A holiday in Mauritius is the most amazing way to celebrate a special occasion with the whole extended family. Sometimes it’s for a parent’s special milestone birthday or sometimes it’s just for the fact that all of the adult siblings live in different countries or continents and haven’t seen each other for years - or even met each other’s children yet - which makes for a very special occasion indeed, especially after the last couple of years we’ve all been through. Mauritius is the perfect setting for a family reunion and offers the opportunity for lifelong memories to be made. Many families want to document this precious time with a photo session - and are ALWAYS so happy that they did. It really is priceless.
Many families have a lot of questions when they start planning their holiday in Mauritius. Once they’ve booked their resort or hotel and start thinking about a photo session they have a lot of questions like: How does this work? Can that many people be photographed? Can you come to our hotel and photograph us on the beach at sunset? (The answer is YES!)
As a Mauritius family photographer, I have enjoyed photographing many extended families on holiday in many different locations on this beautiful island. I can recommend my favorite locations or I can come to where you’re all staying - which is usually much easier for everyone.
You can see an example of a full gallery by clicking the link below here:
Mauritius extended family sample gallery
and another one here:
Mauritius extended family sample gallery 2
PLANNING:
After we’ve emailed back and forth or hopped on a Zoom call and have decided on a date, location, and time I will send you a prep guide including what to wear. I will also send a questionnaire to get everyone’s names and relationship to each other, as well as the children’s ages, and do my best to remember it all but I’ll probably end up calling all of the adults either “Mom” or “Dad”. Haha.
THE PHOTO SESSION:
So how does a photo session work with that many people?
I’ve developed a workflow for working with large groups and it goes something like this:
I like to get all of the group shots and photographs with the youngest children first while they're all fresh (and before they head into the water - it happens!) Then we move on to various groupings, but for extended family sessions I always try to include the following images in the collection, in both a posed portrait and more lifestyle, relaxed images:
Entire family together
Grandparent(s) and grandkids
Grandkids only
Grandparent(s) with adult children
Grandparent(s) alone
Adult children (siblings) together
And I also take each family aside and do a mini photo session with each of them.
I like to include:
Mom and dad alone
Child(ren) together
Mom with child(ren)
Dad with child(ren)
Each child
Family photos: A more posed, smiling at the camera photo for the grandparents as well as fun ones with lots of action and cuddles. The kids love these! And even dads too (most times).
And don’t worry, I direct everyone into the interactions that get the best natural smiles and moments captured.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: DELIVERY OF IMAGES
About 2 to 3 weeks after our photo session, I will upload the edited images to an online gallery for downloading and sharing. I select the best images to add to the gallery and edit them all for color, exposure, etc. Each family member can receive the gallery link and have access to the gallery and download the high-res files to keep forever. You can print them or do whatever you like with them. It’s my hope that you’ll print them and have them on display to remind you of your loved ones and the memories you made in Mauritius.
