There are babies, and then there are fur babies. We take photos to remember the past which is especially important when we’re separated from someone we love. Jo and Chris decided to have family photos taken because their beloved dog Mana was diagnosed with bone cancer and they wanted to remember their time with her.

If you’ve ever lost a pet you know the pain runs deep. It was a beautiful idea to capture these memories.

Their adult son Nai also joined us for the session.

Chris and Jo took advantage of this year’s mini sessions at Corbett’s Glen in Brighton. If you’d like to learn how to win a free mini session in 2018, click here to subscribe.

Their other dog Loke also joined us.

If you’re photographing dogs, treats are a huge help in getting them to sit and look at a camera. It’s obvious when you think about it, but an easy thing to miss while planning out your session.

Thank you so much Jo, Chris and Nai for sharing your time with me. I hope your final days with Mana are filled with joy and peace.

When Jackie first arrived at the park her family had run ahead and I looked at her with my head cocked and said, “I know you from somewhere.”

She very graciously pointed out that we’d taken childbirth classes together. Granted, that was 12 years ago, but we’d had several email and phone exchanges and I did NOT connect the dots. What an absolute joy it was to see them all again! What was especially coincidental about this was that I also worked with one of the other couples from our childbirth class for the first time a few weeks before. Random! I’ll have to call the fourth couple and tell them this is the year for family photos.

Their only goal with this session was getting a couple of nice photos for their Christmas card. Their dog had to be one of the most photogenic Christmas card dogs ever. Doesn’t he look like he belongs with a cup of hot chocolate and a fire in the fireplace?

They did a great job choosing a neutral color scheme for their clothing – they all go together but aren’t too matchy, and the neutral colors bring the attention to their faces rather than their clothing.

Jackie and John named both of their girls names starting with J and to complete the theme, named their dog JJ.

11 and under is a great age to photograph – they’re still kids so they’re swayed by candy, silly jokes and oinking pigs.

Genesee Valley Park is on the top 5 list of places to take photographs outside in Rochester. What makes for a great location? I’m so glad you asked! Click here for how to identify a great location.

Thank you so much Jackie and John for sharing you beautiful family with me. It was wonderful to spend time with you all!

Grace’s mom Beth and I first met 13 years ago at the gender segregated Pakistani wedding of a close friend. We learned that our husbands were earning their PhD’s in the same program (which they also were learning on the other side of the curtain). A few years later we started going to the same church and her husband switched gears to become a doctor. They moved away for med school, moved back for residency, and moved away again for a permanent position and we miss them. They made the trek up from Pennsylvania both for Grace’s senior photos and a surprise birthday party for Grace. Happy Birthday Grace!!!

Grace chose Highland Park for her location, which is a popular spot for photos because of the variety of backgrounds including buildings, trees, flowers, stairs and gardens.  To learn more about how to choose a great location, click here. We started off at Lamberton Conservatory, then walked over to the Highland Bowl.  I love the Highland Bowl for it’s urban look.

When you’re taking photographs in a group, changing the background, posing and groupings of people gives plenty of variety. When you’re taking photos of just one person, bringing a few different outfits adds a lot more interest to the photos. Also if you have a puppy you can include them too.

Beth and her husband Matt totally surprised the kids with the puppy. She posted a fantastic video on Facebook of their reactions – Grace said she had no idea.

Photographing dogs is not super different than photographing toddlers, except for that they care way less about me and way more about the treats that are in their moms’ pockets. Nala was very, very excited to be alive and a little quick work with some treats and clicking the shutter at just the right time worked out to some really nice images.

After Nala was picked up we walked over to the Sunken Gardens, another well loved photo location. The key to the Sunken Gardens (or anywhere really), is finding the shade and bringing the light back in. That way you can avoid dappled light and harsh shadows.

Beth snapped this behind the scenes shot – you can see my terrible posture and my trusty lighting umbrella adding in directional lighting while Grace hangs out in the shade.

