Philadelphia · Family & engagement photography

Real moments, told honestly*

* The fine print

Half posed, half candid — and both done properly. A photojournalism habit, applied to the people you love.

Cowdog Studio points a photojournalist’s eye at families and couples across Philadelphia. Half of every session is portraits — arranged, lit, everybody looking at the camera. The other half is real life, unposed. Two ways of seeing your people, weighted equally, in the same gallery.

Book a session See the work

Father lifting his toddler overhead on a tree-lined Philadelphia rowhouse street while mom looks up laughing, during a family photo session

Selected work

2025 — ongoing

Three kids throwing autumn leaves in the air in front of a stone wall during a Philadelphia family photo session

Two kids making silly faces by a garden fountain while their little brother points at the sky, photographed candidly in a Philadelphia park

Portrait of three siblings in matching plaid standing together on a stone path in a Philadelphia garden

Parents standing together between two trees in an autumn park during a Philadelphia family session

Toddler in blue running across a huge field of fallen leaves — documentary-style family photography

Black-and-white detail of an engagement ring on a woman's hand resting in her lap

Engaged couple walking hand in hand down a cobblestone Philadelphia street at dusk

Toddler carrying a basketball down a cobblestone Philadelphia street while her parents follow behind

Black-and-white photograph of a father holding his newborn on a Philadelphia porch

Large extended family gathered on and around a bench for a summer group portrait

Three siblings in plaid seated along a tree branch during a family portrait session

Couple walking a cobblestone street under warm string lights during a Philadelphia engagement session

Two ways in

Full pricing →

No. 01 — From $700

Family

Two hours, thirty edited images — an even split of posed portraits and candid, documentary moments.

Family sessions

Couple kissing on a Philadelphia rowhouse stoop beside a red door covered in paper hearts

No. 02 — From $350

Engagement

One hour at a place that means something to you. Portraits you’ll send to your parents, candids you’ll keep for yourselves — and if we’re having fun, we keep going. No extra charge.

Engagement sessions

Close portrait of a smiling blue-eyed toddler in a puffy vest in front of a stone wall

The Family Membership

Document the growing, not just the grown

Two full sessions a year, priority booking for the dates everyone wants, and thirty edited images each time. Because the gap between “tiny” and “taller than you” is shorter than anyone admits.

$475 per session, billed annually at $950.

See all pricing

About the studio

Made on purpose. Caught in the act.

Cowdog Studio is run by Joshua, a Philadelphia photographer who works both halves of the same session: portraits built properly — everyone in the light, nobody blinking — and candid frames caught while nobody’s performing.

Build the portrait when a portrait is called for, then get out of the way and let the moment happen. Both halves, same effort, one gallery.

Meet Joshua