Cresskill family photographer Lifestyle Photography: Newborn, Baby, Child, Family

Tag Archives: Cresskill family photographer

Photographing older kids can be fun | Ridgewood photo session with two brothers

When this Allendale Mom called me to schedule a photo session for her kids she told me that she wanted to capture her boys as they are now – still her boys – before the oldest turns into a grown man and goes to college. As we were chatting she mentioned that it was a while since she’s been in pictures with them – like so many Moms out there (including me!) she is the one who takes pictures and as a result she is rarely in them. And you know how strongly I feel about parents (especially Moms because they are always behind the camera!) to be in the pictures so of course I told her that we would some shots of her and the boys!

I don’t mean to toot my own horn but a lot of my repeat family photography clients (and their kids!) look forward to their sessions with me – they know how much fun they are (if you don’t believe me, check out this video here). But when you are 15 and your Mom tells you that she hired a professional family photographer to take your pictures and you need to go downtown Ridgewood for your photoshoot (where you can run into your friends or some cool girls) – this may not seem like a fun activity to do. But guess what – I won these boys over! A few minutes into a session this Mom told me that the boys warmed up to me right away and when the photoshoot was done the oldest told her that I ‘was cool!’ – which to me is the biggest compliment there is coming from a 15 year old!

One of the reasons why my Bergen County families come back to me year after year for their family photo sessions is because of the experience I provide – their sessions are laid back, stress-free and fun and I was thrilled to hear that these guys felt the same way. But what’s even more important is that people love their images and we checked off that box in this session as well – at their viewing/ordering session this Mom kept RAVING about the images and told me that they were ‘everything she wanted AND MORE!’. So I file that under a super-successful photoshoot:)

And if you like these images, live in Ridgewood, Wyckoff, Cresskill or other towns in Bergen county or surrounding areas you should take advantage of my Christmas in July photography special – book and hold your new photo session by September 10th and receive a free set of 25 Holiday cards with your order!

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Summer family photo session in Wyckoff

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you may noticed that I often write how much I loved a certain session or a family… and it may sound redundant when I say that time and time again but it does not make it any less true – I do love my families and the images I create for them.

Case in point is family/session – this was my first family photo shoot with them but I’ve known them for a while – big sister S. is my Alexa’s best friend and because our kids get along so well we met up with the parents and would not you know – we get along great with them so now we are family friends! And if that was not perfect enough – they also have a wheaten terrier and you know that since getting our Millie I’ve been obsessed with all things dog related:)

It seems that every parent comes to a photo session worried about their kids ‘behaving’ and I always reassure them that kids just need to be themselves – they don’t need to pose or smile on command at their photo sessions with me. And once parents let go of their expectations of that their children should be doing we all start to have fun!

At this Wyckoff family photo shoot the parents were relaxed from the very beginning and their mood reflected in their kids. The kids were being kids – happy, silly, loud, loving and I got to capture just that. And while every family session I photograph is unique in its own way, what is common among all my family photo sessions is that I capture emotions and love and it makes me so happy to do that!

Looking at these images makes me smile and what’s even more important it made these parents smile:) At their viewing/ordering session there were so may ‘awwwwws’ and at the end this Mom told me that these photographs were exactly what she wanted captured. And to me there is no higher praise than that!

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Photographing long time clients in Wyckofff | Bergen County family photographer

If you’ve been following my family photography blog for a while this family will look familiar to you – this is not the first time I photographed them and I think it is not the last one either:) At the photoshoot we tried to remember how many family photo sessions we’ve had together and how many years I’ve been photographing them for and lost count – I think it’s been at least 6 years and 7 sessions! I had the great pleasure of watching the boys grow from toddlers to big kids (the oldest is going to middle school in the fall!) and see them become a family of 5!

This photoshoot took place around little G. third bday so he got a bit more attention than his brother during photoshoot. I think that’s a common occurrence though because this little guy is ADORED by everybody in this family. Being a Bergen County family photographer I meet and photograph lots of amazing families and I love capturing love between family members. But every once in a while you photograph a family where you can FEEL the love – do I sound like a song from a Disney movie?:) This is the case with these guys – big brothers were almost arguing about who would get to be in pictures with G! They were sweet and so caring and did a great job making him laugh (along with the Dad!). I did not turn around much during a photoshoot to see what was going on behind me and how these gentlemen were making G. laugh – I think some things are best left unseen:)

I love how happy and full of energy these images are – I think they reflect the T. family perfectly!

And if you are located in Bergen County or anywhere in Northern New Jersey and are looking for a great professional family photographer to capture your family portraits look no further and give me a call – I would love to photograph you!

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Bergen County family photography – what my clients say

There is so much I can tell you about this great Allendale family photo session. I can tell you that first time I met and photographed them they were a family of three and L. was just under a year old. I can tell you about how great it was to see him again as as a pre-school graduate – running around and giving me hugs. I can tell you about how funny and energetic and feisty M. was and how wonderful it was to meet her in person. I can tell you how much I love watching families grow and that I feel very honored when my Bergen County families come back to me year after year to document precious memories in family pictures. I can tell how much I enjoyed photographing this family at two new (for me) Bergen county locations – in Wyckoff and Allendale. I can tell you all these things but instead I will let this Mom do all the talking – here is what she had to say about their Bergen County family photo session:

“In addition to taking stunning photographs – including what is quite likely the best photograph of our family ever – Lena has such a warm and friendly personality that my two small children were literally running up to the her and hugging her throughout the shoot! It was cute to see that, but I wasn’t sure if they were “behaving” well enough as they were running around acting crazy to get any good photos. My fears were unfounded! Lena found the magic in those real moments. This was our second time being photographed by her, and I have to say, her photos just get better and better! I know what I like, and Lena listened to my vision for the shoot and definitely incorporated my wishes with her beautiful artistic vision. Thanks, Lena! :)”

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Happy Happy Joy Joy | Ridgewood family photographer

I love my Ridgewood photography studio but my passion has always been on-location family photography. As a Ridgewood family photographer I love going to people’s home all over Bergen County or meeting them in parks for their family sessions – everything is green and bright and happy! But with on-location outdoor photography comes a challenge – the unpredictability of weather! We had to reschedule this family session TWICE due to rain. But third time was a charm because when we finally did met everything was absolutely perfect – starting with outfits (this Mom did an amazing job with two different sets of outfits!), locations (we split up the session between a park in Wyckoff and downtown Ridgewood – to get urban images) and this family, which was one of the happiest and most loving familiest I’ve met – and that’s saying something because all my families are simply awesome! But my favorite part of this family session was baby H. – if you think he looks cute in pictures you gotta see him in person – you won’t be able keep your hands to yourself – you will want to hug, squeeze and hold him! He has amazing laughter, a toothy grin, adorable chubby cheeks, elbow dimples, long beautiful eye lashes, a head full of curly hair and such a sunny personality! And if that was not enough, he was born on April 23rd – which is the day of MY birthday!!!! It truly was such a pleasure to photograph him and his family.

So if you need for a little ‘pick-me-up’ do yourself a favor and scroll through these images – I promise they will make you smile!