Preparing for a photo session can be a little stressful and overwhelming, this is especially true if the photo session is for your whole family!  With a little planning and preparation there's no need to get stressed, and you'll be able to better enjoy your session!

To help you out and hopefully reduce your stress, I've put together some tips and resources to get you, and your family, prepared for your photo session.

Recently my family and I spent the afternoon with my friend Jackie and her family at Seaport Village in downtown San Diego, CA.  Jackie had asked me to photograph her daughter and family, and she'd chosen the location for it's diversity.  I took along my wife and son, and together we had an amazing afternoon creating photos for Jackie and her family.

I've traveled the world and seen sunsets in various Europe, Asia, and Middle Eastern countries; and I've seen sunsets from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Red, Norwegian, Greenland, Java, and South China Seas.  I've seen a lot of beautiful and amazing sunsets, but out of all these sunsets, in all of these different places, there are only maybe 5 or 6 that I have considered to be amazingly epic and absolutely stunning.

I've said it before, but out of all the places I've been, Southern California has some of the best sunsets.

A few Saturday's ago, my family and I headed out to take our annual photo for our Christmas card.  Each year, we try to do something a little different, and this year we decided to head down to the rocks on the beach just north of Scripps Pier.

We knew the sunset would be pretty good with the clouds hanging out in the sky, and with low tide and sunset coinciding nicely with each other, we figured there wasn't a better time to get the photo we wanted.