Grandpa and me...

Every single session we do for our clients is truly unique. Not one photograph will look the same because we truly love making every single photograph a true keepsake and piece of art.It's honestly what we we trained to do in this business. As I reflect back on this 2018 year, I have to say it was the hardest year of my life. As I look back, I almost lost my mother, who is my assistant.. She was hospitalized for over a month. It was a nightmare during this time. We thought she may not make it and that she may no longer be with us. She's a huge asset to this photography business. She's the best assistant I could ever ask for and am grateful for everything she does. I am so elated she is still here with us and recovered fully. About 10 days after my mom came home, it was my husband's turn. He had flu-like symptoms and his condition got worse and worse. He was then hospitalized. The doctors were baffled as to what was happening. Every specialist they had on hand, he saw. His condition got worse and worse to the point where we almost lost him. He lost all bodily functioning, he lost his ability to walk. It was a very scary time. They put him on every antibiotic known to man. It was within two weeks, he started to finally show some life again and slowly got better. He was later transferred to an inpatient subacute rehabilitation center to learn how to walk all over again. It was later found out by infectious disease that what he caught, only effects about 2,000 patients a year with about a 60% mortality rate. He's lucky to be here. When I look back on the year, I see myself. I see how strong I was. As a wife, daughter, mother.. and I honestly don't know how I got through it all. I kept every single photography session that I had scheduled.  I did not cancel on anyone. In fact, the sessions were very therapeutic for me as I was going through this. It's true how art can soothe the soul. There were some delays on editing galleries, but very understandable in the situation and I did inform customers of the situation. Under normal circumstances, most folks would be able to take a leave of absence from their jobs. However, as a single business owner, I unfortunately was unable to do that. I just trucked through.  I realized how strong I really am and how I kept it together. I know most folks would crumble. I just feel fortunate to have both the folks I love dearly still here with me. In any event... as I look back and everything I went through. I realize how very important photographs are. I made a point to get myself photographed with my children this past fall.. as I didn't have any. I also made an appointment with a photographer I admire for 2019 and I plan to make an appointment with another one as well. It's very important. This is why I am sharing this... This is grandpa. He doesn't live in the US (hopefully, soon though) and I told my customer it was important to bring her father so that he could be in some images. This will be a keepsake for the family for years to come to remember. Our children get older every day and the folks that we love.. we continue to lose, year after year. Time does not stand still. This is why it's important to capture these moments. I truly hope this mama got this blown up and proudly displayed in the house. It's beautiful. Get those photographs folks. Capture these precious moments. One day you may not have your loved ones with you.. and all you have left are these. This is why I love what I do and why I got into photography in the first place. If you would like to book your family session, please reach out. We would love to customize something special for you!!! Happy Shooting, my friends!!!! Dee Shooting Star Photography

Magical Southern New Jersey Photographer

Fairy sessions are a real hoot! We love creating beautiful and captivating imagery.

As you can see this little lady had a fun time at her birthday photo shoot!

Fairy Photo Session In South Jersey

A fairy photo shoot with children can be a magical and memorable experience for both the children and the adults involved. Here are some ideas to make the photo shoot extra special:

1. Choose a magical location: Find a beautiful outdoor location that has a fairy-tale feel, such as a forest, garden, or park. The location should have plenty of natural light and interesting backdrops for photos. We have a ton of excellent options to choose from! 

2. Setting the scene: We can create a fairy garden or a fairy tea party setting with decorations like flowers, butterfly wings, fairy lights, and soft blankets. You could also add some props like fairy wands, flower crowns, and glittery fairy dust.

3. Dress the children: Have the children dress up in fairy costumes or tutus, or provide them with fairy wings and accessories to wear during the photo shoot. Make sure their outfits match the setting and are comfortable enough for them to move around in.

4. Be playful: Let the children have fun and be playful during the photo shoot. I encourage them to dance, twirl, and play pretend. Capturing candid moments of them laughing and enjoying themselves.

