Most of my clients who book a beach family session are hoping for an evening with the gorgeous golden glow of a sunset. The beach at sunset is a beautiful location for family photos, but you don’t need to have the sun to have great photos. In fact, I much prefer having some clouds in the sky for a session than a clear sky and when there are dark cloudy evenings can add beautiful dimension and mood to your images.

Many women schedule maternity sessions for their first pregnancy, but it is also important to schedule a maternity session for a second pregnancy. Your family dynamic is about to change and it is the perfect time to capture those last moments as a family of three.

Your little one’s first birthday is quite a momentous occasion. Many people contact me to book a first birthday portrait session or cake smash session to document this special moment. While I offer several packages both in the studio and outdoors for first birthday photos, I do encourage clients to use this opportunity as a time to update their family photos.

It is hard to believe that it is Memorial Day weekend. Although this weekend is the unofficial start of Summer, my season of beach family photos has already begun. I started shooting on the beach in early May and I have been loving every second of it. The beach truly is the perfect place for family photos. It allows for interactive images, whether it be fun and playful or cozy and connected. Although the beach is a popular location for beach photos, there are some things you need to know ahead of time about scheduling your family photo session at the beach.

Your wardrobe is a key component to having a successful photo session. What your family wears will impact the mood of your images, as well as the overall aesthetic of your images. I know that planning the wardrobe can feel daunting, but I work with each and every client to help make this process as easy as possible.

I have been photographing Long Island families for a decade now. Over the years, I have photographed my clients in a wide array of places. As a result, I have learned what works well and what doesn’t. Each family is unique, so I always take that into consideration. Prior to each and every session, my clients complete a questionnaire. These responses help me to suggest a location that is a good fit for their vision for their photos and their family’s personality.

I worked with this recent client when her first daughter was born and also for her daughter’s first birthday session. When she contacted me to tell me she was pregnant with her second child, I was elated to now only photograph her family again for a newborn session, but to also see how much her daughter has grown in the past few years.

A decade ago, I started my family photography business. Over the past ten years, my approach to family photos has developed and I have learned so much. My approach to family photo sessions is to always capture your love and connection as a family. There are quite a few ways that I accomplish this during the session. So, although it may feel fun and maybe even a little chaotic, there is a method to my madness.

While every family dynamic is unique, there are some key images that I strive to capture during every family photo session. Here are a few of those ideas.

The only thing that is better than a newborn baby is twins! This family was amazing to capture. The twin baby girls are absolutely precious, big brother is an adorable doting brother, the parents are the sweetest, and the icing on the cake is the adorable golden retriever. I am a dog lover and I own a golden retriever myself, so whenever I work with families with dogs, I try my best to incorporate the dog as best as I can. This is because I know how precious a pet is to the family.

My client recently moved to Long Island from California. Her family, including her parents, still live on the West Coast. She decided that for her first Thanksgiving here in Jericho, New York, she would book a family photo session with her two little boys to commemorate this next chapter in their life. She also wanted to include her parents, who would be in town visiting for the holiday. I just love the idea of incorporating grandparents into photo sessions. After all, they are such an important part of your life.

I have a lot of clients who initially intend to have photos taken of their children alone. I always encourage parents to get into photos with their kids. I especially feel this away about moms. I am a photographer and a mom and I can tell you that although I am an integral part of my girls’ life, there are very few photos of me with them. Most moms are the documentarian of the household, which means we often do not get into the photos with our children. A holiday portrait session is the perfect excuse to finally have those photos with your children taken. You already will be present at the session, so why not step into a few images with the kids? You will never regret doing so and your kids will thank you for it.

The weather here on Long Island has been amazing this month. With the exception of a few cold days, the weather has been in the upper 50s to 60s. In fact, I haven’t been cold once for any of my outdoor sessions and I am ALWAYS cold. I am not complaining because the frigid winter weather is right around the corner.

Moms….I can’t stress to you enough how important it is to get in the frame with your children. Amongst our many roles as mothers, one is the documentarian of the household, which means that there are very few photos of YOU in them. We are such an important part of our children’s lives, yet we often have very little photographic evidence of that relationship. A motherhood or family session can finally give you those photos with your children that you will both cherish for years to come.

When parents contact me about booking a session, they often are worried about getting their child to sit still for pictures. It is not realistic to expect toddler aged children to sit still for an hour for photos. In fact, most adults wouldn’t even want to do this. Instead, it is important to give children the ability to move freely, explore and interact during a photo session. This freedom will help to facilitate natural and authentic moments and expressions in images. It is for this reason, that I feel so strongly about scheduling outdoor portrait sessions instead of in the studio. Quite simply, children tend to feel more relaxed outdoors because being outdoors gives an immediate feeling of freedom. It eliminates all of the pressure fo feeling like the child as to perform for the camera.

September is flying by and the official start of Fall is almost here. This month is one of my busiest months for beach family sessions. It is the best month to schedule that beach sunset photo session for a multitude of reasons. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, the crowds are gone and the sunsets are spectacular.

When this recent client called me to discuss booking a family session on the beach, I knew that working with her would be a memorable experience. During our phone consult we chatted about parenting and life with girls. She had me cracking up throughout most of the conversation and I couldn’t wait to meet her and the rest of her family for their sunset session.

I absolutely adore photographing pregnant women. I think they look stunning and it is such an important milestone to document. This is especially true when your family is expanding. It is nice to capture those exciting moments that lead up to welcoming a new baby into the family.

As a dog owner and lover, I am always happy when families want to include their dog in a session. When my client told me that he recently adopted a golden retriever, I was ecstatic. I love all dogs, but goldens are my absolute favorite. I knew that this session was going to be a super fun one to photograph.

As much as I love photographing families at sunset, this time of day simply is not ideal for some clients. For those with young children under three, it is often better to schedule sessions during the morning hours. You want to choose a time of day during which time your children will be most content because you in turn will be relaxed and it will shine through in your images.

I swear…I feel as though I blinked my eyes and it is now the end of August. It has been an amazing Summer. The weather has been gorgeous. I traveled with my family to various New England locations. Best of all, I was able to photograph some former clients and meet new ones.