I firmly believe in challenging yourself and doing something you are not 100% comfortable with and one of the best way to do that in my opinion is to participate in photography competitions.
One of the competitions I enter every year is National Association of Professional Children Photographers Inspired Competition. This is a big event with professional photographers from across the continent (and a few countries outside of North America) applying and in the past I was honored to have a couple of my images make the cut and being selected as Top 100 – it’s always a huge high!
Imagine my complete SHOCK when EIGHT of my images were selected!! EIGHT!!! I am still having a hard time believing that. They will be displayed at the Inspired Gallery event that will take place at Park Studios in Atlanta on July 20th!
Want to see which images got this honor?? Check them out!
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This handsome guy may look familiar because he was featured on this blog a couple of times last year – first time for his studio Milestone Photos and then again for his studio Christmas photos. This spring was the first time I got to photograph this whole family and it was pretty great!
We chose to have this Bergen County family photo session at James McFaul park in Wyckoff. I’ve done many sessions there and it’s always a perfect backdrop from photoshoot for families with kids of all ages – from babies to active toddlers to even more active boys (who love to climb trees!).
While there were a few posed shots (even as a lifestyle photographer I do appreciate a couple of ‘Christmas Card’ types of images) – the focus of this session was on capturing candid moments of love, laughter and connection between these three. And I believe we succeeded – there were some tender moments and funny moments and lots of snuggles and laughter!
In addition to digital images, the parents ordered a few canvases, which made me very happy because I truly believe that these photos DESERVE TO BE DISPLAYED AND ENJOYED!! And what better way to enjoy your photos than looking at them on your walls every single day:)
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Morocco has been on my To Visit list for years… back in 2018 or 2019 when I was looking at a destination for our next Victor and I trip, I decided on Morocco but when I started to do more thorough research I realized that our kids would really enjoy it (the promise of a camel ride to a desert camp did that for me!) so we decided to go there as a family. We were all set and booked to go for spring break 2020 but then COVID… 2021 – same thing and when Morocco was still not open to tourists by early 2022 we decided to go to Spain instead and leave Morocco to the next year. And after yeas (literally of waiting) we finally made it to this magical country!
I absolutely love Islamic Architecture (no wonder I loved Andalusia so much) and deserts are my fav landscapes so no wonder I was so looking forward to going. And let me tell you – the place did NOT disappoint and exceeded my very high expectations! There is so much to see and do in Morocco that we had to make touch choices and after a lot of deliberation decided to cut the Blue City – Chefchaouen – from our itinerary. But we were able to do a roadtrip around most of the country and do pretty much everything else I wanted to do – walk narrow alleyways, bargain at souks, admire beautiful architecture, see stunning scenery, eat delish foods… and yes, a camel ride at sunset and luxury glamping in the Sahara were as awesome as they sound:)
On pretty much all our road trips we rent a car and Victor does all the driving but here we decided to get a car with a driver as we were not sure what the road conditions were. The roads and infrastructure were pretty great but it was nice to have a comfy large car and a driver who knew his way around:)
We flew in Casablanca and straight from the airport went to check out Hassan II Masque. And let me tell you something – it was absolutely SPECTACULAR – honestly for me it was one of my fav sights of the whole trip. It was huge and intricate and the level of detail there (combined with high tech features such as retractable roof and heated floors!) were mind blowing. We did not see anything else in Casablanca (from what I hear this is the sigh to see) but it was definitely worth a visit to Casablanca. They offer daily tours and if you can, definitely take it – it was very educational!
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From Casablanca we headed to Volubilis – to check out roman ruins – it was definitely worth a visit.
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And from there we headed to our first overnight destination of the trip – Fes. Fes did not disappoint – we spent two nights there and there was plenty to see and do.
Generally we don’t use guides but we decided to get a guide for a full day in Fes and I am glad we did – we never would’ve found our way around the labyrith that’s Fes’ medina! We walked all over the place, bought dates and local sweets at a souk, overpaid for a rug after a very heated bargaining session, checked out a tile coop (it may not sound that exciting but it was really cool to see how they make beautiful tile design by hand!), got a tour of our first madrasa (Al-Attarine Madrasa), got yelled at at a souk for taking photos (my bad!), walked through a Jewish quarter, watched traditional bread being baked, smelled the stench of a leather tannery (they did give us bunches of mint as we walked in), saw birds eye view of Fes and more!
