Blog Posts - LONG ISLAND NEWBORN AND PET PHOTOGRAPHER - LAURA PEA PHOTOGRAPHY

Photos from Barkfield Road Valentine's Day Pet Photo Mini Sessions on 1.26.20

2/13/2020

It was great to be back at Barkfield Road in East Northport for another pet portrait mini session event. We've done so many of these events that the owner Carol is now a dear friend to me. She puts so much work into making these events a success and I appreciate everything she does. Go visit her shop in East Northport for her quality products, amazingly decorated dog treats, but most of all her warmth, knowledge and hospitality. You will not regret it and your pup won't either.

We do this event twice a year to benefit the Dotty Fund, which is a charity that helps out with financial assistance for families whose pets need medical treatment. This time was our Valentine's Day theme. We had two backdrops, a white one with red hearts, and a champagne sequin background with a kissing booth sign. The dogs were more than willing to get in the spirit and give plenty of kisses!
Thanks again to Carol, Vicky and all the people who came in to support the Dotty Fund and give their dog a close up!

Here are some of the fuzzy faces I spent time with that day!

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Dominick’s In-Home Newborn Session

1/9/2020

I could tell Dominick's mom Christine was so so excited to meet her baby boy when she got in touch with me last summer. Because she wanted their two dogs, Jax and Paisley, to be involved with the shoot, we decided to do an in-home session so the dogs would feel nice and comfortable on their home turf. Dominick was born at the end of October, so we scheduled our session for early November so that he'd be all sleepy and flexible for his photos.

On the day of our session, I let Jax and Paisley get used to me while I set up my equipment. This step is pretty important with dogs because they need a few minutes to smell me and make sure I'm not a threat to their parents before they settle down. Once they decided I was not a murderer, they flopped on the couch and I was able to take a few photos of them on their own while their human family got ready for their close up. This is another important step with dogs, because I can make sure my lights aren't bothering them. Most dogs don't mind them, but I've come across one or two that are scared of them. This also makes sure I can deliver some solo photos of each pup. Since I'm a pet photographer, I want to make sure that everyone has a great individual portrait of their dog, so I like to provide those, even if the main objective of the shoot is to get a group shot of the family.

The dogs were so good for their family photo, they just chilled on the couch with their parents and new brother and they were happy to look my way occasionally. After some family photos on the couch, mom Christine and dad Anthony wanted me to head into their basement for a few photos in front of their amazing vintage jukebox. Anthony is a huge fan of vintage stuff, especially the '50s, so that was an important shot for him. After that, we headed into Dominick's Mickey Mouse themed nursery for a few more family shots and individuals of the man of the hour. He did such an amazing job! He wasn't super sleepy for a good part of the session, but he had no trouble looking my way and he barely cried! Such an easygoing little guy!

Dominick's parents are serious about Christmas. It was early November during our session, but they were already fully decked for Christmas. Anthony collects amazing vintage Christmas lawn decorations and they were stationed outside the house like a small army, it was so impressive! It even got them featured in the newspaper! That's why we had to make sure to do some fun holiday shots. They had an adorable Santa outfit they wanted to use, and I supplied a reindeer one that looked perfect on Dominick. His parents also wanted to take a few shots of Dominick along with photos of some beloved family members who are no longer with us, like Anthony's grandma and Christine's mom. I thought that was such a touching tribute and I was honored to help capture those special photos for them.

After we were all done in the nursery, the dogs were begging to be let in because they were feeling left out of the fun. I made sure to get in position before they came in, so I could sneak a cute photo of them sniffing at the crib to check on their baby brother. I love how that one turned out.

Here are some of my favorite photos from this very fun session!

Want your baby and fur baby to have a photo together? Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com
or call (631)256-7476 to schedule a session!

Barkfield Road Valentine's Day Mini Session Event 1.26.20

1/6/2020

I'm so excited to be heading back to the Barkfield Road pet boutique for a second Valentine's Day event. This is a pared down version of our Christmas mini session event. The sessions are very quick, just 15 minute appointments to get a few great shots of your pup with our Valentine's day setup. The event will be at Barkfield Road in East Northport on Sunday, January 26th from 11am-3pm. On offer will be photo prints in sizes from 4x6 to 8x10, metal ornaments in 2 Valentine's Day styles, and image cubes! The session fee is $25, but that will be waived with purchases over $25.

