This was taken during the first month of transition from our oldest sleeping in the crib to our youngest. While this may look like just a cute picture, it marks a significant moment in our family life. Don't forget to document these moments to help remember how old they were when these transitions happened.

Even at very young ages, there are moments that are indescribably intimate between children. When that is happening, don't worry about composition, just photograph.

I got down low, so that you couldn't see anything on the end table. I wanted to keep the photo "clean" so I just kneeled down to hide a couple books, cell phone, and chargers. 

Staying low, I kept the end table obscured and kept the focus on the baby's feet. This gave the rest of the picture a "soft" feel that works perfect for capturing lazy mornings.

Capturing a "moment" often requires that you are a part of it and this can be hard if your partner isn't a "photographer." If you have an idea for a picture, get everything set up so all they have to do is press the shutter button. You might be surprised at how great the image turns out when you get to play with your kids.

Focus is as much about the subject as it is any technical "sharpness." Most modern cameras do a great job of autofocusing so that you can focus on what matters most.

Sometimes, you and your spouse should be in pictures together. In this case, I would recommend hiring a photographer. There are all kinds of photographers out there, but I would advise that you build a relationship with one. Trust is one of the most important things when trying to "look comfortable." Building rapport with someone can give you consistency in your family photos over time, as well as staying modern as your professional continues to change with their industry.

You may have noticed that I am looking at my children in all of the pictures on this post. Nothing is more important than what you are doing when you are playing with your kids. Don't let a camera distract you from being an attentive dad (or mom). 

Sometimes the mundane is the best part of life. The mechanics of getting up, morning snuggles, afternoon naps and evening rhythms are worth celbrating. These are the memories you have of your childhood. The way mom combed your hair or when your dad cooking dinner. Seems strange how little we pay attention to something that builds the memories our children will have.

"You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce." - Tony Gaskins

I used to snuggle with my dad well into my teen years. I never thought it was strange. I also talked to my mom about intimacy pretty openly. It wasn't until I was older, maybe sometime in college, that I realized that not everyone can be that close with their parent(s). 

Don't forget to kiss, hold, and love your kids. My spouse won't even let me hold her like my kids will. They lay, cry, laugh, snot and giggle without boundaries. It may not last until forever, but I hope that they wake up one day and wonder why everyone isn't as close with their parents as we are.

By photographing the great spectrum of emotions, you can help your kids understand why you look so fondly on their childhood. Family photographs should be about the relational quality, then, if you have time and energy, you can care about the technical quality.

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips." - Somewhere on Pintrest. 

Rather than keep all of your memories in a box at the back of the closet, break out your high school, college and work retreat memories and share them with your children. Not all stories (or life lessons) need to be written by someone else.

For a photographer, my walls are sparse. I have some frames hanging, that do not even have photos in them.

I hung these in our children's room so that they would always know that aside from of all the things I mean to remember, I actually remember them.

By using the window to provide side lighting, I was able to give depth and texture to the photo without creating hard shadows. The baby could open their eyes without squinting and I didn't need to use any flash.

Hospitals have lots of distracting elements. By exposing this photo for the shadow (baby's face) I am able to make the background look clean by overexposing (blowing out) the blankets and tile flooring.

I had dad hold up a sheet behind the newborn to reflect light back toward (fill in) the shadow areas of the portrait. By reflecting light I was able to reduce the contrast between black and white. It gave the photo a "softer" feel that I thought was appropriate for this newborn.

With light falling just over the shoulder, I was able to highlight the newborn by making her face the brightest spot in the photo. It is also the focal point and should draw you peacefully into the moment of rest.

Hide distracting cars behind bushes. 

Use a shutter speed fast enough to make the water look "frozen" in time.

I asked her to check for cars to make sure I was safe in the street. It mimics the position of someone waiving down a taxi. 

The uniform row of housing in the background makes for some interesting structural repetition.

Try editing similar photos in color and black and white. 

After a 7am flight from San Diego to Seattle, lunch in whole foods and 2 hour drive to the Anacortes Ferry Launch I could either be frustrated by their energy or captivated by it. We choose to play peek a boo.

Despite the empty looking hallway, there were plenty of passengers on the Ferry. In this shot, I used a hallway door to hide all of the passengers sitting in the window seats and enjoying the clear and sunny day.

