Wanamaker Photography Blog

Behind The Scenes Of A Photography Studio

Pregnancy and birth are miraculous journeys. This amazing time of life is full of mystery, anticipation, joy, hope, and wonder. Feeling the powerful energy of birth and new life, watching as a new family is born unto each other. These things humble and amaze. These are the things that we celebrate when a baby is born.But there is another aspect of pregnancy and birth. There is an unexpected place in this journey where some families may find themselves. When a baby dies, a world is turned upside down. There is confusion, sadness, fear, and uncertainty that cannot be explained. There is sorrow where there should have been joy. During this time, it might be impossible for families to know what they might need in order to heal in the future.

This excerpt was taken directly from the website for an incredible organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. This organization provides a helping hand and a healing heart for families overcome by the grief and pain of losing their newborn child. While the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them, offering a gentle, compassionate photography service done in a sensitive manner is the heart and soul of the organization.

 
Image Courtesy NowILayMeDownToSleep.Org

The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of nearly 3,000 volunteer professional photographers in the United States and eight International countries. At a family’s request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will go to a hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.

We at Wanamaker Photography may not be emotionally ready to accept such incredible responsibility, but we feel the need to contribute to this organization any way we can.

Image Courtesy NowILayMeDownToSleep.Org

We have decided to label May 2008 as “Mother’s Month” in recognition of all the moms that have children and for those who have suffered the loss of a child. During the entire month of May, for any Maternity, Newborn or Young Child portrait session booked, we will donate $50 to the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation, in your name, to help them continue this wonderful service.

To help give you a closer look at what the organization does and how it got started, we’ve edited a video (based on footage obtained from Photo Vision) that will take you on an emotion trip to the event that started it all. Sandy Puc, one of the founding members, recounts her first session with a little boy, named Maddox, who’s life was cut short before it even had a chance to really begin. Before you watch, I highly recommend that you keep a box of tissues close by!

If you are interested in more information on Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, please visit their website, with information for Photographers and Families alike, at http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org. If you are interested in more information about our sessions, please contact us directly at 1-866-832-4001.

I hope this video impacts you as much as it did me!

My first post…how exciting!! Chris keeps me so busy that I don’t have time to blog really. So now he made me stop what I was doing to post my first blog. Today was my exciting day with Baby Brady. I took the information I learned at Jack Reznicki’s lighting and digital photography training camp yesterday in Philadelphia and applied it today. It is amazing how easy it is to compose an image just by utilizing your surroundings. 

Baby Brady was so well behaved, I wish I have 10 kids like him. He was very mellow and only complained of the flash with small little grunts. For a 6-week old, he was very strong and able to hold his head up pretty well. I tried hard to get the traditional “First Year” session poses and succeeded! These images were taken with our Mark III and a 28-105mm lens lit with one Alien Bees 800 light and one white reflector held by Baby Brady’s big sister, Mikayla. She was such a great “assistant” and so excited to help.

Enjoy the photos!

This last picture will make anyone smile!

For the past couple of years, we have been attending a few of the many Irish Dance Feis events in the area. While photography of the actual dance is expressly forbidden (unless we have specific permission from the top), we attend these events to provide basic portrait photography of the dancers.

On Sunday, we attended the 2008 Garden State Feis in Scotch Plains NJ where people from all over the area, including one visitor from Virginia, came to compete. This was our second year attending this event and while last year was good … this year was great!

This time, we decided to offer on-site printing with the option to order some of our Feis specific products to be mailed out after the fact. The orders were coming in so fast that at one point, we were nearly six customers deep and trying to keep our heads on straight. Why were we so busy without action shots you ask?!

It has to do with the dresses. Each one is handcrafted, expertly detailed, brightly colored and extremely expensive. They can range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars … and that is for the pre-owned ones. Because the parents of the dancers are so heavily involved in the culture, each time their child gets a new dress, they find it necessary to get new pictures. And like most sports, when the dancer places very well, the parents always want a shot with the trophy.

 Here are a couple of the dresses …

Overall, the best part of attending these events are the parents. Regardless of whether they are a new or returning customer, each and everyone of them are a pleasure to deal with. We even have a few customers who visit us at each Feis event and get new pictures each time … even if they don’t have a new dress! I guess that says a lot for the type of service that we can provide!

Here are a couple more shots of dresses we photographed …

When you live in Pennsylvania, 9 times out of 10 you will wind up living in some type of Community. While not all communities are the same, some do go above and beyond to bring great events to their residents. Hemlock Farms is one of them. Located just off of Route 84 in Hawley, Hemlock Farms is a well established community with its own post office and fire department. Each year, the fire department goes around to designated houses with Santa and visits with the children. Santa even has a sack full of presents for the kids!

This year, we were invited to attend a holiday party at one of the homes while everyone waited for Santa to arrive. A few of the family’s friends joined in on the fun with their children as well! Santa (like the cable guy) gave everyone a 3-hour window in which he would arrive. To help pass the time, the children had all kinds of games to play and food to eat! During the wait, Loretta and I snapped off some shots of the children as they made Reindeer food, colored holiday books, decorated ornaments and played Pin The Buttons On The Snowman!

Here are a couple of the shots we liked:

After waiting the full three hours, Santa still hadn’t arrived. We later found out that the fire department had a fire call which diverted Santa’s route for a little while!

*Out of respect for the other parents who attended, we decided not to show their children. The children shown are friends of the family who have previously given us permission to do so.

Yesterday, we were up at the Eldred Preserve in Eldred, NY for a holiday event called Cookies With Mrs. Claus. Each of the kids who attended the event received a plate of a dozen or so cookies that they could decorate any which way they chose. They also had story time, pictures with Mrs. Claus and a surprise visit by the big guy himself …