Last weekend I photographed a boudoir session where the subject really wanted to focus in on her tattoos to document them. The photographs turned out SO gorgeous and I’m so happy that she had no reservations about me posting images where her face was shown.

Here’s a handful of my favorites, but there were so many, I could barely narrow them down!

…they start photographing their dogs on really classy backdrops from Drop It Modern.

Bebop had absolutely no idea WHAT was going on. Eventually she calmed down, but those first few minutes involved me catching her mid-leap off of the box.

Red on the other hand was a natural. He just plopped down and I couldn’t get him to stand up even after the shoot was over.

For Valentine’s Day, I made chocolate covered strawberries. Initially I was attempting to decorate “tuxedo” strawberries, but as you can see in the surrounding berries, they quickly turned into squiggles. I did manage to decorate one HEART strawberry for a special someone….so WHAT if it’s a wonky heart? IF HE CAN’T APPRECIATE MY ATTEMPT, THEN HE IS UNDESERVING OF MY WONKY HEART.

Luckily, he enjoyed the strawberries…the heart was saved for last.

Bebop has this really bad habit. She likes to wake up early. I know what you’re thinking–maybe it’s not a “habit” as much as it is mother nature calling. But even if I take her out REALLY late. Like 2am or later, she still wakes up at 7am…buzzing with the volume and energy of my loud ass alarm.

She’s so friggin cute when she wakes up, too. She’s afraid to jump off the bed so she’ll walk to the edge…dance around it, consider jumping off. Then she’ll come to me and touch her nose to my cheek. Usually I can ignore this and in a sleepy fog pull her into a laying position. A few minutes later, she gets up again and like superman takes a flying leap off the bed. It’s the thud of her hitting the floor that makes me realize that I have .5 seconds to wake up, get my coat and shoes on and get out the door with her before she pees everywhere.

But the most annoying thing about Bebop’s morning ritual is she wakes up long enough to pee, eat and play for about 30 minutes. And after 30 minutes, she conks out again. Lucky for me, it creates picture perfect moments like the photo above with Red. If only I could find a way to push her routine back by a couple of hours…

These were two mini-sessions from this past weekend! If you’re interested in a cheaper option for portraits, contact me about these mini-session deals.

First, we have Raj who bought a mini-session for his girlfriend over Valentine’s Day. She lives in Switzerland, he lives in New York and he really wanted some beautiful photographs of her and also him and her together. They’re such an attractive couple–it’s impossible to take a bad photograph of them!

Also this weekend, I photographed Jorge–an emerging hip hop artist in the city. He had a cool, funky style which was fun to photograph. And even though I soooo obviously knew NOTHING about hiphop, he was still so sweet to me. The loser photographer who had no idea what hip hop sounded like!

There is a new and exciting development for Katana Photography–I’m creating a division of my business dedicated solely to school photography for Preschools and Daycare. It’s a project I’m really excited about! I hated my photographs from when I was a kid…I had one shot to look good in front of a tacky blue backdrop. And it didn’t matter if your smile was forced or awkward. It didn’t matter if you preferred to angle your head a certain way (this was more a problem in high school and middle school). You just sat how they wanted you to and took one shot. And that was the photo you were stuck with for the rest of your life to document that year.

With my program, I’ll be putting together simple but classy sets with solid white or black backdrops and simple, attractive stools with a couple of props for the kids to play with. Maybe a stack of old books. An apple. A chalkboard…you get the idea. And parents will get a chance to choose from about 9-10 proofs and pick the image(s) they want to order. Furthermore, parents have the option to order the digital images and use the photos for Holiday cards, etc.

It’s going to be so much fun! I just booked my first school in Hoboken and I can’t wait for March to get here! If you/your school is interested in booking a new type of school photography, contact me! I also have a “mommy advocacy” program where if you arrange it so your child’s daycare/preschool books me because of your help, I’ll offer you discounts and free prints! Email me if you’re interested…

Here is a small example of the sort of photos I plan on taking (Granted, these are sans the fun “school” props, but you get the idea).

It was our third evening in Mexico. We spent the day in Tulum looking at the Mayan ruins and once we got back, all I wanted was a margarita. Fruity, alcoholic goodness to cool off after a long day walking in the heat. We were getting pretty sick of the touristy areas of Playa del Carmen and in trying to find a place to eat, ended up walking a little outside the tourist trap area. It was still 100% safe–well, I take that back. It was probably slightly less safe than the tourist-area of Playa, but safer even than Brooklyn probably.