In addition to hiding distracting elements (people) the use of an object in the foreground adds depth and the repeating  benches add texture.

What gives this image a feeling of intimacy is that it is real. While not impossible to stage, the memory that accompanies this photo is real and that's what makes a special family memory. 

When taking family photos, don't forget to photograph the natural interactions that your family has. This will remind us that in this stage "E" is always demanding that someone "Carry Me!" 

At some point, when you become the "family photographer" people will do two different things. Sometimes, they will hide and sometimes they will ask you to take a picture. 

While meandering about "N" asked me to take a picture so she could see it. I obliged and now we have this treasure. Much easier than an unwilling subject.

While there are several pictures of Patrick playing with "E" and "N" it is the pictures of them totally focused with eye contact that were the most compelling. You can almost feel the anticipation in this picture.

In the first photo you have anticipation and in this photo you have action. "N" is squealing with delight as she plummets less than a foot. 

There is a lot to think about when taking a photo. For this family photo, I wanted to make sure that we were all evenly lit. I found a large semi-circle break in the trail that gave nice even light.

We also made sure to frame the photo so that our feet were in the picture and left plenty of room for headspace.

Leaving space around a family is really important if you want to print/frame the image and gives you options later on when you want to resize or fit it into a different format.

As a family photographer, I have seen too many families try to force their kids into trying something new for the photographer/photo session. This rarely goes as planned. They aren't actors and often it makes the child feel coerced into doing something.

If there is some sort of pose you would like to do with your kids, try introducing it at home weeks or even months before your photoshoot. This will help the moment look (for the photograph) and feel (for the participants) more natural.

Our kids kiss goodnight, kiss family/friends when we say good-bye and is part of our wake up/night time routine. So... when we asked "Can you do a sister kiss?" it was easy and natural.

Not every picture has to be a "family" photo. Don't forget to photograph something special about each child, person, parent.

This is during "special time". Since we don't always nap during quiet time, we have a designated hour for reading, playing and resting on our own.

Whatever your family tradition or personality, solo shots can help to highlight or isolate those unique traits.

Kids aren't monkeys (although ours climb enough that we think they might be partially primates). We, parents, wanted to take a photo that we got last year. The girls weren't interested in a posed moment, so we made it a fun moment. The more they like taking pictures, the easier it is to get pictures of the family later.

This was just a cool moment. My wife was watching the sunset over the Pacific and our little "E" wanted to climb on up. After a long day of travel, it was a special moment of peace that turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of the weeklong trek.

Often photographers don't want to be in pictures. With family vacations, you have to remember that you aren't taking pictures just for yourself. You are taking them on behalf of the family. Be in a few photos so that your kids, spouse, and friends have equal access to jokes about your dated clothing and how young you looked.

There was a whole cheering section that welcomed each person. It is not only important to acknowledge, but to celebrate.

As a typical guy and now as a photographer, husband and dad, I have come to realize that taking time to get ready also increases your sense of anticipation and expectations for an event. Taking pictures of the "process" adds to that sense of expectation.

Music has a way of liberating us, of giving voice to previously unspoken emotion. This karaoke rendition of a Disney classic expresses an incredible capacity to be joyful.

There might not be a greater symbol of freedom in our culture than dancing. It means your inhibitions are down and your self expression comes out.

It is always amazing to see the connection that happens when people get close. I have long believed that most intimate thing you can do in our culture is hold hands. This hug might be a close second.

At the end of the night every student was escorted home by family. It was wonderful to see all of the parents who got to realize one of the dreams they had for their children to enjoy a prom (one parent even reminiced that it was a dream they had even mourned over and forgotten).

Mama is helping with older sister who also wants to "watch a show."

I remember being fascinated when my parents got a new microwave. This kid has our Kindle and is streaming Netflix.

Yup, she loves getting ready with mama. This perfectly captures how much fun it is to be "interrupted" by the curiosity and needs of your children.

I have taken so many pictures that my kids sometimes fall into "character." I definitely prefer a "natural" look, but in this case, I am not sure and can't remember if I even asked her to smile. #photografatherproblems

I edited this picture in color and in black and white. I love the simplicity of the black and white, so that's what you get.

Like the nanny on Muppet Babies or the teacher in Peanuts cartoons, sometimes it is ok to chop off the head. While this shouldn't be a regular practice, the point was to show off the clothing and the profile didn't add as much as her hair falling down onto her shoulders did.

