How Often Should You Take Family Photos?

Every so often a family writes to me and opens with the same gentle worry: "It's been a few years since we did photos, and the kids look so different now." There is always a little guilt in that sentence, and I want to put it to rest right away. You have not done anything wrong. Life simply moves quickly, and here in the Coachella Valley it moves in seasons we do not always notice until they have passed.

So let me answer the question plainly, the way I would over a cup of coffee, and then I will give you the fuller picture, because the honest answer depends on where your family is in its own story.

The short answer

For most families, once a year is the sweet spot. An annual session gives you a steady, reliable record of how everyone is growing and changing without it ever feeling like a chore. A year is long enough that the kids look genuinely different and short enough that you never lose a whole chapter.

That said, "once a year" is a starting point, not a rule. Some seasons of family life ask for more, and some ask for less. A household with a newborn changes month to month. A family with grown children scattered between here and Los Angeles might only gather fully once a year, and that one gathering becomes precious. The right rhythm is the one that matches how fast your particular family is changing.

Why an annual rhythm works so well

I have been photographing children and families for many years, and the families who book a yearly session almost never regret it. Here is what that rhythm gives you.

• A real record of growth. A child between, say, three and four looks like a different little person. Year over year, you build a true sequence — not a random scattering of photos taken whenever someone remembered.
• No pressure on any single image. When you know you will be back next year, no one session has to be perfect. That ease shows. The best frames almost always come once everyone stops trying so hard.
• A reason to be in the picture. Most parents — mothers especially — are missing from their own family albums. They are always the one holding the phone. An annual session is a standing appointment that puts you back in the story with your children.
• It anchors to your year. Many of my families tie their session to something — the start of the school year, a birthday, the holidays, or the cooler weather returning. It becomes a small tradition the kids come to expect.

How often, by season of life

The truer answer changes with the ages around your table. Here is how I think about it.

Expecting a baby

A maternity session in the last several weeks of pregnancy, and then newborn photos within the first two weeks or so, capture a window that closes almost immediately. If you are planning a maternity session in the desert, aim for the cooler months or early morning — more on the heat below.

Babies, birth to one year

This first year is the fastest change a human ever goes through. If your budget and energy allow, three or four sessions across that year — newborn, sitting up around six months, and first steps near the first birthday — give you a beautiful arc. Many photographers, myself included, offer a baby's first-year collection for exactly this reason. If that feels like a lot, even two sessions in the first year will hold onto more than you expect.

Toddlers and young children, roughly one to five

These are the years that change the most after infancy — new words, new faces, new little personalities arriving by the month. Twice a year is wonderful here if it fits your life: once in spring and once in fall, which also happen to be our best light in the valley. If twice feels like too much, an annual session still serves you well.

School-age children, roughly six to twelve

Growth settles into a steadier pace, and once a year is the natural rhythm. School pictures are not the same thing — those are useful records, but they are not your family together, relaxed, in the desert you call home. An annual session fills that gap.

Teenagers

I know — getting a teenager enthused about family photos is its own art form. Keep it to once a year, keep it short and low-key, and let them have a say in where you go and what they wear. These are some of the last years everyone lives under one roof, and families are almost always grateful later that they kept showing up.

Grown and multigenerational families

When children are grown and grandchildren arrive, the calendar changes. Often the whole family is only in the same place once a year — usually over the holidays, or during snowbird season when relatives come to visit the valley. Whenever everyone is together, photograph it. Do not wait for a milestone. The gathering itself is the milestone.

Life events that should never wait for the calendar

Outside the steady rhythm, certain moments deserve their own session no matter when they fall:

• A new baby joining the family
• A child starting kindergarten or graduating
• Grandparents or out-of-town relatives visiting — especially common here during snowbird season, November through April
• A move into or out of the valley
• A milestone birthday or anniversary
• A loved one in fragile health, while everyone can still be together

That last one is the one I will gently insist on. The most meaningful images I have ever made are the ones a family almost postponed. Folding the older generation into your photographs while you can is, to me, the whole point. If this resonates, I have written more in my guide to planning a multigenerational family session in the desert.

The desert factor: timing your sessions to the valley

Living here shapes when in the year you photograph as much as how often, and this is where local knowledge really matters.

