The traffic was ridiculous and I arrived late. The mom was anxiously texting me to hurry as all three were losing patience. The lighting was soft and beautiful but all were upset and not into the shoot. Slowly but surely as we scouted for locations in Central Park, we came across an amazing tree, then rocks that lined up and more. So with the perfect backdrop and lighting, I needed to work on the adolescents. I resorted to politics and sure enough, it worked!
Enough park photography, this family wanted more of a city vibe. Moving to LA in just a week, I brought them to my favorite Tribecca spot, saturated with history and grit! Lucky for me there was a lot of rain the night before, leaving these pools of water on this tiny street. The kids, who mastered the perfect jumps, loved the chance to leap across trying not to get wet...it worked most of the time.
Many years ago I photographed Bridgette and her classmates at her nursery school. A year later her mom contacted me to do communion portraits of her eldest daughter. The bright red tulips on Park Ave were in full bloom, creating the perfect backdrop. A few years later I was contacted to photograph Bridget for her communion. The tulips were wilted but the Loeb Boathouse Lakeside was another ideal setting! Water, some boats even a turtle appeared in the water! Yes, found some red flowers to match her sister's portraits as well! The last image is Bridgette on her sister's communion day.
It felt like an August day this past Saturday! Lucky as its cold again and this gorgeous little toddler had to wear this fab dress sans sweater! A late walker, the mom contacted me as soon as she started to set up a shoot with her brother, whom you may recognize in many of my galleries...
Her brother chose a beautiful dandelion for his mom, and one for his sister. He enjoyed her reaction.
The drive upstate was tame but as the guests arrived, so did the snow. The amazing birthday party for adorable twin girls continued for three hours as the storm grew more intense. The predictions were 15 inches and the house was way up on top of a slippery mountain. After a 3 hour knuckle drive home, I uploaded these amazing images and sent to the parents and girls to enjoy on their day off of school the next day!
Professional fine art photographs are a fun and a perfect way to say "I Love You!" for someone special. It makes a wonderful surprise as framed prints or a wrapped gift certificate to be used at a later date with an expiration of one year. Book now or buy a certificate for later!
ninadrapacz.com ninadrapacz@gmail.com 917.972.1788
Its been seasonally warm this winter, so far. This family reunion was after Christmas and the weather was perfect for this Harlem outdoor photoshoot! The family was so much fun, some visiting from Australia. Laden with multi outfit changes for the cousins and tons of interchangeable bright hats, we were set for the fun!
Pets are an integral part of the family, many times, the "first child". While the session can be more challenging with pets, it is by far worth the challenge! The animals sometimes become the stars of the photo shoots.....This small series were taken over two years in Tuxedo, New York.
Some solace by weeks end. With all the shock of the week, it was comforting to experience nature in NYC as its finest.
Still need to finish blogging about my summer shoots- tons of fall images soon! These images show the warm glow of the late afternoon / early evening summer sun. The girls had a blast! Next summer I need to convince the parents to join in!
I recommend squeezing the last drops of golden light available when it comes to beach shoots. This family started inside and when we got to the beach, just steps away, we had about 10 minutes. This being said, once the sun set, there was a lovely soft dusk that set in, shadowless and wonderful!
These images show how much fun these sibs were having!
Write here...
She showed up with a small suitcase, a fresh blow out and no make up. She didn't need any! Just a dab of lip gloss and some of my bronzer on her eyes and we were set to go with at least a dozen outfits, great music and her doting dad.
This session was one of three, the first of the day and it was sweltering in the sun! The finale was the entire family, minus the dog, jumping on the trampoline together! They each took turns doing tricks, I chose this image because the mom literally finished doing a flip! Needless to say I was impressed!
I've photographed in the Hamptons all summer and finally got the chance to photograph a family in Fire Island! Its a completely different scene there. No cars, just simply wagons and bikes with a tiny grocery store and a single restaurant in the adjacent town. Super rustic and very cozy! The real beauty for children is the independence they get from being able to go places safely without parents hovering....
These children, my seventh year photographing them, were never this excited! I heard from each one all about their treks alone to the next town on their bikes! And what would a beach experience be like without a newly captured hermit crab?!
It was a super hot and humid day but lucky for us, cloudy! The only way to successfully shoot on the beach is either all clouds or very late day sun, which isn't always the best time for young subjects. Its hard to tell how hot it was that afternoon by these images, the family was gorgeous, cool and collect. The best part was how they wanted the images to be interactive and not posed. This gave everyone a lot of freedom to have fun! My favorite part was the creative license this afforded me to truly capture the spirit of the family in a unique way.
Finally a day with little humidity. The twins, whom I have photographed since they were babies, were almost ready to go when I arrived. They just needed a quick outfit change, a puppy on a leash and a few jokes......The setting was spectacular to say the least, the girls were beaming with joy- my job was to freeze these beautiful moments for posterity.
She came with a fresh mani pedi, orange no less! Not a hair out of place even after lots of running and jumping! What a great session with lots child photographer collaboration.
Now is the time, the cherry blossoms are luscious for about another 10 days and those bright colorful tulips have limited time ....Outdoor backdrops are at their all time beauty!
When indoor portraits are finished and there happens to be the rare balcony available...Yes, it was me outside with the camera freezing, but well worth it for this beautiful mom and her daughters!
Its hard to remember that we had 60 degree days in late December. Brrr.... I had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful family a week before Christmas. Such a relaxed and fun photo shoot, we took pictures until it was dark!
