NJ Boudoir Photographer | Art with Natalie Licini

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Earlier this year, talking with one of my very best friends, we planned a girls trip at her new home in the mountains north of Seattle, Washington.   As an artist, I  look to do things differently and see and capture the world differently.  Planning this trip to Seattle, I hoped to be inspired to create new art.  I was overwhelmed with the beauty and lasting memories of my trip last week.  I wanted to share some of the beautiful portraits we made and a report of the time I spend with my dear friend Corinne Alavekios, known as one of the best Woodinville Senior Photographers.

I’ve been photographing for ten years and as a NJ Boudoir Photographer and I absolutely love making art pieces for our clients.  This trip has really fueled my creativity.

Monday: arrived in Seattle at 9:30am

What a warm and beautiful day. Seattle was breathtakingly beautiful. We drove to Corinne’s Woodinville studio.

{iPhone photo above}

What a charming town! It resembles Lake Garda, Italy with a roundabout in the town center surrounded by cypress trees.  I felt like I was truly in Italy. The town is picturesque.

We had an incredible lunch and relaxing first day catching up as photographers do. Life, family, business. Sharing stories about our wonderful clients and work ahead of us.

There were some unforgettable moments during this time.  My very first moment occurred pulling up to Corinne’s home in the mountains.  It completely took my breath away that I yelled

“Stop!  Slow down!”

I was in awe taking it all in and needed to loop around and come back in one more time. The mountains and golden fields made me gasp in wonder.

We dined in and drank cappuccinos laughing till late that evening listening to the best music station on her TV.  We started to plan a few inspirational shoots which suddenly included one of me – ahhh!

We discovered our mutual love of Tracey Chapman “Fast Car”.  Which eventually became the song of the trip.

Only my husband knows, I have a  love for hay bales from my travels through Tuscany. Just under a mile from her home in the distance were a field of hay bales. I nearly leaped out of the car to hug them I was so excited.  My love of hay bales sparked Corinne’s interest in planning a shoot with me in the hay bale fields later in the week. I was so excited.

Tuesday

We had a relaxing morning talking about art and things which inspire us.  We invited two beautiful students who were friends to come and model for us. One, a high school senior and another just days away from leaving for college.

We had lunch at a beautiful resort. One of the best chopped salads I’ve ever had.  Not to mention the spectacular views.  Here’s a quick iPhone photo Stevn took of us.

Just before our shoot we visited Corinne’s magnificent Rosyln studio with the famous blue couch. It was such a gorgeous spacious studio.  We selected gowns and dresses for our shoot later that day.  As a NJ boudoir photographer, this change of pace photographing seniors was SO much fun!  Her town of Roslyn was the setting for the TV show Northern Exposure.  It was so cool!

That afternoon we met the girls and drove with them to the mountains and river.  These gorgeous blondes were absolutely lovely and kind.  Driving over, we stopped to admire the beautiful lake in front of us.  Here’s an iPhone photo of the girls.

Somehow, Tracey Chapman came on the radio and Clare announced her love of Tracey too.  We listened and sang along badly to Fast Car as we drove to our spot.    This was my second unforgettable moment.

I’ve seen Corinne’s gorgeous river photos but never realized just how rainy it was.  Boy did I find out.  As a New Yorker, I typically photograph my clients in cute dresses and shoes. This shoot was in the mountains, forest and river rapids. Sneakers and hiking gear were crucial. Ow my!

As soon as we parked the sky’s opened up and it started to pour. The rain was intense and I turned to Corinne disappointed that we couldn’t shoot and she said “are you ready?” As in to shoot in the rain.

I was in disbelief that she would shoot in the pouring rain.  At first I photographed from the car with the window down. Yes! I’m a wimp. As the rain subsided a bit we all walked deep into the mountains in search of the river. Just as we found it the rain and thunder started in. Lightning too! Its soooo hard to compose and direct in the pouring rain. Never mind our poor senior girls who never modeled a day in their life. They were hysterical laughing whiping water off their brow. The cameras were getting soaked and so were we so we dashed back to the car and headed home. We were wet ringing out our hair, pools of water drenched the inside of Corinne’s SUV. I’ve never been this soaked in my entire life.

Omg it was crazy fun though.

