Sweet little Chloe arrived 5 weeks early!
Chloe is the 3rd child to my good friend Sue and her husband Marty. They have 2 adorable little boys (who I’ll be sharing photos of in the near future as well).
I love her! She was a pleasure to spend the day with and I told Sue I wanted to take her home.
I’m looking forward to sharing a selection for this session with you this week but for now here is a sneak peek because I just couldn’t wait to share her!
I spent a beautiful May day with the “S. Family” at Princeton University. I really enjoyed working with them!
They were up for all my pose ideas and I think that allowed us to get some UNIQUE photos.
We enjoyed all the campus had to offer for great portrait settings.
There are so many things on campus that provide such a great backdrop for a photo shoot that make me just love it there!
One photo in particular (below) is one of my favorites from the shoot:
Most of you probably know how much I love texture…
With that being said I couldn’t resist trying texture on these two photos from the Red Mill series. I think it adds a whole other dimension to the photos.
~John Keats
*Please click to view the next 3 photos larger*
Chris and I took a ride to the beach in NC in my father’s Firebird with the T-Tops off…wind in our hair.
On the way to the beach we spotted the most beautiful sight ever…as a photographer this was a field of dreams!
It went on and on and on forever so we stopped on the way home so I could capture this beauty!
If only I could find a field like this in New Jersey for portrait shoots!
All the waiting has come to an end!
Below are the results of my family portrait session with one of the best families around!
Just to refresh your memory of the teaser I posted on 6/1 regarding the shoot:
“I must say that this is one of the best families around…and I’m not just saying that because Lee has been one of my greatest friends since High School.
Lee and his brother Scott decided to purchase a portrait session with me as an anniversary gift to their parents. I was so excited to do it! We met close to sunset at his parent’s house which is in a beautiful community that had a nice lake and gazebo as well as a great lake view from their backyard to work with. We even included the doggies (you’ll see!).
Lee’s family was so wonderful to work with. I laughed the entire time we were involved in the shoot (especially at his Dad’s jokes!!) and had a great evening as I joined them for the 2nd evening of their Passover celebration. I tried Brisket for the first time and had 2nd a helping because it was sooo good!
Thanks to all of you for making me feel like part of the family!!”
*ALL PHOTOS CAN BE CLICKED ON TO VIEW LARGER*
A little fun with sun-flare!
Love these two!!
The pups minus one back in Florida!
How could you NOT love this family??
So sweet! 
I have so many fond memories of my grandmother from my childhood. When I think of her I immediately think of mozzarella cheese, coupons, and chicken soup. Strange combination of thoughts, right?
Well it all has to do with the fact that I loved mozzarella cheese so much when I was little (still do) and Gran would always have it at her house for me every time I came over her place. She would cut it up in slices and I would put salt on it and eat the whole block.
The coupon reference is one that makes me smile. My grandma was a coupon wizard. She would have so many coupons that she filled an entire dresser drawer with them. She lived in a retirement apartment complex and she would collect all of the coupon circulars from the recycling center and when I would come over I would sit at the kitchen table and cut them out for her for hours and help organized them in envelopes for her. When she would go to the grocery store she would work with the store’s sale circular and her coupons and she could fill a whole cart with groceries and never pay a cent…we joke that sometimes they owed HER money at the checkout! She inspired me to do the same thing for my mom with coupons when I was young. Sometimes when mom and I would go shopping I’d save her $40-$50 with “double coupons.” You can’t beat savings! I still try to use them where I can to this day!
I always wanted to help her when I came over. One day she showed me that her can opener could sharpen knives on the back of it and next thing you know I was sharpening every single knife she had in the kitchen, in turn, burning out the can opener in the process. She didn’t get upset with me…she just told me not to worry about it…but I never forgot that story all this time! lol.
She was a great cook. I have memories of more great Italian dinners than you can imagine. She was also famous for her homemade chicken soup. She’d make tons of it and freeze it in recycled containers she saved from other meals (my granny never wasted a thing!) and every time you’d come over you’d end up leaving with a container of her homemade chicken soup.
