Fall Family Photos at Pruyn House | Latham NY | Family Photographer

There is something extra special about photographing a family when there’s already a connection there.

This sweet family has known my husband since childhood, so I was so happy to have the opportunity to get them in front of my camera for a beautiful fall family session at Pruyn House in Latham, NY.

And with three boys, I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into!

As a mom of four boys myself, rambunctious doesn’t scare me one bit. In fact, I think a little bit of chaos usually makes family sessions even better.

A Fall Family Session at Pruyn House

Pruyn House is such a beautiful location for family photos in Latham, NY, especially during the fall. Between the wooded areas, stone walls, historic buildings, white fencing, and colorful foliage, there are so many different backgrounds without having to travel from one location to another.

We were also lucky enough to have some gorgeous fall color and beautiful light for their session.

The boys definitely brought their personalities with them!

The two older boys were ready to have some fun, while their littlest brother was a little more shy and unsure about me and my camera at first.

And that’s completely okay.

Letting Kids Be Kids During Family Photos

One of the biggest things I’ve learned from photographing families—and raising four boys—is that you can’t force little kids to suddenly become perfectly posed models just because it’s picture day.

Sometimes they need a little time.

So instead of expecting everyone to sit perfectly and smile at the camera for the entire session, we let the boys move around, explore, play together and just be themselves.

Their little guy stayed pretty close to Mom and Dad in the beginning, but slowly that sweet personality started coming out.

By the end of the session, we had smiles!

Those are the moments I love because the photographs end up showing so much more than what everyone looked like that year. They capture their personalities at that exact stage of childhood, too.

Three Brothers and Plenty of Personality

There is something about sibling photographs that becomes more valuable with time. Right now, they’re three brothers growing up together—playing, teasing each other, getting on each other’s nerves and probably making their parents wonder why they ever thought family pictures were a good idea.

But someday, these photographs will show them exactly what they looked like together, and showing off their personalities when they were this little.

And that’s pretty special.

Fall Family Photography in Latham, NY

I loved spending the afternoon with this family and capturing this season of their lives.

Family sessions don’t need to be perfect. Kids don’t need to behave perfectly. And everyone definitely doesn’t need to look at the camera and smile in every single photograph.

Give me the real personalities, the silliness, the shy little one who needs a few extra minutes, the brothers being brothers, and Mom and Dad right in the middle of all of it.

That’s the good stuff.

And this beautiful fall session at Pruyn House had plenty of it.