Posts tagged simcha
Birds of a Feather

I was at the TDSA end of school carnival when I met Chaya. She was warm, charismatic, and an open book. She filled me in on the twists and turns she’d already taken in her young life, but was optimistic about her horizons. And she had reason to be.

After touching so many lives in the Atlanta Jewish School System, she’s launching her next adventure up North with her Chosson. They were absolute birds of a feather, valuing humor, finding joy in each others quirks.

Vendors:
It was fantastic to have videographers Yaniv and Glenda join the Shayna Image team for this simcha!
The Meth Brothers brought the music.
Natalie Sokol catered and planned.
Rina Pollack makeup.

ClientsRachel LinkwaldJewish wedding, frum wedding, wedding, simcha, simcha portraits, atlanta wedding photographer, atlanta weddingComment
Style

Sara wanted a session commemorating her son’s upshern (3rd birthday). Originally, she had in mind that we do the session before the party, since they were dressing up anyway. Ultimately, she decided to separate the two, as she wanted a low pressure session where it would be the only thing on her mind.

We shot in their home, moving only a couple pieces of furniture and taking advantage of the lovely light in their space.

We reviewed the images together, then she chatted with her amazing interior designer (I need to get her name and link her here!!), and together, we created a vision, and I edited her images accordingly.

Left: our design, virtual on the wall, Right: the actual installation

It was tremendous fun creating images to fulfill our final vision.

EDIT! And then…

Sara reached out, craving one more image. She wanted a color shot, to gift her husband for his office:

ClientsRachel Linkwaldatlanta family photographer, atlanta, atlanta photographer, children, daughter, editing, Jewish, heirloom, family, family photography, home, jewish photographer, living room, living room art, portraits, portraiture, portraitphotography, photoshop, photography, photographer, photoshoot style, art, home art, custom art, gallery, gallery design, love, simcha, timeless, upshern, shayna image
More to come!

Alexandra is an artist. When she reached out to me, there was a perfect understanding of what we are trying to accomplish when you work with me. She wanted us to build art together. She did, however, throw me for a loop when she asked about the process of booking three sessions in a year.

I told her I have a two-session discount that could easily be adapted…but why three sessions? Clearly there was a goal…

She mumbled a bit, talked about capturing different environments… then came out with it: she was expecting!! She imagined a gallery in their home that tells the story of their evolving family through this time: a family of three, a family maternity session, and as a family of four.

I definitely squealed through the rest of our consultation.

Our session was delightful, learning all about Adam’s work as Executive director of local synagogue Or VeShalom, which I had the pleasure of attending for a few years, and getting Stella’s full spunk. They are such a dynamic family! But what was truly fun was capturing this image, with Stella completely unaware of why we were taking it:

We’ve been waiting all these months until Chanukah to finally make the announcement. May this family have nothing but joy going forward.

Speaking of going forward… it’s almost time for their second session!!

ClientsRachel Linkwaldpregnancy, photography, portraits, print photography, pregnancy announcement, family, family photography, synagogue, atlanta, atlanta photographer, children, chanukkah, kids, editing, friends, front porch photography, front porch photography atlanta, growth, gallery, gallery design, heirloom, sister, Jewish, living room art, or veshalom, portraiture, photographer, photoshop, porchtrait atlanta, simcha, outdoors, custom art, shayna image Comment
The Bat Mitzvah Girl, Then & Now

MAZAL TOV to the Wenger family, on Gila’s Bat Mitzvah!! Everyone was so excited to celebrate her, even if the plans had to be carefully rethought. I’ve had the opportunity to capture this family through the years, and seeing Gila evolve into such a poised young woman was stunning. Leading up to the event, we strategized the best methods to memorialize the occasion with family as lasting art in the safest way possible.

Click each image to enlarge.

Each of the girls radiate. Strong individuality, but all emanate kindness.

The Wengers were able to celebrate, albeit in a non-traditional way, with those they love most.

From the beginning, they knew they what they wanted for their home. We planned out the galleries that they will enjoy daily and for a lifetime to come.

The girls in the hallway (image unedited for mockup)

The girls in the hallway (image unedited for mockup)

The images to the side are for individual bedrooms.

The images to the side are for individual bedrooms.

They wanted images from our previous sessions in 2012 and 2017 to be incorporated. I can’t stress enough, as a photographer, the importance in investing in backup data systems and being organized about it. I was able to pull up the original images from both years, and spruce up both so that their gallery would look more cohesive.

In my own home, I have a gallery with prints from multiple years, and I confess I often spend time reveling in the growth of my own littles. I’m thrilled that the Wengers will be able to admire the story of their family in their living room.

May they have many more celebrations to come!!

Update 1/12/2021!

We were pushed off a couple of weeks due to HSL, but were thrilled to complete the installation today!!

ClientsRachel Linkwaldbat mitzvah, simcha, simcha portraits, portraiture, portraits, family, family photography, generations, generational art, sistersComment