SLR-Photo

Wait until you see Laura and Kevin!

With a little help from LinkedIn, I was reconnected with a former work colleague from over 15 years ago just in time to watch his 2 children be thrust into the limelight!

This is his daughter Laura.  She has such poise in front of the camera.  After I directed her around in different poses, I asked her to do something she wanted to do and below what she came up with -

Adorable and fun are words that come to mind.  Good luck Laura.

Kevin, her big brother is also very photogenic - his personality really came forward when he asked to be photographed with his skateboard -

His “look” was expertly created right down to his shoelaces and we really had fun in the street.

In this image I applied a little artwork to give it a detailed drawn look.  Remember - if you see them in a commercial or movie, you saw them here first!

Arriving at my favorite photo location, Willowwood Arboretum, we listened to the sky rumbling.  I think the only place in New Jersey it rained on Saturday was there!

Luckily we were able to sneak in some great family shots of the Falzaranos.

This is my favorite image of them.  This was right before the rain came down!

Matthew and his Dad take cover under the trees while the rain comes down.  I really thought it would blow over!

Matthew is not concerned with the rain.  It has been really fun watching him grow.  He was one of my first clients - the first ice cream shot that now hangs in Ava’s in Basking Ridge.  It looks like such a grown up little boy now!

Happy 1st Birthday to my little Texan girlfriend Rylee.  She and her Mom came to me this week for her official First Year Portrait and we were all left a little sweeter!

Here is our Birthday Princess all cute and sitting for her portrait.  She is actually very much on the move and the “sitting” really lasted a matter of seconds.

Up, on the move and directly for the camera was her montra.  But look how cute the outfit is!!

Now for the fun part.  Take off the clothes, add one small birthday cake and the sitting takes on a new look.

She started off a little timid.  Right away she knew it was something good and tried a few times to just put her face down into the cake, but couldn’t reach.

Her Mom gave her a taste - so now she knows it is something REALLY good.  Notice the foot up in the air.  Watch it closely because it plays a key part going forward.

She now has both feet covered in cake.  Did you know that when you are a baby, it is acceptable to eat off of your feet?  Please don’t try this at home.

Now with a little prompting from Mom, she is screaming her head off.  So, so happy.  I really wish I was running a video camera, but I think you get the picture!

Finally, she is completely covered and the cake has been smashed to bits with her hands and her feet.  What do we do NOW??  Her Mom and I cart her off - with paper towel drop clothes right to the tub.  I am still finding pieces of birthday cake along the way!  Oh what fun we had!  These are times in my life where I can’t believe I am being paid for this!

Happy Birthday Rylee.  What are we going to do next??

Congratulations to Amanda who received her First Holy Communion on Sunday.  Amanda has such a natural beauty about her - the communion dress really added to the whole picture.

One of my favorite things to do when I am doing family portraits is to gather the women of the family.  This is the 3-generation shot.  It is a timeless image.

In this image, I think Amanda looks like an angel - complete with the halo!  She is so comfortable in front of the camera.

Pretty girl - wonderful day!

Chris is excited about receiving his First Holy Communion in June.  It is; however, often painful for boys to go through the process of dressing up and coming in for portraits.  There are a million places that would rather be.  Chris was great!

He is a handsome boy and really looks so grown up the images.  I love to show boys the image that I have of my Dad’s First Holy Communion on the wall in my living room.  He is wearing a big bow around his neck and another one around his arm.  I tell the boys - see - we could have you wearing that!!

I love this image in black & white - such a natural smile!  Lastly - here is how Chris really felt!!

Good luck Chris!  Have a wonderful and peaceful day.

People often ask me how often they should photograph their children.  As a photographer, I like to schedule portraits 4 times in the first year.  I love when they are about 3 weeks old - I love black & white at that stage.  At 3 months, babies are smiling and I like to photograph closer shots of them getting the different expressions that they have developed.  At 6 months they are sitting up - but not quite ready to be on the move (my favorite time!).  Then at a year old, they can stand - and catching them is a challenge!

