When this family contacted me about having family photos taken during their trip to Vancouver, I loved the reason behind it.
They have made a tradition of documenting their family vacations with professional photos—not just to remember where they went, but to capture who their family was at that particular point in their lives.
They were visiting from North Carolina on their way back from an Alaskan cruise, travelling with their two kids, ages 11 and 6. They described their family as energetic and “lovingly chaotic,” which immediately gave me a pretty good idea of how I wanted their Vancouver family photo session to feel.
They wanted some of the rustic beauty you’d expect from the Pacific Northwest, but they were also drawn to the light and airy aesthetic of my photography.
Wardrobe plays a part in creating that overall feeling too, so if you’re planning a session while you’re visiting, I’ve put together a guide on what to wear for family photos in Vancouver.
Instead of choosing one pretty backdrop and staying there for the entire session, we explored several areas of the park together—the Stanley Park Rose Garden, Lost Lagoon, the Seawall and the gardens surrounding Stanley Park Pavilion.
And that movement ended up being one of the best parts of the session.
Why Book Family Photos While You’re on Vacation?
I would absolutely recommend booking a family photo session in a city you’re visiting.
Obviously, you come away with photographs that include everyone in the family—rather than hundreds of vacation pictures with one parent missing because they’re always behind the camera.
But I think there’s another reason that’s just as valuable.
A photo session can actually add to the experience of visiting a new place.
You’re walking around. You’re exploring. Your kids are noticing things. And when you’re with someone who knows the area, you often see things you might otherwise have walked right past.
I grew up in Vancouver, and I’m incredibly proud of this city. When I’m photographing families who are visiting, I love sharing little snippets of information about the places we’re exploring and telling them about Vancouver along the way.
I don’t want a vacation session to feel like you’ve sacrificed part of your holiday for a photoshoot.
I want the session itself to become part of the vacation.
Why We Chose Stanley Park for Their Vancouver Family Photos
Stanley Park is obviously beautiful, but one of the reasons I particularly like it for outdoor family sessions is the amount of variety we can get without driving all over Vancouver.
Within one session, we can move between manicured gardens, huge trees and greenery, water, pathways and the Seawall.
For this family, that variety was especially important.
They had told me that their children were energetic and that their family was lovingly chaotic. I knew that asking everyone to stay in one small area for the entire session probably wasn’t going to bring out the best in them.
I’ve found that when we stay in one spot for too long, kids can start getting restless.
Changing locations gives us a natural reset.
Instead of saying, “Okay, let’s take more pictures,” we’re saying, “Let’s go see what’s over there.”
That subtle difference matters.
Family Photos at the Stanley Park Rose Garden
We began at the Stanley Park Rose Garden, where there was plenty of room for the kids to move.
And they did.
They chased each other through the garden, which gave me the opportunity to photograph some of that energy their parents had told me about.
This is something I really believe about photographing kids: if a child wants to move, I’d rather find a beautiful way to photograph that movement than spend the session repeatedly asking them to stand still.
I’m still paying attention to the light. I’m choosing where I want the family to be. I’m considering the background and composition.
But within that framework, there’s room for the children to actually be children.
A six-year-old chasing their older sibling tells me far more about a family than a perfectly positioned six-year-old being told to smile.
Exploring Lost Lagoon as a Family
From the Rose Garden, we made our way toward Lost Lagoon.
Here, the activity changed naturally.
The family started throwing rocks into the water together.
Again, I didn’t need to manufacture an elaborate activity or ask everyone to look at me.
They had something to do.
That is one of my favourite ways to photograph families.
Give people an opportunity to interact with each other and their environment, and suddenly they stop thinking quite so much about what they’re supposed to be doing for the camera.
For a family visiting Vancouver, these photographs also become about more than the people. There are little pieces of the place woven into their story.
Years from now, the kids might not remember every detail of their afternoon in Stanley Park, but they’ll be able to see themselves standing beside Lost Lagoon, throwing rocks into the water together.
Looking for Sea Life Along the Stanley Park Seawall
By the time we reached the Seawall, I noticed something else happening.
Everyone was settling in.
The kids started inspecting the water to see what sea life they could find, and the session felt less and less like a photoshoot.
This is often when some of my favourite photographs happen.
Families sometimes worry that they need to arrive at a session and immediately be completely relaxed and natural in front of the camera. You don’t. In fact, I have a whole guide on how to feel comfortable during family photos because this is something I hear from families all the time.
You don’t.
Most people aren’t photographed professionally very often. It can take a little while before everyone forgets about the camera.
That’s normal.
With this family, I felt that by the time we reached the Seawall, I was seeing even more of their authentic dynamic.
And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
We’d already spent time walking, chasing, throwing rocks, talking and exploring. The kids knew me a little better. Their parents knew they didn’t have to constantly manage them for me.
Everyone had settled into the experience.