As always, this event will benefit the charity called the Dotty McMorrow Sandmann Animal Rescue Fund, AKA the Dotty Fund. The fund provides financial assistance to families struggling with a pet's medical bills. It helps them keep the pet cared for at home, so they don't end up in a shelter if their owner is unable to get them the medical attention they need.

Here's all the info about the event!

Call Carol at (631)651-9292 to schedule your session!

Archie the Giant Puppy!

1/4/2020

Ashly got in touch with me back in the fall with an interesting idea for a session. She wanted to have a calendar made for her mother featuring her mom’s puppy Archie. She wanted photos for each month with Archie posing among seasonal props. Since I’ve done just about every type of holiday photo I can think of and I’m kind of a pack rat, I had just about everything we needed right there in my studio closet. Ashly also had a few props in mind she wanted to bring too, so we were off to the races.

Being a Dane/Pit mix, Archie was only 8 months old when we had our session and he was already 60 lbs! That kind of young age mixed with such a giant body could have been a disaster for a photo session, but Archie was so well-behaved! He had a lot of energy like all dogs do, but I was so impressed at his sit and stay skills for such a young pup. He never had a problem looking my way when I squeaked a toy. He tolerated really well all the things we put on his head or around his neck. He was a little baffled by the Cupid wings we put on him for his Valentine’s Day photo, but he still left them on long enough to get a great shot!

When I dropped off Ashly’s products to her, she was so excited about giving her mom the calendar she made for her. I’m sure she loved it, because it was such a thoughtful gift. I always love when people give the gift of photography because I think it makes it that much more special. I’m sure Ashly’s mom will enjoy the calendar all year long and the photos of her Archie forever.
Here are some of my favorites from our shoot!

Archie was such a handsome and sweet boy and I love how his photos came out. If you follow me on Instagram, I’ll be posting them sporadically throughout the year when all the holidays and milestones that we shot come up!

Book your pup a session today! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476!

Seth’s Christmas Photos 2019!

12/24/2019

Christmas is so much more fun now that I can spoil my nephew Seth. Last year on Christmas he was only 5 months old, so he kind of just sat there while we opened his hefty present pile for him. This year, after practicing at his first birthday in July, he’s going to be an old pro at opening presents! I’m excited to see him enjoy Christmas a little bit more now that he’s a little bigger. He’s still not old enough to quite understand what’s going on so I’m looking forward to next year when he learns about Santa and reindeers and stockings and everything else and can really get excited himself for Christmas.

Much like his newborn photos and his first birthday photos, Seth’s Christmas photos this year were roughly a 3 day affair. We not only had a lot of outfits and backdrops to get through, but it’s also a much different kind of session taking newborn photos as opposed to 17 month old photos. Seth is almost constantly on the move and climbing and running and screaming and laughing and just generally being a crazy person :D It seemed like the only way to get him to smile and look at the camera was for my mother and me to sing the Winnie the Pooh theme song for him. Thankfully I remembered the words!

It was amazing to see the difference from last year’s Christmas photos. He couldn’t sit up by himself then so my brother in law had to hold him up on my vintage sled and then I had to edit him out of the photo later. This year Seth was literally dancing on the same sled, just holding his Gigi’s hand for safety. It was a much quicker Photoshop job this year!
Here they are!

When we were done in the studio, we went downstairs to take a very special photo with Seth’s great grandma. She’s our Mema so we call her Seth’s Great Mema. My mother realized that the two of them, the youngest and oldest in our family, were going to be 1 and 92 this year just like in the Christmas Song. I knew we had to take a nice photo of them together to commemorate it.

And so I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from 1 to 92. Although it’s been said, many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you!

Sarah, Ethan and Jessica 2019

12/20/2019

This may come as a shock, but I do occasionally photograph things other than kids and pets! Every once in a while, it's nice for me to flex other creative muscles and try different types of sessions. I know Sarah, Ethan and Jessica's mom Corinn because she's my dog Gracey's trainer (check her out here). She likes to get a family photo every year, so when she found out I was a photographer, we became each other's clients! This year, the dogs photobombed a little, but I hope next year they properly join us in our shoot! I took a little shot of them as they were watching us do our thing. They're too cute.

It's so much different photographing teenagers than little kids. I don't have to do any of my signature silly sounds or tell any corny jokes at all. As a result, this shoot was over before I knew it! The kids were eager to get to their friends and their video games, so they gave me their beautiful smiles and then went on their merry way! Here are some of my favorite shots from our session!

Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476 to book a session!

