Saving families one print at a time.

Saving families, one print at a time.

So, my Aunt Bette has been scanning and archiving family photos for a few years now, and every once in a while, I will receive through snail mail or sometimes email, an awesome photo from years past. Some images I remember, and some are from well before I was born. I can’t say how much I appreciate this small kindness, and I have a nice album at home of all these photos so one day, when he asks, my son will be able to see some of our family history. I find myself looking forward to any mail from Aunt Bette.

As a photographer, my goal is to make prints of the images I create so that clients will cherish and hang them in their homes for years, not furnish them with a digital file that will sit on a hard drive that may eventually fail or more likely, become obsolete.

I get calls all the time from people who erased a drive, dropped their phone, or just can’t find the pictures on their own computer. If there was a print of that oh-so important image on their iPhone, it might not hurt so much to lose that file…..

Yes, I know, photographers are expensive and the prints from a session can be costly. But, can I put a price on the family photo from the 1800s where my ancestors are posed in a field like this?  No. I can’t. Crazy, right? Would anyone take an image like this today? I’m thinking no.  This photo was PRINTED so many years ago, found so many years later, emailed to me by Aunt Bette, and then reprinted by me! What are the odds that an image on a hard drive will be found in 100 years? Not too promising I think.

So everyone, we as photographers are trying to preserve family memories one print at a time. Even if you don’t hire a photographer, take your camera, your iPhone, or your Android phone to one of the few camera shops left and get the most important pictures printed.

Better yet, make the investment; commission a professional photographer to make a family portrait for you at least once before the kids go to college. Print the pictures for your wall, a small frame on the piano, or on the shelf, you won’t regret it, I promise! You might even want to come back for more!

Headshot Happy!

Headshot happy! That's what we are at LJ Studios lately. We've always been a good destination for professional headshots, but lately we've been doing more and more environmental portraits on location.

Environmental Portraits of Michael

Everyone needs a good basic headshot for their online profiles like LinkedIn and Facebook, but for some people, like media consultant Michael (pictured above), an environmental headshot tells more about the subject by putting them in the context of their work environment (as opposed to the studio). Subjects often feel more comfortable in their familiar environment than they do in our studio, which also helps reveal their natural character.

Environmental Portrait of Glen

In the portrait above, Glen is standing in front of a construction project that he managed. His joy and pride over the project was evident and came out more naturally standing next to the building than it would have in the studio.

These environmental portraits are not necessarily meant to be used as profile photos (although they could be). They are great for editorial features and general marketing materials.

And on top of it all, they tend to be fun to shoot for both the client and the photographer!

Blizzard Mitzvah

From January 22–24, 2016, a major blizzard hit the New York metro area dropping up to 3 ft of snow. The blizzard was described as a "kind of a top-10 snowstorm" by weather expert Paul Kocin.

What did LJ Studios do during this blizzard? We photographed a b'not mitzvah, of course.

The b'not mitzvah girls making the most of their big day

When James arrived at Larchmont Temple on Saturday morning, he wasn't sure if the event was going to be cancelled due to the weather. Shortly thereafter, James spoke with the girls' mother, Jodi, and she informed him that the temple service would proceed as planned, but that the reception would be rescheduled to Sunday. The girls took it all in stride, and happily agreed to step outside the temple to commemorate the occasion with a snow portrait (photo above). Surprisingly, it seemed like almost all of the invited guests made it safely to the temple. Mazel tov!

Beckwith Pointe (http://beckwithpointe.com/) was very accommodating, and agreed to reschedule the party to Sunday. So James ended up working Saturday and Sunday, but with clients this warm and friendly, he was more than happy to be part of this success story!

Mazel Tov to the girls!