Dreamlite + 1
A special message from Howie:
My beautiful wife and I are expecting our first child. Diana is due later this month and we couldn’t be more excited. We have not found out the gender of our baby and look forward to the surprise. We wanted to share some great photos that Jon (the other half of Dreamlite) took of us both in New York City. We hope you enjoy these photos and we’ll update you soon with more photos of the new baby! (HC)
Pia at the Park
Pía’s parents had contacted us not too long ago about a family photo session in New York City. Excitingly enough, they had heard about us through one of their friends (aka another family we had the honor of photographing last fall). We eventually decided upon Carl Schurz Park, an increasingly favorite spot of ours for photo sessions. Home to Gracie Mansion, an outdoor dog run, and a family-friendly environment, we spent our entire session playing with bubbles and exploring the various areas of the park. Special thanks to our friend Yanshu for the lighting assistance- couldn’t have done the family photos without your help. 🙂 Enjoy some of our favorite images below.
Last but not least, I wanted to include one of my favorite moments from their session– see the last photo & the accompanying text.
Sue + New York City
(All photographs taken November 2010)
As photographers, it’s always a blessing to catch a small break from the normal routine of weddings, engagements and portrait sessions. While we love what we do, every once in a while we need to take a breather and find an outlet to recharge ourselves both creatively and mentally. When Sue had contacted Jon a few weeks back, her email suggested shooting something along the lines of “fun.. fashion.. free spirited…crazy.” Using different trends in fashion, short dresses or womens hoodies uk which are popular in fashion.
Below is the culmination of the few hours we spent adventuring Harlem & the surrounding neighborhoods.
(Special thanks to Sue for being way too cool to work with. Also, thanks to Lakeshore Learning Center for suggesting the touchable bubbles we used that evening. Although our frigid fingers prevented us from successfully collecting and stacking the bubbles, y’all should try it out and share with us your experiences.)
Oliver at the Park
Earlier this fall, Oliver and his parents joined me (Jon) for a family photo session at Carl Schurz Park in New York City. We spent the afternoon strolling through this magnificent jewel of a park– spacious green lawns, kid-friendly walkways and a great view of the East River. Best of all, this family was extremely warm and easygoing from the start– especially Oliver. In fact, Oliver spent very little time shying away from me before he repeatedly approached me and offered me to play with his toys. For a little guy just shy of his second birthday, he was really sociable and outgoing.
As you will see in the photos below, a lot of our time was spent blowing bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles. In fact, Oliver’s mom told me “bubbles” was his first word. I can’t even remember the last time I played with bubbles for fun, but over the last few months I’ve been fortunate enough to have bubbles included in a few recent photo shoots. I must admit…I’ll probably go and pickup a few bottles of my own during the winter months. Hope you all enjoy this latest set!
(And if you’d like to see your family on our blog OR know a family who’d love to have their photos taken, we’d love to get connected via email– info AT dreamlitephotography.com— or, catch us on facebook.)
Spencer in Central Park
It’s incredibly exciting when families call us back to do more photographs with them. As always, it was a really nice opportunity to see Spencer & his family again after a ten month hiatus.
Prior to beginning our session, Spencer’s parents warned me that he was “on his feet”, pretty much guaranteeing me a full afternoon of exercise… and correct they were. Spencer has grown quite a bit since our last session, and was certainly taking advantage of his newly acquired bipedal abilities.
We spent the afternoon in Central Park near one of my favorite photography locations, the 72nd street traverse. Though the park was crowded, as expected on a warm October afternoon, we quickly found a quaint little spot beneath the shade of a large tree.
Besides watching Spencer constantly snack throughout our two hour session, definitely one of my favorite moments that day had to be when Spencer sported his halloween costume– a full-body Elmo outfit. He definitely received his fair share of “awws” and “how cute!” from passersby. Thanks again to Spencer and his family for another great photography session!
Jonathan + Lillian
Perhaps their “Thank You” card says it all:
Months earlier, my (Jon’s) aunt and uncle from Massachusetts had contacted me and asked if I would do a photo session with them in NYC. Admittedly a bit nervous, I gladly agreed and we setup a date on our calendars. This wasn’t just any photo session– Auntie Lillian had shared with me that they never had a photographer on their wedding day (rather a small & intimate wedding ceremony), and she always wanted professional photos done of her and my uncle. On top of that, her milestone birthday had just past (not sure if I’m allowed to say, but contrary to how young she looks, she didn’t just turn 30), all the more wanting photos to cherish. Lastly, being relatives of mine, I knew these photos had to be special– time honored, personal, memorable– yet far from tacky & cheesy.
