A Brooklyn Family Tale

When a friend approached me asking if I'd be interested in doing a photo shoot for their just-turned 1 year old, I told them I'd love to. Before we got started, I asked two simple question that helped me better understand how to approach the gig: why? why were you doing this and why me?

The first may seem like an obvious question - families get portraits all the time. And, as I mentioned here, finding a way to grab that fleeting moment as children age is a common desire. But each family has their own spin on the 'why', and when my friend and his wife explained theirs, I was on board.

Curious and fierce

But they 'why me' surprised me a bit and hints at the notion that sometimes you need other people to help see who you are. They said they loved how close and revealing my portraits felt of others - from strangers to clients - and wanted to really show off the personality of their one year old who was just beginning to show off her own stripes. I admit that's not how I would have thought about the session beforehand and the answer helped me better understand how my approach could work in family photography.

Timeless

As we went outside on a cold day, it was trickier to get those up close shots with more layers on, but more important to capture the family as a whole and how they live in their neighborhood.

Tears of joy (or cold)

And I'll never get tired of getting close when their eyes glow like that.

A moment. A story. A family.

A friend recently approached me to do a family portrait session for them. Their little ones were growing up quickly and they wanted a chance to capture the preciousness of their ages and the memories of the moment. 

Little guy stole my hat

My family never took portraits and the idea always struck me as a bit odd until I started seeing some of the photos my friends had. They were natural, fun loving photos that captured that small sliver in time for the family. I've seen them in hall ways, frames, and yes, social media too. And so when I thought about what I wanted to bring to the shoot, my focus was on finding ways to capture the little personalities running around the park and the dynamic the family has together.

Penguin style

This didn't mean no direction at all - just a careful mix of direction and giving kids room to be themselves. It meant keeping a read and pulse on how much patience both kids and parents had and choosing moments for a little more careful composition carefully and making sure I was ready to capture it.

up in the air

I'm still finding my style with family photos but loved the opportunity to bring this one to life. Thanks Meghan and Brendan for letting me into your world for the morning.