Behind the Scenes at Rockin' NDSS Studios

December 16, 2015 nicolestarrphotography@gmail.com

UPDATE: Our Rockin' NDSS Studios project has been featured in an article on The Mighty! Check it out here.

Last week's photo shoot at the National Down Syndrome Society in NYC was so much fun! It was a heart-warming, eye-opening, incredibly collaborative experience that left us all with full hearts, happy souls, and tired bodies. Overall, it was a huge success and I am truly honored to have played a small part in making this dream become a reality!

You can read my full blog post by clicking here to learn more about these extra special photo sessions, what we're going to do with the photos next spring, and see every single one of our lovely & talented models who rock that extra chromosome.

Here I am sharing many of our behind-the-scenes photos from our two days at the NDSS offices. We turned their staff's offices into dressing rooms, their hallways into makeup studios and hair salons, and their conference room into a photo studio. A little imagination goes a long way, and this amazing team of organizers, hair stylists, makeup artists, moms, dads, grandparents, cousins, siblings, models, and photographers truly showed what amazing things can happen when we all work together.

Enjoy a peek into our #rockinNDSSstudios adventure!

Three photographers excited for sessions to begin: me, Sherri Harnisch and Wendy Zook.

Joey, our Slash model out on the streets of New York City! He really mastered the hard-core rocker look, tattoos (sleeves) and all!!

Lady Gaga and Joan Jett in the makeup studio!

A little bit of windblown fan action on our very own Mariah Carey!

Sibling love!

Katelynn celebrated her 5th birthday by coming to our photo session as Scary Spice! What a cutie!

Kelly Clarkson and her twin sister. As a twin myself, you know I always have a special place in my heart for twins on camera!

Wendy really got our little Pat Benatar to rock out. We had a full-on dance party in the studio to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" to get this little one in the spirit, and it truly worked! Her photos are phenomenal!

Our Usher had all the moves once we put on his favorite song.

Isn't she the most adorable Tina Turner? I love the missing front teeth!

Our Buddy Holly was a little uncertain about the camera at first. His sisters started a dance party with his guitar, and before we knew it, he was rocking out all by himself. We couldn't resist a few fun photos of his whole family's jam session first, though!

Sara's presidential duties at the NDSS also include custom makeup application. This little guy was an amazing band member for KISS!

Fist bump with Bob Dylan!

Rock on!

Mason didn't want to have all the fun by himself, so he pulled his big sister out onto the dance floor at the end of the session.

More KISS band members and their family's dance party!

Oh my goodness. This Elvis impersonator was seriously impressive. Mickey owns multiple costumes, he performs all around town, and he is REALLY, REALLY GOOD at what he does. I loved watching him when he was totally "in the zone" as Elvis during his shoot with Wendy.

Teaching his sister and father how to groove.

The sweetest sisters!

Runaway baby! Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Grace was our youngest model, only 11 weeks old. I insisted that we capture a few images with her gorgeous mama, and I am sure she is going to treasure these forever! (Don't worry -- we'll send you a copy of the photos, Celine!)

Thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of our hearts.

A huge thank you to every single person that made this event possible, turning it from a dream into a reality. It was a labor of love, and these two days spent sharing stories, making new friends, and bringing dreams to life were so incredibly worth it. This was most definitely the most rewarding professional experience of my year, and it's all because of the incredible individuals that came together to make it happen.

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Now that you've had a behind the scenes look at our NYC experience, don't forget to check out our full blog post here on the Nicole Starr Photography page, too!

To see more of this journey, visit blog posts by fellow photographers Wendy Zook Photography and Sherri Harnisch - Picture Taker.

Rock Star Sessions with the National Down Syndrome Society in NYC

December 16, 2015 nicolestarrphotography@gmail.com

UPDATE: Our Rockin' NDSS Studios project has been featured in an article on The Mighty! Check it out here.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little "extra".

Oh my goodness! My heart is so full right now! I am wrapping up 2015 with what has truly become one of the highlights of my year -- and this has been an amazing year already, so that's saying something!

I've spent the past week going through my photos and reliving the brief but incredibly satisfying two days I spent in New York City doing photo shoots for the National Down Syndrome Society. It was an amazing experience, and I'm still so overwhelmed with all of the smiles, laughter, and bonding that we fit into the little hallways and makeshift dressing rooms and studios of the NDSS offices.

This photo sums it up for me. It's a behind the scenes look from my dear friend, Wendy Zook Photography, and I love the emotion captured in this moment. There was so much laughter and so much connection between everyone involved. In the end, we truly are more alike than different, and I LOVED getting to know each and every person that was involved in our sessions. (Right here is when Judy told me, "Of course, sweetheart! Don't worry -- I got this!" when I showed her the Mariah Carey look we were going for in her shoot. Such a doll!)

When the National Down Syndrome Society first contacted me about joining them in NYC for an extra special photo shoot, I was speechless and so, so honored. They had this crazy dream of bringing together a bunch of individuals with Down syndrome, dressing them up as rock stars, and having two days of photo shoots to recreate famous album covers that would be used as posters at their spring gala, their biggest fundraiser of the year.

