Family portraits with toddlers in our Saratoga Springs studio

I was so excited to welcome Andrea’s family back to my Saratoga Springs studio this winter! Now that the family has welcomed Valerie, it was time for new family portraits! Her children, David and Valerie, are simply the sweetest. They were amazing for me the entire session - smiley and happy to cuddle each other! I couldn’t have asked for better models. The family even brought their sweet dog to the session, too! I’m all about including EVERY family member - including your furry ones! Our session was joyful and simple, really focusing on the interactions between the kids and their parents. 

In fact, the portrait of Andrea and her daughter looking over her shoulder is my absolute favorite. As a photographer, there are portraits from every session that speak to me, and my goal every time I pick up my camera is to capture a moment that takes your breath away and makes you feel something when you look at it. This photo does that for me, and it is such a gorgeous depiction of motherhood that I hope Andrea will enjoy looking back on for many years to come. 

After their session, I went to Andrea’s home to complete their ordering session! I loved going to their house and seeing all of their family portraits from our previous session (2 years ago!) on the walls. They were thrilled to update their family portraits now that they have welcomed a new baby into their family, and it was a joy choosing their favorites to display at home. There’s not much more that excites me than knowing my families are displaying and enjoying their artwork every single day. 

Andrea, thank you for asking me to document your beautiful family again! I loved seeing all of you - and meeting Valerie. I hope we’ll get to work together again soon! 

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Spring family portraits with Saratoga Springs Photographer

Katie and Zach are the sweetest parents. I’ve loved getting to know them over the last few years as their boys Carter and Bennett have grown up. I’ve had the joy of photographing these brothers for their milestones in my studio over the last two years and each session is better than the last. There’s some real magic that happens when a family trusts you as much as Katie and Zach trust me. 

All of my cake smash sessions include time for updating family portraits. We were all so excited about the blossoms on the stress in my favorite spot in Saratoga Springs. It’s such a short-lived season here in Saratoga, and it’s my absolute favorite time of year to photograph families.These pink blossoms just lend themselves so well to soft pastel colors in the spring! 

Katie and Zach dressed the boys in super cute blue, green and pink colors. They worked perfectly in the park! You can never go wrong with blue and white, and chambray is one of my favorite fabrics for spring and summer. You always want to aim for a mix of patterns and solids, but keep in mind not to have too many people in patterns or the outfits will be visually competing for your eye, and you won’t be able to focus on the happy subjects. Katie and Zach did a wonderful job of balancing out the patterns and solid colors for their portraits. I’m just in love with the final images! 

Katie and Zach, thank you for trusting me to capture your sweet boys again! I absolutely adore working with all of you. 

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Family portraits with a toddler in their own front yard

This fall, I had the absolute pleasure of capturing the sweetest one-year-old, Violet, and her parents Morgan and Dan. We met for a session at their home in the early fall, and it was so perfect! We wanted to capture how much Violet has grown over the last year and all of her sweet mannerisms, personality, and the family’s interactions.

Violet was full of personality and gave us so many different expressions! I love photographing this age, because they always have so many new skills to show off. And, show off she did. She loved showing me how she stands, claps, and crawls. She’s so close to taking her first steps unassisted! Honestly, she was so adorable the whole time. I loved watching Violet’s little personality come out through the entire session.

It was really important to Morgan to capture some portraits of her and Violet together. Mom is usually behind the camera, so I always make sure to capture a few extra portraits of mom loving on her little ones, and I was thrilled that Morgan treasured these moments with her baby, too. I’ll never tire of capturing moms and their babies!

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Fall Family Portraits in Saratoga Springs

I am going to miss Henri and his sweet parents SO much. This family has been with me for a few years now and it has been an honor to capture their little boy as he grows. I’ve photographed milestone portraits and annual family portraits since Henri was born, and I cannot believe he’s growing up so quickly! When Jaimie reached out about a fall family portrait session at Pitney Meadows, I was thrilled. However, she told me that they’re moving out of the area and I was immediately a bit sadder. I really will miss these three and the chance to catch up with them every year.

This year, we met at Pitney Meadows in Saratoga Springs. This is such a beautiful spot - especially in the fall! There’s such gorgeous fall colors, so vibrant around us. They had just cut the tall meadow grass but it was still the perfect spot for this family of three. Henri was able to run around as his parents played with him and enjoyed the evening. We lucked out with some super vibrant yellow trees behind us during our session - and it worked perfectly with the outfits they chose. The yellow totally matched Henri’s shirt! It was so cute!

8 Tips for a Meltdown-Free Session with Toddlers

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Fall Family Portraits in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs Family Photographer

This gorgeous family session in Congress Park already has me looking forward to doing a roundup post with the Best of 2020 Family Portrait Sessions. I just don’t know how I’ll choose only one or two for that post! So for now, enjoy soooo many of my favorite images that we captured of this sweet family during their fall family portraits in downtown Saratoga Springs.

We had originally planned on doing a Fresh 48 session when Baby Wells arrived, but unfortunately the covid closures happened at the hospital the week of his birth so we were not able to capture his portraits last spring. We waited until he turned 6 months old for a fun family session, and his mama even made his little outfit!

This sweet baby boy was so happy and smiley, and he loved cuddling up in his mama and daddy’s arms. It’s clear to see just how much joy he has brought to their lives this year, and he has definitely been a bright spot for them!

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Love this fall family portrait session? Pin this image or any from the post above for inspiration!

