The pier offers the perfect backdrop with golden California light, soft sand, and that classic coastal feel that photographs beautifully no matter the season. Here’s a look at how I structure these sessions to make sure every branch of the family tree gets their moment.

Extended Family Photo Session at the Seal Beach Pier

Starting with the Big Group Shot

We always kick things off with the full group photo. Everyone is fresh, patient, and cooperative at the start of a session, especially the little ones. Getting this shot early means you’re not chasing a tired two-year-old around the beach when you finally try to wrangle a lot of people into one frame.

The pier offers a surprising variety of backgrounds within a single location, which matters when you have a large group and multiple smaller groupings to photograph. Depending on where we position the family, you can have the warm, weathered wood of the pier stretching out behind you, or just the open expanse of sand and ocean for a clean, simple look. A lifeguard tower off in the distance adds that quintessential Southern California feel that makes these images so timeless.

The Grandparents with the Grandkids

This one holds a special place in my heart. Grandparents and grandkids together make for some of the most tender, meaningful images from the entire session. We take our time here with a few posed portraits, but also some genuine interaction. A grandparent holding a baby’s hand. A grandpa lifting a toddler. A grandma sharing a quiet moment with a teenager who is way too cool for photos but secretly loves being seen with her.

These images become heirlooms. Families frame them, pass them down, and treasure them for decades.

Siblings Together

Next up are the siblings, and this is where the personality really starts to come out. Whether it’s two sisters who still finish each other’s sentences or brothers who immediately start goofing off the moment the camera turns their way, sibling shots capture a relationship that’s unlike any other.

At the Seal Beach Pier, I love using the water and the pier pylons as a backdrop for these portraits. The natural light bouncing off the ocean gives sibling photos a warm, glowing quality that feels timeless.

The Cousins Crew

Cousins are a whole different energy, and honestly, some of the most fun images of the day come from this grouping. There’s a built-in sense of play and familiarity among cousins, and it shows. We do a few posed shots, but I always leave room for them to just be together. The silliness that follows is pure gold.

For larger groups of kids, I find movement helps. Have them walk toward the camera, jump together, or pile onto each other. The results are always full of life.

Each Individual Family

Once the larger groupings are done, we work through each individual family unit. This is a great opportunity to capture the smaller moments. A mom straightening her kid’s collar. A dad tossing a toddler in the air. A family of four sitting together in the sand watching the waves. These images feel personal and intimate in a way that the big group shots simply can’t.

Each family gets their own focused time, so no one feels rushed or skipped over. This is the portion of the session where parents tend to relax and stop thinking about the camera, which means the expressions become incredibly genuine.

Letting the Kids Run Wild

Here’s one of my favorite extended family photoshoot ideas, and it’s one that families rarely think to plan for: leaving time at the end of the session for the kids to just play.

Once the posed work is done, I tell the kids they’re free. They run, they chase each other, they dig in the sand, they splash at the water’s edge. And I follow them with my camera.

The candids from these last 5-10 minutes are often the ones families order the most prints of. A little girl running full speed toward the ocean with her dress flying. Brothers tackling each other in the sand. A toddler who finally let her guard down and is belly-laughing at something only she finds funny. These are the images that feel most alive, most true, most them.

Why the Seal Beach Pier is Perfect for Extended Family Sessions

The pier offers variety within a single location, which matters when you have a large group. You can move from the wide open beach for group shots to the shade near the pier structure for more intimate portraits. The golden hour light along this stretch of coastline is consistently stunning. (Or an overcast morning!) And the relaxed, local feel of Seal Beach keeps things from feeling overly formal, which is exactly what extended family sessions need.

If you’re thinking about booking an extended family session, I’d love to chat. These sessions are best scheduled in the late afternoon to catch that warm evening light, and I recommend allowing at least 90 minutes for a group of 10 or more. Reach out through the contact page and we’ll find the perfect date for your family.