We did the same thing again this year. I took a few shots of my mother and my nephew Seth decorating it earlier this month. Each time he found a new camera ornament in the box, he pretended to take a picture of me with it. He's too cute. I also took a few shots in the studio of my beautiful daughter Gracey, who is a very unwilling participant when it comes to photos 😂. I usually have a only a few minutes of cooperation before she decides the session is over. Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been doing this long enough to be able to get a decent amount of photos of even the most unwilling subjects, so I was able to snap some adorable portraits of her in less than 5 minutes, and she was handsomely rewarded with a smorgasbord of treats for her time. I also did family photos for my sister Lisa, brother in law Will and nephew Seth in Port Jefferson this year. We found a Christmas tree right outside the Village Center and did a quick session there for some photos to go on their Christmas card this year. Seth was rewarded for his cooperation with a trip to the candy store after, and a walk up and down his favorite set of stairs that he visits every time we're down port. Then Seth was treated to two more photo shoots in the studio. I broke it up so as not to push my luck. There's a short attention span when it comes to four year olds and I always want to keep photos in Aunt Laura's studio to be a positive experience for him, so that it's something he doesn't come to dread! Because, let's face it, I'm never going to stop dragging him in there because he's so darn cute. First he wanted to take a few photos with my dog Gracey, because he loves her so much. I have to admit those were a struggle, so I only got one good one, and it was heavily Photoshopped haha! Then we took some photos of him in his Christmas outfit. I gave him a stuffed bear to hold onto to keep his hands busy. Then another day we tried again in some Christmas pajamas for more photos with his huge stuffed moose, who he named Horns, which was his big Christmas present last year. He likes to sit on top of Horns and has decent balance, but he was getting a little wobbly toward the end, so I added a little support for him so he could be antsy on top of Horns and we wouldn't have to worry about him taking a tumble. Happy Holidays everyone!
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I love when people give the gift of photography. I don’t know one mom who thinks she has enough professional photos of her kids, so it's almost a sure bet that this a gift they'll love and appreciate. Shannon is a mom and a dog walker, and one of her clients got in touch with me this fall to purchase a gift card for her as an early Christmas gift. We arranged to meet at a local park with her son Brendan and their dog Gracie for some holiday photos. Since my dog is also named Gracey, just spelled a different way, we got to talking about dog names. It turns out, in addition to naming our dogs the same thing, we also both had Winnie on the short list of dog names! Their Gracie is an adorable Yorkshire Terrier and she did amazing for her photos. We did some of the whole family, some of Gracie on her own, and some of Brendan and Gracie, to commemorate the very special bond they share. We had a great time talking while we walked and shot photos along the beautiful trails in the park. It was so nice to get to know this sweet family. Shannon told me she hadn't gotten professional photos done in so many years, so I was very happy to be able to capture some for them! I love the way that Gracie was tilting her head in so many of these photos. I have an arsenal of silly noises I can make to catch a dog's attention. Usually once they hear a noise a few times, they get used to it and it doesn't get them to look anymore. That's why I've developed so many, and Gracie was interested in every one of them. If you're ever at a Long Island beach or park, and you hear a woman squeaking, whistling, humming, and generally sounding like an absolute weirdo, there's a good chance it's me trying to get a dog to look my way. It's all worth it for those adorable head tilts that all dog owners know and love! Here are some of my favorite photos from our session! Get in touch to book your pet session today!
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For the Crazy Cat Mom
1. Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel Dog & Cat Fountain Raindrop Design: Dogs will love this too, but cats especially prefer their water to be flowing over still. This one is stainless steel, so most of its parts are machine washable and it's very easy to use. My pets love this fountain. My cat Charlie prefers to drink from the top bubbling part of the fountain, and my dog Gracey likes to drink from the bottom part of the basin.
2. Flopping Fish Cat Toy: At first, my cat Charlie was totally freaked out by this flopping cat toy, but quickly he learned to love it. It looks realistic, is activated by touch so it won't run all day and bother you, and it's rechargeable by a USB.
