This year was a fantastic year to be at Corbett’s Glen. It’s one of the top 5 outdoor photography locations in Rochester for a reason. They put up signs this year, leading me to believe you couldn’t go “off the trail”, only to realize later that they just didn’t want you to climb in that particular spot. Which is all to say that it’s perfectly legal to take pictures by the waterfall. Phew!

Kimberly works in health care, John is an entrepreneur with big machinery, and Jack keeps them on their toes.

People are sometimes hesitant to have portrait sessions with two year olds because of their two-year-old-ness. No need to worry though – most two year olds are active and that’s the great thing about outdoor sessions. They leave plenty of time for kids to run around and be kids while still getting some amazing family photographs.

They said their family loves to be outside so they fell in love with this location. Be sure to check out how to choose a great location – Rochester has some great spots to choose from.

Thank you so much Kimberly and John for sharing your beautiful family with me!

Paige just has a few months left of high school and we had a lovely time commemorating her senior year at Corbett’s Glen in Brighton.

Corbett’s Glen is a beautiful location for any type of photography and is one of the top five outdoor locations in Rochester.

One of the best things about senior sessions is being able to incorporate your interests, hobbies or favorite clothing into the session. Paige is a dancer, cheerleader, and skate boarder.

A few outfits for fun is also a great idea.

I had the absolute privilege of working with Paige’s family a few years ago for her brother’s senior photo session, which you can see here. Such a different experience – he did a mini session and had the same outfit and just took off his tie. I love the contrast.

Thank you so much Paige for choosing me as your senior portrait photographer. I wish you all the best in the coming year and all the years to come!

It’s not every day that someone asks you to get up at 8 am to photograph their family of young adults, but that’s what we did. It was a picturesque morning at the Glen.

Corbett’s Glen is typically filled to the brim with photographers and with good reason, but is also an equally fantastic place to go on a very doable family hike with young children. They’ve gotten a little bit strict (at least with signage) about sticking to the path, but there are still spots where you can get close to the water without the risk of being fined.

Scheduling is usually a challenge for families – especially those with adult children, so we usually schedule backwards. That is, once your family has settled on a time, I’ll do my best to rearrange things on my end to make your time work. That’s how we roll over here – trying to keep things as non-stressful as possible.

Usually extended family sessions also include smaller family groups. It makes sense while you’re dressed nicely in a beautiful place to make the most of it.

This waterfall is like a little taste of Ithaca. It’s one of my very favorite spots in Rochester.

Thank you so much Mariah for sharing your beautiful family with me!

Jenn, Dave, Sydney and I met at Corbett’s Glen for their family photo session. Sydney was just about the perfect age and perfect temperament – she was absolutely lovely.

They won this session through a local silent auction. If you know of any happening around Rochester I have space for one more silent auction this year and would love to hear about your special cause!

Jenn is a social worker at Strong Hospital and I first met her when I worked with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. While the reasons she called me were always sad, she was a joy to work with.

Dave works in customer service for Xerox and we got to share feelings about being passed off to people in India when something breaks.

Corbett’s Glen is one of the Top 5 Outdoor Photography Locations in Rochester, and for very good reason. It has absolutely gorgeous scenery in a small, but walkable area. If you’d like other portrait location ideas, be sure to check out the blog post “How to Choose a Great Photography Location.”

Thank you so much Jenn and Dave for sharing your beautiful family with me!

Angela and Will have six beautiful children – the youngest of which made them famous by arriving in the hospital lobby.

They chose a green, plaid, blue and denim theme which I thought looked awesome. To read more about how to choose clothing for your family photo session, click here.

This is a little catch up on some fall blog posts (obviously – it doesn’t look like that outside right now!!!). Angela and Will participated in last year’s Fall Mini Sessions, which are a fantastic opportunity to have more economical family photos. You pay a reduced session fee and have a 20 minute session on a specific day at a specific place. This year’s mini sessions were held at Genesee Valley Park and Corbett’s Glen. If you’d like to be notified of this year’s mini session dates, click here.

What makes Corbett’s Glen a great spot is the iconic bridge which is almost always shady, and its small but beautiful waterfalls. Even if you don’t want to have family photos taken there, kids absolutely love it and it’s worth the trip – when it’s a little warmer of course.

And if you get a chance, having an updated couple’s photo is a great way to end a family session.

Thanks so much Angela and Will for sharing your beautiful family with me!

We were blessed with a beautiful fall day during this year’s mini sessions at Corbett’s Glen, which is one of the top five outdoor locations in Rochester. It’s also a fantastic place to head in the winter if you want to brave the cold. Click here for some winter Corbett’s Glen photos.

