Family Photos in Teaneck NJ | Andrew Fein Photography



Ali booked the session for his daughter Hiba's first birthday. A milestone shoot at Votee Park in Teaneck — a white backdrop setup to start, then some natural shots moving into the late afternoon light.

Simple enough on paper. Then you meet Hiba.

She was genuinely great when someone was holding her. Calm, present, photogenic in that effortless way that one-year-olds sometimes are when they haven't figured out yet that they're supposed to be camera shy. The catch was that Hiba had a very clear position on being set down: no. Not interested. Not negotiating. If she was on the ground longer than she felt was reasonable, she made that known.

So we worked around it. Short bursts on her own, then back to mom or dad. It actually ended up shaping the session in a good way — a lot of the best frames came from the transitions, from her being passed between Ali and Rameesha, from the moments right before or right after she was picked up. That's usually where the real stuff is anyway.

We started with the white backdrop, which gives you that clean, timeless look that works especially well for a birthday session. Then we moved into the park and shot into the sun as golden hour was starting. Five o'clock light in August is good light. Warm, directional, forgiving. The natural shots that came out of that part of the session were some of my favorites from the day.

One thing Ali mentioned when we booked was that he and Rameesha had never done professional photos, even just of the two of them. So we carved out a few minutes during the session to get some of just them. No baby, no backdrop, just the two of them in the park at golden hour. Those ended up being some of the quieter, more personal frames from the day — the kind of photos a couple doesn't realize they need until they have them.

Hiba turned one. Her parents got their first professional photos together. Not a bad evening at Votee Park.