Ending at the Stanley Park Pavilion Gardens
Our last stop was around the gardens at Stanley Park Pavilion, and by then the energy had naturally shifted again.
The beginning of the session had been energetic. The kids chased each other at the Rose Garden. At Lost Lagoon, everyone threw rocks. Along the Seawall, they explored the water.
Now we were ready for something quieter.
The Pavilion area became our wind-down.
The kids snuggled with their parents, and I was able to photograph some of the softer family connections that can be harder to access when everyone is still thinking about the camera.
Looking at the finished gallery, I think some of the photographs from the Seawall and Pavilion feel the most authentically them.
That’s one reason I don’t judge a family session by the first ten minutes.
Sometimes we need a little time to get there.
Why I Like Moving Around During Family Sessions With Energetic Kids
There is a practical reason I chose several areas of Stanley Park for this session.
Kids get bored.
Adults do too, honestly.
If we’re standing in essentially the same spot doing variations of the same thing for an hour, eventually it starts to feel like work.
I’d rather use movement to our advantage.
For this family, every new area gave us a new activity and a slightly different energy:
- At the Rose Garden, the kids could run and chase each other.
- At Lost Lagoon, the family slowed down to throw rocks into the water.
- Along the Seawall, the kids became curious and searched for sea life.
- At the Pavilion gardens, everyone was ready to slow down, get close and snuggle.
None of those activities needed to be complicated.
They simply gave the family a reason to interact with each other instead of constantly interacting with my camera.
And as a bonus, their finished gallery doesn’t look as though we took 50 variations of the same photograph.
They have gardens, water, greenery and Vancouver’s iconic Seawall woven throughout their images.
Vacation Family Photos Don’t Have to Feel Like a Formal Photoshoot
If you’re considering family photos during a trip to Vancouver but you’re imagining an hour of telling your kids to smile at a stranger, that’s not what I want for you either.
Especially when families describe themselves as loud, silly, energetic, chaotic or some combination of all four, I don’t see those things as obstacles I need to eliminate.
That’s the family I’m there to photograph.
Of course I’ll give direction when it’s needed.
But I also want to create situations where something can happen.
Go chase your sibling.
Let’s walk over here.
What can you find in the water?
Throw another rock.
Come snuggle with Mom.
The photograph isn’t always in the instruction itself. Often, it’s in what happens immediately afterward.
Choosing a Location for Your Vancouver Vacation Family Photos
If you’re travelling to Vancouver and considering professional family photos, don’t feel as though you need to know exactly where you want your session to happen.
That’s part of what I can help with. Stanley Park isn’t the only option, either. For families who want more of an urban-meets-ocean-and-mountains backdrop, Coal Harbour is another Vancouver family photo location I love.
The best Vancouver photo location isn’t necessarily the one you’ve seen most often on Instagram. It depends on your family, your children’s ages, the time of year, the aesthetic you love and how you actually want the session to feel.
Stanley Park was a great choice for this family because they wanted something that felt a little rustic while still working beautifully with my light and airy photography style.
More importantly, it suited their personalities.
Their kids could move.
We could explore.
We could change scenery before anyone became bored.
And because they were visiting Vancouver, they came away with photographs featuring several distinctly different pieces of the city rather than a single generic backdrop.
Is a Vacation Family Photo Session Worth It?
I think so, and not simply because I’m a photographer. Think about how many photographs you take when you travel.
Now think about how many of those photographs include your entire family. And of those, how many actually capture the way your family feels together?
Vacation photographs tend to document what we saw. Professional vacation family photography can document who we were when we saw it.
That’s what I love about this family’s tradition.
At ages 11 and 6, their children are in a particular season together. Their relationships will change. Their personalities will change. The way they interact with their parents will change.
They’ll hopefully take many more family vacations.
But they’ll never take another one with these exact versions of each other.
Planning Family Vacation Photos in Vancouver, BC
If Vancouver is part of an upcoming family vacation, Alaskan cruise or Pacific Northwest trip, consider setting aside some time to document your family while you’re here.
We can choose a location that gives you beautiful Vancouver scenery without making the session feel like another item you need to check off your itinerary.
And if your family is a little chaotic?
Even better.
We’ll walk. We’ll explore. I’ll tell you a little about the city I grew up in. Your kids can chase each other, look for sea creatures and get distracted by things along the way.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, we’ll make photographs that show both where you travelled and who your family was when you were here.
What to Know Before Booking Family Photos in Stanley Park
Stanley Park is enormous, so a family photo session here doesn’t mean trying to see the entire park. I plan our route based on the season, light, your children’s ages and the type of scenery you want in your gallery.
Comfortable shoes are always a good idea because we’ll be walking between locations, especially if we want a mix of gardens, water and Seawall views. For families visiting Vancouver, I’ll help with the location planning so you don’t need to figure out the park on your own :)
