New York Family Photographers
Photographers in New York for Family, Vacation, Birth
Nassau County, Long Beach, Hempstead, Glen Cove, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Schenectady, Hudson Valley, NYC, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island
Whether you are searching for a NY documentary family photographer for your children’s birthdays, family reunions, once-in-a-lifetime vacations, or graduation parties, you will find the perfect fit for any family photo session among the accredited photographers of the New York Family Photojournalist Association:
Map of FPJA Family Photographers Serving New York
11 Available Documentary Family Photographers...
I love my family, photography, nature and yoga. I've been a photographer for 15 years. I worked as a photojournalist and multimedia photographer for Sun-Times Media in the Chicago area for six years and I've been photographing weddings and families for ten. My work has been recognized by the National Press Photographer's Association, Women in Photojournalism, Editor and Publisher, Illinois Press Photographer's Association, Illinois Press Association and Illinois Associated Press. I have a master's degree in environmental studies. I live in the Capital Region of Upstate New York with my husband and six-year-old son.
I seek to capture natural, authentic photos of my clients. For the last 20 years, I have worked with people from all walks of life to create images that truly reflect their personalities. My style evolved out of my own self-conscious nature. I didn't want my clients to feel uncomfortable or overly posed. I want to bring out the best of them and you!
Hey there! Anna here! Are you looking for family photos that are DIFFERENT from all the rest? Are you tired and just plain bored with the same old, same old when it comes to family photo sessions? Done with worrying that you’re going to be 15 minutes late and miss your entire session? Are you over the headaches associated with family portraiture? Making everyone cooperate and smile until their lips quiver uncontrollably? Wanna jump OFF the bandwagon??!! Documentary family photography may be just what you need!! I create ARTWORK from your every. freaking. day. Just your typical, run-of-the-mill, crazy a*s day. Seriously. No posing, just living! It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s REAL. No fake bullsh*t. No awkward smiles. My favorite? No dressing up! Funny story — I hired a documentary family photographer for our vacation with extended family at the beach in CA this year. Yeah, my 5 year old son legit wore his pajamas the entire time we were at the beach... so did my mom?! And you know what? I treasure those pictures. Those are the kinda memories I want to look back on. The kind of memories I want to blow up and hang on my walls and fill our family photo albums with. Why? Because family photojournalists (another term for documentary family photographers) capture photos that highlight your family members’ unique personalities and showcase the beauty and nuances of the many relationships within your family, including beloved pets. Looking back through your photos from a day-in-the-life session allow you to relive that day with astonishing emotion and detail, even years later. This is why ALL my sessions include credit toward heirloom quality print products of YOUR choice... so you can relive and pass down albums and prints from your happiest days (not just outdated and possibly corrupt digital files). Sound interesting??!! If you want to talk more about what I can do for you, feel free to reach out so we can schedule a call or meetup!
I want to capture the family moments that have the real laughing, the struggles, the accidents, the tears, and all kinds of irreplicable moments. No need the family to pose in front of my camera, just be whoever you are, the real you is the most precious part of your family story.
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.
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.
After growing up with drum sticks in my hands, I went to music school and earned a B.A. in jazz drumming. But in 2008 while studying abroad in Amsterdam, I discovered a love for photography. And in 2010 my focus completely shifted from music to image-making. To learn this new craft, I studied (and continue to!) the masters and assisted as many photographers as possible. While freelancing for publications in Colorado I eventually became a staff photographer for the Vail Daily, where my images were also published in other outlets including The New York Times and Food & Wine Magazine. Today, I'm a beardless freelancer living in San Francisco and specialize in making people look and feel like themselves.
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.
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.
Influenced by a background in photojournalism, I strive to not only make beautiful and creative photographs of your family, but photos that capture the real emotion, candid moments, and unique personalities. After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2006 with a degree in Photojournalism, I spent six years as a newspaper photojournalist in New York and Nebraska, before moving back to my home state of Vermont where my wife and I have been photographing weddings and families since 2012.
Sarah Kang is a professional family photographer whose love of photography began decades ago with her first course in darkroom development. She has a unique eye and sense of anticipation that translate into her beautifully honest and emotional photographs. Sarah graduated from Brown University and studied photography at the New York Institute of Photography. Aside from photographing families, she loves to travel and salsa dance. Sarah currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and son.