Buffalo NY Family Photography

I remember thinking, as a child, it was taking forever to grow up. I counted each milestone – teen years, learner’s permit, license and finally, adulthood. I finally grew up. I met my husband, and we had our own children. And now, as a parent, I can’t believe how fast time is going. It’s too fast, and while I want to remember every minute of it, I’m often surprised when my husband reminds me of something I’ve already forgotten.

Rich and I have been busy running Nickel City Studios for the past five years, while raising our boys. We started our careers as photojournalists in the military, got out, came back to Buffalo and started our family and the wedding photography studio. But a few years ago, we found our calling. We started shooting families, and we absolutely fell in love with it.

We don’t take photos of families in matching khakis, all smiling at the photographer with perfectly coiffed hair. We take photos of real families.

We take photos that capture the love a family has for each other. Playing, laughing and loving. We want to capture the feeling of a family, and our biggest hope is that twenty years from now, someone will hold one of our photos in their hand, shot back in a time they hardly remember, and be able to see exactly how much their parents loved them.

Family portrait session

A shoot with us, Alyssa + Rich, is all about having fun with your kids. We want everyone to have a great time, and sometimes we need to take a snack break or a potty break, so we don’t put a time limit on our shoots. Every child is different, but our location shoots usually last about an hour to an hour and a half. We include a disc of high-resolution files from your session for you to print wherever and however you like.

$600

the Go video
and still
portrait session

In addition to shooting still photographs with your family, we’ll capture video to create a truly unique memory touchstone. Still photographs linked by video with music and the natural sounds of your family’s laughter. It’s really cool :). Please click here for an example of what we can create with you.

$1,000

Please Note: Because we only take a certain number of shoots a year, we book up several months in advance.

What is a family portrait shoot with you guys like?

We try to keep our photo shoots loose and relaxed and geared toward you all having fun together as a family. We want to go with the flow of what your kids want to do and encourage you to play with them. We don’t really have a set time limit for our shoots and we want you to trust us enough to let go and just have a good time. We’ll do the rest! To put it simply, we want to get photos of your and your kids interacting and playing in the most natural “you” way that we can. Our imperative as artists is to get you right, the way you feel about each other, the way you light up when you see your kids and they see you. The photographs should show your feelings as well as the smiles on your faces.

What should we wear?

Whatever you and your family are comfortable in. We’re going to move around a lot. We’re definitely not a stay-in-one-place-and-everybody-look-at-the-camera type of photographers, so an outfit you’re super worried about your kid getting dirty in probably wouldn’t be the best choice. Sometimes families will ask us if certain prints or patterns are not going to look the best in photos, but really you can wear whatever you want just so long as you look like yourselves.

How far in advance do you book for family shoots?

For popular times of the year to photograph outdoors in Buffalo (Spring and Fall in particular), a safe bet is to contact us about three months before the time you’re looking to shoot. Then we can figure out a specific date that will work for your family photos.

What locations do you use? Will you shoot somewhere we suggest?

We definitely do our best work outdoors. We’ll work with you after you contact us to find a spot that is the right feel for your family and what you’re looking for. We’ll shoot pretty much anywhere we can find the best light and your kids are happy.

How do we book you and how much does a shoot cost?

You can contact us through our contact form and say hello! Then we can start chatting about the best time to get together for a shoot. After that we’ll send you a link to our family portrait contract and we’ll take a date reservation fee of $150 to book the shoot. Our shoots cost $600 for a family photo session and $1000 for our Go session with added video. The $150 is applied toward the total cost.

Do we get reproduction rights to our photos?

Absolutely. Our sessions include the fully-edited images on disc for you with a reproduction release. We’ll also host all of your files online in a secure, password-protected gallery so you can order prints at your leisure from our pro lab and share your full gallery of images with family and friends.

How long will it take for us to see our photos?

It usually takes us about two weeks to get you all of your photos.

Where are you located? Do you travel?

We are located in downtown Buffalo, NY, but we are willing to travel up to an hour by car away from Buffalo. We have little kids, ourselves, so traveling further is tough.

If I'm having a big family get-together, will you photograph everyone?

We like to keep our shoots intimate and within a single family unit. A big part of what we do involves connecting with your kids, and when we shoot larger groups we can lose that.

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