Watching these two oscillate between best friends and frenemies can be comical. This, however, is a special moment that will be hanging in our house soon.

Pretty simple. Happy kid in fun jammies. I'd buy them both.

Perspective can make some pictures look weird. Thankfully, this is the perspective most of un encounter with little ones. I felt like I was towering over her and I was definitely hitting the ceiling fan, but the ends justified the means. 

I set the camera just the way I would if I were taking the picture. I handed the camera to my wife and asked if she would press the shutter button. 

Wha-la! A picture of me holding my baby AND showing off the Baboo Bee brand we have fallen in love with too.

With kids, sports, or performances, some actions only happen once. Be on the lookout for singular actions by resting your camera in the "on" position so that you can quickly snap a unique moment.

Especially with kids, focus can be difficult to keep. Snap photos early, before their (or your) attention span has reached its limit.

The low lighting pressed me to use a slower shutter speed, so I kept "N" in the center of the frame while following her across the room to help maintain a sharper image.

Everyone is a little different. By focusing a pair of similar things, you can highlight the differences that naturally occur.

The kids dress up frequently, but they don't often wear their tap shoes in the house. The choice to focus here was to isolate the precise activity and create a photo that allows people to imagine their own faces with this experience.

Need I say more. This is the default attitude for "N."

Capturing a repetitive motion at the end of the cycle helps to increase a photos sharpness as there is often a split second before the motion ends in one direction and begins in another. Think of other things like a child's swing clapping hands. By catching the "finish", it gives the photographer a bit more time to "freeze" the frame.

These two are at two different abilities. While originally unintentional, this stood out during the editing process as it highlights different skill levels. 

There was a sense of purpose to this transition. The moment alerted me to my own sense of anticipation.

One of these kids is not like the other. Rather than jump in to save yourself from embarrassment... trust the teacher/coach/instructor. They know your child in this environment. Typically, if your help is needed, they will ask.

"Come on." - Johnny

Sometimes we wait for "the event" to start. However, one of the secrets that wedding, birth, and concert photographers know is that often the most intimate "moments" happen when nobody is supposed to be looking.

As photographers we are often looking for the best light. As the light in the flour caught the eyes of the kids, it was fun to notice that this trait is already there for most of us... we just need to train ourselves to press the shutter button.

Having already adjusted my settings for the previous shot, I stayed put to keep the exact same lighting and camera settings. We don't always have this luxury, but when you can, try to notice if the lighting situation is similar and reduce the amount of time you spend fiddling with (worrying about) your camera.

This wasn't a planned photoshoot, but I couldn't help but notice the complimentary colors and sloping character of the kitchen crew. The height difference leads your eyes from the top left to the action in the center. 

As mentioned above, sometimes the real intimate interactions happen before the actual event. Think of Michael Phelps' floppy arms, a mother in labor, or the nervous parents walking their child down the aisle... this all happens before the "event."

As a photographer I don't very much like posed photos. I take them and they are a very necessary part of capturing most special events. However, my preference is for documentary style. As a parent, I really want to remember what they looked like when they were focused, intentional, or purposeful. I love my kids profiles and when they become so focused that they don't even notice I'm there.

There are so many people that pour into the lives of my kiddos. Some are as close to us as "Aunt Heather" who is featured in the background and others we only get to see occasionally like Ms. Theresa (helping the girls make stained glass). In addition to these, I also took a posed picture of Theresa, her husband Ed, and Aunt Heather... but that didn't make this post.

Somewhere along the way, our family picked up the phrase, "Teamwork makes the dream work." What is the dream? A loving home with friends and family always welcome. So far, so good.

I haven't talked much about actual photography in this post... sorry. As it relates to photograph, I wanted to give an sense of openness, so I put the subject on the left side of the frame (rule of thirds) and left plenty of room for movement from left to right. This reduces the "tension" we might perceive from a tight crop. The hope for this image is to leave a light impression of openness to the activity as well as to the artistic vision of the subject.

I just love how attentive our littles can be. I hoped that this photo could communicate a sense of direction and interest as opposed to the wonder and excitement that their faces would communicate. 

They call the hours just after sunrise and just before sunset “golden hours” because the light is typically soft and warm. The bonus (for me as a parent) is that this is the facial expression we typically see whenever we call “N” by name.

