Jordana, Grace and Katie will be Freshman at New Milford High School this year so we met there for our Junior Tribe Back to School photo shoot. NMHS has a hybrid model this year so students will be learning in person for two days per week and online for three days. That means back to school shopping is a little different (I hear that Lululemon and Athleta are having their best years ever, and jeans companies are struggling, because who wants to wear jeans during quarantine?) but planning your first day of school outfit is still so much fun and we can knock those outfits out of the park for two days a week.
I grew up in the UK and I wore a school uniform until I was 16, but even getting a new uniform and shiny new shoes for the first day of school was exciting, so I LOVE to see all the photos on social media of kids heading off on their first day.
Good luck to all the students heading back to school soon and to all the parents getting ready to drop kids off at college.
We got this! It’s going to be hard to send those kids back but I am excited for them to see their friends and teachers.
Harrybrooke Park is a popular destination for portraits in New Milford, CT. The gardens are spectacular and I thought we might find a little relief from the sun in the shade of all the beautiful evergreen trees for our bubbles and balloons Junior Tribe shoot.
Ella, Kate and Caitlin were fantastic and we had so much fun because they are all starting to get to know each other. There is something incredibly joyful about seeing bubbles drifting in the air, maybe memories of childhood? I probably put them in the same category as seeing a rainbow or driving past a herd a field of cows…. I can’t resist the temptation to announce that I see them!
We had lots of laughs and maybe just a tiny little bit of competition to see who could blow the biggest bubble!
I am so happy to be spending time with this amazing group of girls this summer! We are three shoots into our summer Junior Tribe model experience and I can’t wait for the next one. We’ll be in the studio next week for something a little different but you’ll have to wait to see what our theme is…..
Every time I asked Ella if she could do something she just leaped into action. It’s so fun to photograph dancers and gymnasts!
Planet Photo is booking family, seniors and teens, portraits and personal branding shoots in New Milford and surrounding towns.
If you know someone who would be interested in joining the Planet Photo Tribe please let them know that enrollment is underway!
I really wanted to offer something a little different this year for the holidays and these inside the box mini sessions are definitely a little different from a normal portrait shoot!
Let your family show it’s personality, interests, playfulness and humor with a Planet Photo Inside the Box mini session! The session is for up to four people (children AND adults are welcome and encouraged to climb in the box)
For the 9 cube set up I will guide you through poses, combinations and ideas so that everyone is featured and you will be able to choose the final 9 images from an online gallery.
Don’t worry if you are afraid of heights, you don’t have to climb up to the top row….. one box in the studio becomes many in photoshop 😉
I will have a selection of holiday props or you can bring your own for a special personalized experience.
Wear your holiday best, pajamas, dress up costumes or whatever you prefer and yes, I will send you some hints on coordinating but not matching your outfits. Try to avoid wearing a lot of white!
You will receive the edited nine cube collage image PLUS the individual images used in digital format so that you can order your own 5×5 square holiday cards or if you prefer I can design cards for you for an additional charge.
12×12 or 20×20 canvases of your final collage will also be available – what a fun way to show how your family changes through the years!
Mini sessions will only be offered at the Planet Photo studio at 53 Bank Street, New Milford, CT in November and galleries will be made available within seven days of your shoot. The final collage and digital files will be delivered 10-14 days after images selections have been received by Planet Photo.
REGISTRATION: Follow these three easy steps to book your Holiday Box Mini Session!
1) Pick your date and time for you Holiday Box Mini Session 2) Pay a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot. The balance will be due on the day of the shoot. 3) Complete the booking contract After submitting your deposit, you will receive an email with a link to our booking contract. Please fill this out asap as your session is not considered booked until BOTH the deposit and contract is received. Your spot will not be held without this contract, so please make sure to complete this step!
You will receive a booking confirmation email within 72 hours of submission along with tips on how to style your box session.
What better way to celebrate a halloween baby’s first birthday than a halloween themed birthday cake smash celebration! Darius has some serious hair and he had a ton of fun with his birthday photo shoot. He obviously adores his big brother Frankie and the feeling is clearly mutual. Frankie was helpful and sweet with his little brother and he was just as excited to see him smash his cake as Mom and Dad! Can you even stand the cuteness factor???
A birthday cake smash moves pretty quickly and Darius LOVED the little monster cake that The Sweet Spot in New Milford made for him.
The bath part is a favorite of almost all the cake smashers and Darius pretty much looked like he could have splashed in the bubbles all day long. I was so happy to have captured his personality and those big brown eyes for his first birthday. He was barely standing on his own when we did the cake smash but by the time I delivered the wall art and book his Mom chose he was RUNNING! I am so relieved that we did the shoot when we did – new runners can be a challenge and a work out!
I was setting up the studio for the marathon Planet Photo Tribe intro shoot when Nathalie stopped by the studio for the first time. She had a resume in hand and told me a bit about herself…. she grew up near by, she had always been into photography, she was at college studying graphic design and photography. Would I be open to having a summer intern?
