How to choose a location for family portraits on Maui

While traveling to the Valley Isle, you will definitely want to immortalize those memories of a lifetime with your loved ones. Finding the perfect location for family portraits can be tricky, since there is so many beautiful places to choose from on Maui!
Whether you would like portraits to celebrate love, marriage, pregnancy, family or simply to create the perfect Christmas card that will make all your friends smile, here are a few pieces of advice to choose the best location for these memories. 
There are a few things to consider: Beauty and landscapes, crowds, lighting and weather


Beauty & Landscape

Finding a beautiful spot on Maui is pretty easy! There are options from White sand beaches, to the rainforest, viewpoints with steep cliffs… or even top of a volcano! Maui offers jaw dropping scenery on every corner. This will give you many choices when choosing a location for your family or couples portraits.
You may want to take a few things into consideration if you don’t want to end up taking photos with your hair blowing in your face, or a harsh and unflattering sunlight on your skin.


Crowd

Avoiding the crowd is a must! Your photos won’t look so dreamy if it’s filled with strangers in the background! Even if photoshop is pretty great for removing people in the background, if the beach is packed with crowd… there is nothing your photographer will be able to do to fix that.

Another reason to avoid the crowd is so you can feel more comfortable and let loose when getting your photos taken. Having random strangers staring at you while you are posing is a very awkward feeling. This is an intimate moment with your partner and or family, and you want to feel confident. Being able to enjoy the moment is extremely important!

The best way to avoid crowds? Plan a Sunrise shoot! By booking a photoshoot for sunrise you can be 100% sure that the crowd won’t be a problem. There are another few big advantages about taking family portraits on Maui at sunrise. Keep reading if you want to learn more.
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Another way to avoid the crowd? Well, there are some really good secret locations that don’t get crowded, and we intend to keep it this way! If you are interested in booking a shoot with us, we will be happy to reveal them to you. 

Contact us today for your unique and special portraits session with Hawaiian Lifestyle Studio! 

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​Lighting

Good lighting is key in having the perfect photos. Ideal light is when the sun is real low, just after sunrise or before sunset. A slightly overcast day is great as well. Basically anything will work as long as we avoid harsh straight sunlight. When the sun is high up in the sky, it creates unflattering shadows on the face and body. So unless it’s cloudy, avoid the middle of the day!
It’s also a good idea to avoid beaches facing East for sunrise and beaches facing West for sunset. But why’s that? We usually want to use the ocean as a background, but if pointing at the ocean also means pointing at the sun, that’s not good! It will be way too bright, and the subject (you) will be looking way too dark. Unless you want to create silhouette photos, it’s better to avoid having the sunlight reflecting into the ocean and into your the camera at the same time. 
Beaches facing North are always a great option, for either sunrise or sunset!

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​Weather

Maui is windy. VERY windy! The area most protected from the North East trade winds is Lahaina. Paia is extremely exposed to the winds, and Kihei has some good locations protected from the wind. But Lahaina is definitely the best option if the forecast looks windy.

So, how to avoid the wind? Early morning / sunrise portraits are the way to go! It’s usually less windy early in the morning. You can also ask your photographer about his or her opinion when getting close to the shooting date, and stay open to changing locations if needed. There will always be an area in Lahaina protected from the strong trade winds.

What should we take away from all of this information? Choosing a location for your portrait photos is very weather and light dependent. Once you know what type of environment you want for these photos, talk to your your photographer about it. Early morning is always best to avoid crowd and wind, and beaches facing north are great light-wise. But stay open to changing locations and trust your photographer’s expertise. 

We hope this guide on how to choose a location for family portraits on Maui was helpful. We cannot wait to meet you and take your dream portraits!