They drove through the night and arrived in the wee hours of the morning. My sister in-law and her family – who I rarely get to see because of the distance between us – visited for a few days before they continued north for Christmas. It is hard to believe but it was the first time I was able to meet my niece Elia. All of the trips we planned to go down had fallen through, and it meant I was way overdue to take some photos of her.

I photographed her around the house and got a few snapshots of daily activity, and went outside to capture a more simple portrait. She was fast, not quite walking but on the brink and as expressive as ever. I know it will be a while until I see her next and she will have changed so much, but I’m glad the family will have these photos to remember her at this stage. I think she’s just a doll.

For those of you who have little ones, or like me have the chance to visit them over the holidays, I thought I’d share my approach to documenting family at home. It’s so fun to have a collection of family photos to look back on, but it is not always easy to capture them. Before I tell you my rules of thumb, I should mention there are general rules of composition that influence every image. This includes: balance, color, rhythm, symmetry, flow and all of the other traits that can be applied to any visual work. Of course, I don’t stop and think of each of those items, but after studying art and training myself to think visually I would like to say it has become second nature. To simplify this for you, familiarize yourself with the rule of thirds if you aren’t already, and that will get you off to a good start with image composition.

If I didn’t lose you after that long-winded paragraph, here is my advice in three easy points to get you started on taking some killer family pics in the next few weeks

1. Use Natural Light! Use Natural Light! I’m guessing you don’t have a full lighting studio in your basement… but if you do, congrats you can skip to the next step.

Natural light is a great option because there is no extra equipment and it’s the most flattering (lightbulbs = different colors of light = strange skin tones). The easiest way to find natural light inside is to head to a window. You don’t want direct sunlight pouring through a window, but a soft generous light that fills the space. Don’t have a window low enough? Open a door or use a chair to make sure your subject is in the light. Above are two pictures illustrating the advantage of a subject facing in vs. away from the light source. The biggest different here are the lack of catch lights (the bright sparkle in the eye) in the image on the right. They bring the eyes to life and add depth to an image, so it is obvious when they are missing. While I love Elia with her little tongue sticking out on the right, her eyes are dark (aka. not facing the light source aka window) and the image lacks a vibrancy seen on the left.

2. Patience + Perspective go hand in hand.

Letting the picture come to you rather than forcing it to happen through desperate shouts to smile and say cheese takes patience. Plus, I don’t like the camera monsters formed when children are trained to respond to such behavior. While you are waiting for the right moment or allowing your subject to feel comfortable with the camera I like to try different perspectives. Elia pulled herself up and down while standing at the window seat and was clearly focused on squats and lunges instead of paying attention to what I was doing. No problem – I shot from above to capture her delicate eyelashes, tiny fingers and swirl of hair – details of life at this age that will quickly change as she grows.

3. Be Happy. I’m a big believer in keeping photos fun, so if that means letting the baby hold the rubber duck while they sit so they stay happy, go for it. If you are patient and willing to not push for photos but let them come to you then you will get the right shots. Sometimes this also means using your camera as a prop to play peek-a-boo or shooting from the hip (look mom no hands eyes!) so that you cross the barrier the camera can create between your subject. Also, don’t be afraid to take breaks, walk away and come back later when the time is right.

There you have it. Dust off those camera manuals and read up on shooting in manual, aperture or shutter priority so that you can start to make the camera do what you want. I hope that was pared down enough to give you a good start but with enough content to make it worth while! Happy Photographing

Greta loved sitting on this bench over at my house. She did not like when Jasper + Lexi barked… but she doesn’t seem too upset. Adorable

Gabi has grown so much since I last saw her. I photographed her as a newborn and now almost a year later she’s turning into quite the little girl. Loads of personality, she smiled and laughed as her grandma entertained and wasn’t afraid to show her displeasure at standing on the grass. She was wonderful to photograph and I don’t know how you can resist her cute little grin! Gabriella, you are one sweet little girl.

This baby is adorable. One challenge with photographing between newborn and six months (or whenever they start to sit on their own) is that there is a limited amount of things they can do. However, it’s during this time that they start to be so much more expressive and responsive which is so much fun to photograph.

I think this set of four should be printed and framed together, don’t you? Look at that smile – it’s no surprise since he has such great parents

So glad it worked out to do this session yesterday and I can’t wait to photograph him again when he’s older!

It was a surprise. Giuliana’s parent’s did not know I would be photographing her until they were given a session as a gift at their baby shower. I love to meet the friends and family of clients and it is always an honor when they refer me on… and this was such a situation. Last week I met the cousin of my past bride, Molly, in her Rochester home and photographed her new baby girl!

Little Giuliana was and absolute dream, and her dad worked some kind of magic to put her sounds asleep for some of the photos. I hope you enjoy this look into one of the first of many days of her life…

probably not quite ready to sit up, but with the help of mom she can try… we didn’t make her try that long with a face like that, however. There’s something about the picture that make me want to include it despite the discontent.

beautiful. I’m sure she’s going to grow up to be quite the girl.

He has a full head of hair, just like his sister did but his is much lighter. I can’t wait to see what he looks like in a few months.

Love the knitted diaper made by the wonderful Kristen Sanasith! I’m adding to my baby photo props

He sleeps soo well. The perfect baby. Sarah you’re such a great mom! I’m so glad we were able to spend so much time with you guys. Can’t wait for next time

Since we shot these images in their home, we used some of the objects and details they had to make the pictures unique, like the scale you see above.

Michelle found this mobile on Etsy and ordered it from a seller in Australia – it is definitely a work of art and a gorgeous addition to the nursery.

oh, Henri. You may recognize this adorable little boy since this is the third time I’ve photographed him. Now just over one year old he’s less baby and more toddler but still as cute as can be. It’s always a pleasure to get together with him and his family for a session, and this time we set up at the gardens of the Eastman House. The light was gorgeous at around 6:00 when we shot these and I used my 50mm 1.2 for all of them. I love the result and if you’ve been thinking about it, yes you can have pictures like this too… but you’ll have to contact me first. As hard as it is to schedule a time for a session it’s a lot harder to document moments that happened in the past.

love those blue eyes.

Henri is adventurous, and decided he wanted to climb a tree… so we let him.

this photo above was one of the first that I took when Ryan was helping position him… and it stood out to me, and I love that his hands are a part of the picture. (mental note to take more hand pictures – but not the ones with hearts – in the future)

Natural light + soft sheepskin + sleeping baby = newborn photos. It’s a simple recipe but one that works. I photographed Gabriella when she was just one week old, and she was the sweetest baby that slept so well during the session. I will add it took a little while to get her to sleep which is totally normal and all part of newborn photography – I do have some tips and tricks of course to help. I’m sure she’s grown already since the session but it was my pleasure to photograph her when she was so new and tiny.

See the full set of images in Gabriella’s gallery here which you can view and order from for two weeks. While you’re at it, visit my facebook page and join in on the coversation.