During our afternoon together, we ventured mostly through Central Park. Below you will also see some random images, but none are posted without a purpose. (photo#3) My aunt’s an artist (“self-teaching” oil painter- see her blog for definition), and absolutely loves flowers. In fact, check out her work here: http://lilyoilpaints.blogspot.com/ ). Also, she loves cats. (photo#14) When we saw these cats and dogs offered up for adoption, I knew she would be tempted to bring them all home. Thankfully, she didn’t, or our photo session would get a whole lot complicated. Other places we visited included a thrift store and the classically beautiful brownstone buildings.
So this one’s for you guys. Happy belated Auntie Lillian, and to you both, thank you for allowing me to be a part of it all.
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Spencer’s Baby Portrait Session
Since Spencer had recently turned six months young, his parents graciously invited one of us over for a portrait session.
Often, people think of family portrait sessions as the boring “sit-on-the-stool-and-say-cheese” moments buried deep down in their own childhood recollections. Thankfully, this is exactly how Dreamlite does NOT allow their sessions to be. Instead, we are all about having our families hanging out, feeling comfortable, and spending quality time with each other. As all of this is going, we simply sit back and capture those beautiful moments as they occur.
This entire portrait session felt more like a family play date than anything else. Spencer’s parents began the fun afternoon with the popular children’s book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” by Eric Carle. Though Spencer can be seen reading the book alongside his parents, what really gave him a good laugh was all of the animal sounds his parents had added along with the reading. Spencer also had a good time showing me all of the toys he could put in his mouth. Between his books, rattlers, and stuffed animals, his definite favorite were the sea creatures. Other awesome activities included blowing bubbles and and peek-a-boo with the couch pillows.
We hope you enjoy this set!
Eric + Wendy Wedding
Earlier this winter, we joined Eric and Wendy for their big day in New York City.
The day was filled with the perfect combination of excitement, tears, celebration and honest speeches. Whereas many of our past weddings encompassed 200+ guests, Eric and Wendy surrounded themselves with 80 of their closest friends and relatives. This really helped set the tone for an intimate affair. With so many close friends and relatives running about, it felt more like a family reunion than anything else. Best of all, the afternoon ended with a ton of dancing, games, and irresistible desserts.
Both the ceremony and reception were held in Bridgewaters at South Street Seaport, an amazing venue with great food and a spectacular view of the water. Hair styling + makeup for our lovely bride were both done by Sissi Chan (her work is gorgeous– if you’re a bride-to-be, call her up!). Here’s the link to her Yelp page. The trendy photobooth was provided by NYCphotobooth.
Howie + Diana Engagement
Hey everyone, Jon here. This was a particularly awesome engagement session that took place in New York City. In fact, we spent an entire day in NYC photographing great locations such as Central Park, D.U.M.B.O. and SoHo. What made the day even more enjoyable was having the chance to photograph two good friends– Howie (my other photographic-half/co-founder of Dreamlite Studios, LLC) and his fiancee Diana.
We visited the city during the peak of the fall foliage, so the leaves were as a-m-a-z-i-n-g as one could imagine. Although we encountered the usual crowds in NYC, the crowds all but seemed to ‘disappear’ at the most opportune photographic moments (see #8, #10, #11, #20). That’s right, no persons were photoshopped out of those photos!
Enjoy!
Eric + Wendy Engagement
We met up with Eric and Wendy on a cold and chilly autumn morning. When we first parked our car, the sun had come up just enough to give us a big warm greeting. This made for beautiful lighting, and yes, you guessed it, awesome photos!
Their engagement session began at the Highline. This park, located on the West Side of Manhattan, was once a network of train tracks delivering freight. Activists and locals fought for the preservation of this abandoned railroad for the last 10 years. This past summer, the park was finally open to the public. The Highline is an open-space public park filled with an abundance of flora and greenery. Definitely work checking out!
After the Highline, we travelled to D.U.M.B.O. right under the Brooklyn Bridge. Eric and Wendy were the perfect combination of relaxed and intimate– exactly the kind of couples we love working with.
Thanks for a great day, and we’re looking forward to your wedding in FIVE DAYS!!
Bulldogs
We visited the city a few weeks back to attend a customer service seminar by Salesforce. Along the way, we stopped by our buddy Weber’s place in Greenwich Village and had lunch. Snagged this shot of their bulldog Zoe in all her beauty. (not posed~ she hopped on the bed and looked our way.)