After walking for a good 20 minutes, we found a place called “Kool Fish” with pitchers of margaritas for $4. I don’t think it gets any better than that, right? Except that this “Kool Fish” had the most amazing fish tacos I’ve ever had in my life. And as the ice cold margarita slid down my throat, I thought it couldn’t get any better than THAT. Except then our waiter started chatting with us. And Eduardo was the COOLEST GUY EVER. So friendly. So chatty. He even added 2 extra shots of tequila to our (already strong) margaritas. Then he offered us pot…because apparently in Mexico, that’s how you make friends. You offer them pot. We politely declined–but it was nice to be accepted.

The following night, we went back to Kool Fish. Mostly because we wanted to see Eduardo again before we left. HE WAS THAT COOL. And he gave us more strong margaritas and great conversation. He even taught me a few phrases in Spanish, the most important one being: Dónde está el baño?

To be fair, Sean also taught me that. But Eduardo helped with the pronunciation. And thank god for learning that…it was used A WHOLE LOT THROUGHOUT THE TRIP. Because my bladder is the size of a pea. Not even. More like the size of a pinhole. And much of the trip was spent with me crossing my legs or sprinting from the beach to find some sort of public restroom.

Another side note–what is with the lack of toilet seats in Mexico?!?! I did more squatting that weekend, than I did in the gym preparing my body for bathing suit weather.

Wow–that was quite the rambling. So, to sum up: Mexico is beautiful; Eduardo is awesome; Playa del Carmen needs to invest in some toilet seats across the board.

Below are some images from Tulum –

Lately, I’ve had many people who have wanted boudoir shoots for their 1st year anniversaries, wedding gifts to their husbands and Valentine’s Day. Now, of course to respect my clients, I’ve avoided images with their faces (unfortunately the face shots are the most GORGEOUS of the photos), except for a few where I created a “modesty patch” for their protection.

Anyone interested in a boudoir shoot, contact me! I’ve been inspired by other friends and photographers and therefore I’m also running a special where $50 of your price will be donated to either Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.

This is Nicole…photographed as Santa’s special helper! She had all the little accessories needed to transform into an adorable little elf. And BOY was she quick to smile! I had never before been in the presence of such a happy baby. Or maybe I was just used to my niece and the way she used to scream. So the laughter was a little startling.

And not to mention, Nicole’s family was so incredibly nice. We all ordered pizza and chatted while we photographed. I really have some amazing clients and I can’t wait to see Nicole & family again soon!

I try hard not to let Craigslist ads upset me. Most of the time, it’s just people who really don’t understand the kind of time photographers put into their work and the sort of overhead and cost of materials for a fullday of event photography, like a wedding. But this?? Here’s the ad:

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Looking for a photographer that can shoot ceremony and reception. Need the following 1-Premium 8 x 10, wedding album (photos sealed inside the album), 1-16 x 20 framed portrait, 2-8 x 10’s, 4-5 x 7’s, and 150 proof book with 2 parent albums and 50 thank you notes. all negatives on CD ( a comparable package would be considered). Can only spend $1000- $1100. Thank you

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This person is looking for 3 albums, a FRAMED 16×20 , other prints, a proof book, 50 thank you notes AND a release of all the images on a CD. For $1,000.

::Blink::

::Blink:: ::Blink::

The only thing I can think here is that she must not realize that WE, THE PHOTOGRAPHERS have to pay for the cost of printing all these things. They don’t pop out of the sky from the magical printers with a free code all photographers have for products.

Those prints, albums and proofs alone would probably cost me close to the $1,000 she/he was paying. Then factor in me having to design the album pages, design the thank you cards, frame the portrait and not to mention, ohhhh, PHOTOGRAPH THE WEDDING. I’m only taking home $200 after a full day of shooting and weeks of post production? Crazy.

The only thing making me feel slightly better is that maybe, JUST MAYBE, she/he meant that the $1,000 would just be the cost of the products she wants. And then shooting time would be on top of that.

It might be unlikely, but to make myself feel better and hopefully sleep tonight, that’s what I’m going to believe.