I have photographed hundreds of families on the beaches of Mauritius — from tiny newborns to three-generation reunions — and I can tell you that the most beautiful family photos almost never happen when everyone is standing still and smiling at the camera. Here are the five things I've learned that make the biggest difference.
1. Stop Trying to Get Everyone to Look at the Camera
I know — it sounds completely counterintuitive. But the photos you will treasure most in twenty years are the ones where your kids are laughing at something your husband said, or where you are looking at your toddler with that particular expression that only parents know. My approach is candid first. I observe, I wait, and I capture what is actually happening. The posed shots are secondary — lovely to have, but never the soul of the session.
The moment a family stops performing for the camera and just starts being themselves, something shifts — and that is when I get my best work. I spend the first fifteen minutes of every session just letting everyone settle in. By the time we are halfway through, most parents have completely forgotten I am there, and that is exactly where I want us to be.
2. Time Your Session for Golden Hour
In Mauritius, the hour before sunset on the west coast — Flic en Flac, La Preneuse, Tamarin — is absolutely magical. The light turns warm and golden and wraps around people beautifully, softening everything and casting the most flattering glow you will ever find in nature. On the east coast, early morning light has that same quality — crisp, clear, and extraordinary.
Midday harsh sun is nobody's friend. It creates deep shadows under the eyes, makes everyone squint, and flattens the colours of both the sea and the sky. When you book with me, I always schedule sessions to make the most of the best natural light available for your specific date and location. It makes an enormous difference to the final images.
3. Let the Kids Lead
The fastest way to get stiff, unhappy family photos is to tell children where to stand and what to do. Instead, I let them run, splash, dig in the sand, and chase each other — and I follow them with my camera. The adults follow the children, and in doing so they relax, laugh, and become entirely themselves.
Some of the most beautiful family images I have ever taken have come from a toddler who ran headlong into the waves fully clothed, or a teenager who started burying her little brother in the sand. Real life makes real photographs. I would rather capture your family as it actually is — messy, joyful, and utterly wonderful — than as you think it should look.
4. Keep Outfits Coordinated, Not Matching
Identical outfits can look wonderful in the right context, but they can also make a group look more like a school photograph than a family portrait. What works far better is a coordinated palette — choose two or three complementary colours and let each person dress individually within that palette.
For Mauritius beach sessions, soft neutrals and warm tones photograph beautifully — cream, sand, terracotta, dusty blue, sage green. Avoid very bright, saturated colours which can distract from faces, and avoid busy patterns which can create visual noise in the final images. Lightweight fabrics that move in the sea breeze always look wonderful. And please — feet bare on the sand whenever possible.
5. Relax, and Trust the Process
I have never once photographed a session where things went perfectly according to plan — and I have never once photographed a session where the results weren't beautiful, because of that. Children fall over. Toddlers refuse to cooperate. Someone inevitably has sand in their eye at the worst possible moment. These things do not ruin a session. They are the session.
The families who leave with the most extraordinary photographs are not the ones who had everything under control — they are the ones who let go, trusted me, and allowed themselves to simply enjoy being together in one of the most beautiful places on earth. That is all I ask of you. The rest I will take care of.
Ready to book your family session? I would love to create something beautiful with your family on the beaches of Mauritius. Sessions are available year-round — golden hour timing included as standard.