The blossoms of the apple and cherry trees are a beautiful sight that we’re treated to once a year in Ottawa. The blooming trees are a popular request as a backdrop for family photos and I am again excited to be offering them as an option to families that would like their photos in front of the trees in May.

While they are a beautiful backdrop for sessions, the blossoming trees provide unique challenges every year and today I wanted to share with you why these sessions are so different than any of the other sessions I offer and why I will only be offering a small number of sessions each year. 

family in front of blossoming tree during ottawa family photo session

Every year the trees bloom at a different rate making it impossible to predict exactly which date they will be open until we are very close to the time of the trees blossoming. And sometimes even once they have started to open things quickly change. Last year we had a sudden “heat wave” that caused the beautiful blossoms that we had been waiting to open to wilt and fall off the trees!

dad holding up a little boy in front of blossoming trees

While all outdoor sessions require some flexibility in case of rain, May is a particularly rainy month and with rain the flowers typically fall off the trees leaving bare branches and not such a pretty backdrop for photos. The winds that can come along in May also put the delicate flowers at risk of not staying on the trees long enough for photos. With blossoming trees we only have a short window of days where they are open and full so any inclement weather can make rescheduling sessions very challenging.

Spring photos of a little girl in front of pretty blossoms in ottawa

As the flowering trees become more popular as a session backdrop the challenges have increased. The public places where the trees are located are often busy which is distracting for children trying to have their photos taken. Last year the central locations with flowering trees saw photographers and clients standing in line for 20-30 minutes waiting for a turn for photos in front of the trees! To avoid these increasingly crowded locations, I have spent the past few months in contact with several private locations to find flowering trees on private property for my sessions. 

While finding great backdrops for my clients is very important to me what’s most important to me is that my clients have sessions that are fun, stress-free, and don’t interfere with their busy schedules. As a photographer my priority is always on the people in the photos and not the backdrop so I will continue to do my very best to make all of my sessions fun and as stress-free as possible.

Ottawa Spring Blossom Photo Sessions by Sara McConnell Photography

If you’re not sure which type of outdoor session might be best for your family I encourage you to get in touch with us. I offer a wide variety of sessions and beautiful locations and we’re more than happy to discuss them with you and help you choose the session that will work best for your own particular family.

If you don’t want to miss out on all the details for my Outdoor Spring Sessions, make sure to let us know you’re interested!