New Jersey Family Photographers
Photographers in New Jersey for Family, Vacation, Birth
Elizabeth, Edison, Toms River, Clifton, Trenton, Camden, Newark, Jersey City, Paterson
Find a top New Jersey documentary family photographer for your at-home or hospital birth, family vacation, reunion, party, or for a 'Day in the Life' photo sessions. Search for your accredited photographer at the NJ Family Photojournalist Association:
Map of FPJA Family Photographers Serving New Jersey
5 Available Documentary Family Photographers...
When I first started shooting, I was happy to photograph anything. It took a number of years for me to settle into what my passion would be. To find where my skillset, my eye would thrive —in Life documentary. Over time, I noticed the joy I'd feel after shooting a family for a few hours, or sometimes a whole day. Getting to know each member of the family tribe. Seeing what they each enjoy doing, wearing, saying. Where they love going, and how they travel together. Keeping an eye on the little things that can sometimes often go overlooked when we're bogged down by the day to day rat race. I think that's what people appreciate and that's why they hire me and sometimes hire me again. So I can freeze these thought-to-be small, but in actuality are huge moments—a tear dop on their child's face. A strawberry stain on their shirt. The way they tie their little shoes. Nothing is forever, but this is the closest way to make sure special moments never die and I'm so grateful that I can do that for so many of them.
My photography roots began with a career in photojournalism. I found immense joy getting to discover the communities I lived in while shooting for the local newspapers and having the opportunity to document people’s daily lives. That documentation of daily life is what I am now bringing to my portrait sessions – telling the stories of you and your family: Those every day simple things that we may take for granted. Those little moments that you will want to remember forever. The natural interactions of you with your family.
After graduating from nursing school, I spent two years working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the prestigious Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Feeling a strong call and desire to help others, in June 2007 I left my job in Philadelphia. I took my first trip across the Atlantic Ocean and spent a year volunteering as a nurse in Monrovia, Liberia, onboard the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, with the medical charity, Mercy Ships. While in Liberia, I began writing about my experiences for several newspapers and magazines in the Philadelphia area. The editors needed images to illustrate my stories, so I ordered my first DSLR camera and began learning how to use it. I quickly realized the power and significance of an image. A single image could transcend distance, time, and situation, to communicate a thought, feeling, or emotion, that was universally recognized in the human experience.
I love to photograph the freehearted, honest and unguarded moments. I try to capture joy. I also try to capture ‘realness’, which is not always picture-perfect. I prefer (I am more comfortable) shooting in natural light with limited posing and props. My passion is to photograph moments that go unnoticed, that may be overlooked. They may even be unpleasant. I believe one day you will want a record of what life really looked like for you, at that point in time. I am Australian living in the U.S. with my husband and two kids. When my kids moved out of diapers, I took a breath and picked up my husband's Nikon D90 and began, slowly, teaching myself manual photography. I was sick of photographing our family moments using Instagram. I wanted to have full control of the images I was creating. This was in 2015 and I still have so much to learn. I was born in Western Australia and have lived in Queensland, California, Tasmania to name a few places. I love people, I love experiencing life in different places and I love where we live now for all its diversity. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be on the coast somewhere, (think tropical), but I have learned to make the best of what you have. I have a strong accent and have been known to use Aussie phrases, so don't be afraid to ask me "What did you say?"
The magnitude of family photography is what interests me. I strive to make images that are real, raw, and emotive. They are artistic and classic and genuine and in a few years, or in many years, they will be waiting for you when you want to recall the memories that you are making right now. I have been photographing weddings and families professionally for over 13 years in Philadelphia, New York, and surrounding areas. I've learned that it's not about being in the right place at the right time, it's about being open to everything that is happening around me.