3. On2Pets 2 ft Mixed Maple Cat Tree: This cat tree and scratching post is fun for kitties and adorable to look at. A lot of cat trees are very basic, but this one is so nice looking it can be a part of your decor!
4. Custom Pet Phone Ring: Another one you could get for dog or cat lovers, this is for the pet obsessed owner. The inside of their phones are filled to the brim with pet photos, so why shouldn't the outside of their phones reflect that too? I get a lot of compliments on this phone ring whenever I'm around other animal lovers.
5. Kitty Face Magnetic Bookmark Set: If you know someone who likes to curl up with their cat and a good book, they'll love this magnetic bookmark set with assorted adorable little kitty faces.
6. Kitty Cape: This cape is just too cute. I know a lot of cats don’t appreciate clothes, but this one is pretty loose and may not bother them too much. If you can get them to wear it for 5 minutes for a photo, I consider that a win!
Bonus Stocking Stuffer Idea:
Cat Shaped Cookie Cutter
Catnip Infused Felted Balls
1. Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel Dog & Cat Fountain Raindrop Design: Dogs will love this too, but cats especially prefer their water to be flowing over still. This one is stainless steel, so most of its parts are machine washable and it's very easy to use. My pets love this fountain. My cat Charlie prefers to drink from the top bubbling part of the fountain, and my dog Gracey likes to drink from the bottom part of the basin.
2. Flopping Fish Cat Toy: At first, my cat Charlie was totally freaked out by this flopping cat toy, but quickly he learned to love it. It looks realistic, is activated by touch so it won't run all day and bother you, and it's rechargeable by a USB.
3. On2Pets 2 ft Mixed Maple Cat Tree: This cat tree and scratching post is fun for kitties and adorable to look at. A lot of cat trees are very basic, but this one is so nice looking it can be a part of your decor!
4. Custom Pet Phone Ring: Another one you could get for dog or cat lovers, this is for the pet obsessed owner. The inside of their phones are filled to the brim with pet photos, so why shouldn't the outside of their phones reflect that too? I get a lot of compliments on this phone ring whenever I'm around other animal lovers.
5. Kitty Face Magnetic Bookmark Set: If you know someone who likes to curl up with their cat and a good book, they'll love this magnetic bookmark set with assorted adorable little kitty faces.
6. Kitty Cape: This cape is just too cute. I know a lot of cats don’t appreciate clothes, but this one is pretty loose and may not bother them too much. If you can get them to wear it for 5 minutes for a photo, I consider that a win!
Bonus Stocking Stuffer Idea:
Cat Shaped Cookie Cutter
Catnip Infused Felted Balls
For New Moms and their Beautiful Babies
1. Camera Teether: I often put a camera teether in my newborn clients' packaged orders as a gift. The one I typically buy is no longer available, but this one is very similar. Made of soft food grade silicone, this is a machine washable, nontoxic and absolutely necessary when those poor babes are cutting their first teeth!
2. Baby Shusher: Listen, the voice is creepy at first, but I'm telling you, this thing works. My sister gave me this when my nephew grew out of the need to use it and it's become a staple in my studio. I used to constantly shush the babies to quiet and calm them, and I don't have to utter a peep anymore. The baby shusher does it all for me!
3. Electric Baby Nasal Aspirator: AKA "The Boogie Sucker". This thing is very helpful for stuffed little noses. Machine washable tips make this a sanitary option and very easy to clean. A must for cold and flu season.
4. Flappy the Elephant: This Gund classic is both musical and plays an interactive game of peek-a-boo with babies. My nephew loved this toy!
5. Bath Color Tabs: In my experience, kids never want to get in the bath and once they’re in, they never want to get out. These color tabs will help you convince them to get in, and I usually tell my nephew once we’ve added so many that the bathwater looks like mud, it’s time to get out!