Lily’s Christmas Photos 2019

12/18/2019

The last time Lily was in the studio, it was a very different looking scene in there. It was fully decked out in fall decor to celebrate her first birthday in October (hay, hay everywhere, as far as the eye could see!) This time the studio was 100% Christmas. This day was my last in-studio Christmas session of the year, so I was determined to use all the props in there one more time before I had to pack them all away!

First we started with her adorable red flower pattern dress and little red cardigan. Lily was so happy and clapping the whole time, and she really loved to look at the Christmas books I had put out in the studio. I loved how she looked against the sequin backdrop I put up. I feel like it makes her beautiful blue eyes stand out perfectly. We switched to the brown burlap backdrop when she changed into her cute little Santa suit. This girl was the only toddler this whole season who was ok with wearing a Santa hat! Every other kid ripped it off crying, but Lily was happy to wear it as she played with the props and books. She did such a great job!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!

Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call (631)256-7476 to book a session!

The Petrellis Family Session and Twin Christmas Session

12/17/2019

Meet the Petrellis! Just kidding, they're my friends and they've been all over the blog for years haha. We had a lot of photos to get to this holiday season, so when planning our photo session, mom Diana and I decided we'd do two days in a row to make sure we got everything we needed. The first day we met in Stony Brook for a family session with dad Michael. The next day, Diana and her mom Janet (it's always good to bring a helper!) came with the boys into the studio to get some Christmas photos of just the twins. It's the best of both worlds!

The boys had a lot of fun playing with the props in the studio, and I made sure to save the best for last. Earlier this year, our friend Dina was cleaning house and getting rid of some stuff and she offered me an adorable little red metal fire truck for the studio. I knew this would look great in Christmas photos, and I knew Vincent and Louis would love it. They have a real fascination with anything automotive, like their dad. Remember when we took some of their newborn photos on dad's car and even...in his tires? The day before at our family session, Vincent and Louis made sure to point out every car that went by! Because I knew it would be a big draw and that it would probably distract them if it was in the room the whole time, I stowed the fire truck outside the studio until right at the end of the session. The boys loved taking turns riding on it and it was really adorable!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our double session!

Book your session with me! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me (631)256-7476.

Dominic’s Christmas Photos

12/15/2019

Dominic came into the studio with his big smiles and stylin’ outfits earlier this month and he absolutely rocked his Christmas photo session! You might remember Dominic’s awesome first birthday shoot at Fink’s Farm back in September, (where I think I had as much fun as he did hanging out at the petting zoo), but this was his first time back in the studio since his newborn photos last year! Dominic was teeny tiny for his first Christmas, so this year he’s big enough to really enjoy himself, especially now that he’s walking!

We started with his fancy red sweater, then his cozy blue sweater, then we ended the session with some comfy Rudolph pajamas. We even tried to get a Santa hat on him, but if you scroll through the slideshow below, I think you'll see how well that turned out :D Of all the toddlers I had in the studio this Christmas season, only one tolerated the Santa hat, the rest were outrageously offended by it! Oh well, a cranky crying face is always just a *teensy* bit funny to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here are some of my favorite photos of Dominic's Christmas session!

Book a session by emailing me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or you can call me at (631)256-7476!

Photos from Barkfield Road Mini Sessions

12/13/2019

I was back at the pet boutique Barkfield Road for pet holiday mini sessions this year! Go visit this wonderful pet store if you’re in East Northport. The owner Carol does the most amazingly decorated dog treats, I’m in awe every time I go there and see them. She even has doggy cakes for birthday and gotcha days, dog cannolis, and so much more. My dog Gracey loves it every time we go in there, because she knows she’s about to get spoiled.

Carol approached me a few years ago with the idea of teaming up for holiday photo mini sessions and she always hosts them to benefit the Dotty Fund, which provides assistance to pet owners when they have a situation arise where they can't help their pet get medical attention. The Dotty Fund provides the means to keep the pet at home instead of ending up in a shelter, separated from the owners who love them so much. Every year we’ve been able to do a little better and better and increase the donation to the Dotty Fund. This year sales from the event contributed to a $450 donation to the fund! Not bad for a day’s work!

This is always a fun event to shoot, because I get to hang out with a bunch of dogs and the sessions are long enough to get to know them a little more than at my library programs. Some of the dogs have come back year after year and it’s always great to see them and their devoted owners.

Here are some of the great photos we got at the event!

Go check out Barkfield Road if you're in East Northport, and subscribe to my email list to be notified of other events I'll be participating in on Long Island!