As you can see, the background (near the river) is much brighter than the picnic table where the kids are eating snacks. The shade diffuses the light and softens the shadows that come with direct sunlight. While we are in the shade, there is plenty of light for photographing.

One of the many sayings in our house, this is just a personification of family values. As the family photographer, I typically make sure to do a “slideshow” for everyone once the photos are edited. This type of “moment” allows me, as a parent, to positively reinforce our values and shape the memories they have of the trip.

Here we have another use of full shade. There is plenty of light filtering through the trees. Also, the way the photo is cropped, the subject is looking toward the open side of the frame and provides a stable base for the action of the toy. The movement of the rotating blade flying out of the scene allows for a sense of direction, while we, as viewers, remain anchored with the subject.

Clearly, we are enjoying a s’more in our swimwear. The tent and car in the background provide the context clues for the family camping trip.

While we often talk about the majesty of nature, or being “lost” in her grandeur, we can also appreciate the ways in which nature encourages us to drop our boundaries and feel limitless. This family talent show had many of us dancing around the fire, and sharing stories long into the night.

Especially in places we are familiar with, we can forget to truly see. As parent-photographers, this was a great reminder to notice what catches other people’s attention. Following the interests of another person, often reveals a wonderful surprise and gives us another moment to “capture” or appreciate.

There are some moments that just really capture the essence of your kids. This photo could be on a couch, playground, or among the redwoods. Sometimes it isn’t about the setting, but the realness of the moment.

For this photo, I was thinking… “Of course my kids would be climbing on top of things.”

In case you were wondering where these kids got the idea that they could climb on top of anything…

My own sister has often exemplified the anecdotal “responsible” older sibling. While I am not an expert on family systems theory, it seems we are two for two in my family experience.

While some parts are over exposed (see gloves), the power of the photo is in her focus and taking on a task as a child to pitch in with the family duties.

Part of any good trip is having the things you need, when you need them. Usually we pack a few snacks, some stickers/books/stuffy, change of clothes, and water. The kids get the same.

Are you a people watcher? Do you notice when planes get a new paint job? While it might take a bit of work, bring your kids into the process of enjoying the journey.

Pro Tip: Learning and growing with your little traveler will help shape new routines and make future travel easier and more enjoyable.

Often, adults want to just rest when they get somewhere. Kids often want to get their wiggles out. Neighborhood parks near your destination are a great place for both. Bring a book or browse the web on your phone and let the kid(s) move a bit.

Same implement, different use.

Photographer tip: Swing pictures in low light can be difficult for slower shutter speeds. Try capturing the photo at the moment momentum swings from forward to back (or vice versa). It helps to freeze motion and reduce blur.

There are lots of rules of thumb about symmetry. When editing this photo, I went slightly off center to keep a balance in the “weight” of the background.

Photos get presented in so many formats. While standard prints would require you to change dimensions and trim photos, the number of options you have now for printing books, posting online, or making galleries can require a lot from a fixed image. Leaving edges gives you options and most people would rather have a photo be cropped without their shoes than a photo without their head.

This is a personal preference, but the waterline does not run through my head in this photo. I purposefully positioned our friend (and stand in photographer) on a rock so that the waterline would not cut through the back of my head.

Movement on boats is rough for getting everything “aligned".” Just leave enough room and fix the horizon line (to be level) in post. Focus on the subject to make sure you get their expression and don’t get distracted by something that can be “fixed” in an editing program.

Seriously… just make the horizon line straight. If the boat is tilted, your mind will recognize the nature of a boat being tilted in water. However, when the horizon is off, the world looks off-kilter.

Sometimes, to get a genuine look back, just call a name out and snap right away. Don’t wait for the subject to recognize they are being photographed as they will often “put on a face” when they know the camera is out.

Even now, 2 years after this photo was taken, we still walk hand-in-hand with our kids. I’m enjoying it while it lasts. This felt like home, even though we were thousands of mile away.

We only break out our hammocks when we camp… so this was a fun “element” to capture. Often times, these types of images can help to capture the details of a trip that would otherwise be forgotten. This image reminds me of the moment, the trek out to the island, as well as the beautiful surroundings.

Grey days are a photographers dream for lots of reasons. While it is easy to point out that overcast days make for even lighting, I love that they also make the subject “pop” against the otherwise “flat” background.