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After spending two nights in Fes we headed south – more on that in a separate blog post so check back soon!
PRACTICAL INFO
Getting There
The only way to fly direct from the NYC area to Morocco is to fly Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca and that’s what we did. Just be aware they fly from JFK Terminal 1 and this is by far the worst terminal I’ve been to in the US.
Accomodations
I knew I wanted to stay at a traditional riad in the medina and chose Riad Myra – it did not disappoint. The whole place was stunning, service was very good, breakfast was delicious and the location very conveniet. I highly recommend it!
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Restaurants
As we were in Fes only for two nights we did not have a change to try out many places. We had dinner at our Riad once and it was fine but nothing special..
Asmae – we were in Morocco during Ramadan so there were not that many places open for lunch. This place was recommended by our guide and it did not disappoint – great service, lots of delish food.
Dar Roumana – I found it on several restaurant lists and it had great trip advisor reviews so I reserved a table for us and glad I did – this was was awesome and we absolutely loved our meal! It is not easy to find but good thing the restaurant sends a porter to your hotel and he takes you to and from the restaurant – although Victor was taking notes on the way to the restaurant in case we had to find our way back.
And from Fes we headed out to Sahara but that’s a story for another blog post so check back soon!
I firmly believe in continuing education (even when I have to pay for the said education myself) and every year for pretty much as long as I’ve been in business I’ve attended some sort of a photography workshop, forum or a retreat. My last one was in March of 2020 – I remember boarding the plane to fly to Atlanta for The Family Narrative conference just as WHO declared a global pandemic.
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So you can imagine, after a 3 year hiatus due to covid, I was more than excited to resume my photography education. In January I attended a NAPCP Elevate Photography summit in Nashville and in March it was time to fly to Palm Springs for The Family Narrative retreat. Both of these were wonderful and very different from each other. I did not bring my camera to Nashville so have no photos to share:). But I did bring it to me to Palm Springs so hence this post:)
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This was my first time in Palm Springs and I LOVED it! I loved everything about it: how laid back it was, how close the mountains were (it seems that you could just reach out and touch them), the weather, the restaurants… I loved the desert and snow capped mountains, stunning sunrises and amazing sunsets.. I loved hanging out with my old photographer friends and meeting new ones.. I loved picking up nuggets of business and technical wisdom that I will use in my business and rediscovering what type of photography brings me joy.
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There was time for learning but there was also time for exploring the area – one of my favorite things was waking up before sunrise and driving with a bunch of photog friends to Joshua tree, watching the sun rise over the desert and hiking all over the place. We hung out, had great meals, talked shop (and life) and of course took lots and lots of photos:)
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We stayed at the ACE – it was not super fancy but funky and cool and I would stay there again.
And here are a few places I would recommend for food:
Sandfish Sushi and whiskey – hands down my FAV place out of all the restaurants we visited – it was SOOO GOOD!!! We had all the rolls (literally) and I still dream about their duck liver mousse!
French Miso – french japanese fusion (who would’ve guessed?!
Workshop Kitchen and Bar – very cool, industrial looking place with pretty good food.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again – as a Bergen County family photographer, it’s always a pleasure to work with families year after year and watch their children grow. Back in the fall I photographed a returning family with three very active boys. We decided to do their family session at the Stable in Ridgewood, NJ. We did their session there one year and the boys loved the bridge at the Stable so much that we just had to go back for another session – it was a huge hit!
We met first thing in the morning – I always tell my clients that doing a family photoshoot first thing in the morning when the sun is low is sooo worth it because the light is very soft and pretty and that makes for beautiful images. I loved seeing how much the boys had grown since our last session a year ago.
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We started with some simple portraits of the family, but it wasn’t long before the boys wanted to run around on the bridge so running on the bridge they did:). They were full of energy and I loved being able to capture their personalities during this photoshoot. AND we got to capture photos of mom and dad by themselves because those are very important as well and I try to do that at all of my family sessions!
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Overall, the session was a huge success, and the family was thrilled with the results. It was an honor to work with them again and to create some amazing memories that they will cherish for a lifetime. If you’re looking for a photographer to capture your family’s special moments, whether it’s at the stable in Ridgewood or any other location around Bergen County, I would be honored to work with you. Contact me today to schedule your session!
