The Best Places to Take Family Pictures in Brooklyn

Brooklyn offers some awesome opportunities for family photographs. In fact, trying to find the right spot can be a little overwhelming! But let’s start with a classic, one of the most-photographed landmarks in the United States, let alone New York: the Brooklyn Bridge.

Whether you’re standing on it or aiming to put it into the background of your shot, everyone is going to recognize it instantly.

From Manhattan’s side, you’ll find Brooklyn Bridge Park. The city’s invested a lot of money into it, and it really shows in how great it’s looking. You can find a lot of great photo opportunities there, standing on the sloping lawn, with the bridge prominent in the background. And if you walk along the bridge, you can shoot some great photos of Manhattan before you even cross it. You can get closer for shots under the bridge, photograph the entirety of the bridge, or go for a full-shot of one of your family members with the Manhattan skyline just behind them.

If you want to get photos of the park itself, there are picturesque, little places with rocks and sand that make it look as though you’re at the beach. It’s also great to capture the East River in the background as it winds its way beneath the bridge. From another angle, you can capture both bridges and the Manhattan skyline. You just can’t get that anywhere else!

One site that’s proven popular for pictures is a sign that’s been installed in Brooklyn Bridge Park. On one side, it’s says, “OY!” On the other, it says, “YO!” If you go down to visit, you’ll likely find other families taking advantage of this sign, injecting a little bit of humor and fun into their photographs.

While you’re on the bridge, you can shoot some great, striking photographs there too. Up close, far away, or standing right in the middle of it; these are all iconic shots. A favorite of mine is standing in the middle of the bridge itself. I get down low and get a shot of my family with the crisscrossing, steel cables in the background. It’s like a spider web that adds a dramatic touch to every photo.

At the other end of the bridge, you’ll end up in Dumball, Brooklyn. With its cobblestone roads, it’s got a unique charm to it that a lot of photographers take advantage of. The most famous of these is Washington Street. Get the angle just right, and you can capture both the Manhattan Bridge and the Empire State Building in the same photo.

 When it comes down to it, when you start taking photos around these bridges, you’ll be guaranteed to get something great. There’s a lot of energy and history that thrums in both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The architecture is just spectacular, especially when given a backdrop of Manhattan’s old world skyline.