Here is Kaylee at 6 months.  I love all the details, the fuzzy hair - the rolls around their elbows and wrists - so many little things that you forget about.

Kaylee has the most beautiful blue eyes - so unlike her very brown-eyed big brother and sister.  She was the happiest little baby.

Then we decked her out in her finest pearls.  She was fascinated.  My favorite part of this image is her belly button and the way her feet sit flat out.

Kaylee - you make the world a better place!

Jayme was all smiles from the moment I met her.  Shehas beautiful eyes.  That kind of magical blue.  The eyes that can quickly melt your heart and give her anything she wants.  Hopefully it will be a while before she figures it out.

This image is adorable with her whole body showing - but look at it also below - just her face.

Such a beautiful and natural smile showing the few teeth that she has.

I love how she is so carefully holding her legs.

This is the image that completely got me.  I looked at this in the camera and then on my computer and I thought - this is why we have children - they surprise us everyday.

Looking forward to watching you grow Jayme!

I took the West extended family to Willowwood Arboretum on Saturday for family photos and being from Texas, they were amazed at how beautiful Spring in New Jersey can be.  There were so many things in bloom, we really had a hard time deciding what to do.

Of course we started with Rylee, our favorite model and covergirl.  It looks almost fake with the tulips behind her, but everything was in perfect bloom.

Here are the women of the family - Rylee, her Mom, Grandmother and Aunt.  Three generations of beautiful women.

Here is Rylee with her brother Mark.  She was so happy sitting in the grass next to him.  All smiles and it almost looked like I said - “OK Rylee, lean into your brother!”.

This was my favorite image of them.  You should have heard the collective “AHHH” come from those Texas women when Rylee put her hand on Mark’s chin.

A beautiful last shot to end the day.

I can’t believe Myla is over 3 months old already.  Her faces are priceless - as shown in some of the images below.  Her Mom (Happy Mother’s Day!) Sara, and I tested the limits of her patience by trying on and photographing her in several (OK, 9 to be exact) different hats.  OK, we do have to figure out what she looks best in!

This was one of my favorites - very pure looking!  What I love about this image is the capture of her very busy little hands.  They never stop!

You can tell this is still the beginning - still happy, still smiley and so cute!

Her looks and smiles changed with every hat.  We love you Myla!

Remember that one nice, sunny day we had in April?  God shined on Iliana & Gary that day as they celebrated their wedding on April 17th.

When I started going through their images for the blog I realized that I was really drawn to black & white.  Although there are many really nice color images, their skin tones really worked well in black & white.

I love this image of the beautiful bride, Iliana, arriving to the church in the limo.  The look on her face is a little nervous and a little excited.  If you look closely you can see the reflection of the cross and the top of the church in the car!

And here is the handsome groom, Gary - excited - happy to be with his friends and closely eying his watch!

That beautiful sunshine was streaming through just behind them giving them even more of a glow than they already had!  This is the moment I love to look for in a wedding - when they are looking at each other not thinking about who is looking at them!

The kiss!  Magical in black and white.  Timeless!

We made a stop at Verona Park for some bridal party photos.  The park was full of people - fisherman, kids running around - and one couple that insisted on paddling their boat in the back of all of my shots!

I always think the wedding party thinks I am crazy when I line them up and then say OK - now walk towards me.  The laughter comes when they realized that I am moving backward all ready to fall on my butt!

We had warm afternoon sun on Iliana and Gary - relaxing more as the afternoon progressed.  What a really nice couple they make!

We had a little time to play around.  Below is a shot that I think is also timeless.

And finally - here is that look again.  Doesn’t every woman dream of a man who will look at her like this?  Doesn’t every man dream of a woman to look at him like this?

Congratulations Iliana & Gary.  I am looking forward to following your story!