Tag Archives: street photography

NJ Dating Profile Photographer | Westfield, NJ | Andrei

I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with Andrei to take pictures for his dating profile. We had a blast! He is genuine, kind and confident. The first thing I noticed about him was his height! He is TALL! I think one of the first things I said was, “Dang! I should have brought a step stool!”. The next thing I noticed was his accent. Although he has lived in the US for a long time, he still has a slight, but distinct, accent from Romania. Gotta love an accent, am I right?

Before my dating profile sessions I send out a questionnaire that helps me get to know my clients. I have to admit that I think it might be a little lengthy right now, but Andrei had no problem entertaining me by filling it out. I consider myself a bit of an empath and I am intuitive by nature. I honestly feel that when I read the answers to these questions I get to know each individual at a deeper level and this helps guide me through our session.

When I read Andrei’s answers to the questionnaire I was moved; he knows what he wants and what is important to him. I even got the chills when he mentioned that he recently asked for something and The Universe listened! I love that so much because I do believe that when you ask for something the Universe does listen. One of my favorite quotes comes from Paolo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist”. It reads, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it”. Andrei is a Spiritual person who likes meditation and exercise. He is also goal oriented and is on the path to fulfilling those goals!

For Andrei, the 3 most important things he is looking for in a partner is

  1. Kindness towards others
  2. Goal Oriented
  3. Open Minded

Andrei is looking forward to scheduling another shoot with me, but honestly? I’m pretty sure that he is going to meet that special someone really soon and won’t be needing my services come Summertime. He is living his life in alignment, knows what he wants, is spiritual and he understands that when you ask the Universe for what you want, you usually get it. 😉

Here are some shots from our session in Westfield, NJ.

Pics by my 7-year old

I honestly don’t know what to say.  This whole Coronavirus situation has me feeling so many things.  And can we just get real for a hot minute?  To quote my man, The Fresh Prince, “Our LIVES got flipped, turned upside down” overnight.  Literally overnight everything changed.  I’ve been quarantining with my kids since school closed indefinitely over a week ago.  Has it really only been a little over a week?  Well, I’ll have more to say about this so in the meantime, let’s get back on track and to what I’m actually posting about.

So in trying to get outside with the kids while also trying to make it fun and educational, I lent each of my sons one of my cameras.  The 3 of us set out to explore, to absorb our surroundings, to take our minds off of all the BIG stuff for a little bit.  I am starting them out with understanding aperture.  We all set our cameras to f/3.5 for the first day we went out (2nd day too, but that will be another post) and I kept the camera in aperture priority mode, letting the camera handle the rest.  It really made me see why it is so important to learn how to work your camera in manual.  While cameras do an okay job, they just don’t know what you are trying to accomplish. 

These are some of my favorites from Cole’s (7) first day with the camera.  He took the shots and I did the edits so you can call this a collaboration. Although the 2 shots of him (black and white) I took using his camera.  And I absolutely ADORE them!  The one of the 3 of his was done using the timer.  He set the camera up on the kitchen counter and we quickly got in the frame.  In time I will show them the editing process and see where their creative minds take them.  Maybe we can all shoot the same thing and then edit our own pics and see what each of us comes up with?  The best part about this?  My kids had a TON of fun doing this!   So I’m hopeful this will continue and we can enjoy lots more camera time together!

 

 

 

MOMA | NYC PHOTOGRAPHER | JOAN MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

This past Saturday I was so lucky to be able to spend the day in NYC. I live so close, but find that I visit the City maybe twice of year. If it’s more than that, it’s because The Boys (Phish) were in town and my FOMO was so heavy that I had no choice but to suck up the inconveniences associated with commuting to the city to get to a show (or more likely, shows – LOL). And you know what, I’m a brat because NJ Transit is actually quite convenient and really does a great job overall with their schedule and availability of buses and trains. I say that as NOT an everyday commuter because I’m sure there are people who would disagree! HA!

This weekend was actually the first time I took the bus into the city. And I was rather impressed with the quality of the bus, the seats, etc. I won’t talk about how I was looking at the window next to the seat infant of us noticing that the emergency bar was lifted up making me worried that the window was going to come flying off…oh wait, it did actually come loose and the guy infront of us had to quickly pull it back in before we got into the tunnel and I had a minor heart attack. YIKES!

Anyway, I digress. So, I went to the MOMA and I honestly don’t remember if I ever have been and if I have it was many, many years ago and I have no recollection of it. But what was the best part about it for me, was that they were featuring a Dorothea Lange exhibit. Most people know her for her famous picture of the Migrant Mother. It was taken in February/March of 1936 and was the iconic image of The Great Depression. It was actually one of a series of images and I recently watched a quick youtube video that details the progress of the photograph and the story behind it, first driving past the camp of migrant farmers altogether before turning around to document them, going from one shot, to removing the older daughter from the shot, to leading lines, etc. All about the creative process the Artist went through to end up with the strong and compelling composition we can see in the final work. What I also find so interesting is that she actually “removed” her thumb when she was processing the image because it was taking away from the powerful composition. This isn’t Photoshop you guys, this is in a dark room. I love it. This image is probably my most favorite photograph. But while I was there I was able to see some other images of hers. She was such an important figure to the social injustices of our country at the time. She used her “super power” (photography) to speak up against and bring awareness to the social situation in the US at the time. And I have so much admiration for her. If you don’t know about her, look her up. There is also an awesome Documentary about her called “Grab a Hunk of Lighting”. I highly recommend it!

Here are some pictures from my day with my favorite guy in NYC.

joan marie

Scotch Plains, NJ 07076

908.312.1788 | info@joanmariephotography.com

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