc)
Stephanie Friedman first picked up a camera in high school, went on to study photojournalism in college (Hook ‘Em), then worked as a photo researcher in educational publishing for over 20 years.
During all that, she’s been photographing Families and Seniors for the last 10 years. You can count on her to be communicative and organized before your session. She’ll help you feel relaxed and confident during your session. And you’ll have a smile on your face after your session once you see your new photos.
Interested in Booking a Family Photo Session?
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