Tag Archives: bergen county photographer
A lot of people, when they think about studio portraits, imagine images that are traditional and very posed – not that there is anything wrong with that. But that’s not what studio portraits done at my Bergen County photography studio are like. When I first opened my studio I wanted to make sure that my studio work was very similar to my on-location work – and I am known for fun, lifestyle portraits that capture kids and adults alike. And if you check out portraits that I create at my studio ( you can view them here) I think you will agree that they just as fun and natural as my other work!
” I don’t want forced poses and them looking unnatural and awkward. I want to look at them and have them remind me of my children at their ages they are now. They are happy children and it would also be nice to remind them from time to time, what true happiness is from these photos. I would like them to be as natural as possible and act like themselves as if no one was watching.” – this is what Mom of these adorable girls wrote in her Pre-Session Questionnaire.
This was right up my alley and I was happy to oblige – we played the girls favorite songs, danced, jumped on the bed (and who does not love that?!) . I also wanted to capture more pensive moments because while we all want to have happy pictures of our kids with big grins I think it is also nice to remember their pensive side – with soulful eyes and serious looks. And would not you know it, even though this Mom really wanted to have smiling portraits (and she loved every single one of them), this image of her girls together literally brought her to tears!
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If you are looking for non traditional children studio portraits in Bergen County look no further, give me a call and bring them to my Ridgewood photo studio for their session! I promise that the kids and you will love the experience and the outcome!
As a professional photographer I believe in continuing education and invest a lot of time and $ in professional forums and workshops. As you know back in January I went to sunny Santa Barbara for my first ever National Association of Professional Children Photographers (NAPCP) photography retreat – if you have not seen the pictures from that trip you can see them here. I came back recharged and full of great ideas, one of which was to apply to be a NAPCP Ambassador. And guess what – I was selected to be an Ambassador! What does that mean, you may ask? According to NAPCP, Ambassadors “take an active role in building thriving communities of artists committed to growing their skills, their artistry, and their business.” You know that I love to network, meet new people and teach (you can check out my mentoring services right here!) so as you can imagine I am pretty excited about this opportunity!
I recently hosted my first NAPCP meeting where I got together with fellow NJ photographers and it was pretty awesome! We met at my Ridgewood studio one morning -it was great to meet new people (a couple of Ridgewood photographers that I’ve heard about but never met in person and a few photographers who just reached out to me) and a few ‘old’ friends. We talked about everything under the sun – balancing work and family, our kids, business and of course photography. I cannot wait to host more of these meetings!
And if you are a children or a family photographer in Bergen County (or anywhere else in New Jersey) and would like to meet a group of likeminded photographers email me and I will send you an invite to our next meeting!.jpg)
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Are you expecting a new bundle of joy and wondering what’s the best time to hold a newborn photo session? You may’ve heard that you need to do a newborn session as soon as possible after the baby is born – usually within first 10 days. And I would definitely agree with that – if you would like to have sleepy cuddly posed baby images, that is. A few days after the birth babies are still sleeping most of the time (although for a lot of them this sleeping occurs mostly during daytime hours and not at night!), are very moldable and that’s a perfect time to capture beautiful images of sleeping newborns.
My Bergen county photography studio, located in Ridgewood, is perfect for these types of sessions – it has great natural light (and studio lighting equipment for cloudy days), lots of space for everybody to spread out and plenty of props to choose from. With these sessions I focus primary on the baby (and capture all beautiful details of them!) but there are also plenty of images with parents, brothers and sisters and a grandparents if they are there for the session.
If posed studio newborn images are not what you are looking for, then a great alternative is an at-home lifestyle photo session. These photo sessions are very different from Ridgewood studio newborn sessions that I offer. With these sessions the focus is on the family – snuggling up with the new baby in the family room, rocking her to sleep in her nursery, hanging out on a big family bed together. If you spent time setting up and decorating the baby’s nursery, if you have special meaningful pieces of furniture or art that you would like to include in the session – this is a great session to do that. And if you have other children then this is the session I would definitely recommend over a studio newborn session because we would also be able to capture your other kid(s) in their natural habitat – playing with their toys, reading their favorite books, monkeying around – and doing all their favorite things. Think of this session as a family session with a newborn focus:)
I recommend scheduling lifestyle family photo sessions about 6-8 weeks after the baby is born. By this time the baby is more alert and awake and makes more eye contact and has a lot more personality. Some of them even smile when they look at their parent – and who would not want to capture their babies first smiles on camera?! Waiting a bit after the birth also gives parents (especially the Moms) a bit more time to recover from delivery and get settled into a life with a newborn.
So the type of a newborn photo session you should choose really depends on the type of images you would like me to capture. But I promise you that you will be happy with the results no matter the session type:)
This Ridgewood family opted for an at-home lifestyle photo session at their home. We were going back and forth about the timing of it and in the end they took my advice and scheduled it for when baby G. was about 8 weeks old. The parents absolutely loved the images we captured!
