We're Moving!

You already know how much I love stories… hearing stories, celebrating stories, capturing stories in photograph form.  Well, let me tell you a story…

My husband, Jeff, lived in Saratoga Springs, NY when we first started dating.  I lived in Boston, and we spent a full year crossing state lines and putting thousands of miles on each of our cars while driving back and forth on the weekends.  We spent countless hours walking the streets of Saratoga Springs and enjoying their small-town festivals and incredible restaurants.  It’s the town where we fell in love, but it’s also the town that stole our hearts.  We were completely head-over-heels in love with Saratoga Springs.

When we were looking for a place to get married last spring, we knew that we wanted to bring our family & friends to Saratoga to share this amazing little piece of heaven with them.  We decided to get married on the little garden patio at one of our favorite restaurants where we had been on a million dates.  With green leaves rustling overhead and twinkling lights filling the treetops, it was the perfect spot for our intimate celebration.  We said our vows underneath an old oak tree on the patio, and month later we returned on a warm summer night for a casual date night.  How cool that, for the rest of our lives, we can return to the exact spot where we said “I do” for a date!  (Wedding photos by Hope Taylor Photography)

We’ve been casually house-hunting for almost two years, and we were always trying to find a town “just like Saratoga” here in Massachusetts.  There are so many amazing and quaint little New England towns, but nothing was calling out to us as home.  Finally, as we were wandering through an adorable neighborhood in Saratoga last fall, it hit us that this town would be home to the next part of our story together.

I am excited to finally announce that Jeff and I are buying our first home in Saratoga Springs.  We are thrilled to begin this next adventure, and we can’t wait to see what stories will unfold in the walls of our new home.

My clients are, always have been, and always will be my top priority when it comes to running my photography business.  I am so lucky to work with such amazing, loyal, sincere, and fun-loving families, and it is because of people like you that I adore my job.  

You’ve invited me into your lives to cuddle your new babies and play games with your older children to get a bright smile out of them.  You’ve welcomed me into your homes to share laughter and memories as you fell in love with the images from our sessions together.  You’ve shared the most heartfelt thank you’s that truly mean the world to me.  

It is because of amazing families like yours that I will continue to work with families in Massachusetts and throughout New England even after we move to New York.  Nicole Starr Photography will officially start offering bilocational services.

NEWBORNS: Starting in May, our Boston-area newborn clients will have the option of either a Fresh 48 hospital session or an in-home lifestyle session as we close our studio to get ready for the move. 

BABIES: We will continue to offer Petite Milestone sessions to document your baby’s first year.  These will be in your home or on location outdoors, either lifestyle with your home as the backdrop, or with a simple studio backdrop and minimal props brought to your home.  As always, I adore a simple set up that keeps the focus on your baby.

FAMILIES: We will also continue to offer our popular Family Sessions at a location of your choice.  During the warmer months, I have many stunning locations that I love to share with families for their sessions.  From parks to beaches to farms to fields, there is something that fits every style while allowing your children room to run and explore.  

GALLERY PREMIERE: The reveal appointment where you view your images for the first time is one of my favorite parts of the portrait experience.  I love watching families fall in love with their images and helping them discover the perfect keepsakes and artwork to enjoy in their homes.  Lucky for you, we will continue providing this amazing service to our clients, either meeting in person when I am back in Massachusetts, or via Skype with online screen sharing capabilities.

With the weather warming up and signs of spring starting to blossom outside of our windows, we will continue scheduling Boston-area sessions as normal through the month of May.  Let’s get out there, shake off the winter blues, and capture some beautiful new memories of your family so that you can enjoy fresh artwork on your walls this spring!  

After May, I will be available for select dates in the Boston area, as well as with additional dates upon request.  Here are a few dates to start planning your summer sessions! 

June 23-26(Boston area)

July 28-August 2 (Boston area & Cape Cod)

More dates available upon request.

A huge thank you to all of the amazing families that we've worked with in the Boston area, and I can't wait to continue capturing your beautiful stories for you!  It means so much to me when you invite me back into your lives year after year to create new memories with your family, and we're certainly not going to let a little three-hour drive stop us from doing that!

Our calendar will be filling up quickly, and I would love to chat with you to book your family's session this spring and summer.  You can get in touch by clicking on the "CONTACT" tab up above, or emailing hello@nicolestarrphotography (dot) com.  

