Early morning family photo session at the lavender field | Menkveld Farm, Nolensville TN | Nashville family photographer

A sunrise family session at a lavender field near Nashville TN by Darien Photography, Nashville family photographer.

Do you love the look of a family session at a lavender field, but can't stand the idea of the summer heat?

You are in luck, because I am about to tell you the best tip there is for portraits in the summer:

A sunrise photo session!

This really applies for any season and any location, if you are the type of person that does not like to be photographed in front of a lot of people. But, when you love lavender blooms and want your photos at a lavender field, you’ll have to be ready to either suffer the heat of June or you may want to get up early and start your session as soon as the sun rises.

I am not a morning person, believe me, but it is worth getting up early for photos: you’ll have amazing light, enjoyable weather, and everyone should be in a good mood after a good night sleep, if you planned it well and went to bed at a decent time the night before. Besides, you can always go back to bed for a nap afterwards like I did.

Want to see how the images from a 6:30 AM photo session can look? Just scroll down.

I had so much fun with this family, in particular because visiting a lavender field was on the bucket list for Holland (the mother), lavender is so important to her that she named one of her daughter’s Lavender, and she has a lavender bloom tattooed on her forearm (see if you can spot it when you see the pictures). We had time to take family portraits—some candid photos of the girls and a few of the couple—along with some individual images before heading down to the creek. There, I snapped some magical black-and-white images, while the girls played and got their feet wet.

Holland is a talented artist: she illustrates books, and bakes the most beautiful and tasty cakes! I had one of her cakes featured in a Frida Kahlo-inspired shoot I did a couple of years ago, so I asked her to bake me a lavender-inspired cake to take home with me this time around as well. She came up with a lemon-lavender creation that was as yummy as it was beautiful. Make sure to follow her on IG and if you’re in the Nashville/Franklin area and need a cake for whatever reason (or none) order one; you’ll thank me later.

I am going to be back at Menkveld Farm in a couple of weeks for Petite Lavender Sessions, and I have one spot left. If you’d like to grab it, book now:

If you like what you see and want to be the first to know when I have more sessions available,

I usually give extras to the people on my list (such as credit towards photo prints or early bird discounts).

Availability for Fall Mini Sessions will be announced in August, and the spots sell out quickly!