Happy Memorial Day!

Just wishing everyone a SAFE and HAPPY Memorial Day! Let us all remember what Memorial Day is about, take some time to reflect and say a prayer for those who gave their lives to serve our country and fight for our freedom.  May we all spend some time to enjoy the company of our families and dear friends.  I am sure many of you will be attending BBQ's and picnics, having hamburgers hot dogs and watermelon, having delicious beverages and hopefully soaking up some long awaited sun, I know I will be. You may catch me sipping on this tasty looking Watermelon Cockail ! For my local peeps, click HERE to see what's happening in Sussex and Warren County this weekend.  Don't forget whatever you do, be safe, have lots of fun and take lots of PICTURES!     
                                                               xoxo Jean

Blue ~ Eyed Angel

It was such a pleasure to photograph this little beauty queen! She is such a sweet baby girl....and just take a look and her amazing pouty lips and those stunning blue eyes~

Happy Mother's Day Free Session Giveaway!

Becoming a Mother was without question the greatest thing that ever happened to me.  It has changed my world profoundly.  It has humbled me. It has taught me a tremendous amount of patience. It has given me more laughs, tears and love in the last 21 months than I have felt in my entire life.  It has brought my husband and I a greater common bond that is stronger than "couple" we are now family. It has put me in a place of extreme vulnerability, (what if something were to happen to this little person I gave myself to so selflessly and love with every ounce of my being?).  It has given me new perspective about what is truly meaningful in life, (Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo don't REALLY matter in the grand scheme). It has taught me to be happy with who I am and to be a positive role model with a healthy self esteem.  It has given me huge respect for my mother and all mothers.  It has taught me compassion and forgiveness.  It has brought me back to my faith and closer to my spirituality and also with Mother Nature.  And waking up to that precious little face every morning always brings a smile to mine (even if it is the occassional 6 am).
So, to honor all  Mother's I would like to give back! I am going to give away a giftcard for a free 1 hour photosession to one Mom.  It can be used for maternity, family or child.  Winner will receive a CD rom with a slideshow of images. 
You can enter yourself or someone you know.  Enter here by commenting below that you have "liked" both pages.  You must like Bebe A La Mode Studios fanpage AND Bebe A La Mode Boutique fanpage.  That's it! :)
Winner must be in Northern NJ or willing to travel, willing to sign a Model Release Form and be a Mother, Stepmother, Grandmother or GREAT Grandmother :) Gift Card must be used within 6 months.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org on May 15, 2011.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there! Take the day to pamper yourselves, you DESERVE it! Pat yourself on the back just this one day, Motherhood is such a selfless 24 hour a day/7 day a week commitment that gets little day to day appreciation, but it does pay with something far more valuable than money!

Fast Track New Jersey Wedding Shoot~

Last Tuesday I attended my first photography Shootout in beautiful Princeton, NJ. What a fantastic experience! First of all I would like to say thank you to Feuza and Katie of Fast Track New Jersey for organizing this event. I am new to Fast Track and I am pleasantly surprised by the comaraderie amoungst the members. It's a nice close knit group of fellow photogs (some new and some old) all there to support each other! Very cool! Ok so back to the event. It took place at The Laurie House Bed & Breakfast. The gorgeous bouquets were donated by Divine Decor. Heather Ballasy did an amazing job on the hair and Yvonne Moss and Gina Brozon applied flawless makeup! I would also like to thank the models: Mariana Silveira, Dana DeLorenzo Whitehead, Ayslinn Picarello, Jackie Elizabeth

Although I am not a wedding photographer by any means, it was fun to sort of try out the shoes for a day. I have a whole new respect for them. I was wiped out at the end of day! Overall it was a a great experience. I learned some and laughed some. Here are some of the images I captured from the day!

Sweet Little Maliya

First time shooting a newborn, and I made it through without any major mishaps. It was alot of fun. I went there ready for anything and had all my info all there in my mental rolodex. I got to their home, set up was all ready to go and guess what? Everything went out the window. I forgot to focus on the eyes, the lens was just giving me a hard time (it was the lens' fault of coarse! ;)), I didn't end up using the space heater because I asked the mom to turn up the heat prior and thought it would be warm enough, I only ended up doing three out of 6 set ups I had ready. The majority of my pictures kept coming out blurry. I didn't think it would be so hard or nerve wracking to position a newborn into all those cute poses. I was a little nervous. I didn't want to make the mom uncomfortable. Also, I ended up packing up way earlier then I intended, because I wasn't sure if the mom felt like it was taking too long. Oh and the baby was WIDE awake! So, it didn't go as smoothly as I had envisioned, but I kept calm and just went with the flow.
I forgot how tiny newborns are! So precious and new.....This little angel was so sweet and such a good little girl! I really had a lot of fun and although I feel my pictures could have been better, they could have been alot worse. Final verdict....good practice and ...overall positive experience!
I promised I would post the pics no matter what so here they are.

Sunny Saturday Afternoon and a New Lens to Play With :)

It has been snowing, raining, cloudy, cold and overcast for what feels like an eternity! Well today the beautiful bright ball we call the sun has made a cameo...(burst into song...."at laaaasssstttt") Ok so anyway...A good friend of mine has given me the honour of photographing her precious little (what will be)14 day old baby, this coming Monday! I am soooo excited...and a little nervous. It's my first time photographing a newborn. Besides my own of coarse, but that was a year and a half ago and I just had my point and shoot Sony CyberShot. This is different. I have been practicing ...alot. I am pretty confident that I will get some beautiful images, but I am curious to see... HOW beautiful. My goal is super sharp crisp lines, pretty skin tones and sweet poses and over all great composition and the right exposure.
Well, even if they all came out horrible, I am giving it my best try and that is all I can do! I am totally prepared either way.....ok so I may walk around in a slump for a day or two if they all suck, but that's ok too. It's all about learning and improving!
I have all the necessities lined up....the space heater, the boppies, the bean bag blankets and backdrops, pretty flower headbands etc etc. I even rented a 50mm 1.4 lens! YAY! I am perusing every newborn photographers blog for info and inspiration. We will see how it goes. I have a pretty good feeling about it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I will post the pics good, bad or ugly. This is my journey and I want to share it with you!
Now, I have to get out there enjoy this sunshine and practice using this new lens!

~ Love Birds ~

This morning before dawn, I jumped out of bed with excitment to wake my brother and his soon to be bride. I couldn't wait to capture their love in a some images that would last forever. I love these two with all my heart and I feel so blessed to have Tracey as my sister in law. She is truly truly truly a beautiful person inside and out! Cheers to you Joshua and Tracey....may you always love each other with a pure heart as you do now! I am so happy for you both! Hugs and Kisses ~ I hope you enjoy these photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them.....

Radient Heart