5. Use natural light: Natural light is the best way to capture the magical feel of a fairy photo shoot. I try to schedule the photo shoot during the golden hour, which is the hour before sunset or after sunrise when the light is soft and warm.

6. Edit the photos: After the photo shoot, we edit the photos to enhance the magical feel. I’ll add some sparkle or fairy dust to the photos, or play around with the colors to make them look more dreamy and ethereal.

Remember, the most important thing is to have fun and create a memorable experience for the children. A fairy photo shoot is a wonderful way to ignite their imagination and create lasting memories!

I love photography. The love I have oozes into my photographs and with the families, I am blessed to work with. I love making magic for everyone I shoot for. There's always that ONE image in a gallery that makes your heart sing. I love capturing kids as they are and the innocence at this age. I have two children myself and is why I got into photography in the first place.   Children love to dress up like prince and princesses. I enjoy bringing this magic to life... telling their story, or their "fairytale." 

Most of the dress designers, I work with, are from the United States. I love being able to provide these dresses to my clients as part of their storytelling session.  My daughter doesn't like to "dress up" so I also have shorter dress styles for children who aren't too much into it. We have accessories (IE, hairpieces that coordinate with each of our designer gowns). This 2018 brought out a lot of heart in me. With a lot of the adversary I had to face with medical emergencies with my own family. It helped me to truly value moments, in general.

I am proud to be able to offer that in return to the many families I have worked with in the past four years in business. I am honored if you choose us to photograph and allow us into your family's lives. Let us create something truly magical for you. For memories to be enjoyed for generations. Classic, dreamy-styled portraiture.. You'll have all your friends talking!!! I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed Holiday Season.

It's been a rollercoaster year! I hope for 2019, to be even better!!! 

Happy Shooting, my friends!!! 

Dee

Shooting Star Photography 

Carnival Shoot in New Jersey

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Every year, my photography friends and I get together for a carnival photo session! This was last year's. The previous year (2016) style was old time classic. I believe I made a blog post of it in the past!  Girls in almost a victorian look, boys on amusement rides and enjoying cotton candy.  It was a fun time! This past year, was a bit more challenging as this place was the most packed we have ever seen a carnival in New Jersey!  This year, cannot wait as have something sweet planned! I love carnivals. It is reminiscent of childhood. I love the lights and enjoy the laughter of kids with their families having the times of their life! There's nothing in this world sweeter! One thing I did love about this carnival session was how casual it was. If you have noticed, I like capturing kids who they are in the moment. I'm not very much into heavily processed skin or features. I am not into cheesy smiles. I want kids to be kids. I want parents to look back and see a beautiful image, but I don't want them to see their child's actual physical features changed. This is a big thing going on in the industry. Where folks are heavily dodging and burning their subjects, skin is losing texture. It's just not the way I would personally want to remember my own children. I want them to look natural and who they are. It's extremely important to me. I do, however, love a creative and dreamy image. I love color and vibrancy, but I also like simple. The outfits chosen from this shoot were from an Australian company called, Lulu Stars. We also used some tutu du monde pieces which I always find great pieces to add to any photographer's wardrobe. Tutu du monde clothing tends to work with any theme.  Enjoy the lights and colors of this carnival collection photo shoot. I tried to give it a more vintage feel and hope I have delivered. I cannot wait until this year's carnival shoot! It will be a blast!!!  Who knows? We may do a model call. Hopefully, we get a better place in New Jersey this time!!! Not as packed!!! However, the theme is going to be adorable!!! We cannot wait to share!!!    

Storytelling Through Photography- Personal Family Photography

You are storytelling in this work-Family Photographer in South Jersey

You have one story and then something happens and it changes you.. your perspective and I believe this is where I am now. My perspective has changed recently.

This is the stage where you start to have an understanding and become a master of some sort of training of your eye.Now, finally telling my story, my eye and the story of the subjects that I am capturing... THE STORY through the photographs we create.

