North Jersey Visual Storyteller. Documenting the heart of your family.
"It's finally my turn! I can't wait!" After 2 years of having to stand behind a closed studio door, listening to the muffled sound of beautiful music and stampeding feet, reading the same 4 books in the waiting room, patiently waiting for her big sissy to finish--it was finally Elsie's turn to start her own dance lessons.
Read MoreI had heard about 365 photo projects before--some of them beautiful montage of ones life, others a time-lapsed series of the same frame. I had always fantasizes about doing one for myself, documenting the good/bad/ugly/crazy (especially crazy) of my life. After all, that is what I do for my clients. If I can do this for other families, why not my own? Then reality set in and I thought, "Julia, are you crazy? When exactly do you think you'll be taking out your big camera, taking pictures of these meaningful moments of your family, uploading them to your computer, culling and editing them, and the posting them to social media--EVERY SINGLE DAY?? In between editing client galleries and negotiating vegetable intake with my girl's Viola and Elsie? Or maybe after the girl's 30 minute musical beds bedtime routine? The whole idea began to sound like a swirling vortex of failure, so I scrapped the idea and buried it away in my bag of pipe-dream ideas.
Cue in: peer pressure
I received an invitation from another photographer to partake in a 365 project with other fellow documentary photogs. She decided to start a group--a safe place to post our images for critique, dialogue, and most importantly in my opinion, accountability. My pipe-dream of having beautiful images of my sweet girls' bath time antics, my husband sportingly in purple nail polish applied by our girls, our perfectly imperfect house in a beautiful constant state of disarray, all of it came racing to my frontal cortex after reading the numbers "365".
I knew if I had any hope of making it past the first week, I was going to need support and this group seemed to fill that need perfectly. Before I had the chance to talk myself out of it, I signed up and told the next 5 people I saw about it (see what I mean? Peer pressure and accountability.) I was locked in. I was committed.
However, knowing thyself as a recovering perfectionist, I decided to give myself some guidelines:
Well I made it past my first month and while there were days I wanted to give up, I'm so glad I didn't. I showed this slideshow to my family and the response was pure love. I think it finally answered my girls question of "why is mommy always following us with a camera?" And unlike a lot of curmudgeonly husbands, I am so grateful that Keith has been on board with ALL my photography endeavors since day one. I can't wait to watch our lives unfold throughout the year!
31 days down, only 334 to go!
365 January 2017 from Julia Chang-Lomonico on Vimeo.
Before I started my photography business, I used to take photos for myself. The images I made were not meant to impress anyone, and not meant to make anyone look thinner or taller or have nicer skin. My images were for me to tell a story--my story. When I clicked that shutter, my sole purpose was to capture the feeling of that moment so 10 years later I could feel that exact same feeling just by looking at that image.
Now I have come full circle in my photographic journey. A husband, 2 kids, and a home later, I now realize how crucial it is to photographically document life as it is regardless how exciting or mundane. Because years into the future, I want to remember the details: that no matter how much I brushed my daughter's hair she always had what looked like a birds nest in the back of her head; that my younger daughter would stare at her big sister like a god since the day we brought her home from the hospital. I want my daughters to see that no matter how late their father worked, he always put the house back in its place just so they could tear it all up again the next morning. And in the far future, I want my grandchildren to see images of their grandmother and moms dancing in the living room in their PJs. Most importantly, I want these images to include everyone I love, not leaving anyone to be stuck behind the camera.
This is why I am changing the direction of my photography business. I am still a family photographer, however I'd like to add "storyteller" to my job title. Because I want to take photos that tell your story. Therefore, I am thrilled to finally offer this new type of family photography session: The Day In The Life Session
What is it?
From the moment your kids open their sleep dust eyes up until they're all piled in your king sized bed reading Good Night Moon for the 5th time, I am there to ultimately show you just how much you love each other by documenting all the moments in between that you never get to see. I'm going to be spending as much time talking, laughing, learning, and hugging as I'm shooting.
Why?
You are creating a visual diary for you and your children. So often you are so overwhelmed with juggling work, school, and extra curricular activities that you often cannot see what makes your family unique. These sessions are meant to isolate a single day in your life the way it is at that exact moment. For you, the parents, it's a visual testament of how hard you work at being a taxi driver, managing tantrums, cooking dinner one handed, and breaking up WWE matches. But ultimately, these images are for your children as adults to look back upon to a day when the most important thing was who got to lick the frosting out of the bowl first.
When?
Do it now. Don't wait until...(fill in the blank). This time in your life is so fleeting, and you never get that time back again. The younger your children are, the faster they are changing and growing. When your children look back at these images 20 years from now, they will not care that you didn't lose those last few postpartum pounds, or that their home looked a mess that day. Instead, they'll marvel at the details and you'll never regret investing in the preservation of the different stages of your children's lives.
What's included and how much does it cost
Unlimited hours of coverage within 1 day
(I'll arrive the night before around dinner time, start shooting when everyone wakes up, leave when your kid(s) go to sleep)
Hi-Res Artisan Edit Files with a Personal Copyright Release
(These are the best of the best images from the session. All images on my website, blog, and social media are from my Artisan Edit. Approximately 100+)
Online Gallery to proof, share and order professional prints
30% off my featured product: The Day In The Life Album
$500 For a Limited Time Only
(Valued at $3,800. I will be going full price on August 1st)
The fine print: Being that these are portfolio building sessions, understand that I will be using images from your session in my website, blog and social media to promote my business. Once I go full price, I will also offer a pricing option for non-disclosure.
So contact me to book your session today! Until then, keep your head up, take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride!
Kindest regards,
Julia