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Category Archives: Milestones

Milestone Mini Sessions

adorable six month old with ruffle sleeve cream onesie decorated with pink heards laying on pink backdrop

Six Month Old Baby Rosanna!

I had baby Rosanna in the studio for a sitter/milestone session! It’s hard to believe that the last time she was in The Studio was when she was a newborn! And here she is sitting up all on her own now!

One of the new things I am offering at The Studio this year is my Monday Milestone sessions! What are these Monday Milestone Mini Sessions you ask? Well, sometimes we want to document something, but don’t want to invest in a whole full size photoshoot. Sometimes we wish we could just capture or document an important life event or phase with a little better quality than a phone can do. For example, your child loses their first tooth, your baby GETS their first tooth and have that ridiculously adorable gummy smile! Maybe you are afraid to invest in a full session with a photographer or want your kids to get comfortable in front of the camera or with a new person BEFORE you make that investment. There are lots of things that you might want to have a professional capture for you.

Milestone Mini Sessions

Thats where these Milestone Mini Sessions come in! They are short and sweet, 20 minute sessions in my Scotch Plains, NJ Studio. They are offered on Mondays only. And they include 3 digital files. As with all my sessions you will also have the option to purchase additional prints and files.

Milestone Mini Sessions will be on a simple solid backdrop with lots of color options available. The focus is on your child, or maybe your new puppy?? Looking for something more elaborate or think you may need more time? A cake smash perhaps? You can find more information about my cake smashes here. Do you have a newborn and really want to do a newborn shoot, but can’t quite make that investment? I also have Wrapped Sessions which are up to 1 hour, baby only and they are wrapped for the entirety of the shoot! Ask me about those!

So what do you say? Do you have a special Milestone you want to capture? Does the short and sweet session sound perfect for what you need? Reach out to me! I would love to talk more about my milestone mini sessions and see what we can create together!

Here are some more images we captured of sweet baby Rosanna <3

First Birthday Family Shoot | Scotch Plains, NJ

cake smash, first birthday

I love you Paisley…oh yes I dooooo…

What a very special shoot this was for me! It was 3 generations of strong, beautiful, smart and awesome ladies who wanted to do a First Birthday Family shoot! We talked about so many things. Paisley’s grandma raised her daughter on her own. She made sacrifices that single mothers do to make sure that her daughter would have all the opportunities that she could. And well, she did a great job! Her daughter is so smart and has an amazing career and now she is blessed with this beautiful daughter. And now they all get to dote on her and continue the tradition of raising brave, smart and strong women!

I am so grateful I was able to capture these images of the 3 of them for Paisley’s first birthday. And I am forever thankful to have had this experience with and met all of you!

There are so many options when it comes to the type of shoot you can book for your little one’s first birthday! I always include family posing and child posing when I do cake smashes too! You can learn more about those sessions here!

Paisley, you are one ADORABLE little girl! Those CHEEKS!!!

Birthday Photos | Cake Smash Photography | Scotch Plains, NJ

cake smash photography nj

Little Warrior!

What a special day having Ari back to The Studio for her Birthday Photos! This little beauty has come such a long way in her short little life (and so have her parents)!

Ari’s mom came to me looking for a photographer to take Newborn photos of her baby girl who I believe was already close to 3 months old. Alot of photographers won’t shoot a Newborn after they reach 2 weeks old. And there is nothing wrong with that. It isn’t personal. They just may not feel like they will be able to get those beautiful sleepy, cuddly, newborn shots after that small window.

I said YES for the Birthday Girl!

You see, Ari spent the first couple of months in the hospital because she was born early. Regardless, I will never turn down a newborn because of their age. I know that I can get at least some of those shots. I will set realistic expectations and then if it goes great, even better! You can see more of Ari’s newborn session here.

Ari’s mom had a Little Mermaid theme in mind for her Birthday Photos. And while I don’t normally do themed cake smashes (I like to keep it simple), I couldn’t say no! I mean…The Little Mermaid’s name is ARIEL!! ARI – ARIEL…get it?? It took me a minute but then I put it together LOL. So that’s what we did! But I include parent poses and birthday portraits in addition to the cake portion so we actually got alot of variety of this little peanut! And Ari’s parents got the most BEAUTIFUL velvet album to display them in. Something they will be able to look through with Ari for years and eventually be able to hand down to her. I am a SUCKER for beautiful albums!!

