I recently photographed a family of seven in downtown Pittsburgh, an unlikely setting for any children’s portrait unless the city happens to be home, but this brave family with five kids was up for the challenge and let me say, they have my awe and respect! We started walking through the Cultural District and walking shots like this one are one of my favorite ways to keep a photo shoot moving so that the kids don’t get bored.

We came across this alley with an overhead lighting feature which made for a fun design element in this family portrait.

There are a lot of nice spots for portraits downtown and I’ve learned many of them by photographing weddings. However, just recently, some of the parklets have started to close on weekends, so there are fewer options with greenery these days.

After all of our walking, the kids were getting tired, but I still like this shot of the family by the bridge. The facial expressions on the kids are comical – it’s not a portrait I’d hang on the wall, but it will be fun for this family to look back on someday!

As we headed back to our parking garage, we stopped for one last shot with mom and dad. Well done, mom and dad!