Jen Fariello Photography

Intro

Jen Fariello has been photographing Charlottesville families for a long time. She’s an award-winning photographer who opened her studio here in 1996 and has spent more than 25 years as a fine-art wedding, portrait, and editorial photographer whose work has run in outlets like Time, People, Rolling Stone, Southern Weddings, and Southern Living. What makes her worth knowing as a parent isn’t the resume, though. It’s that she’s the kind of photographer families come back to for years, through pregnancy, newborn days, gap-toothed grade-schoolers, and eventually senior portraits.

Why Families Love It

One longtime client describes Jen photographing her family from her first pregnancy all the way to her kids becoming college students, saying children and adults of every age feel comfortable being themselves in front of her camera. For a parent who’s ever tried to wrangle a toddler and a newborn into one decent frame, that ease is the whole game.

Her style helps. Jen is a devotee of film who still keeps a digital camera in her bag, and she leans toward images that are unscripted, romantic, and evocative. She got her start indulging a love of portrait photography as a founding member of the Charlottesville weekly The Hook, and that editorial, catch-the-real-person instinct still shows up in her family work.

Then there’s the space. Jen works out of The Glass Building, a three-level, loft-style studio with an abundance of natural light. That matters for families: soft, flattering window light, room to move, and a downtown location that’s easy to fold into a day out.

What To Expect On Your First Visit

Sessions are by appointment, so you’ll reach out through her website or studio to talk through what you’re after, whether that’s a maternity or newborn session, an annual family portrait, or headshots. Jen is known for putting nervous subjects at ease quickly, so even camera-shy parents and squirmy kids tend to relax. You can shoot in the naturally lit studio or on location around Charlottesville, and because she has decades of local experience, she’s a good source of ideas for settings that photograph beautifully. After the session, you’ll review images and choose prints or an album to keep.