Here is a session spotlight of a family photo session I had in Ridgewood a few weeks ago – you can see a sneak peek from this session here.

Despite having my natural light photography studio in Ridgewood, I still LOVE photographing families on location and I always suggest this to my clients.   I believe that on-location sessions (whether done at a family’s home or in a park) allow families to be most relaxed and that lends itself to very natural images.  These guys followed my advice and we split up this session between their home in Ridgewood and a nearby park.

We lucked out with the weather – it was a perfect fall day!   The outfits worked really well together and their house was picture-perfect – complete with pumpkins hand-painted by kids.  Both kids and parents were excited about their session, up for anything and laughed at my jokes, which made me very happy:)

These guys wanted images that were lifestyle and unposed – which is the type of photography I am known for!  They also said that they want to remember ‘laughter and youth’ when they look at these images in the future.  I think it is safe to say that they will remember that – I can hear the kids laughing when I look at these images!

The kids were bursting with personality.  Little T. has the most beautiful smile and is a champion puzzler – she can get a puzzle done like nobody’s business.  It was pretty interesting watching her focus on that.  And her big brother C. is a boy to the core – with boy related jokes and love of super heros:)  Mom and Dad were very laid back and in love and I think that shows in the images.  They were up for anything – playing with leaves, an impromptu dance-off,

After the session Mom apologized for her kids ‘not cooperating’ and I reassured her that they did great and that we got plenty of wonderful images.  And sure enough, at their viewing session Mom and Dad could not believe the number of wonderful family pictures I was able to capture.  I always find it funny how surprised parents are at the images I am able to get, even when their kids don’t seem to be ‘cooperating’:)  I believe that if you let kids be themselves, with the right family photographer [ yours truly:) ], you will be able to get great images!