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I was on a four year streak of doing pet portrait programs at the Middle Country Public Library, until last year (I think you know why we skipped a year haha). Even though the pandemic is not over yet, we're getting back to it with an outdoor program this Spring! On May 22nd from 11am-2pm I'll be photographing pets and their families outside in the library's Nature Explorium!
This year instead of first come, first served, photos will be taken by appointment. COVID-19 protocols will be in place, so please come wearing your mask and practice social distancing from others. Pets should be clean, well-behaved around other animal, and in a cage or on a leash to attend.
Get more info and sign up for your time slot here.
I'm so excited to be doing this program! Not being able to do photo events last year was a huge blow to my business. I really missed meeting so many pets and people. Hope to see you there!
This year instead of first come, first served, photos will be taken by appointment. COVID-19 protocols will be in place, so please come wearing your mask and practice social distancing from others. Pets should be clean, well-behaved around other animal, and in a cage or on a leash to attend.
Get more info and sign up for your time slot here.
I'm so excited to be doing this program! Not being able to do photo events last year was a huge blow to my business. I really missed meeting so many pets and people. Hope to see you there!
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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!
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I hear people say a lot that they can't keep track of their photos. A lot of people know their photos are precious to them, but it's frustrating to try and organize them, so the task gets put off because it seems insurmountable. Photos pile up and pile up and before they know it, they have a mountain of digital files and they can't find the ones they want when they need them.
There are many ways to keep your photos in order, but this is the way that works for me and I'd like to share it with you. (Keep in mind that I use a Mac, so some of these techniques may be different if you're using a Windows system!)
There are many ways to keep your photos in order, but this is the way that works for me and I'd like to share it with you. (Keep in mind that I use a Mac, so some of these techniques may be different if you're using a Windows system!)
- Obviously, the most common system is to keep photos organized by year. I have a folder on my desktop called "Photos" (I know, creative, right?), and each year gets its own folder within that master folder. Upon importing the photos onto my computer from my memory card, I separate them into their respective month folders. If you have a mess of photos all together and don't know what months they belong to, I suggest arranging by "Date Created". You can also check the info of photos (Command-i) to see when they were created. Big events such as weddings, concerts or vacations (anything more than 30 or 40 photos) gets its own folder within that month to keep the folder visually neat and the pictures easy to find.
- If you can, make use of keywords to make your photos searchable. On the info screen of your photo (Command-i), you can add text in the "comments" section, which will make it much easier to find later if you need to. Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to do this to more than one file at once, so you may need to copy and paste it to every file. If there are too many, it may not be worth your time.
- When I have all the photos from that particular month in the folder, I batch rename all the files in the folder. To do this on a Mac, select all the files in the folder and right-click on your mouse. Click "Rename (#) Items" . There will be a drop down menu that says "Replace Text". Change that to "Format". When it says "custom format", change that to the corresponding month, year number, and an underscore, so if the folder was for March 2017, I would enter Mar17_ in that box. Keep the box "Start Numbers at" set to 1. Then click "Rename" and you're done! I find this helpful to do because if I'm searching for a particular file, I can usually remember in what month I took the photo and then helps narrow down the pool of photos I have to look through. If I have a subfolder in a month with a certain event, I might make the custom format something like Jul12_LisaWillWedding_ to make the photos easier to find later. This is especially helpful when it comes time to print your photos.
- When you have photos printed, most companies print the filename on the back of the photo for reference. If you've named your files according to their month, this makes it so simple to place them chronologically in a book or photo album. If you're not a stickler for keeping things in order, another way to organize photos once they're printed is just to keep a photo box for every year and chuck the whole pile in there. Then they can be taken out, enjoyed by the whole family and put back in their respective boxes when you're done.
I hope this has helped you a little bit to make sense of your digital photo stockpile. It's so frustrating to me when I can't find a photo I know I have somewhere, so this system has really helped me. We document so much of our lives nowadays and I think it's so important to keep those memories safe and organized so that you can enjoy them! Good luck!
Once your photos are all organized, why not schedule a photo session for some more?!
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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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Zeus is definitely my most famous client. I first photographed him a few years ago. I had been following him on Instagram for a long time and then his mom Katrina posted in her stories asking if anyone knew a Long Island pet photographer. I messaged her and said I was, but I knew she was a little far from me, so I suggested a few dog-friendly photo spots for her to look into. Turns out she was ok traveling for photos of her beloved pup, so we met and had a double session at Blydenburgh Park and in my studio. We had so much fun! We have a lot in common because we're both utterly obsessed with our dogs!
When I first photographed him, he had around 10K followers on instagram. He has tons on TikTok too and he's gone viral on there for some of his adorable videos! Once Zeus reached about 22K followers on Instagram, their account was accessed and held hostage by a hacker who demanded tons of money to get it back! As disappointing as that was, Katrina made Zeus a new handle and he quickly gained most of his followers back. He's at 15K followers now. Go check out their account @handsome.zeus
if you want to see some serious cuteness in your feed!