Snowbird season, November through April, is our prime window. The light is soft, the temperatures are kind, and the valley is at its most beautiful. This is when the bulk of my family sessions happen, and it is also when visiting relatives are most likely to be in town. If you are coordinating photos around family flying in from cooler places, build your plans around these months.

Summer is not off-limits — it just demands respect. From roughly June through September, midday in Palm Desert, Indio, and La Quinta is genuinely too hot for young children and grandparents to be comfortable. But our summer sunrises are spectacular and quiet. A session that begins around 6 a.m., wrapped up before the heat climbs, can be magical and nearly private. We simply start early and keep it short.

Golden hour is golden everywhere, but especially here. The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset give that warm, glowing desert light I love most. Whatever season you choose, this is when we shoot. It is worth planning your day around it.

Light shifts with the season, too. A November session and a March session — both in your ideal window — will feel different in tone and color. That is part of the quiet pleasure of an annual tradition: the same family, the same valley, in a slightly different light each year.

If you want help thinking through this, I go deeper in my piece on the best time of year for family photos in the Coachella Valley.

Where families return year after year

Most of my sessions happen in one of two places: in your own home, or at a familiar local park or garden close to where you live. Photographing a family where they actually live — in the soft window light of the living room, on the back patio, in the yard where the kids already play — has a tenderness that a far-flung scenic spot can't match. It is also far easier on little ones and grandparents, who get to stay on their own turf. That is the way I work most often, and it is the heart of what I do.

When families do want to step out, our local parks, gardens, and neighborhood greens make a lovely, low-effort backdrop, and we time those for golden hour so the light does the heavy lifting. Some families love to return to the same spot each year and watch the children grow against an unchanging backdrop; others like to try somewhere new.

If you are weighing locations, a few well-loved options around the valley:

• A quiet community park or botanical garden near Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, or Indian Wells
• The lawns and mountain backdrops of a resort lawn or neighborhood green
• The mid-century color and palm-lined streets of Palm Springs, for families who want a more graphic, sunlit feel

There is no wrong choice. The place matters far less than the people in front of the camera — and more often than not, the best place is simply home.

Common questions I hear

"Isn't once a year too often? Won't the photos look the same?" They will not. Children change more in a year than you would believe until you set two sessions side by side. And even with grown families, the small shifts — a new partner, a new grandchild, a little more grey — are exactly what make the sequence meaningful.

"We took photos last year and barely look at them. Why do it again?" This is the most important reason to keep going, not to stop. The value of family photographs compounds with time. The ones that feel ordinary today become treasures in ten years. Keep building the record. You are making it for your future self.

"How far ahead should we book?" For a session in our prime window of November through April, reach out a few months early if you can, particularly around the holidays when the valley is full and calendars fill quickly. Summer sunrise sessions are usually easier to schedule on shorter notice.

"What if we missed a few years?" Then today is the right day to start again. Do not wait for a perfectly round milestone or for the kids to be a certain age. The best time to begin a family photo tradition is simply the next chance you get.

A few mistakes to avoid

• Waiting for the "right" moment that never comes. Braces, an awkward age, a house that is mid-renovation — there is always a reason to postpone. The families who keep showing up, imperfections and all, are the ones with the richest albums.
• Booking midday in summer. Please do not. Choose sunrise and let the desert be gentle with you.
• Leaving a parent out, again. If you have not been in a family photo in years, make this the year you are.
• Treating school portraits as the whole record. They are lovely keepsakes, but they are not your family, together, in your own light.
• Over-scheduling young children. More sessions are not always better. A relaxed once or twice a year beats a stressful every-few-months.

So — how often, really?

If you take one thing from all of this, let it be this: once a year is the rhythm that serves most families beautifully, with more in the fast-changing baby and toddler years, and an open door for the milestones and gatherings that do not wait for a calendar.

But the deeper truth is simpler still. The families who treasure their photographs most are not the ones who found the perfect frequency. They are the ones who simply kept going — who made it a small, steady tradition and trusted that the value would reveal itself over time. It always does.

If it has been a while, or if you are just starting out with a new little one, I would love to help you begin — most likely right in your own home, where everyone is most themselves. There is no perfect frequency to wait for; there is only the next chance, and it is usually closer than you think. Send me a note and tell me a little about your family, and we will find a rhythm that fits the life you are actually living in this valley we get to call home.