There was lots of laughter:
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and snuggles:
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There were beautiful moments shared between these parents:
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and a stunning little girl:
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There was plenty of time for big brother G. to play with his dad:
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and some quality Daddy/Daughter time:
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and there was enough time hang out and read together as a family of four:
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I absolutely loved meeting this family for their Ridgewood family session and cannot wait to watch these kids grow!
I could not wait to see the results of Live Love Laugh Photos Best of 2016 contest and find out who the big winners were. So without further ado, here are the winners!
1. The grand prize winner (with 79 votes) is ‘Pretty in Pink’! This family will receive a beautiful 16×24 gallery wrapped canvas of this stunnning image!
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2. The Second Prize winner (with 67 votes) is ‘Wishing Upon a Star! This family will receive $250 gift certificate towards a 2017 Signature or a Simplicity session!
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3. And the winners of a Free studio mini sessions are: Juliana Napalit and Christina (stranch2@hotmail.com) . Ladies please contact me ASAP at lena@livelovelaughphotos.com to schedule your session.
There can only be one Grand Prize winner but I love all images that made it to the final round and want everybody to be able to display them in their homes. So all finalists in my Best of 20164 contest will receive a 30% discount on a 16×24 gallery wrapped canvas of their ‘finalist’! Contact me by Feb 28 if you are interested in purchasing it.
It is time for one of my favorite business traditions – Live Love Laugh Photo’s annual “Best of the Year” Contest! I’ve been holding this contest for EIGHT years; I love being able to give back to my clients through this contest, and each year they tell me how much they appreciate me conducting it!
I took thousands pictures last year and had to enlist my trusty friends in the photography business to help me narrow down images to the top 30. Now it is up to you to decide which image gets the title of the Image of the Year at Live Love Laugh Photos – and the grand prize that goes along with it:)
THERE WILL BE FOUR WINNERS:
1) The image with the most votes wins. To vote, cast your vote using the poll below (scroll all the way down to the end of the post, past images) and ‘like’ your favorite image in the ‘Best of 2016′ album on Facebook and on Instagram. The winner (an image with the most combined votes) will receive a 16×24 gallery wrapped canvas (valued at $500) of the winning image.
2) The Runner up will receive a $250 gift certificate to be used towards a Simplicity or a Signature session in 2017.
3) TWO random voters will receive a FREE kids winter studio mini session valued at $300! It can be YOU! See below on how to enter in a drawing for a mini session.
HOW TO WIN A STUDIO MINI SESSION:
There are THREE ways to win a mini session. In order to increase your chances of winning you should do all of the following:
- Leave a comment on the blog describing why YOU want to win a mini session – scroll below the images to do that.
- Share the ‘Best of 2016‘ album on Facebook – here is a link to it. To do so just click on the ‘Share’ link to share it on your wall. You can write a nice comment as well:) Just make sure you let me know that you shared the album – otherwise I won’t know that you did and you won’t be able to participate in the drawing.
- Follow Live Love Laugh Photos on Instagram.
I will randomly select two lucky voters from across all three platforms and these guys will receive mini sessions!
BONUS:
Everyone is a winner because if you book a new Simplicity or Signature Session while the contest is running (by February 13) you will receive a free gift valued at $150 with your order! So if you are thinking about having a session with Live Love Laugh Photos anytime in 2017, NOW is a great time to book. Keep in mind you can hold your session anytime in 2017.
Please note:
- Voting will run till the end of day on Saturday, February 13.
- I will announce the winners on the blog on Sunday, February 14.
- Please keep things fair and vote only for one image – IP addresses will be monitored.
- I reserve the right to disqualify entries or terminate/modify contest if necessary.
- This content is not sponsored by Facebook.
And now without further ado, I present to you my favorite images of 2016! Check out the finalists, cast your vote (using radio buttons below all images, FB and Instagram) and leave a comment below for the free session drawing.
Image 1: A Hug for Mommy
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Image 2: Beautiful Smile.jpg)
Image 3: Double Trouble Double Joy
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Image 4: Duckies.jpg)
Image 5: Fall Family Portrait
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Image 6: Good Times
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Image 7: Movie Star
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Image 8: Boys and Their Dog
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Image 9: Family Portrait
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Image 10: Tickles With Mommy
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Image 11: All Grown Up
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Image 12: What Are YOU Reading?
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Image 13: Being Silly
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Image 14: He Is SO Loved!
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Image 15: Stella
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Image 16: Through The Leaves
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Image 17: At The Farm
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Image 18: Have A Cookie
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Image 19: Mr Blue Eyes
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Image 20: Hug
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Image 21: Chatting With Daddy
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Image 22: Santa Baby
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Image 23: Hollywood Glamour
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Image 24: Wishing Upon A Star
Image 25: I Love You THIS Much!
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Image 26: Summer Fun
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Image 27: Best Dressed
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Image 28: Growing Up
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Image 29: Sisters
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Image 30: Pretty In Pink