She was super thoughtful and very generous. I remember over and over going to her house and if I complimented something she had she would tell me to take it home. I would tell her, no Gran it’s yours, but somehow the item would find it’s way home with me in my bag because she snuck it in there. I was just packing tonight and found a teeny tiny glass vase with teeny tiny glass flowers in it that she gave me. I keep in it on the shelf in my office and it reminds me of her.
Grandma loved to swim at our house during the summer and she loved to read. She has probably read tens of thousands of books in the years past. When she would come over to relax at our house during the summer she would read her books while cooling off in the pool and would finish a book in a day! Between her and my mother who also loves to read – I can see where my love for reading comes from (if only I had more time lately to do so!)
Grandma had many ailments and had been on oxygen for about 10 years. Even with all of the health issues she had through the years she just kept on ticking! That’s why it’s hard for me to grasp that she is no longer with us. No matter what, she always pulled through, even with the WORST diagnosis – ALWAYS!! So, I’ve been in a bit of a denial since I was told she passed away last week. It still doesn’t seem real.
It’s been a hard year. First my Aunt passed away last year…then my Father this May, and now my Grandma (my Dad’s Mother) a month later. I’ve lost almost all of the members on one branch of my extremely small family tree. It’s not an easy reality to face. I’m trying my best to get through the tough days I have ahead and I’m looking forward to a bright and shiny future…there has to be a rainbow after all of these stormy days!
Visiting with Gran in NC this past November:
I can’t believe your both gone from my life…
Her favorite things…reading & relaxing in the sun in the pool:
We’ll miss you Gran!
This family of 6 was a really fantastic session for me. I’ve known Dad, Joey, since grammar school and I hadn’t seen him in ten years since our 10 year grammar school reunion.
Joey’s wife Erica and I connected over Facebook and when she saw I was a photographer she asked me to do a session with her and her family and I was thrilled to. Getting to meet their wonderful family was a great and we had such a wonderful session! With Chris assisting me on the shoot that day – I ended up with the most wonderful set of family photos that I think the family will treasure for all time.
If you remember I featured an HDR-inspired photo of Lil Man “D” on the blog a while back as a teaser: http://jenrinaldiphotography.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/lil-man-d-and-the-p-family-sneak-peek/
I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites because with 6 family members I got such a variety of “mini sessions” within the session. I hope you love them as much as I do and I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on what I’ve shared.
Each photo can be enlarged by clicking on them. Please do so – so that you don’t miss the details!
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And a little fun – with the 3 cutest lil gals!
*SMILE!*
First, I just wanted to thank Chris for a great vacation week. Although it wasn’t Mexico like it was supposed to be, thanks to the swine, it was still a fun-filled week. We did so much together and I enjoyed every second of it. From going out dancing, to relaxing at the beach in Point Pleasant, touring around Atlantic City, to a great lunch & riding the train in New Hope, we were on the move with the T-Tops off my Dad’s Firebird. It was a perfect vacation!
I really am so thankful for all of the help dismantling my home in order to prepare for my big move. I appreciate the help more than I can ever express in words.
And now for some photos! I took these a while back and finally had the chance to post them. I love the first one taken with natural light through a large window in my home. I love his eyes and his smile in this photo. So warm.
The next 8 were taken in my backyard in April. Before he deploys I wanted to have some nice photos of him and some of us. He was such a great model – never complained once! This one looks like it’s straight out of an American Eagle advertisement, if I do say so myself!
See…I got a smile!
I couldn’t resist setting up the tripod for a few of the two us!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!
Okay, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one too!
Lots of big smiles all around here!
The next one was taken with all natural light coming through a window in Chris’ home. I love natural light and would like to do more portraits this way.
I love the serious look of this one.
These were taken in Chris’ front yard the last time I was in NC. We finally had a break in the rainy weekend and I was itching to get some photos in that day so Chris was a willing model, again! Love this smile!
