The Beckenhauer Family: Salt & Sunset

This session was such a fun one.

We photographed the Beckenhauer family out at the Bonneville Salt Flats a little earlier than I normally schedule my traditional golden hour sessions, and it honestly worked out perfectly. The sun was still up enough to give us this beautiful, soft light on their faces, while the sky started showing off with the prettiest shades of blue, orange, and yellow.

It was one of those evenings where the Salt Flats just looked extra good.

One of my favorite things about this session was how much this family got into it. I gave them different pose prompts throughout the session, and they completely took them and ran with them. There was laughing, movement, playing around, and so many natural moments in between.

That is always what I’m hoping for during a family session.

I’ll absolutely guide you and tell you where to stand, what to do with your hands, where to look, and give you prompts so nobody is left standing there wondering what they’re supposed to do. But the magic usually happens when families loosen up a little, have fun with it, and let their personalities come through.

And this family did exactly that.

You can really see it in their portraits. Nothing feels overly stiff or forced. They’re interacting with each other, laughing together, and genuinely having a good time.

And possibly my favorite part?

After she received her photos, Mom sent me a message and told me she could actually tell that her husband was having fun during the session.

Ladies, you KNOW how big of a win that is. 😂

Husbands are usually the ones we have to convince to show up, smile, and trust the process, so hearing that he genuinely enjoyed himself made me so happy.

This full gallery ended up with 92 finished images, which gave them so much variety from the session. We were able to get the traditional family portraits, different groupings, individual moments, movement, laughter, and all of those little in-between images that make a gallery feel complete.

The photos I’m sharing here are just a few of my favorites from their session — and trust me, narrowing it down was not easy.

Family photos don’t have to feel awkward or like something everyone just has to survive once a year. They can actually be fun.

That is always my goal.

Give me your family, your personalities, your chaos, your inside jokes, and even the person who really didn’t want to take pictures in the first place. I’ll take care of the rest.

And when the Bonneville Salt Flats decide to give us light and skies like this?

Even better. ❤️