Manhattan Family Session | N Family | GCP by Nicole

There is something about a golden hour family session that will always have my heart—the beautiful light, kids getting to explore, and families having the space to simply enjoy being together.

This recent session at Crosswinds Farms was the perfect example.

It was my first time meeting this sweet family, and we quickly discovered that they practically live right down the road from me. Their three kiddos started the evening a little shy, but it didn’t take long before their personalities came out and we were laughing, playing and exploring the farm together.

By the end of the session, they were walking alongside me, telling me about their favorite things and what they want to be when they grow up. Those are always some of my favorite moments.

This session is such a perfect example of the way I approach family photography.

Of course we’re going to get the traditional portrait.

I’ll guide everyone into place, make sure everyone looks their best, fix the little things that need fixing, and get that beautiful photo where everyone is looking at the camera.

But once we have it, that’s when the fun really begins.

I want families interacting with each other instead of constantly looking at me. I want parents cuddling their kids, siblings being silly together, and everyone laughing until they forget there’s even a camera nearby.

For this family, that meant walking through the apple trees and seeing how many fallen apples the kids could stack. It meant playing Ring Around the Rosie while Mom and Dad watched. It meant tickles, cuddle piles and some seriously good belly laughs.

And yes, it resulted in a gallery of nearly 200 images before I even started converting favorites to black and white!

As much as I love a beautiful portrait with everyone smiling at the camera, the images that often become the most meaningful are the ones in between.

Years from now, I want these parents to look at their photos and practically be able to hear those belly laughs again.

I want them to remember how their kids played together at these ages. How little their hands were. The funny expressions they made. The way they climbed into Mom and Dad’s laps. All those tiny pieces of childhood that feel completely ordinary while you’re living them—and become priceless once they’ve passed.

That’s why I never want a family session to feel like an hour of telling kids to stand still and smile.

I want kids to leave thinking, That was fun.

When children are comfortable and know Mom and Dad are right there ready to play, tickle and laugh with them, those shy little personalities tend to come out pretty quickly. And that’s when I get to capture who they really are.

I also can’t talk about this session without mentioning how much I love photographing at Crosswinds Farms.

It’s conveniently right down the road from me, but more importantly, it’s owned by genuinely some of the nicest people. I’m incredibly grateful every time I get the opportunity to photograph a family there.

Between the red barn, open fields, apple trees and gorgeous golden-hour light, there are so many different looks we can create without ever leaving the property. It’s the kind of location that gives kids room to move and explore—which fits perfectly with the way I love to photograph families.

I want you to have the photo where everyone is looking at the camera.

But I also want you to have so much more than that.

I want you to have the laugh.

The cuddle.

The chaos.

The way your child looked at you.

The way the siblings played together.

And all those little moments you didn’t even realize you were going to miss someday.

Those are the sessions that stick with me, too. I may be the one behind the camera, but spending an evening watching a family laugh, play and love on each other is exactly what makes me fall in love with photography all over again.

If you’ve been thinking about updating your family photos, golden hour is one of my absolute favorite times to do it. Come ready to play, cuddle and have fun together—and I’ll take care of the rest. 🤍

Nicole~ Manhattan Family Session/GCP by Nicole