Here are some of the images we captured of Baby Ari with those big beautiful eyes <3

How can I book?

If you are interested in scheduling a cake smash or first birthday portraits, fill out the form on the bottom of this page.

Cake Smash Photography | Westfield, NJ

Let them eat CAKE!

I was so happy to have Natalie back in The Studio for her First Birthday session! I do not get tired of seeing how “my” babies have grown over the course of a year. Especially when they haven’t been in since their newborn session! It is so fun to see the similarities to when they were babies, but also to see the changes that have happened since then! I genuinely LOVE it!

I also LOVE getting to see the parents and talk to them about the year and how much has happened and how THEY’VE GROWN! It’s especially fun when this is their first baby and they go from being brand new to the whole parenting thing to having a year of experience under their belts. You can see photos from Natalie’s Newborn Session here.

If it doesn’t come through in my writing on this page, I REALLY LOVE what I do! And I REALLY LOVE the families that choose me to capture the most important times in their lives. It’s really an honor and I am so grateful <3

We started Natalie’s Birthday Session with family pictures, then took some portraits of just Natalie and then we went to town on that cake!

Thank You

Thank you so much Kathryn and Eric for trusting me with these special moments and the opportunity to watch your beautiful baby as she grows! THOSE EYES!!!

High School Senior Portraits | Model Call | Scotch Plains, NJ

Where my Seniors at??

So I don’t know about you, but I’m just going to come right out and say it. High School Seniors today are WAY cooler than when I was a Senior! From the makeup to their taste in style. They seem so much more grown up looking than I did in the goofy picture that I have to remember my Senior year.

Maybe that is part of the problem? Photography has evolved so much since I was 17! Like there was only one way of doing Senior portraits. Put on an outfit that is SO NOT who you are as a person, go lean up against a tree in a weird way that you would never do in real life, and smile akwardly at some random dude you’ve never met or talked to in your whole life as if this is all natural. Ugh! NOPE! Hard PASS!

And when I THINK back to my Senior year, I have GREAT memories! Memories of my friends, my favorite band, the sports I played, my family <3. THAT’S what we should have captured in my Senior Portraits! Me wearing my favorite pair of jeans and my favorite hippie band shirt! That’s who I was! THAT’S the person that I remember, and it surely is NOT the person I see in those Senior Portrait photos I took and that my parents paid ALOT of money for!

What makes my Senior Portraits stand out?

What I do for my High School Seniors is much different. It’s not just about taking pictures. It is about TRULY connecting with them. Listening to them. I want to learn about the UNIQUE person that they are and I want to capture the REAL them! It is an EXPERIENCE. Not only do we have a great time during our shoot, but we all leave on cloud nine, feeling confident, seen, heard, loved and valued. I swear, I am not exaggerating! It is a major feeling of empowerment! I think EVERYONE should experience this!

I invite Families to come and join in for a family portrait, encourage my Senior to bring a bestie along for the experience and a portrait of the 2 of them. Because THESE are the things that matter.

So why invest in a High School Senior portrait session? Because it only happens once. And it is a HUGE milestone for our babies! They are about to set off onto the next phase of their lives, whatever and WHEREVER that may be! It is exciting and new and these images help us encapsulate the NOW.

Model Call Opportunity!

I am currently looking for 12th graders to do a model call for an upcoming promotional shoot. The dates are TBD, but I am looking to schedule 1 or 2 dates in September. Each child will have about 10 minutes in front of the camera and will receive 4 files that they can share on social media. But that’s not all! The models that we select will also receive $100 off of a full Senior Session!

Do you want to apply for our model call? Do you know a High School Senior who would be interested in this opportunity? Please share and click the link below to apply:

CLICK HERE

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joan marie

Scotch Plains, NJ 07076

908.312.1788 | info@joanmariephotography.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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