If you had told me 8 years ago that I would be in New York City photographing an amazing family, I would have told you no way possible. But a few weeks ago, I had just that experience and the whole time, I felt like someone needed to pinch me to wake me from this dream come true. Now, it wasn’t easy working in such a bustling place, but I am so grateful to one of my best friends Lena with Live, Love, Laugh Photos in Ridgewood, NJ for pushing me to stretch my creative limits and most importantly, for rekindling a love for a city I thought I had lost years ago.

I was planning to be in the area for the 2nd Annual Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop Reunion in the great city of New York (post on that AMAZING time coming soon), and Lena and I had this photo session planned for quite sometime. But of course, the day we were supposed to shoot, it poured…and I mean POURED down rain causing flooding in many areas. So, we nervously pushed the photo session toward the end of my stay in NYC and anxiously eyed the weather for the 4 days leading up to the shoot.

We juggled our schedules as much as we could to dodge the storms, but that caused a bit of a problem because we had to shoot on the Brooklyn Bridge (which was incredible) in FULL sun at one of the busiest times you could imagine. I think we were pretty lucky to get shots without too many “extras” in the scene and I feel fortunate to have survived taking my life into my own hands shooting while standing in the bike lane on the bridge. For those of you who aren’t familiar with traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, just be warned that you *will* get run over if you stand in the bike lane ;-).

We were armed with plenty of umbrellas and rain boots in case of run, but wouldn’t you know it, when a random storm did blow in during the session, our little umbrellas could do nothing to save us from the crazy winds that came along with it. It was quite comical trying to manage the kids and the umbrellas and my not-waterproof camera equipment.

But in spite of all of the factors working against us that day, there’s one thing that people and traffic and wind gusts couldn’t take away: my friend Lena’s ear-to-ear grin. Let me tell you, she looked so happy. She was completely ecstatic to get to have her family photos taken in places where years and years ago, she and her then fiancée would dream of one day having a family. Their relationship is pure, unabandoned romance that time has only enriched with each year and each adventure they take on together and their twin daughters are incredibly blessed to have such fine examples of what moms and dads can be.

And those girls…oh those little giggle boxes! They embrace their lives with the same joy as their parents and they are so well traveled and well-adjusted to both the suburban and metropolitan lifestyles.

The icing on this cake is that in just a couple of weeks, I get to hang with them AGAIN as Lena is hosting the next Pinkle Toes Photography workshop in her town of Ridgewood, NJ! We actually have one opening that has cropped up recently, so if you want more info on the workshop, send me a note via THIS PAGE. Lena…I feel so fortunate that I get to hang with you and your family again, my dear, and thank you for this unfathomable opportunity to work with you in New York City!