We met again on the beach this time for our session and Zeus did such an amazing job. He's well used to being on camera, as his mom has become a great pet photographer in her own right by practicing on him so much! We did some fun action shots of him running, he modeled his flower crown, and we did some really special silhouettes of Katrina and Zeus together against the sunset. It's always great to see this sweet and beautiful boy and his awesome mom!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our beach session!
When I first photographed him, he had around 10K followers on instagram. He has tons on TikTok too and he's gone viral on there for some of his adorable videos! Once Zeus reached about 22K followers on Instagram, their account was accessed and held hostage by a hacker who demanded tons of money to get it back! As disappointing as that was, Katrina made Zeus a new handle and he quickly gained most of his followers back. He's at 15K followers now. Go check out their account @handsome.zeus
if you want to see some serious cuteness in your feed!
We met again on the beach this time for our session and Zeus did such an amazing job. He's well used to being on camera, as his mom has become a great pet photographer in her own right by practicing on him so much! We did some fun action shots of him running, he modeled his flower crown, and we did some really special silhouettes of Katrina and Zeus together against the sunset. It's always great to see this sweet and beautiful boy and his awesome mom!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our beach session!
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You might remember Dominic's adorable session at the Stony Brook duck pond recently for his second birthday. I was so happy to get this little guy in front of my camera again for a Christmas and family session at Prosser Pines in Middle Island! His mom brought a super cute mailbox and a letter so Dominic could send out his wishlist to Santa. I hope he gets everything he wants!
We did some individual photos of the handsome boy and a lot of family shots too. The light was so beautiful that day in Prosser Pines and we had a lot of fun exploring the trails, despite one alarming incident where Dominic dropped his Larabar snack on the forest floor and was NOT PLEASED when it got taken away from him! I feel you, buddy.
There are these cool tree structures in the Pines that Dominic loved to dart in and out of. I'm not really sure what the story is behind those or who made them, but they look pretty cool. If anyone has any insight into how those came about, comment below because I'd love to know. Google has failed me and I'm curious!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
We did some individual photos of the handsome boy and a lot of family shots too. The light was so beautiful that day in Prosser Pines and we had a lot of fun exploring the trails, despite one alarming incident where Dominic dropped his Larabar snack on the forest floor and was NOT PLEASED when it got taken away from him! I feel you, buddy.
There are these cool tree structures in the Pines that Dominic loved to dart in and out of. I'm not really sure what the story is behind those or who made them, but they look pretty cool. If anyone has any insight into how those came about, comment below because I'd love to know. Google has failed me and I'm curious!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
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Lily's parents Brandon and Richelle are friends of mine, so it's always nice to photograph her because I get to hang out with her awesome mom and dad too! I haven't seen them in a long time because they live in Connecticut and because of this darn pandemic we've all been dealing with for what feels like forever. But we got together for a socially distanced photo session where Lily could have her run of the yard and stretch those legs out after being in the car for so long!
Lily wasn't super interested in sitting on any of my little rugs. She wanted to RUN. She was having a blast finding acorns, holding up gigantic sticks and ripping leaves off the trees. At one point Brandon said "These are going to be the weirdest Christmas photos ever", but you know what? I've been a photographer long enough to know that a 2 year old just does their thing and I have to be quick enough to capture the smiles when they happen! Luckily from years of experience and from photographing my nephew Seth so much, I have a very quick trigger finger!
After she was done exploring the grounds to her heart's content, I finally lucked out with a prop she was interested in. My trusty Radio Flyer wagon with a tree plopped inside of it never goes wrong. She had lots of fun pulling it around and also using it as an acorn receptacle. Whatever keeps them smiling for the camera is alright by me!
Here are some of my favorite photos from Lily's session!
Lily wasn't super interested in sitting on any of my little rugs. She wanted to RUN. She was having a blast finding acorns, holding up gigantic sticks and ripping leaves off the trees. At one point Brandon said "These are going to be the weirdest Christmas photos ever", but you know what? I've been a photographer long enough to know that a 2 year old just does their thing and I have to be quick enough to capture the smiles when they happen! Luckily from years of experience and from photographing my nephew Seth so much, I have a very quick trigger finger!
After she was done exploring the grounds to her heart's content, I finally lucked out with a prop she was interested in. My trusty Radio Flyer wagon with a tree plopped inside of it never goes wrong. She had lots of fun pulling it around and also using it as an acorn receptacle. Whatever keeps them smiling for the camera is alright by me!
Here are some of my favorite photos from Lily's session!
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This was such a sweet and exciting session to photograph! Jackie and Caroline are friends of mine. My sister Lisa met Jackie years ago at the office they worked at and they've stayed super close even though they don't work together anymore. Caroline proposed to Jackie this year on her birthday and we were so happy for them! Jackie decided to book an engagement session with me for her, Caroline and their adorable pup Charli, and Jackie had a surprise up her sleeve....
She told me she wanted to surprise Caroline at the session with a ring of her own! We discussed beforehand what our code would be for when she decided to get down on one knee, so that I would be ready and waiting to capture the moment! We got some great shots of the surprise and tons of other beautiful portraits set against a gorgeous sunset at the beach. Thanks to my sister Lisa for tagging along to hold the prop bag and to keep a hand on Charli in between her close ups!