To be perfectly honest I was so distracted by the intro shoot that I put the resume on the desk and kind of forgot about it. But guess what? She followed up! A couple of days later she reached out again! So here is the “Lesson of the Day” for all those people out there looking for a job, trying to find more clients or generally just trying to get stuff done. When you follow up you are not bugging the person you are gently reminding them. Life happens. People forget or get distracted. I did and I am so glad Nathalie followed up!
She has been a huge help on shoots and behind the scenes and she also started the new @PlanetPhotoStyle instagram account. If you are not following it then you need to be! Most photographers will tell you that they prefer to be behind the camera but it is really helpful to experience both so we arranged a shoot for Nathalie. Our goal was to head to the fields and do a wildflower shoot but while I was waiting for Nathalie and Taylor to arrive I got distracted by some amazing graffiti shots and we decided we needed to add a bit of that too. She did great! So here she is… meet Nathalie!
Maggie arrived at the studio with a backpack of clothes and a couple of things on hangers that she wasn’t sure she even wanted to wear. She had an idea of a couple of things I had in the studio closet to round out her outfits though so she was soon ready to rock her individual Teen Portrait session. She wanted a combination of natural locations so we headed out towards Washington Depot in Litchfield County. I had heard about a graffiti wall that I thought we might be able to use as a backdrop for some of our images. A little off camera flash, an outfit change and a dose of attitude and we got the images I was hoping for 🙂 I am always searching for fun and new locations to shoot, so if you can recommend a location then I want to hear from you!
Maggie was part of the 2K18 Planet Photo Tribe and it was fabulous working with her over the last year. She is going to be busy on the lacrosse field this year so I will still get to see her at games. Thanks for being part of the team Maggie!
The latest Ocean’s 8 movie builds on the premise that girls can do it themselves. The film follows a group of women, led by Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean, who plan a highly sophisticated heist of the annual Met Gala in New York City. Each character brings their individual sense of style, talents and skills needed to pull off the heist. Powerful women who can conquer the world? Now that’s a theme worth exploring!
This was the first group shoot for the 2k19 Planet Photo Tribe. A huge shout out goes to Rebecca Christine’s Consignment Boutique in Marbledale, CT for help with styling our shoot. They have an amazing selection of new and gently worn clothes for exceptional prices and they were so fun to work with!
The bank vault at 19Main provided a unique backdrop for our jewelry stealing crew.
When I opened the Planet Photo studio on Bank Street at the end of 2016 I realized that so many of the neighboring businesses had been established by women. Starting your own business is not for everyone. It takes strength, determination, and of course, a lot of hard work.
I chose to celebrate these powerful women with a portrait project. I wanted to capture their strength, but also their feminine side. So the Faces of Female Entrepreneurs project began. Over the course of a few months I met with quite a few of New Milford’s women who had started their own business. I am so happy to share these portraits with our community. Meet them and other local entrepreneurs at 19Main on March 29th. All are welcome to attend!
Sign up to receive updates and information about the exhibition here
When I entered Nora and Ryan into the Seniors Ignite Model Competition at the end of 2017 I had no idea that they would both be selected as finalists! I was so proud of both of them, and at that point I knew that I was inviting them to come, competition winners or not. Ryan’s play schedule meant that he couldn’t go, but Nora and her mom Becky were up for a trip to California. So the plans started to take shape.
Day 1 of the destination shoot was Joshua Tree National Park Model competition winner Timber and two other senior photographers joined us for part of the day. Palm Springs is known for its mid-century architecture, mild winter climate, and its stunning natural landscape so we had to make time to shoot around the town as well.
Timber it was an absolute pleasure to meet you! Thank you for braving the cold at Joshua Tree – none of us expected that when we planned our weekend in Cali! If you have never seen Joshua Tree it is totally worth a trip. The rocks look like giant pebbles dropped in piles from the sky and the joshua trees themselves look like they come from another planet. I can’t even tell you how excited we were to see tumble weeds…. I know, kind of silly, but seriously they exist outside of cartoons and old western movies
Check back for Day 2 of our destination shoot in Palm Springs!
Now that my kids are in high school I am starting to photograph more and more high school seniors that I first met in the pre-school library program or the school playground! How can it be that these little people that I first watched learning to ride a bike are preparing to go to college?
I recommend professional make up for all my seniors. Julia arrived at the studio for styling with her mom and a bag full of clothes. She doesn’t normally wear a lot of makeup so we kept it simple, enhancing her naturally pretty features without overpowering them. She was hoping for snow for her session and the snow gods obliged with a light dusting the day before.
I can not always guarantee the Connecticut weather 😉 but I can do my best to create and style the look you imagine none the less. Your Connecticut senior photography session starts with a consultation; styling, location, goal for the images are all discussed and we hatch a plan. I do a little location scouting so that on the day of the shoot we can hit the ground running and let the fun begin!
I had a blast hanging out with Julia and her family and I am excited for the next phase for all these kids.