6. Fisher-Price Magical Lights Fishbowl: This was another favorite of my nephews when he was a baby. So much so, that I can still sing the songs to this day. And honestly, not bad tunes!
1. Camera Teether: I often put a camera teether in my newborn clients' packaged orders as a gift. The one I typically buy is no longer available, but this one is very similar. Made of soft food grade silicone, this is a machine washable, nontoxic and absolutely necessary when those poor babes are cutting their first teeth!
2. Baby Shusher: Listen, the voice is creepy at first, but I'm telling you, this thing works. My sister gave me this when my nephew grew out of the need to use it and it's become a staple in my studio. I used to constantly shush the babies to quiet and calm them, and I don't have to utter a peep anymore. The baby shusher does it all for me!
3. Electric Baby Nasal Aspirator: AKA "The Boogie Sucker". This thing is very helpful for stuffed little noses. Machine washable tips make this a sanitary option and very easy to clean. A must for cold and flu season.
4. Flappy the Elephant: This Gund classic is both musical and plays an interactive game of peek-a-boo with babies. My nephew loved this toy!
5. Bath Color Tabs: In my experience, kids never want to get in the bath and once they’re in, they never want to get out. These color tabs will help you convince them to get in, and I usually tell my nephew once we’ve added so many that the bathwater looks like mud, it’s time to get out!
6. Fisher-Price Magical Lights Fishbowl: This was another favorite of my nephews when he was a baby. So much so, that I can still sing the songs to this day. And honestly, not bad tunes!
For your Shutterbug Friend
1. Capturing Couture Camera Straps: I like scarf straps for my camera because it's a little softer and easier on the neck when my camera starts to feel like it's 100 pounds toward the end of a session!
2. Backdrop Clamps: These are great to keep fabric backdrops wrinkle free and in place. They attach to the side of your backdrop holder and clip to your backdrop and can be adjusted to the desired tautness you need.
3. Hot Shoe Level: This sits in the hot shoe of the camera and helps you stay level for horizontal shooting. This is especially helpful for landscape photography. It also serves to protect your hot shoe contacts and keep them in tiptop condition.
4. Photo Prism: This prism can be shot through, held in front of the lens and used to create interesting colors and reflections in your composition.
5. Flex Tilt Tripod Attachment: This gives you more flexibility with the angles you can shoot from when your camera is attached to a tripod!
6. Dust Blower: This blows air to gently clean the camera's very sensitive components. A special valve keeps dust from being redeposited onto your camera.
I hope that helps you check off a little bit more of your holiday shopping list this year. Thanks for reading and happy holidays!
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Happy Shopping!
I’m so excited to be coming back to Barkfield Road in East Northport for the first time since the pandemic started! I’ve missed doing photo events there so much. It’s such an amazing pet store! You need to visit if you're a Long Island dog lover! They’re putting on a Fall puppy parade around the square they're located in and a costume contest. The winner will receive a gift basket with goodies from the store and a gift certificate for a free half hour session and a $50 print credit from me. The event will be on Sunday, October 16th from 10am-1pm and will be sponsored by Primal Pet Foods! Look out for PSLs for the pups made with their pumpkin spice goat milk!
After the costume contest, I’ll be taking photos of pets inside the store! Fall or Halloween props and a backdrop will be available. Photo appointments will start at 10:30am!
These will be quick 10 minute sessions where we take a few photos and pet parents can choose their favorite ones and order 4x6s, 5x7s and 8x10s. There won’t be any sitting fee and product prices will be as follows:
4x6s: $10
5x7s: $15
8x10s: $20
You can be in the photo with your pet or it can be their time to shine on their own. Spots may go quickly so call Barkfield Road at (631)651-9292 to sign up!
Here are some Fall pet photos I've shot in the past!
After the costume contest, I’ll be taking photos of pets inside the store! Fall or Halloween props and a backdrop will be available. Photo appointments will start at 10:30am!