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Are you in the New York area?  Drop me a line to say hello!  I'd love to meet you, chat over a cup of coffee (chai for me!), and learn more about your family!  

We'll be opening our Saratoga Springs studio early this summer.  The studio is perfect for newborns, babies, and your little ones.  We will be accepting on-location family and maternity sessions in the capital region starting in May, and I am already looking forward to discovering many new location gems for our sessions in this beautiful region of NY.  

Come visit us at the Babies R Us Baby Fair in Latham next Saturday, April 2, to learn more about our three unique types of newborn sessions and to participate in our massive giveaway.  I can't wait to meet your family and capture these stories for you!

More Than an Extra Chromosome: World Down Syndrome Day 2016

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day, celebrated today because individuals with Down syndrome have a third copy of the 21st chromosome.  Naturally, 3/21 is the perfect date to celebrate how amazing these individuals are that rock that extra chromosome!  (But really, we celebrate them every day!)

If you've been following along on my page for awhile now, you know that Down syndrome awareness and advocacy are two topics very close to my heart that I share about often on my social media and website.  You can read more about the beautiful stories & smiling faces that I've been fortunate enough to capture over the past six months here through our ongoing photo series celebrating children with Down syndrome.  Meeting these families, listening to their stories, celebrating their children, capturing their true personalities, and hearing the ways in which their photos have impacted YOUR LIVES has made this such a meaningful project for me, and one that I am proud to continue sharing each month.

When the opportunity arose to organize photo sessions for children in the Albany area with Down syndrome, I was excited and honored to have the chance to meet so many more inspiring families.  This time, I approached our photo series with a new mission in mind.  So often in stories that focus on these amazing individuals, the word "extra" is often followed by "chromosome".  But there is so much more to these incredible people than just a tiny piece of DNA!  They are more than just an extra chromosome.  They are extra silly, extra brave, extra smart, extra charming, extra chosen...... extra everything!

I hope you'll enjoy their beautiful stories and their smiling faces, and remember to take a moment today to do an extra good deed for someone in honor of World Down Syndrome Day.  Want to take it a step further?

Educate yourself: www.ndss.org
Find a Buddy Walk: http://www.ndss.org/Buddy-Walk/
Contribute to scholarships for adults with Down syndrome: https://rubysrainbow.org

"We had a prenatal diagnosis, and we tried to educate ourselves about Down syndrome.  So much of the information is terrifying, and we were scared.  We decided to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  KiraLynn is the youngest of 7 children and is the light of our world.  Our journey is nothing but joy, and love.  I wish I could go back and tell myself not to worry so much.  She is happy, loving, goofy, has a terrible temper, and is wildly mischievous.  She is everything."  ~KiraLynn's mom

"Our story is unique, just like Brennan. We got his diagnosis a week after he turned 1. There was shock, sadness, fear and so many questions. I don't remember the day when I realized that I no longer was upset about this. Having a child with Down syndrome is an awesome gift! I feel honored that we were chosen for this, after all, we only had a 1 in 600 chance." ~Brennan's mom

Brennan was diagnosed with Down syndrome after his first birthday, which is much later than when the typical diagnosis occurs. Read his mom's touching story published for GiGi's Playhouse, Inc. here: http://gigisplayhouse.org/syracu…/uncategorized/downsyndrome

Evan's 9 year old sister, Ella, wrote this touching story about her brother for us to share in honor of World Down Syndrome Day.  I love the love!  It's so true when they say if you want to know how to treat a child with Down syndrome, just watch to see how their siblings treat them... just like everyone else!  This is the sweetest.

"Evan is a great brother. I love Evan because he loves me. I love how he loves to play with me. He is so much fun! We like to play a game where we are magicians. Evan is the best magic partner ever! Evan is really good at making friends. When I'm sad, I always want Evan because he makes me laugh. He says, "why sad?" I say, "because." He'll say, "why because?" He knows a lot about me! He knows I love laughing and he doesn't want me to be sad so he makes me laugh. If the whole world knew Evan, then everyone would want to be me so Evan could be their brother." ~Evan's sister

Below, these three beautiful sisters have so much personality: Autumn, Masha & Summer.

