Last week I had the pleasure of meeting some fabulous college student models during a photoshoot for Smart Is Cool, a new movement in fashion that encourages young women to value their most important body part ... their brains! I love the idea and even have my very own "Smart Is Cool" t-shirt. It's a great compliment-getter - people seriously love that t-shirt. You can order one for yourself from their web site, where there are a bunch of other super cool tee designs featured as well. And, right now, there's a free shipping offer in place. Do I smell a Holiday present?

This will be my last blog post for the week, so I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It seems so long ago that the bright yellow leaves were still on the beautiful trees decorating our landscape here in Wilmington. This wonderful family had a great time playing amongst the foliage - I love all the bright colors and of course little A's Mary Jane shoes. So cute!

I loved little N's vintage look and feel. Here she is, sitting so pretty with her little Anthropologie style jacket and favorite chair.

I'm still photographing Holiday portraits each day despite the chilly weather and SNOW today... so pretty!

It's like she's saying, "Yeah, I know I'm cute - whatcha gonna do about it?"

For the past few months, people close to me know that I have been thinking about the next steps we at Laura Novak Photography need to take. In fact, I've probably been discussing these steps ad nauseum! In addition to running an infinite number of spreadsheets (which is actually Audrey Woulard's favorite thing about me), I've been talking to contractors, talking to banks, talking to myself, etc. Then, today, I signed a contract to close on this building on Feb. 4th, 2009.

Some major benefits:

- it's only one block away (we are 1905 Delaware and the building is 1825 Delaware) so everyone can still find us!
- the building provides nearly twice the space for us to expand and grow with two full floors
- the shooting room will be located in a detached garage so that we can use all-natural light
- we won't need to share studio space for shoots any longer! (although I greatly appreciate the kindness of Luigi and Scott for letting me share with them this year)

There are many more exciting aspects to the new building, much of which I'm sure I'll blog about as the plans progress. We move in mid-March and I for one can't wait!

One last side note - as I mentioned before the address of the building is 1825. My birthday is September 18th, John's is June 25th. Coincidence or a sign? What do you think?!

I love photographing in NYC. It gives me such a different perspective and keeps me creative! You saw one of my favorites from this session a few weeks ago - here are some of the rest.

Oh, and Angie has a very cute wedding planning blog here if you want to check it out!

UPDATE: REGISTRATION OPENED THIS AFTERNOON AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO SPOTS LEFT. IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER VISIT WWW.THELEARNFEST.COM AND SIGN UP. ONCE WE ARE FILLED THERE WILL BE NO MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO SIGN UP!

Attention photographers: I would like to interrupt our wonderful display of Becca's wedding extravaganza to let you know that
Lena, Audrey, Tamara, and I have decided upon a time and location for the much anticipated Learnfest '09!

Learnfest will be held at Chateau Elan, a beautiful 3500-acre spa, winery, and resort located about 40 minutes outside of Altanta, Georgia, from April 6th to 9th, 2009.

Registration will begin on November 15th at noon EST sharp. We have about 200 people on our inquiry list for 60 spots, so if you want to go, don't miss out!

What can you expect? To experience in-depth instruction on shooting, post-production, marketing, business strategy, revenue generation, and studio and daily workflow. Redefine what success can mean in the portrait photography business. Interact in small groups of 15, meeting with each instructor throughout the course of three days as part of an overall program that is tailored to deliver a comprehensive leaning experience for the portrait photographer. Network with other photographers from around the world, in addition to the hosts, in an environment built to encourage sharing and connection.

Additional details like pricing, all-inclusive specifics, faq's, etc. can be all found on the website.

More photos from Becca's wedding will be coming tomorrow!

As I look back of Claire and Dave's wedding, I can feel the fresh fall air and the leaves crunch under my feet - I loved their autumn decor and natural ceremony setting at the Greenville Country Club. You may remember Claire and Dave from their engagement session last winter. The great news is that Dave is feeling and looking wonderful so both Claire and Dave had a lot to celebrate on their wedding day.

Here's Claire's dad reflecting on the wedding day buzz:

I love the way the light plays with the luscious fall colors of the tree.

Check out this great wood grain cake from Liz Marden!

There were also these adorable silhoutette cookies.

And here's a beautiful sunset, the perfect backdrop to a real-life silhouette.

Congrats to a wonderful couple!

As I've said a million times, I absolutely love it when wedding clients come back to be photographed after having a new baby. When Kate and Mark scheduled their newborn session well in advance, I was so excited. The session turned out to be one of the sweetest ever, and I just had to share.

But first, here are a few photos from Kate and Mark's wedding in Spring Lake, New Jersey:

Now, here they are with their new baby!

What is it about those baby toes that turns us all into mush? So cute!