A Springtime Mommy & Me Session in our Saratoga Springs Studio

This sweet little family was so much fun for their springtime session at our Saratoga Springs portrait studio!  If you haven't noticed, I have been loving all of our spring sessions lately.  I'm shaking off the winter blues by incorporating lots of flowers, greenery, and pastel colors.  Plus, these adorable little headbands from Sweet Ivie are my new favorites, and they're part of a new collaboration I'm doing with the designer!

This family has been living abroad for a few years, and they just moved back to the U.S., so it was the perfect time to capture some sweet memories of this gorgeous mama and her little ones!

Federico had the most amazing curls, and such a spunky personality!  He is an adventurous little guy who brought his big imagination into the studio.  The moment he saw my curved bench he decided that it was (of course!) a racetrack, so he pulled his toy cars out and started racing them up and down the seat of the bench!  Love his creative little mind!

Daphne was the sweetest little thing, and she loved pretending to feed the birds on our new hand-painted Lavender Fields backdrop by walking over to them with flowers in her hands and letting them have a little nibble.  She spent the second half of our session bonding with the birds, and we were able to capture so many adorable images of her and those sparkling blue eyes!

Love her dress?  Me, too!  It's from Nellystella, and you can rent the same one from Rainey's Closet for your upcoming session!  You'll be seeing a lot more of Rainey's Closet on our website in the coming months because their dresses are so soft & whimsical, and absolutely the best quality out there for unique looks for your session!

Love the backdrops?  Check out a few other recent spring sessions at the studio!

Hazel & the Lavender Fields Backdrop

Two Sisters with their Sweet Ivie Headbands

A Seaside Family Portrait Session in Harwichport on Cape Cod

I love the beach.  Seriously, my dream home would be a beach house where I could look out at the water every single day and take a walk in the sand every single night.  So when families ask me to join them at the beach for a portrait session, the answer is always, "Yes!  See you at sunset!"

I had so much fun with Robyn, Pete, and their birthday boy Nicholas during our session together at Pleasant Road Beach in Harwich.  This beach is close to their home, and one that Pete spent his summers at growing up.  The rocks on the jetty, the shingled houses behind the tall seagrass -- they all mean so much more when they have a story to them, and it made for the perfect backdrop for this family's session.  Plus, it was a nice little piece of saltwater heaven that they introduced me to for the first time, and a new favorite spot on the Cape!

Isn't this little plaid romper just perfect for our session?  I love the styling on this session, and everyone's outfits came together perfectly for some modern family photos at the beach.

In addition to family photos of everyone playing together, I love to capture a few quiet moments with mom & dad alone with the baby.  These sweet little cuddles are always some of my favorite moments to capture!

We're now booking family sessions through October, and be sure to contact me now because they fill up early!  By the way, the beach in the fall is still an absolutely beautiful location for photos.  Sweaters, sand, and hazy skies.  Just sayin'.     ;o)

Saratoga Springs Family Photographer: A Springtime Studio Session

Kate was the winner of our Launch Day Giveaway with the #NSPrebrand party in January.   We planned her Petite Milestone session in the studio to coincide with her little one's first birthday.  Kate's family has come to me for their portrait sessions since her first pregnancy, and we've photographed her maternity session, Lizzie's newborn portraits, Lizzie's first birthday cake smash, Gavin's newborn session, and now a sweet & simple milestone session just in time for Gavin's birthday.  

I have just loved watching her family grow over the past few years, and seeing the artwork from our sessions up on the walls of their home makes me so happy.  Even though I'm moving to New York soon, I look forward to coming back to continue capturing these moments for them.

I love everything about the image above.  It's not perfectly posed, they're not both looking at the camera, and you can't even see half of the baby.  But you know what?  It's the perfect moment that shows just how much love this big sister has for her little brother.  It shows that adorable all-in attitude that she takes to giving hugs, and the protective nature that's inherently there for her baby brother.  To me, it's perfect.  

Thank you for such a wonderful session together!  I look forward to seeing your family again soon, Kate!  

Thinking of planning your portrait session?  Contact me and let's chat!  I'm accepting sessions in Saratoga Springs starting in mid-June, and I'll be back in Massachusetts (Boston and Cape Cod) for a few select dates in June, July & August.  I would love to plan a time to create these beautiful memories for your family!

A Pastel Springtime Portrait Session with Sisters: Albany & Saratoga Family Photographer

Last week I shared a tutorial on how to create this amazing floral backdrop with paper, scissors, and a hot glue gun.  You can find the tutorial here!

With each session, I get more and more excited about creating unique sets for our clients!  I love simple colors and classic styles, and anything 3-D makes my heart beat a little faster as it comes off of the backdrop and brings your images to life.  Creating this floral backdrop was certainly a labor of love and it took many, many hours of cutting and gluing petals together with Netflix playing in the background.  I love it so much that I can't bring myself to toss the flowers, so I look forward to mixing and matching them in new ways for upcoming sessions.  (Just wait until you see the cake smash that will use these for a sweet baby girl!)

When sisters Lily and Evvie came to the studio for their springtime portrait session, I was excited to capture some sweet photos of the girls together with their frilly dresses, pastel colors, and our paper flower backdrop.  These girls were a dream to photograph, and we had so much fun together during their session.  This session embodies everything that I love to incorporate into my photography -- a little whimsy, a little sparkle, and the sweetest moments shared between family.

Love the look of these girly-girl dresses?  Me, too!  I have been adding to our collection of ruffled and sparkly outfits in the studio.  More info and a look book will be coming soon!