Family Photos

A professional family photographer captures the true spirit of your family.

You deserve a professional photographer that captures the true spirit of your family and what makes your family, your family. Hiring a photographer who is both friendly and patient will be the absolute key to capturing amazing photos, especially with young children. On today’s family session, I knew we’d be taking several snack breaks and toy breaks to regain the kids attention, so in planning the shoot I purposefully blocked out my morning. This family session wasn’t booked as a “90 minute session” or as“2 hours with overtime” as many photographers often do. I’m not interested in rushing anyone. I’m interested in capturing fun and happy family photos.

The best Long Island Family Photographer is an experienced family photographer because as we all know, there’s Instagram and then there’s reality.

Capturing family lifestyle photos are just as important as capturing the traditional posed family photos. Often the lifestyle photos are the best photos because they are organic and the emotions captured are natural, not posed.

For this shoot, we discussed capturing both traditional posed family photos and lifestyle shots (I.e. kids playing with their toys, bouncing on the bed). As I photographed this Long Island family, we alternated between posed formal poses and the fun candid moments. The constant change between “Look here and smile” (formal family photos - traditional) and “let’s play with the building blocks” (candid lifestyle) really kept the kids relaxed and engaged as I took photos.

Battery Park NYC Family Photographer

The Best nyc family Photographers are the ones that photograph annual family photos

2020 marked my second year photographing family photos for this Lower Manhattan family. Our annual family photo session always starts with everyone in the apartment and then we take a cab to Battery Park for outdoor family photos, which tend to be more casual. This year we were greeted with perfect mid-September weather and light.

as an nyc family photographer I try to capture what makes your family unique and the amazing place we all call home, NY.

As a family photographer in New York City, I’m always asked where is the best place to take family photos. I personally believe the best location for family photos, especially with younger kids, is a place where everyone is comfortable. It could be the local park (Central Park, Battery Park, Gantry Plaza Park, or the small park down the street) or just on the block where you live.

Family photographers go with the flow

When you go online and see Pinterest or Instagram posts we all get ideas of how we want our family session to look. We also envision how are family session will go, against our better judgement; all smiles under a perfectly blue sky. Well, not everything you see on the internet is true. Most of the time, you just see a highlight reel of the good times, and not the not so fun times. I too was a kid once. In fact, I was really difficult kid.

When photographing younger kids I like to photograph a ton of candid moments. I do give direction throughout the session, but only little suggestions and I never get frustrated when our vision does not go to plan. Letting kids be kids, whether that’s playing or talking to mom and dad as I shoot, is key to having them become comfortable in front of the camera.

Central Park Family Session - The Whitmans

Happy Friday! My early fall family photography session last Friday was a wild success. We had amazing late September lighting at our 5:30pm family session in Central Park NYC. As a NYC family photographer , I have a lot of different options as to where I can photograph and when. Central Park’s West side offers an almost endless list of looks/ feels; Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain, 72nd Street heading West with the sunset.

Photographing families with young kids can be challenging. That’s ok!

Prior to photographing a family session with younger children, I always suggest parents bring the following 2 items.

  • The first are snacks. Snacks are a great mood booster for little kids. Sometimes all it takes is some sugar to turn a frown upside. And other times, snacks act as a good-ole-fashioned bribe.

  • The second must have item are toys. I love having toys on photoshoots because the best thing a kid can do is play and just be a kid. Not all of our photos have to be posed “look here and smile” type photos. Candids make the best photos!

The Best nyc family photographer is relaxed.

There’s instagram and then there’s reality. Not every pose or idea we have will go to plan, and that’s A-OKAY! 90% of the time, the best photos are the ones we least expected. These are the candid photos of your family being themselves; laughing, giggling, talking to one another, and playing. As an experienced and professional family photographer my best advice is to be comfortable. Forget you’re being photograph and focus on being yourself. It will 110% show in your photos.

Have a good time! :)

Montauk Beach Family Photographer

I photographed Matt and Lexi’s proposal in Montauk, NY 3 years ago! I can’t believe it’s been 3 years.

Well, 3 years later, I’ve been asked to photograph their whole family back in Montauk. We picked the beach across from their family’s home because it was convenient and because the eastern Long Island location captured the essence of their Montauk summer living.

As a photographer, it was a tough family shoot to photograph because of the strong East to West winds, the sun was still strong, and when working with little kids you never know what you’re going to get. The common misconception with family photos is “Instagram vs Reality”. People only see the best photos. These are the photos with the kids happy and smiling. However, what you don’t see are the crying photos, not looking at the camera photos, and the bloopers.

We tried to have Issac cooperate, but he was not in to having his photo taken. So, plan B was to have Isaac be Isaac, a kid who likes to play in the sand with his toys. I photographed him playing and then had everyone gather around him, and I captured the moment. I then consistently tried to capture more posed and structure photos.

Long Island Family - Manhasset Family Photographer

That’s a wrap, 2019! My very last photoshoot of 2019 was a super fun family photo session with 9 month old Jayden and his parents, Mina and Jon. Our photo session was at their family’s beautiful and open home in Manhasset, NY.

Mina and Jon’s son Jayden was a lot of fun to photograph. He was super curious and didn’t mind dressing up in his new pajamas.

Photographing families in their home makes for the best photos. Everyone is comfortable and the kids have all of their favorite toys right there. Especially for little kids, home photoshoots are the best, not only because home is where the toys are, but because it’s easy for everyone. We were even able to pause for Jayden’s 30 minute nap and pick right back up again when he woke up.

Family Photo checklist for kids

  • Toys: On family photo sessions I always recommend brining a few toys. Children, young and old, need a distraction. It’s hard to constantly smile photo after photo, and still look happy. A toy break can be a great mood booster and a nice way to relax.

  • Snacks: Even this photographer needs a snack break from time to time. Bring snacks to our family shoot. It’s a huge mood booster and even a bargaining chips to get the kids to pay attention and behave.

  • Budget time: Budget time in to your family photoshoot for snack breaks and time to play. Not all of our photos have need to be posed photos. Sometimes the best photos are of the kids just being kids…. even if it’s on the floor. Posed family photos are great, and so are candids.

At Home Family Photos With A Professional Long Island Family Photographer

Holiday family photos

My last photo assignment of the 2019 was one of my favorite family sessions of the year. To be honest, family photography is not my number one photography service. I don’t advertise for family photography or “family photographer”, and I don’t talk about my family photography work all that much. However, family photography is my favorite type of photography for a whole bunch of reasons. First, it’s rewarding and relaxing. I can be goofy, and there’s no strict timeline of what needs to happen and when it needs to happen.

happy Family portraits

Photographing this family at their Manhasset, NY home was a ton of fun! Their kids, Ethan and Aria, were so easy to work with. Maybe it was the holiday season that had everyone feeling good or maybe, just maybe, it was the promise of Disney Plus and lollipops that had everyone on their best behavior. Not once did these kids complain.

HOw to prepare for a family photo session and working with a professional photographer.

Mom was prepared for our morning photography session. She had plenty of ideas and examples of what she wanted photographed. Everything was ready for our family photo session.

  • Snacks that were not messy

  • Toys

  • Family photo poses and ideas