I always love shooting family portrait sessions anywhere on Long Beach Island, but there is just something about Barnegat Light that always gets me. It’s one of the few places on the island where I feel like the beach has a different vibe. I have a couple of favorite beaches there that I deem my ‘secret spots’ that I’ll often recommend for portraits if I have families that want something a little different.

When I began my photography journey – I considered myself to be a landscape photographer. It was always a big deal to drive to the end of Island beach by the jetty and photograph the Barnegat lighthouse at night. While I was taking those photos I never imagined that a decade later I would be photographing so many families on the other side of the inlet at the base of the lighthouse, and that the lighthouse itself would become a bit of an afterthought.

This family is a favorite of mine! I have had the privilege of photographing them for the past several years (starting with a maternity session) and watching their adorable children grow up!