Family Photoshoot at Maspalomas Dunes and Beach

From the Dunes to the Beach

A lot of my family sessions start in the dunes and finish by the water, a short walk away. The change in scenery does a lot for the gallery — dry gold sand and soft shadows on one end, open ocean and wet reflections on the other.

I don’t stage this part. We walk toward the beach the way you’d actually walk there on holiday, and I photograph what happens along the way: kids running ahead, someone stopping to pick up a shell, parents catching up a few steps behind.

Once we’re near the water, I usually let things unfold — barefoot walks along the tideline, a piggyback ride, a hug that wasn’t planned. I’ll also take a few minutes for portraits of just the two of you as parents, and separate frames of the kids if they’re up for it. None of it needs to look choreographed to work.

A Relaxed Photoshoot for Children

Kids don’t need to stand still and smile at a camera for an hour. Mine don’t, anyway — I’ve stopped asking for that a long time ago, because it never produces the photo anyone actually wants.

Instead, I let children move. If they want to dig in the sand, climb a dune, or run off toward the water, I follow with the camera rather than calling them back. Some of the best frames from a session come from those minutes when nobody’s posing for anything.

If your child is shy at first, that’s completely normal, and it usually passes within the first ten minutes once they realize nobody’s making them sit still. Energetic kids are, if anything, easier — there’s more to photograph.

What Is the Best Time for a Maspalomas Family Photoshoot?

Late afternoon, heading into golden hour, is usually my first suggestion for families. The sun sits lower, the light softens, and the dunes pick up that warm color that photographs so well. It’s also more comfortable — cooler sand, less glare, fewer people squinting.

Morning sessions can work too, especially if you want the dunes quieter and less busy, though the light tends to be flatter and cooler in tone. Exact timing shifts with the season and the weather, so I usually confirm the best window with you closer to your actual dates.

What Should We Wear?

Keep it simple and coordinated rather than matching outfit for outfit — everyone in identical shirts tends to look more like a uniform than a family. Soft, natural tones work best against the sand and the ocean: white, beige, cream, light blue, and other earthy or muted colors.

Skip anything with a large logo or a busy print — it pulls focus away from the people wearing it. Beyond that, comfort matters more than anything. Clothes you can move, walk, and sit in the sand in will always photograph better than something everyone’s tugging at.

Respecting the Maspalomas Dunes

The dunes are a protected natural space, not just a scenic backdrop, and some areas are closed to visitors or restricted to marked paths. I stick to the official paths, signs, and current access rules whenever I plan a session here.

There's still plenty of dune scenery reachable without stepping into protected zones, so this isn't a limitation on the photos — it's just how a shoot here should be done. During the session, we don't leave anything behind and we don't disturb plants, stones, or anything else that belongs to the landscape. It stays this good-looking largely because people treat it that way.

What You Receive

Every family session mixes posed and candid photography — group shots of everyone together, parents with kids, kids on their own if they’re up for it, and a few frames of just the two of you as a couple if you’d like them.

Once the session’s done, I edit the images properly rather than applying a single filter across the batch, and I deliver them through a private online gallery you can download from at your own pace.

Why Book a Family Photoshoot During Your Gran Canaria Holiday?

Kids change fast. The way your family looks and moves together this year won’t be quite the same next year — different heights, different front teeth, different things that make everyone laugh. A holiday is often the one stretch of time when everyone’s actually together, unrushed, without school runs or work in the way.

Photos from a trip like this end up being less about Gran Canaria and more about that specific version of your family — this age, this stage, this holiday. That’s usually what people find themselves looking back at years later.