Alethea does a phenomenal job with clothing colors each year, and I always look forward to what colors she’ll choose. There are several different options with clothing – some are simple and some are more complex. This is definitely advanced clothing picking.

In some situations you might be charged for additional family members, but we don’t do that here. The session is yours and if you’d like to include anyone at all you’re welcome too. Alethea included her brother this year.

Interested in winning a free mini session? Click here to hop on the newsletter to be notified of the annual mini session give away.

Thanks so much Alethea and Geoffrey for being such loyal clients. It’s a joy to see you each year!

If you really want professional photos but find them a little bit pricier than you were hoping for, mini sessions are a fantastic option. They’re shorter sessions for a reduced cost and they typically happen in the fall. If you’d like to hop on the newsletter so you can be notified when you can enter to win a free mini session, click here.

Kim started out with a maternity session when she was pregnant with Averie, then had an in home session the following year, and after that discovered outdoor mini sessions and has been a faithful mini session participant every year since then. It’s been such a joy to watch her girls grow up.

One set of mini sessions this year took place at Corbett’s Glen, which is one of the top 5 outdoor photography locations in Rochester. You know this is true when you get there and can count more than 1 photographer a minute. Welcome to Rochester.

Adonis couldn’t make it to this years’ sessions because of work commitments so we took some images of just her and the girls.

In the photography world people often talk about candid photos and they mean different things by it. Technically candid photos aren’t posed at all, but with that approach you end up with a lot of outtakes and images that just aren’t stunning. A better way to get the natural look when you’re pressed for time is to get in a typical “posed” setup and then tickle your neighbor.

Or sometimes you can just tell kids to look at each other and it makes them smile because believe it or not, that’s kind of awkward.

Thank you so much Kim and Adonis for sharing your family with me again. It’s a huge honor. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

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.

Micah earned husband of the year award when he purchased a gift card for a portrait session for his wife for Christmas. Scheduling was interesting since he’s in law school at Cornell but was moving to Philadelphia for an internship for the summer, she’s a nurse with creative work hours, they’re expecting #3 so Danielle was interested in photos before she hit the not-quite-sure-if-she’s-pregnant stage of pregnancy, and my travel-to-Ithaca options were limited.

So they trekked all the way up from Ithaca for this session. They chose Corbett’s Glen because it closely resembles the nature in Ithaca and they wanted to remember their time in New York.

Everett and Lydia were all about the tricks up my sleeve. It’s always nice when things work out that way!

Danielle brought along an ultrasound photo for this image. The kids are very excited to be outnumbering their mom and dad in a few short months!

Danielle is a labor and delivery nurse down in Ithaca. I JUST photographed the baby of another labor and delivery nurse, Jenna and Tony’s little bundle, Sam. We compared swaddling notes – if you’ve never seen an L&D nurse swaddle a baby, write that on your bucket list. It’s remarkable.

Alex is their au pair from Poland who helps with the many balls they have to juggle. Next year she’ll be staying in the states but is hoping to be in a different part of the country (somewhere warmer perhaps?).

Danielle was undaunted by Micah’s impending absence because of Alex’s help. I’ll confess it kinda made me think about looking into it!

And a little sibling love.

Thank you so much Danielle and Micah for sharing your beautiful family with me! It was a pleasure to work with you all!

You know how life sometimes feels like a balloon that’s about to pop and you wake up and realize that you forgot to do fun, unstructured stuff?  This summer, we’re structuring time to be unstructured at all of the cool places I go with clients but never take my kids to.  We frequent Ithaca and spend plenty of time there slipping on algae and spotting tadpoles, but not so much when we’re home.  I thought I would write about it here since I’m taking the wild guess that I’m not the only one in this situation.

The first on my list was Corbett’s Glen, mostly because it’s a park that could just as easily be in Ithaca, one of my very favorite places in the world.

We discovered that there are two waterfalls and that the second one is further down the path with a better landing for family photos.

My kids were also super excited to find an “island” with a picnic table.  You would have to really really want a picnic to eat there, and also a sense of adventure since I’m not sure it was seaworthy.

It’s a small loop and a very easy hike for young children. There was a high school group there and one of the kids said, “Five kids, that’s a lot!” and another said to my husband, “Keep it up, bro!”

This is my daughter, feeling cooperative (at another spot that would make for a great family photo location).

If you enjoy sitting on vines suspended from 50 feet in the air, you can also check that off your bucket list at Corbett’s Glen.

For more Corbett’s Glen Photography taken with an actual camera and decent lighting, click here.  Have fun exploring!