I urge anyone in photography to be involved in groups when you start out a bit. What I mean by groups, is Facebook groups catered to professionals/amateurs. Use this valuable info in these groups to hone the technical basics.

Train your eye... but am suggesting to stop there. Take a Damien's class. This will get you started in Photoshop and learning your way around. Watch YouTube videos. You'll find there are 5 ways to do something in Photoshop to get the same result, but learn interesting methods to get yourself there.

Find photographers to follow and love

Then list 5 photographers of completely different styles.Maybe one does family who is up close and personal on their photographs, one does couture, one has mastered lighting (which this is the realm I'm wanting to learn more of myself), one is photo journalistic and maybe one does weddings, but they kill it.. they are consistent and kill it across the board. This is who you need to follow.

These are the folks you can be inspired by.

I finally consider myself an artist. It took me two years to say this.

I think this past year (year 2 in business) has been an eye opener for me. I started out this 2017 year going in the direction I thought I wanted to get into, but I see so many others doing the same things these days and... it's just time to just do me. I don't need fancy dresses or a fancy wardrobe to attain a great image. I feel I have a well understanding of light to get an image I seek out to achieve.

southern new jersey family photographer

Try new things and push yourself

 I feel the need to push myself out of my own barrier now. I want to be on my toes and feel like I lost that a bit this year. I lost the will to challenge myself. Don't get me wrong... I did... challenge myself, but I need to delve even farther and deeper.

I got BORED. Boredom kills spontaneity and anything organic that can arise from and work will become monotonous. I took too much on this last year with clients, not allowing time for my creative self to learn and flourish.

Well, times are a changing and now going forward, will be making that time and taking less client work on.I will be doing more projects to feed my creative soul and I cannot wait. It's full steam ahead. I'm not looking back and am excited to see what lies ahead.

southern new jersey family photographer taking photos of my little girl.

One thing of advice I can give to folks starting out in this business ... never stop being you, DO NOT undercharge/undervalue yourself, never stop learning.... and most importantly.... you're going to learn to say no a lot. It's hard to say no... because starting out, you are so eager to build your business, or to get any business at all. You're hungry to just shoot.

It's okay to say NO.

I said no to clients a lot...this last year I'd have requests for events, parties, weddings, cake smashes... but my heart was just never into them. Even though I did do these ^ because wanted to test the waters and see if I would like them. I know now that I don't like them.. because I at least tried them. So don't be afraid to get your feet wet. Once getting your feet wet, decide on where you wish to go and what you LOVE and take it from there. This is where you'll find your mojo, in the heat of battle trying new things.

But most importantly don't be afraid to say no and if it's a session you don't wish and you dislike, that's okay. It's okay to say no, if your heart is not into it.No one is holding a gun to your head. Always trust your gut. I promise you this, once you start doing what you love, the world soon becomes your oyster. You start attracting the clients you always wanted and dreamed of because that passion shines through in your work and then the magic starts to unfold. It has unfolded for me and my passion for what I do remains strong.

I value myself, my clients and the work I put out there in the universe. I want always my best forward and out there. 

If you read this far^ I give you a standing ovation.  Kudos and bravo to you. I need to log off. More editing to do :) but seriously read what I wrote above, if you are feeling a little lost as a photographer this winter season. 

Unicorn Sessions-Photography is EASY. Not.

Unicorn magical sessions in south Jersey

Unicorn photography is a unique and specialized skill that requires a keen eye, creativity, and technical expertise. Capturing the enchanting essence of these mythical creatures demands the ability to harness and enhance their mystique through the lens. Unicorn photography requires a deep understanding of lighting, composition, and perspective to bring out the ethereal beauty in each shot. The responsibility lies in the photographer's hands to emphasize the magical qualities of the unicorn while capturing their grace and allure. To possess the skill of unicorn photography is to possess the power to transport viewers into a world where dreams come alive, igniting a sense of wonder and awe that only these majestic creatures can awaken.

Photography is simple everyone can do it.

