Friends Photoshoot in Thailand

Most sessions run between forty-five minutes and two hours. In Thailand the time of day matters more than the length: the sun rises and sets between roughly six and seven o'clock all year, the soft light lasts only a short while because the sun climbs fast, and by mid-morning heat and hard overhead light take over. An hour that starts at sunrise or ends at sunset usually gives more than two hours at noon. The photographer's packages on their profile say exactly what each length includes.

Go early. On Phi Phi and around Krabi the beaches are quiet until the day-trip boats arrive, and Bangkok's streets are emptiest early in the morning; Chinatown is the exception, best after dark when the crowd is the point. Keep the group to a plan — one or two spots, a meeting point, colours that don't clash — and let the photographer direct the first few minutes; after that, people stop posing. On Koh Phangan, check the full-moon date: the party at Haad Rin draws very large crowds.