Children and Family Holiday Portraits

It's that time of the year again! We've just gotten thru Halloween, the trick or treat buckets are still full of candy and yet the holidays quickly enter our minds, at least for us moms!  We start planning and thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and so much more!

For me as a portrait photographer, I love this time of year for the beauty nature brings! My style of family portraits is very natural and I love taking advantage of the fall foliage as a backdrop! Staten Island's north shore has some really beautiful spots that I want to take advantage of before the winter chill sets in!

For the first time ever, I'm offering a very special holiday special for family and children's portraits on November 15th from 9am to 1pm! $50 for a 20 minute session or $100 for a 1 hour session.  A regular 1 hour session is usually $350 for family and children's portraits!

This includes a phone consultation to plan your session, photo session and in-studio viewing appointment of your beautiful images. Images are available for purchase as jpegs, professional prints, wrap around canvases, albums, coffee table style books, holiday cards and more.

Space is limited! For more details please email contact@jessicacrespo.com or call 347-464-9530

I look forward to hearing from you!

Jess

Total Drama presents "Murder at Cafe Noir"

Last week, I had the great pleasure of meeting and photographing the dynamic cast of Murder at Cafe Noir presented by Total Drama Performing Arts Center & Women's Wellness Center.  Total Drama opened in 2012 under the leadership of Claire Guadagno, who also directs and performs in this interactive play where everyone is suspect! 

I can't wait to see them in action! 

Their next performance is on Saturday, November 8th at 7pm at A Taste of Honey at Nansen Park located at 3465 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY.  Call 347-938-7870 for tickets and reservations or visit http://totaldramasi.eventbrite.com

Claire Guadagno - director

Claire has been in theatre her entire life and has a passion for teaching children and incorporating women's wellness into her work.  Read more about Claire and her road to success on silive.com

A great thanks to this entertaining group of actors who were so much fun to photograph and know who to make a girl feel welcome! 

Claire, Jodi, Joe, Dom, Christine, Rob and Roman, I look forward to seeing you soon!

Jodi Dareal Rogers and Joe Naimoli

Dom Bertucci and Christine

Rob and Roman

 A great warm thanks to Lemuel Ayudtud who assisted me with this shoot and took these really fun behind the scenes images!

Mansi + Matt: Brooklyn Botanical Garden Wedding

Mansi and Matt are a really fun couple whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year! They met in Manhattan while attending Columbia University and Barnard College a few years ago and became inseparable ever since!

Their wedding was held at the gorgeous Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Palm House with over 200 of their closest friends and relatives.  It was such a joyous occasion; guests had traveled from many different parts of the world, including India and London, to attend this event!

It rained terribly on this particular Spring wedding day, but you'd never know it from the look on Matt and Mansi's faces.  Even though they had originally planned to get married in the midst of the 45,000 bluebells that form the sweet lavender field by the Cherry Esplanade, they were very flexible when plans had to be made to have the ceremony in the Palm House where the reception was also held.

Eventually the rain ceased and we were able to sneak to the fields to capture a few unforgettable moments.

Photography – Jessica Crespo Photography \ Ceremony Venue – Brooklyn Botanic Garden \ Reception Venue – The Palm House \ Floral – Opalia Flowers \ Ceremony Musicians – Los Acustilocos \ DJ – DJ Sadhu Scratch Weddings \ Hair and Makeup Artist – Naz Beauty \ Wedding Planner – Soraya Weddings & Celebrations \ Hotel –New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge \ Transportation – London Towncars \ After Party – Beauty Bar Brooklyn 

Success thru Business Guild 2

    As a business owner, I have been very fortunate these past couple of years in part thanks to a very special group of people known as Business Guild 2.  When I joined the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce two years ago, I was quickly embraced by this amazing networking group formed by local business owners.  We meet every week at the Hilton and we offer one another referrals and business tips to help each other grow.  

