Family & Event Photography with StarPhoto Bay Ridge

When it comes to family and event photography, the number of options out there can be overwhelming! There are large chains, independent studios, freelancers, hobbyists. There are a lot of things to consider, here's my personal check list:

What to consider when hiring a photographer:

• Prices - These vary greatly depending on expertise, equipment, and deliverables. Prices can seem high but you have to take into consideration the time required by the photographer not just to take the photos but all the work that goes into editing them, not to mention they have to cover any overhead -  studio rent, photo props, equipment, advertising, etc!
• Deliverables - Are digitals included? Can you print yourself or only through them?
• Retouching - To what extent will they retouch your photos? Just lighting/coloring or little things like that flyaway hair and baby's booboo? I remember my son's cake smash session - we walked 45 minutes in the snow to the home studio in Dyker Heights, and I had the WORST crease on my forehead from my winter hat. But the photographer was more than happy to photo shop it out of our family photos, for no extra fee, now that's service!!)
• Location - Will it be in their studio, your home, at your event, or a location of your choosing (park, etc)? Do they have a travel fee?
• Specialty - It's not really advisable to ask someone who typically does magazine editorial photos to do your newborn baby shoot (mistake we made with our 1st baby, since it was a friend doing it for free - they had no newborn experience and did NOT know all very important tricks with shooting newborns and dealing with hormonal stressed out nervous wreck postpartum mommies)
• Experience & Equipment - Generally speaking, the less experience the cheaper they'll be, and the less techy equipment they'll have (not quite as spectacular a camera, maybe no lighting), but most often you get what you pay for. That's not to say you can't find a diamond in the rough, a truly talented hobbyist who will give you a good deal and produce spectacular photos.

We've been thrilled with the handful of local Bay Ridge area photographers we've used over the years. We haven't stuck with 1, as most families do, simply because I usually barter a photoshoot in exchange for doing a review and promotion for them. And it's nice to try out different ones so I can recommend them on a personal level! But it's been a couple of years since our last professional shoot so I was excited when a local mom approached me about promoting her husband's photography partnership with another local photographer!

StarPhoto BayRidge are a team of skilled photographers who specialize in Family and Event Photography. Memories and milestones are truly special and photographs can preserve treasured moments for the years to come. StarPhoto is the combined talents of Beto Ramos and Scott Olsen. Both are long time Bay Ridge residents with many years of photography experience. ​

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We met at a coffee shop go over my preferences on style and location. I said we're more silly than lovey dovey; I wanted some action shots but also some nice portrait style ones, and was fine in any location. They chose a nearby park and then I began working on the hardest part of photo session prep: the wardrobe!! I didn't want to be matchy matchy, all in white tees and jeans let's say, but I wanted us to coordinate. OMG that's hard guys!! But I'm happy with my choices.

Scott and Beto were incredibly easy to work with!! They were on time, brought their cameras and lighting. Had helpful suggestions for poses and different locations. Really important here - they were PATIENT!!! With 3 small kids who just wanted to run around and play, it's so hard, but Scott and Beto were remarkably calm and just waited for us to be ready! We never felt rushed or that they were getting impatient. Some shots just simply didn't work timing wise and they knew when to give up and try something else - trying to get 3 kids to hold hands and jump simultaneously while smiling at the camera just didn't work, for example, but we still got a fun shot (see below, my "behind the scenes" shot followed by the final perfectly imperfect shot LOL!

Beto specializes in digital photography and studio lighting, and is an expert at PhotoShop and retouching photos. Our photos came out so brilliant, the colors and lighting are perfect, I'm just in love! You can see Beto's portraits gallery here - they are simply stunning! If you're looking for headshots for LinkedIn or a modeling career, he's your guy! Don't forget to follow Beto on Instagram!

​Scott is an experienced digital shooter who happens to have a passion for old fashioned film photography. Scott shoots, and develops, everything from 35 millimeter to medium and large format as well as wet plate photography which has been around since 1851. “Wet Plate” is a special process that results in an image on a metal plate or glass. It's ready to see in minutes and after drying and varnishing it will last for centuries. Examples of his work with film and wet plate can be found on Instagram, and you can see some black and whites he shot of us on film here:

We had a great shoot with Beto and Scott and I'm in love with the photos they provided us with! But now my dilemma is... which ones do I print??

Which one(s) would you do in a huge frame or canvas?! HELP ME DECIDE, please!!!

I highly recommend StarPhoto Bay Ridge for your next family photo shoot or event, AND, get excited because I have a discount for you!!!

DISCOUNT:
Get 25% off a 1 hour digital photography session with StarPhoto Bay Ridge, which includes at least 10 retouched images in high resolution format which can be downloaded from SmugMug. Regularly $200, you pay just $150. Just book by 10/31/2019 and mention this blog post!!

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