When I asked her if she had any plans she started talking about the weekend. When I clarified that I meant college she laughed at me. I love this – no need to rush adulthood.

Beth had some very bittersweet emotions about these senior photos. I can only project how I’ll feel that way in a few years. It really is a huge milestone. Grace took the opportunity to troll her mom a little with these images.

Thank you so much Beth and Grace for trusting me with these images. Spending time with you was such a joy.

Bridget’s senior photo session snuggled up right next to the yearbook deadline. Sometimes this is worrisome for parents, but it’s not on issue on this end. It’s easy to offer a quick turn around when you don’t spend a lot of time editing. Why, you ask? Because there’s this magical thing called off camera lighting that guarantees beautiful light anywhere at any time. It’s makes processing a breeze.

Bridget isn’t a horse person but decided that she wanted horse themed senior photos.  Themed photo sessions are a great way to make your photos stand out. Her mom contacted a horse owner and asked if we could take photos there. The owner was incredibly accommodating to a bunch of strangers. It’s a good lesson in thinking outside the box!!!

The property had a peaceful pond lined with mature willow tress that drooped down to touch the water along with a barn and some fences. An ideal location is one like this – with a number of different backgrounds to choose from.

Bridget also brought her boyfriend along. Including friends, family and significant others is encouraged. There’s no extra charge for additional people or clothing changes – the session belongs to you and you can use it however you like!

After the horse farm, we headed to the Spencerport section of the Canal for some more traditional senior photos.  The canal is a great spot because of the water and gazebo, but keeping cars out of the images is a little tricky!

Choosing a location that has different features such as water and architecture is the hallmark of a great location. To learn more about how to choose a location, click here.

Thank you so much Bridget for choosing me as your senior portrait photographer. I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming adventures!

The quintessential leaf throwing activities of toddlerhood are usually thwarted in climates like ours by cold weather.  This year the summer extended into fall and we had some truly lovely days for photo taking.

Dan and Stephanie had never tried out family photos before and wanted to include all members of the family, including their fur babies.

We went to the Mendon Ponds Bird Song Trail where if you’re very very still, chickadees will eat out of your hand. That’s more or less a no go if you have a toddler and two dogs, but if you were to go on a given day, you’ll find statuesque people along the trail vying for a little chickadee style attention.

The Bird Song Trail is also a great location for photos because of the way the path descends down the hill.

There were several inches of leaves near the Sensory Garden and Connor could have thrown them for another three hours.

The dogs worked with us for one more image and then wanted to chase the leaves themselves.

In a spot near the parking lot there’s another hill that lifts you up to folliage-behind-you level.  Flat ground doesn’t work when you’re trying to add fall leaf color to your images.  It’s important to be up high enough to have leaves behind your subject rather than tree trunks.  However, since it’s a parking lot, you may end up editing out some cars.  Also because it’s fall in Mendon Ponds, you may end up editing out some people.  And maybe also some photographers.  Thank you Photoshop for being there when we need you.

And another happy toddler photo. Toddlers, and kids in general, much prefer being outside for family photos since they’re in their natural environment. Usually it’s less stressful for them and they can associate photography with fun.

Thank you so much Dan and Stephanie for sharing your beautiful family with me!

When I walked through the door I walked into Houzz.com.  Margaret and Anthony’s home was magazine ready in every room, including their laundry room where I would have happily moved in for the rest of my life.  Anthony is a plumber who is also apparently quite handy and unlike some husbands who are handy everywhere but their home, Anthony had clearly put in a lion’s share of work.  I didn’t take pictures of the rest of their house because that would be weird, but I kind of wanted to just to show you all.  Some day they’ll be internet famous, I’m sure of it.

After oohing and ahhing over the kitchen, I noticed the in-ground trampoline (I want one!!!) and Anthony pointed out that they also have a zip line (I want one of those too!).  My heavy equipment rental friend (who just had a baby, congratulations!!!!) said that anyone can rent a digger… it may be on our list this summer!