Except for the scary lightning I could do this again.  This was my third unforgettable experience. 

With the recent forest fires and flash floods we headed home. Although, I had way too much fun and my creativity was off the charts. The rain halted my creativity and I was soooo bummed our shooting came to an end. But luckily the girls said they could return Thursday to continue our shoot. Yay!

Here are a few of my favorites with Alise & Clare in the rain.

We spend Tuesday evening relaxing with a glass of wine in hand, I started to fall in love with the mountains of Seattle and Corinne’s adorable puppy Brinkley.  He was the sweetest, most loving golden I’ve ever seen.  I think about him everyday and miss him.  Here are a few iPhone photos of the night.

NJ Boudoir Photographer, Je Revele

Wednesday
Waking up to Corinne & Stevn’s delicious cappuccinos was such a treat.  We worked on business and marketing a little bit.  Then we went to photograph my new headshot at Corinne’s Roslyn studio.

I tried not to micromanage the shoot. I failed miserably.

Hahahha hut the pictures turned out awesome. Yay!!! My first new headshot in years.  There are a few variations, and this is one of my favorites.  Thank you Corinne for spoiling me.

On the way home we picked up ingredients to make salmon for dinner.  I thought I’d make everyone New York style guacamole to start. Stevn and Corinne loved it so much they used it as a garnish for the salmon. I was thrilled they did. Stevn was really over the moon and I was too so I asked if he liked any special desserts … Maybe a cheesecake?  He happened to love cheesecake so I offered to make my famous cheesecake. I never saw someone leave a house so fast to go grocery shopping. When he returned I made it. As you all know, cheesecakes need to sit overnight so naturally stevn had a piece for BREAKFAST on Thursday. LOL! Here are a few iPhone photos of the evening.

NJ Boudoir Photographer, Je Revele

NJ Boudoir Photographer, Je Revele

Thursday
We started the day off with cheesecake for breakfast and an early photo shoot in Corinne’s front yard with Alise & Clare. It was such a fun morning. We photographed through lunch time, laughing and laughing. The girls seemed to have just as much fun running thought the golden fields.  Here are some of my favorite portraits of these beautiful friends.

Just as we finished up Corinne instructed me to curl my hair as she prepared lunch.  She wanted to photograph me by the hay bales. The hay bales were just under a mile straight down from her home nearly in eyes distance. We needed gear and ladders so Corinne’s suggested we drive over on her tractor.  As a New Yorker, I didn’t know what to expect.  This was my fourth unforgettable moment. 

Omg I had no idea what I was getting into. I was in tears laughing so hard as she towed me, the cameras, fabric, and two ladders to this field. Mind you the tractor was going about 3 miles per hour. Which reminded me of a scene with Mr. Bean’s Holiday where he stole a moped HERE.  It was a hilarious bumpy ride. I couldn’t contain the laughter. We got stuck at one point on uneven ground and had to pull the tractor out of a ditch. I couldn’t believe we actually got it out.  What a fun experience.

Here’s a quick iPhone photo of this hysterical tractor.

And of course… just as we pulled up to our spot the rain starts in. Oye!!! Luckily Corinne’s vision was executed effortlessly and we were heading back home in no time.

After we arrived home we excitedly downloaded our photos and started editing a few favorites. What fun!!! Today felt like 3 days in one. It was so exciting and unforgettably funny. It was hard to go to sleep recounting all the stories from our week together. Some which we can’t remember or cant share just yet. Hehehehe

Friday: flight home was quick but saying goodbye was hard! I already miss my best friend. Its rare at this age to meet a special friend, who you love and respect and trust.  Corinne has been so good to me these 3 years. I feel so blessed for her support and friendship.   She’s already planning a trip to NYC to visit me next.  This was my last iPhone photo taken as I left the mountains.  Such a beautiful and serene place.

If you’re looking for a NJ Boudoir Photographer, please feel free to call or visit our studio to meet our team and see our picturesque castle studio.

Natalie

Je Revele Fine Art Photography Studio & Gallery: NJ Boudoir Photographer

433 River Road  |  Highland Park, NJ 08904 |  Studio: 732-964-3773 | Mobile: 917-886-5666                                                                                           

Website:  www.jerevele.com |  Blog: www.blog.jerevele.com

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International Award Winning Photographer