The highlights are a little blown here and I’m thinking it was the 50mm. It seems to let so much light in that sometimes it seems I can’t avoid this happening on a sunny day. I love this photo of my two special guys!
Beloved Father, Son, and Brother
November 20, 1946 – May 2, 2009
*My Eulogy*
My sadness knows no end
I can’t believe you’re gone
I’ve been filled with sadness each day
It’s been hard to carry on
***
I’ve grown up to have so may of your traits
and I’m happy that I did
You’ve taught me so much
and no one can take that away
***
You may have thought I didn’t see or hear
the lessons that you taught me
but I got every word
I picked up everything
It’s written in my heart
***
What I’ll do without my Dad
I can’t comprehend
Memories of times we had
help the pain go away
But my life won’t be the same
and I’ll miss you everyday
***
Please know that I love you
and no one can ever take your place
***
A part of my heart went with you…
Love Always,
Jen
Safely Home
I am home in heaven, dear ones;
Oh so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.
Did you wonder how I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh, but Jesus’ love illumined
Every dark and fearful glade.
And he came himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus’ arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?
Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
Pray to trust our Father’s will.
There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remains,
You shall rest in Jesus’ land.
When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!
***
Dad’s Dolphin
It was hanging in Dad’s car…now it hang’s in mine.
Yesterday we took a ride the Red Mill in Clinton, NJ armed with a cooler filled with yummy submarine sandwiches and snacks. We arrived in Clinton and parked at the Red Mill and walked over the bridge to the side of the waterfall that faced the Mill and set down our cooler and got comfortable.
We ate our lunch enjoying the view of the Mill and the waterfall.
Luckily we were done with our lunch when Chris discovered that we had a lunch visitor sitting directly next to our cooler and US!! Eeeeeewwwwww!
I did NOT take my time getting up and out of there…but I did go back for a photo! Ha!
I have been wanting to visit the Mill for about a year and finally had the opportunity.
The ca. 1810 Red Mill was originally built as a woolen mill. Over the next 100 years, the Mill was used at different times to process grains, plaster, talc and graphite. The Mill was also used to produce peach baskets, as well as to generate electricity and pump water for the town.
After we ate I got some photography time in and was able to capture photos of the Mill (after waiting ten minutes for “MR JOHN” to get out of all of my shots! lol!).
It started out as a beautiful sunny day…perfect for a picnic but of course as soon as I was set up with the camera and tripod it started to rain a little. We devised a way to still be able to get my shots: I carry a black trash bag in my camera bag and we placed it over me and the camera like a mini-tent. Despite some shots with rain drops in them because the lens got a little wet I took some photos that I was pleased with.
After photos the drizzling rain stopped, we packed up my gear, and took a walk down the cute little main street of the town and Chris enjoyed an ice cream while I enjoyed an Italian ice.
The ice cream store was the most charming little place ever —> JJ Scoops!
We had such a wonderful day!!
Point Pleasant, NJ Boardwalk…
A night of greasy goodness and sugary sweetness!!!
Hand-held panoramic photo done on a visit to New York City, January 2nd, merged in Photoshop CS3.
You can click on the pano to enlarge it.
Click to view larger for more detail
I wish I was a little more centered in the composition but this was the only place I could stand from across the way.
On May 30th I attended my sister’s agility competition in Freehold, NJ to photograph JoJo & her compete on the course!
My main goal was capturing photos for my sister so she can choose one to blow up on canvas as well as practice my “stop action” technique.
JoJo’s got skillzzzz! For a lil-legged dog she can really get some air on those jumps!
JoJo & Darlene are a great team! You can read all about JoJo’s & Darlene’s Agility Journey on their blog: http://ouragilityjourney.wordpress.com/
Click to view the photos LARGE.
Central New Jersey Photographer specializing in children's, family, engagements, & high school senior portraits.
If you're interested in booking a session please contact: jen@jenrinaldiphotography.com
Website: http://jenrinaldiphotography.com/
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For Session Dates Available Click *HERE*
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