Margaret is the master of Christmas cards and does a different theme each year.  Last year was a Christmas tree farm, like Greg and Christina, this year they chose to do a pillow fight.  Themed sessions are really fantastic, and it was so much fun to watch the feathers fly.  Here’s a video so you can feel like you were there.

You’ve heard the saying that a family that plays together stays together? That!  Giana and Eva were super enthusiastic about this year’s theme (and beating up on their parents a little).

Coconut was one of the cutest dogs to have ever existed and was ridiculously relaxed through the chaos.

She was also clearly well loved.

They ordered a beautiful foil pressed tri-fold Christmas card with this image gracing the front:

And a variety of the above images on the inside, including some fun ones like this:

It was an absolute pleasure working with your family. I loved your creative energy! I hope you all have a fantastic year!

When my kids ask for pets I tell them, “we have kids, not pets.”  A person can only be stretched so far.  But Kristen had a pretty ingenious setup – the kids gave the puppies to grandma and grandpa for Christmas, so they have a puppy-aunt and puppy-uncle kind of situation happening.  Win-win!

On this beautiful fall day we met at Sandy Peters’ house, owner of Peters’ Puppies. The night before she had been up with the puppies every two hours making sure they were clean and had eaten. Her heart for puppy raising is infectious.

And what’s not to love about puppies? Kendall and Eddie were very exciting to be taking this little guys “home” (to grandma’s house) shortly after this session.

At a little less than six weeks the puppies were a little feisty when awake, but still slept a lot and were particularly snuggly when drowsy.

I had the opportunity to photograph this same litter a few weeks earlier when they were a bit younger. There were nine of them – watching them hop through the yard was like watching popcorn pop.

Congratulations to Eddie and Kendall! I hope you’re enjoying your beautiful dogs who are probably not so little anymore!

And she’s moving to North Carolina.  :/

We also learned that she is a passionate dog breeder (is there any other kind?) and my daughter fell in love with her puppies.

Those puppies grew up and went to their forever homes, but recently Lilly had nine more. We had the joy and privilege of heading back out to her house for some puppy photos and a little swimming.

Sandy said the puppies were her therapy and loved on those fur babies with abandon.

She breeds golden doodles which have the temperament of golden retrievers and the hypoallergenic fur of standard poodles.

The puppies had been bathing in puppy chow when we arrived so they were cleaned off and brushed. My daughter felt very responsible.

The puppies are an integral part of the Peters’ home schooling experience which includes, among other things, biology and responsibility.

Lilly would nurse the puppies until she was bored and then stand up with a few still attached. It seemed that she knew Sandy would take care of any mothering responsibilities she wasn’t in the mood for.

Some of our posing efforts felt a lot like newborn posing.

And in case you’re wondering, no we did not bring a puppy home.  Whenever the kids ask I tell them we have kids, not pets.  Plus Sandy has quite the waiting list!

This was the puppies’ first time outside, ever. They were super drowsy and would start crawling and then just fall asleep where they were in whatever position they happened to be in.

I had no idea how much work puppies were. When they’re first born, Sandy’s up every two hours to help feed them and keep them clean.

Thank you so much Sandy, for welcoming us into your home and a corner of your remarkable life. We’re looking forward to seeing the puppies again, when they’re even cuter!

Animal shots, are very, very challenging.  The dogs and Luke cooperated for about two seconds and we got this one!

Love, love, love the smushed face.  They lose those chubby cheeks entirely too fast.

This stream was right behind their house – so peaceful!

And this was their super snazzy customized Christmas card.

The original plan was to use a black backdrop inside if it was raining.  It had been raining all day with the approach of hurricane Sandy, but let up for about an hour right when I arrived. Amazing.  I was super thankful because I really hate backdrops more than just about anything.  This red bush right in their back yard was perfect for Christmas pictures.  The amount of background you need to make a nice background is really quite small.  Hooray for no backdrops!

I have actually never taken a family picture with an animal… okay, maybe once but the dog didn’t cooperate.  This cat was awesome.  His name is Snoopy.

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