These will be quick 10 minute sessions where we take a few photos and pet parents can choose their favorite ones and order 4x6s, 5x7s and 8x10s. There won’t be any sitting fee and product prices will be as follows:
4x6s: $10
5x7s: $15
8x10s: $20
You can be in the photo with your pet or it can be their time to shine on their own. Spots may go quickly so call Barkfield Road at (631)651-9292 to sign up!
Here are some Fall pet photos I've shot in the past!
Call (631)651-9292 to reserve your spot today!
I love every opportunity to take photos of my adorable little nephew Seth (if you've read my blog before, you probably know that haha). So when my sister bought this super cute Easter outfit for him and asked me to take some shots of him in the studio, of course I obliged.
Now, Seth is almost 4, and not a dog, so he's a little outside of my expertise. I'm so used to photographing newborns and pets, that I almost got dizzy with the little ball of energy that was bouncing around my studio. Three and a half year olds don't fall asleep if you give them milk and they don't sit and stay for jerky treats, but I did have some luck promising him he'd get a present if he'd sit still for more than 1/4 of a second. If all else fails, I'm not above bribery.
Even though it was a chaotic session, we got some beautiful shots. He can be such a ham. Like in the first shot below, I didn't even ask him to do that with his hands. I guess being my constant model since the first hour of his life has taught him a few things! Here are my favorites from Seth's session!
Now, Seth is almost 4, and not a dog, so he's a little outside of my expertise. I'm so used to photographing newborns and pets, that I almost got dizzy with the little ball of energy that was bouncing around my studio. Three and a half year olds don't fall asleep if you give them milk and they don't sit and stay for jerky treats, but I did have some luck promising him he'd get a present if he'd sit still for more than 1/4 of a second. If all else fails, I'm not above bribery.
Even though it was a chaotic session, we got some beautiful shots. He can be such a ham. Like in the first shot below, I didn't even ask him to do that with his hands. I guess being my constant model since the first hour of his life has taught him a few things! Here are my favorites from Seth's session!
Have a Happy Easter, everyone!
The first time we visited Waterdrinker Family Farm this year for their Winter Wonderland Festival, it was a beautiful temperate day. My sister and I decided we’d do her family Christmas photos there. The day we went there for our photos turned out to be FREEZING. The wind was brutal and we were wishing we’d done them much earlier! Even though it was super cold, my
nephew Seth did really well posing! He’s so used to me taking photos of him by now! In fact, he routinely tells me “take a picture, Aunt Laura!” at random points each day.
He was excited to explore the gingerbread houses and the Airstream village most of all. After we finished up with family shots, we let Seth have some time on the jump pad, the part of the farm he likes the best! Because we went during the week and it was such a chilly day, he had the whole thing to himself! When we got home that day, he indulged me by taking one last shot in front of their Christmas tree!
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!
nephew Seth did really well posing! He’s so used to me taking photos of him by now! In fact, he routinely tells me “take a picture, Aunt Laura!” at random points each day.
He was excited to explore the gingerbread houses and the Airstream village most of all. After we finished up with family shots, we let Seth have some time on the jump pad, the part of the farm he likes the best! Because we went during the week and it was such a chilly day, he had the whole thing to himself! When we got home that day, he indulged me by taking one last shot in front of their Christmas tree!
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!
Get in touch to book your session today!
Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com
or call (631)256-7476.
This was the first Christmas session I shot this year. If you can believe it, we got it done at the end of August! Laci and Luci's mom Kelly likes to get her Christmas photos done very early so she can get a jump on sending cards. As a photographer who is routinely swamped in November with so many sessions I can't keep up, I LOVED that! I often tell clients to get their sessions with me booked early to make sure they get into my schedule. I hate having to turn people away, so booking early is always the best option, and everyone is usually much more comfortable in the photos when it's a little warmer!
