I’ve got another gorgeous fall session for you today! Jennifer and her beautiful family met me at Jackson’s Garden in Schenectady for their portraits this year. It was my first time set this location - another local photographer friend recommended it to me. I’m so glad we decided to go here! There were tons of gorgeous fall colors for us to play with.

Jennifer was ready to update her family portraits (and beautiful wall art) now that their little girl, Annabelle has turned 1. How cute is she with her little ponytail and first teeth coming in?! The Strange family also brought their sweet pup to our portraits and we had a lot of fun getting him to pose with the family. We captured some beautiful moments that will look perfect in an heirloom album for this family - or some stunning wall art. Picking out products with my families is almost as much fun was capturing their portraits!!

Thinking about bringing your dog to your session?

I’m all about bringing your furry family members to your session. Over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks to make everything run a little more smoothly for all of us. Before your session, take your dog for a walk so they’re more tired during our portraits. Consider switching out your leash to a neutral color (like this family, who swapped a bright orange leash for a brown one).

Make sure you bring treats for your pet and ask a friend or family member to come be the designated dog wrangler/watcher. This ensures you can focus on your session and time together during the human portraits! ;o) I’ve worked with tons of dogs and one of my favorite ways to keep our portraits together stress-free is to work around the dog, much like I do with kids! We’ll plan to sit and stand around where your pup decides they want to be. It’s much easier that way!