They wanted me, Wendy Zook Photography of New York, and Sherri Harnisch - Picture Taker of Nebraska to help them bring this dream to life. For two days, we worked with an incredible team of photographers, organizers, hair stylists, makeup artists, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and models who all came together for our amazing Rockin' NDSS Studios photo sessions.

Our models ranged from 11 weeks new to 50 years old, and came in from all across the state and the country for these once-in-a-lifetime sessions. They shared their stories, their dreams, their struggles, and their goals. They taught us about their lives, what they were working hard for, and how much fun they were having in the process. They studied hard to come prepared with the look, the moves, and the music of their idols. We watched them make new friends in the group photos, shaking hands and sharing hugs while their families rushed to share their phone numbers to set up a get together. We had dance parties in the studio, and we definitely rocked out to "Shake It Off" a time or two with our cameras snapping to loosen the models up.

It was SO.MUCH.FUN.

These photos are still a work in progress, and will be turned into posters for the NDSS Gala's fundraising auction next March. We'll get to see these life-sized rock stars on display at B.B. King's Blues Club in Times Square. I can only imagine how amazing that nightclub will look filled with all of these smiling rock stars' faces. :o) I can't wait to see it in person in March!

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And now, here are the photos you've been waiting for!

Carter as Justin Bieber

Ben as Buddy Holly

Caryn as Carole King

Carson as Janis Joplin

Auren as Usher

Emely as Beyonce

Riley as Marky Mark

Brennan as Elton John

Lucas as Kenny Chesney

Anthony, Race, Sammy & Matthew as The Beatles

Ryan as Bob Dylan

Kailani as Tina Turner

Gabriel, Taegon, Luciano & Mason as KISS

Judy as Mariah Carey

Kayla as Madonna

Francesca & Robby as June Carter and Johnny Cash

Grace as Aretha Franklin

Luke as Billy Joel

Joey as Slash

Amber as Ginger Spice

Katelynn as Scary Spice (This photo was taken on her 5th birthday!)

Elena as Joan Jett

Ameliah as Gwen Stefani

Janissa as Diana Ross

Evelyn as Pat Benatar

Christopher as Elvis Costello

This is one of a three-part perspective on the #rockinNDSSstudios experience. To see more of this journey, visit blog posts by Wendy Zook Photography and Sherri Harnisch - Picture Taker.

And, because I couldn't possibly fit all of my photos into one post, be sure to check out some of our behind-the-scenes photos and fun family moments captured that day at the #rockinNDSSstudios by continuing on to this post.

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Love the photos? View our original photo project for National Down Syndrome Awareness Month with Nicole Starr Photography right here with our local Massachusetts families.

A Barefoot Afternoon

June 2, 2013 nicoleschwalmphotography

As many of you know, I'm a first grade teacher in my day job and I do photography on the side. (Although "on the side" is quickly becoming much more than that as it fills up all of my time outside of work!) The photography is a wonderful creative outlet and it's something that really keeps me going when I know I have a shoot or some editing to look forward to. It's very rare that my two roles overlap, although there are a few times when they do cross paths, and I love it! I had that opportunity with this sweet little family last week. Mahalia started first grade with me almost three years ago, and her family won a session with me at a school fundraiser. I was thrilled to be able to capture them on camera and see them outside of the school setting for some photographic story-telling.

We met for our mini-session at Cushing Park, and it did not disappoint with options for backgrounds to frame this beautiful family! Mahalia immediately took to being my photographer's assistant and started scoping out locations. Later in the session she even took hold of my camera and shot a beautiful picture of her parents, below.

My favorite thing about this sweet family? Well, there were so many things! The love between the three of them, the way that Mahalia just brought them all together, their vibrant energy and fun-loving spirits... But my all-time favorite was that the minute we got there, both Mahalia and her mom took their shoes off and did most of the session barefoot. THAT is just my kind of casual on-the-go session! The mother later told me that she always wanted to run around barefoot as a kid, so this was quite fitting. :o)

And, as I promised in the sneak peek of this photo on my Facebook page, here's the story behind this gorgeous shot:

Mahalia has had these two teddy bears her entire life. The yellow one was bought for her before she was born, and the blue one she received when she was very young. I actually remember her writing stories about these bears when she was in first grade, and I'm pretty sure they made their way into the teddy bear journal that she brought home when she was six. She really wanted a shot with the bears, and it just came out so soft and precious.

Her mom's reaction to seeing this photo was the best: "These photos are absolutely amazing. Mahalia with her lil' teddy bears gives me happy tears. Thank you so much." I love being able to put smiles on their faces and evoke happy tears in the families that I work with! That right there is the best review a photographer can get -- it means I captured the moment and told the story through the lens of my camera.

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Considering a location for your next session with me? Take a second look at Cushing Park on Dudley Road in Framingham! It's absolutely gorgeous year-round, and my photographer's eye can spot out the best locations to make your family's photos really POP! and come to life.

Nicole Starr is a newborn, baby & family photographer in Saratoga Springs, NY.
She is a storyteller with a camera who specializes in airy images that capture the everyday magic in your family’s life.

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