What I love about this group is that we are formed by reputable businesses from many different industries and we genuinely care for each other's success.  Among our current members we have:

• Accounting: Gregg T Iliceto, CPA
• Advertising: Showtime Publications
• Attorney at Law: Fiore & Wierzbowski, PC
• Auto Repair: AAMCO Transmissions
• Auto Sales: Spencer's Auto Sales
• Computer Consultant: IDA Technologies Inc.
• Corporate Benefits & Design Services
• Hair Sculpting by Beth
• Home Improvement: Phase One Construction
• Home Care Service: Caremates
• Insurance: Nationwide Insurance
• Interior Design: Golden Key Interiors
• Jeweler: Vik's Fine Jewelry
• Locksmith: Advance Lock & Key
• PAC Plumbing
• Medicare Plans: Aetna
• Fidelity Merchant Services
• Nail Salon: Princess Nail & Spa
• Shamrock Paints
• Pinot's Palette
• Thrifty Exterminating
• Pet Care: Merry Mutts
• Printing & Websites: Metro Ink, Ltd.
• Real Estate: Master Realtors
• Wealth Management: UBS Financial Services
• and Photography of course by yours truly!

This year's group picture was a lot of fun to take. Everyone was a in great mood and it shows!  We even did a few headshots after the group pictures.  Thanks everyone for being great subjects!

Tara + Bentley: Destination Wedding in Antigua

Life with two toddlers and a baby is not the most relaxing thing I can think of, as rewarding as it may be. So when our friends Bentley and Tara decided to have their wedding in Antigua last month and invited my husband, Derek and me to come along, we just couldn't say no.

They booked a week long cruise from Puerto Rico that visited St. Croix, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados so it was a wedding and a honeymoon all in one.  We had such a wonderful time traveling to thru these islands of paradise, spending time with some of their other friends also from New York and celebrating such a joyous occasion in the middle of it all.  We are truly blessed and grateful to have had this amazing experience.

As is typical of the Caribbean, the day of the wedding had nothing but clear blue skies and delicious sunshine.  Tara, who is originally from Antigua, was able to have her family and childhood friends also attend the wedding which was held at the luxurious Blue Waters Resort.  It is such an amazing venue.  Derek and I would go back in a heartbeat!

Tara looked absolutely stunning and Bentley looked like felt like the luckiest man in the world.  They both radiated such joy that it was contagious.  Being the photographer I am, I was so happy to have brought my camera along and to be able to share a few images from their beautiful wedding.

Everything from the perfectly blue Caribbean Sea, the clear blue sky, the steel drum band and the colorful orange and magenta flowers made for an absolute magical wedding.  Tara and Bentley could not have planned everything better.  I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness.

 Yep, definitely a place we would love to go back to... maybe for their anniversary? Hmm, a girl can dream, right?

Staten Island Boudoir Photography Studio

I have been working very hard lately to bring my vision to life, my own personal boudoir and portrait photography studio.

I'm so excited because I was able to put the finishing touches to my photography studio last night with this beautiful antique victorian sofa.  This couch photographs beautifully and it adds a touch of sophistication and elegance to my boudoir photo sessions.

Located on the north shore and close to Staten Island's picturesque Grymes Hill and Silver Lake neighborhoods, my studio also specializes in weddings, engagements and portrait photography.

I'm thrilled to welcome this new chapter of my life and career, and I look forward to coming up with new creative projects and offering my photographic services to my community.

Ciao!

The Boudoir Experience First-Hand

I had the pleasure of photographing Jeanette last week.  We first connected a few weeks back to plan her boudoir session, and from the beginning I could tell that she was a kind spirit full of positive energy and just a happy outlook on life... my kind of girl!

She confessed that she had been thinking about getting her "sexy pictures" done for a while so I was excited for her that she found me!  We discussed what lingerie and accessories to bring and so many other things. Before the session we also touched base about things like nails and hair, outfit colors, etc. It was a lot of fun.

Jeanette came super prepared.  Once she arrived, we got her into hair and make up right away and even though a little nervous at first, she was totally ready to rock her photo session.

Here are some her gorgeous images starting with her before and after images: