I could tell Dominick's mom Christine was so so excited to meet her baby boy when she got in touch with me last summer. Because she wanted their two dogs, Jax and Paisley, to be involved with the shoot, we decided to do an in-home session so the dogs would feel nice and comfortable on their home turf. Dominick was born at the end of October, so we scheduled our session for early November so that he'd be all sleepy and flexible for his photos. 

On the day of our session, I let Jax and Paisley get used to me while I set up my equipment. This step is pretty important with dogs because they need a few minutes to smell me and make sure I'm not a threat to their parents before they settle down. Once they decided I was not a murderer, they flopped on the couch and I was able to take a few photos of them on their own while their human family got ready for their close up. This is another important step with dogs, because I can make sure my lights aren't bothering them. Most dogs don't mind them, but I've come across one or two that are scared of them. This also makes sure I can deliver some solo photos of each pup. Since I'm a pet photographer, I want to make sure that everyone has a great individual portrait of their dog, so I like to provide those, even if the main objective of the shoot is to get a group shot of the family. 

The dogs were so good for their family photo, they just chilled on the couch with their parents and new brother and they were happy to look my way occasionally. After some family photos on the couch, mom Christine and dad Anthony wanted me to head into their basement for a few photos in front of their amazing vintage jukebox. Anthony is a huge fan of vintage stuff, especially the '50s, so that was an important shot for him. After that, we headed into Dominick's Mickey Mouse themed nursery for a few more family shots and individuals of the man of the hour. He did such an amazing job! He wasn't super sleepy for a good part of the session, but he had no trouble looking my way and he barely cried! Such an easygoing little guy!

Dominick's parents are serious about Christmas. It was early November during our session, but they were already fully decked for Christmas. Anthony collects amazing vintage Christmas lawn decorations and they were stationed outside the house like a small army, it was so impressive! It even got them featured in the newspaper! That's why we had to make sure to do some fun holiday shots. They had an adorable Santa outfit they wanted to use, and I supplied a reindeer one that looked perfect on Dominick. His parents also wanted to take a few shots of Dominick along with photos of some beloved family members who are no longer with us, like Anthony's grandma and Christine's mom. I thought that was such a touching tribute and I was honored to help capture those special photos for them. 

After we were all done in the nursery, the dogs were begging to be let in because they were feeling left out of the fun. I made sure to get in position before they came in, so I could sneak a cute photo of them sniffing at the crib to check on their baby brother. I love how that one turned out. 

Here are some of my favorite photos from this very fun session!

The Camerons and Ryans are some of my oldest clients! My mom Lorraine, a veritable Laura Pea Photography business card dispenser, connected me with both of them, and it turns out there are a lot of connections between the families too! My mom's best friend since the first grade is Emily. Her daughter Erin and son-in-law Tom are my clients. The other client is Robyn. She knows my mom because her husband Patrick worked for my mom at the library years ago! It turns out Erin and Robyn are friends and their daughters go to dance classes together, so all the kids are friends too! Erin's mom Emily was also Robyn's first grade teacher! Like I always say about Long Island: it's a big island, but a small world. 

Since they always come to me for Christmas photos, this year they suggested that we do the sessions together! This was my first time doing a simultaneous two family session and I wasn't sure what to expect. What I forgot is that since I've been photographing both families since the kids were in diapers, they're all essentially pros by now. They gave me beautiful smiles and there was no need for silly jokes to get them to have fun. They were effortlessly adorable and they had a blast being able to hang out with their friends while we took photos! 
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Here are my favorite photos from the session!