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!

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).

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!

Lisbel and Jason were married in October and had a fun wedding out in Queens. The weather was absolutely gorgeous the whole day…until we reached the Botanical Gardens. For the 30 minutes we were there, it began raining. We, of course, made it work and popped open a bunch of umbrellas for some super cute shots!

Ahhh, the beautiful Layla. There are so many songs I can put your name into and the whole time I was editing these, I had a whole list of random songs stuck in my head. Layla’s mom, Tamara reads this blog (Hi, Tamara!) and I just want to say that I LOVED these little tutu outfits she chose for this shoot. We joked that depending on whether Layla grows up to be a girlie girl or a tomboy, she’s going to either love these shots or hate them!

On a side note, Layla’s daddy is a chef at (what I hear is) an AWESOME BBQ restaurant in the city and IAMSOEXCITEDTOGOEATTHERE! As a southern girl, I loooove my barbeque. And if they have classic southern sweet tea (the kind that’s brewed with molasses)–it may just win my heart. The restaurant, that is. If it were legal to do so, that restaurant and I would be living together in delicious sin.

I feel like this poor little blog is being neglected slowly but surely. Life tends to take over and next thing I know, weeks have gone by sans any updates. One of my resolutions is to attempt to keep up with my posts so that I’m not 6 photoshoots down the line. In any case, here are a few highlights from my autumn/holiday card photoshoots….

Above are a few images from my shoot with Kate, Dan and Zach–a very sweet family from one of my favorite areas, Hoboken. I seriously LOVE Hoboken and if I could afford it, I would move there immediately. I hope to see them again soon. Poor lil’ Zach was teething and not feeling too hot that day, but you’d never be able to tell from that adorable grin plastered on his face!

The three collages below are from the Stern family–we had a lot of fun running around in the leaves and eating our lollipops! I was jealous…theirs looked way better than my blow pop that I had. That’s the beauty of being an adult I guess–the fact that I was able to run out after that shoot and have a ginormous lollipop for dinner!

And lastly, we have Sophia…my newborn session from November. She was just a doll with her full head of spikey black hair and sweet chubby cheeks.

These cuties were born just a little bit before Thanksgiving and were teeeeeeeny! I wanted to pour ketchup on their thighs and eat them like little chicken tenders.

As a sidebar, Sean always asks me why women want to eat babies…I had no real answer except, “Ummm, HAVE YOU SEEN THE THIGHS?? How do you NOT want to eat them!”

He still didn’t quite get it.

This here is Sam. Big Man Sam as I like to call him. Which is funny because he is actually a very small guy for his age. He was all smiles for me, though while playing in the leaves! His mom, Kara, and I used to work together for Nick News. He’s 9 months old and his favorite thing in the whole world is standing. If he’s not standing, he’s not happy! He completely bypassed the crawling stage and went right to standing. He’s not walking yet, but he definitely looked like he was about to take his first steps at any moment!