Congratulations Jackie and Caroline!!
Here are some of my favorite shots from their romantic session!
She told me she wanted to surprise Caroline at the session with a ring of her own! We discussed beforehand what our code would be for when she decided to get down on one knee, so that I would be ready and waiting to capture the moment! We got some great shots of the surprise and tons of other beautiful portraits set against a gorgeous sunset at the beach. Thanks to my sister Lisa for tagging along to hold the prop bag and to keep a hand on Charli in between her close ups!
Congratulations Jackie and Caroline!!
Here are some of my favorite shots from their romantic session!
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In a year as hard as 2020 has been, it can be kind of hard to feel thankful. The year started off very rough for my family when my grandmother entered hospice care in January and we lost her in early February. Shortly after, the quarantine started and it seems like it's been a real downhill slope since then. But there have been bright spots this year, and there is still a lot to be thankful for.
Even though I haven't seen much of my family this year, we're all still relatively healthy and most have managed to stay virus-free. My friends and I have managed to stay connected digitally instead of in person, and I'm happy that they're only a text or a FaceTime away. Although this year will be so different than others when it comes to meeting for a Thanksgiving celebration, I look forward to next year when we can hopefully get together without any fear.
Since March I've been staying with my sister Lisa and her family to watch my nephew Seth during the week so my mother who usually watches him won't be exposed to any germs. Even though it means we have to stay six feet from my mom, I'm grateful I get to be with Seth every day and that I'm quarantining with my sister who's my best friend, even if we've been driving each other a little crazy. I'm so thankful I have my girl Gracey here with me. She's the most affectionate and silly little dog and I love her so much.
I'm thankful my business has survived a year that has been the death of many small businesses. I had so many inquiries and reschedules from the lockdown, that I booked up really quickly for the year once I was able to work again. I've worked with so many wonderful clients this year and I also created so much personal work with the downtime I had, which was so invigorating creatively.
We didn't go out much at all this year, even after the final phases of reopening happened. We've been very cautious. But we did go out one day after taking Seth's Christmas and some family photos at Prosser Pines to visit Fink's Country Farm. We thought he'd be overjoyed to see all the animals, but his favorite part was actually the pumpkins. He has a real affinity for them like his Aunt Laura and it was so adorable to see how happy he was running around and patting all the pumpkins in sight. That's a memory I'm thankful for. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!
Even though I haven't seen much of my family this year, we're all still relatively healthy and most have managed to stay virus-free. My friends and I have managed to stay connected digitally instead of in person, and I'm happy that they're only a text or a FaceTime away. Although this year will be so different than others when it comes to meeting for a Thanksgiving celebration, I look forward to next year when we can hopefully get together without any fear.
Since March I've been staying with my sister Lisa and her family to watch my nephew Seth during the week so my mother who usually watches him won't be exposed to any germs. Even though it means we have to stay six feet from my mom, I'm grateful I get to be with Seth every day and that I'm quarantining with my sister who's my best friend, even if we've been driving each other a little crazy. I'm so thankful I have my girl Gracey here with me. She's the most affectionate and silly little dog and I love her so much.
I'm thankful my business has survived a year that has been the death of many small businesses. I had so many inquiries and reschedules from the lockdown, that I booked up really quickly for the year once I was able to work again. I've worked with so many wonderful clients this year and I also created so much personal work with the downtime I had, which was so invigorating creatively.
We didn't go out much at all this year, even after the final phases of reopening happened. We've been very cautious. But we did go out one day after taking Seth's Christmas and some family photos at Prosser Pines to visit Fink's Country Farm. We thought he'd be overjoyed to see all the animals, but his favorite part was actually the pumpkins. He has a real affinity for them like his Aunt Laura and it was so adorable to see how happy he was running around and patting all the pumpkins in sight. That's a memory I'm thankful for. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Little Stella is so smiley because this year is her First Christmas! Actually, she's just always smiley because she's a super happy baby. But she was really happy to go with her big sister Addison and her mom Lauren (one of my besties) and dad Mike to Prosser Pines this year for family photos!
Every year there seems to be one spot that get super popular with my clients. One year it was Blydenburgh Park, another year it was Islip Grange. This year it was definitely Prosser Pines in Middle Island. I always give clients a few suggestions based on the kind of backdrop they want, and this spot was the big hit this year. I think maybe because it's in the woods where we can spread out and there aren't a lot of people there, so it turns out to be a good venue for photography in the age of COVID-19.
When we met for this session, the leaves were at their most beautiful I think. The color of the fall foliage was so gorgeous, and the girls did such a good job!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
Every year there seems to be one spot that get super popular with my clients. One year it was Blydenburgh Park, another year it was Islip Grange. This year it was definitely Prosser Pines in Middle Island. I always give clients a few suggestions based on the kind of backdrop they want, and this spot was the big hit this year. I think maybe because it's in the woods where we can spread out and there aren't a lot of people there, so it turns out to be a good venue for photography in the age of COVID-19.
When we met for this session, the leaves were at their most beautiful I think. The color of the fall foliage was so gorgeous, and the girls did such a good job!
Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!