I am going to explain to you in rich and lavish detail.. It is not. In fact, it's been one of my hardest jobs of my life. It's time to get a little personal and about business here! :)

First off, I got into photography while running a travel blog many moons ago. I worked in corporate America previously. You can google me if you want, you'll see me pop up in a few news articles and probably see the books have written. Bleh bleh bleh.. right? I am boring you. Hold on!

I LOVED taking photos. Didn't know much about light and would just snap this, that, and the air. It honestly didn't matter. I didn't edit them either. I just loved it. For me, it was the thrill of exploring that particular place or landscape and taking a picture as a token that I've been there.

Well... out plops my son and then my daughter. At this point, I decided to flip tables, change things up a bit and to photograph them. These important moments because they change SO FAST were important for me to capture. So like many photographers, I got into portrait photography because of them.

This little lady enjoed being photographed with her puppy the unicorn.

Again... easy peasy, right? Hold your horses, will ya?

I started taking photos and learning my camera settings. Learning about light. Lots of trial and error. Friends saw these photographs and wanted their pictures done. Now, at this time... I thought I was dabomb.com. I wasn't. I was terrible. I'm now doing some of my friend's photographs and thinking hmmm.. this is easy maybe I should start a business....

And I did. Decided to incorporate my business in February of 2015. At this time, I STILL thought I was awesome. 

There were no clients. It was crickets. I'm like oh $45 is too expensive... let me lower them to $35 and give a ton of images. I continued to blog and at this point is when things got busy for me. I was taking workshops and learning online. I was building my lens collection. My work was starting to get noticed.

Then things got super busy. So by end of fall season.. I am practically ripping my hair out. $100 sessions (yep, raised them from those whopping $35 sessions) and I am spending 2 hours on one photograph editing. A total waste of time and resources. Time away from my own kiddos she family. It was awful. At this time, I continued to book like crazy and am virtually winging it and going day by day.

So tax time comes around... and this was my ah ha moment. Seeing how much money owed and realizing I wasn't charging enough to even make minimum wage and that I technically wasted so much of my time for PENNIES. I was seriously working for PENNIES and this was the second year. The numbers don't lie.

The first year, was even worse I was basically paying myself to work. I put the family virtually in debt because always wanted the latest and greatest shiniest things. You eventually realize you don't need those things.

We always need to get a nice pet in too. With our beautiful unicorns.

So come 2017... those few years have learned and learned well. I had to make a decision to either start making a profit... or I need to quit.

What I am trying to say is this. There are so many folks that end up burned out in this business. They have no real plan. They love what they do, but they often lack on the business side. They have no business plan m or marketing set in motion. They lack motivation because it can be a frustrating and very confusing start.

Now, one thing with myself. I am a go getter. I always had a plan. My plan wasn't enough when I started.I was super busy and was afraid to raise my pricing to where I should be priced at with my talent and worth.

I made it a point to offer a full session experience this year. Offering high end custom made gowns for my company.

We also tackled on limited series sessions. Such as unicorns, mermaids and princess castle sessions. Because I was so busy.... I ended up hiring my mom to come onboard full time to be my assistant. I love working with my mom. Not many daughters can say this and I'm sure would love the opportunity to work with your own mom.

I noticed office work starting slugging behind. When that happens, customer service starts to slip... so have had to hire an office manager to keep things running smoothly, so that we can provide our customers with the service they expect and honestly the best. We don't like offering anything less than the best...asWe are completely full service.

So... for now and going forward we have a concrete plan. I have a team at my disposal to insure I give my clients the best and they are your team, too. We have your back.

This is not an easy job, I work 24/7 at every waking hour to make my business better. No one told me going into this, that I would spend most of my time on the business end and not shooting/editing. A huge misconception most photographers have getting into this.

What I am saying is if you want a well-organized and run photography business. That will WOW you from beginning to end in the Philly area.. you've found it. We're right here. We're not going anywhere. We've only just started!