Laci and Luci were such sweethearts, both well-dressed and well-behaved! They loved wearing their adorable dresses, pajamas and bows and they did so great posing for the camera! It was pretty interesting to be shooting Christmas photos on a hot day, but the dogs didn't mind at all. They were already practicing being nice and I have a good idea that Santa (AKA Mom and Dad) are going to spoil them come Christmas day!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our shoot!
Laci and Luci were such sweethearts, both well-dressed and well-behaved! They loved wearing their adorable dresses, pajamas and bows and they did so great posing for the camera! It was pretty interesting to be shooting Christmas photos on a hot day, but the dogs didn't mind at all. They were already practicing being nice and I have a good idea that Santa (AKA Mom and Dad) are going to spoil them come Christmas day!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our shoot!
Get in touch to book your pet session today! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call (631)256-7476.
Spring has sprung here on Long Island, even though most days it doesn't feel like it temperature-wise! I've been feeling more and more hopeful these days about the state of the world, even though we aren't out of the woods with this pandemic yet. I hope you're all staying safe and healthy and enjoying your Spring holidays! We're celebrating Easter here at Laura Pea Photography, so I brought my nephew Seth into the studio for some Easter photos. We didn't get around to taking them last year with everything so crazy at the beginning of the quarantine, so we were eager to do them this year!
I love photographing Seth, but as he gets older, I'm reminded more and more why I chose to specialize in newborns and pets. 2 and a half year olds are crazy little balls of energy and they don't fall asleep like newborns and they don't sit and stay like dogs! Luckily he still finds it funny when I pretend to sneeze a stuffed animal off of my head, so I was able to get some beautiful smiles out of him.
Here are my favorite photos from Seth's Easter shoot! (Wait until the end to see a behind the scenes shot of how the studio looked after Seth was done with it! 😂)
I love photographing Seth, but as he gets older, I'm reminded more and more why I chose to specialize in newborns and pets. 2 and a half year olds are crazy little balls of energy and they don't fall asleep like newborns and they don't sit and stay like dogs! Luckily he still finds it funny when I pretend to sneeze a stuffed animal off of my head, so I was able to get some beautiful smiles out of him.
Here are my favorite photos from Seth's Easter shoot! (Wait until the end to see a behind the scenes shot of how the studio looked after Seth was done with it! 😂)
Happy Easter!
My sister, brother in law and my nephew accompanied me on my shoot at Prosser Pines with our friend Lauren this year. When they were there they took a walk around the preserve and afterwards said "Ok, can we do our Christmas photos here too?" Of course! It's such a beautiful spot for it!
Lisa had the idea to use Seth's Little Tikes car in the photos and put some of my little tree props on it as if Seth had gone to the woods to chop down his own tree. The problem was that his car is green with yellow dinosaur scales! But that's where Aunt Laura's years of Photoshop practice came into play. It was more time-consuming than my normal edits but I was able to turn his car red to match her vision for the photos. We wrapped a string of fairy lights around it to complete the look and Seth was happy to pose in it, because he loves his dino car! He wouldn't wear the trapper hat we brought for him, but that's ok because they still came out super cute.
We also took some sweet family shots of the three of them, but most of the photos were about Seth, because he's obviously the star!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
Lisa had the idea to use Seth's Little Tikes car in the photos and put some of my little tree props on it as if Seth had gone to the woods to chop down his own tree. The problem was that his car is green with yellow dinosaur scales! But that's where Aunt Laura's years of Photoshop practice came into play. It was more time-consuming than my normal edits but I was able to turn his car red to match her vision for the photos. We wrapped a string of fairy lights around it to complete the look and Seth was happy to pose in it, because he loves his dino car! He wouldn't wear the trapper hat we brought for him, but that's ok because they still came out super cute.
We also took some sweet family shots of the three of them, but most of the photos were about Seth, because he's obviously the star!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
Happy Holidays!
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Laura Paesano
Long Island, NY
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