A Fall Family Session at Alf Hole Goose Sanctuary

October 2024 · Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba

Set among the granite, water, woodland and autumn colour of Whiteshell Provincial Park, Alf Hole Goose Sanctuary made a beautiful setting for this October family session.

We spent the evening exploring different parts of the sanctuary, mixing relaxed family portraits with photographs of the boys together, individual portraits and smaller family combinations. The low autumn sun gave us warm backlight throughout much of the session and helped bring out the colour and texture of the surrounding landscape.

A Fall Evening in the Whiteshell

One of the things I enjoy about photographing families outdoors is being able to use the landscape as part of the session rather than simply as a backdrop. At Alf Hole Goose Sanctuary, we could move between open grass, rocky areas, water, wooded paths and the small footbridge without travelling between locations.

That variety also gave the boys room to move around and be themselves, which helped us create a mix of more traditional portraits and photographs that feel a little less posed.

Relaxed Family Portraits

A family gallery does not need every photograph to be a formal group portrait. Once we had photographs of everyone together, we broke the session into smaller combinations — the boys together, each parent with the children, the parents together and individual portraits of each child.

These smaller groupings add variety to the finished gallery, but they also preserve relationships within the family that can easily get overlooked when every photograph focuses on the entire group.

Exploring Alf Hole Goose Sanctuary

As the session continued, we made our way through more of the sanctuary rather than staying in one small area. The footbridge, shoreline and surrounding trees gave the later photographs a noticeably different look while still keeping the entire gallery visually connected.

Sessions like this are one of the reasons I enjoy photographing families throughout Manitoba. Choosing a location that means getting outside and exploring together can make the photography session feel less like an appointment and more like part of an afternoon with your family.