"From the minute Coco was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome our lives have been filled with joy. Coco, named before she was born is the perfect name for her because it fits her to a tee...she's fun, sweet, playful, fashionable and yes full of sass!" ~Coco's mom

"Peyton is an energetic 5 year old little boy who loves to play outside and spend time with his siblings. He LOVES to be the center of attention and can be very mischievous but he says he's being "silly"." ~Michelle

"Reese is our 7 year old princess.  She loves anything purple, pink and sparkly.  She also loves music, swimming and dancing.  Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time with Reese has told me that she has impacted their life in some way.  Her smile and her hugs bring joy to everyone that she meets.

"We found out that Reese has Down syndrome the day after she was born.  At that moment, I decided that we would not treat her differently just because she has Down syndrome.  Down syndrome is just one small part of who she is."  ~Reese's mom

"We received Lukas' diagnosis at birth and it was a huge surprise. There were so many emotions surrounding it all but the one that stuck out the most after my love for him was fear. Fear of raising a child with a disability that I felt unprepared for, fear of Down Syndrome and not knowing what it truly meant, fear of how he would be perceived and treated in his life, and mostly fear of the unknown.

"Four years later I am happy to say that I no longer fear raising a child with Down Syndrome for I do not see it as a disability but a different ability. I have a greater understanding of Down Syndrome and see it in a different light than previously. The only fear I have left is the fear of how he will be treated and perceived by others. Lukas is a beautiful, funny, sweet, smart, loving son and big brother. He has brought more laughter and joy than tears and sadness to our life. I never knew I could love someone as much as I love him. I wouldn't change him for the World but I will change the world for him so that welcoming a loving soul with Down Syndrome into the World isn't something to fear any longer because to me he is perfect just the way he is!" ~Lukas' mom

"Allie is an amazing little girl that brings a smile to anyone that meets her. People seem to go out of their way to come to her to say hello. She can make the darkest days just shine! She really is the best daughter, little sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece, and friend that we are all lucky to be blessed with. Allie bear is our darling!" ~Allie's mom

"Our sweet boy Ryland had quite a few surprises for us during his first twenty four hours of life!  Between learning that he was born with Down syndrome and discovering that he had a rare combination of heart defects, it was quite a whirlwind at first!  He's come a long way and fills our hearts with so much joy each and every day.  He is a very social little boy who can brighten anyone's day with his infectious smile and contagious laughter.  Laughing, babbling, playing with his sister, and "dancing", are just a few of the things he loves to do.  Ryland rocks our world and we couldn't imagine life without him.  He amazes us everyday with his abilities and we are beyond proud to call him ours!"  -Ryland's mom

"Oliver's diagnosis came as a complete shock to us 10 days after his birth. At first we were devastated and scared. We didn't know much about Down syndrome back then. I wish I could go back and tell myself how amazing he would be. I wish I could tell myself that I would literally thank God for giving us the chance to be his parents! I wish I would have known how funny and silly and how stubborn and smart he would be. I can barely remember what it's like to not know about Down syndrome now! Oliver has brought so much love to our family and brought so many new friends into our lives. He is taking us all on a new and incredible journey. Even all the way to China to adopt another child with Down syndrome!" ~Oliver's mom

"Oscar is a sweetheart. He loves to be cuddled more then anything else. He has been through a lot in his short life. More than we will ever know. He was found abandoned in North western China approximately 2 weeks after he was born. Most likely because he was born with Down syndrome. We came across his name on an adoption advocacy group page. The agency had chosen the name Oscar and since we already had an Oliver and thought that was cute I decided to click on it.

All the children listed had various disabilities, but Oscar happened to also have Down syndrome like our Oliver. And his birth month and year were the same too! It just seemed so meant to be. As a family we decided to do it and signed a commitment letter the next day. 8 months later we went to China and brought him back home to New York.

Now Oscar is a part of a family. He is one of five siblings. He has two big dogs! He gets to have birthday parties, celebrate Christmas and decorate Easter eggs, go trick or treating, apple picking and swimming and go to school. He gets to wear red on Valentine's Day and hand out cards to his friends and wear green on St. Patrick's day! He has a forever family. So many other children are waiting right now all around the world for their forever family to find them. http://reecesrainbow.org/" ~Oscar's mom

Finally, a very special THANK YOU to our friends at Buckingham Confectionary in Malta, NY for donating these delicious treats in blue & yellow to all of the families that came to our photo sessions for the #WDSD16 photo shoot!  We truly appreciate your generosity, and thank you for supporting our cause!