it's that time of year again, and Laura Novak Photography has been nominated for Philly's hot list. If you have a few moments, I would appreciate your vote. thanks so much!

A new workshop has been announced for this fall! Join myself along with award winning Dallas photographer Kimberly Wylie for a workshop that teaches the entire life cycle of a portrait. It is rare to find a workshop that teaches each step in such detail, from beginning to end. If you are serious about your portrait photography, this is the workshop you have been waiting for!

We are thrilled to have award winning portrait artist, Brianna Graham, as our guest speaker. With a truly unique style, she will demonstrate a live Urban Shoot in Downtown Denver and will also share with you some of the magic that makes her images one of a kind.

sign up today at www.livingthedreamworkshop.com

October 3rd – 6th
Denver, Colorado

Hope to see you there!

I'm taking a short break from sharing adorable children and beautiful weddings for a fun product photo shoot with
Brown Betty Dessert Cafe. Brown Betty is owned by three generations of women, all with a love of great desserts and vintage stylings. Most of their cakes are named after dynamic women who they know through stories of Bettty (the grandmother) and old photographs. Their history is their inspiration.

Beka and Kimberly from Innove Events styled the shoot which took place at Greystone Hall in West Chester.

I have had a such blast over the last few years teaching different large workshops with many wonderful instructors who have become close friends. But now, just for something different, I have decided to invite photographers into my Wilmington photography studio to host small, intimate workshops with great conversations.

Below is the description of my new studio workshops, now available in the strategy avenue shop by visiting the studio brilliance website. Each class is limited to only 10 people and is only available first come, first serve by paying a deposit. So if you see a date you want, grab it!

UPDATE: dates are filling up quickly, be sure to register right away if you would like a spot!

This past weekend John and I took a little time to get away to NYC, shop, see a show and have some great meals. When walking around the meatpacking district we stumbled upon the high line, a former railroad-now-walking-path that runs along the west side of Manhattan. Following signs to the elevated walkway, we loved walking along the high line and seeing New York from a different point of view. The architecture of the path incorporates new and old elements into a modern design which you can see in some of the images I took.

All I had along was my iphone so please excuse the image quality, but I wanted to share how much we loved discovering the high line. If you have a chance, check out the website as well for a really interesting high line history.

This wonderful couple received the gift of photography from their friends and one of our very favorite wedding clients. We started the session in their SoHo apartment where they live with their two 'children' - very sweet mastiffs. After including the dogs in a few photos, we walked over to the east river for some great dusk images of the city with leftover fog from the rainy day.

we are thrilled to extend an invitation to all Philadelphia area interior designers in joining myself and world renowned designer Vicente Wolf in a conversation about using family photography in the home on Monday, November 16th.

please do be sure to RSVP as space is limited. we look forward to seeing you there!

I normally like to keep this blog focused on images of the beautiful families I photograph, but I would like to take a short hiatus to let any photographers reading know about two things going on at Strategy Avenue just for them.

The first thing I would like you to share with you my newest workshop that I am very excited about called Living the Dream in Denver this February.

The concept of the workshop is to teach share our approach the entire lifecycle of a portrait starting with marketing > to the booking process > to the pre-consultation > taking the photos > processing them for sale > presentation of images > production of the order > presentation of the order. Each step will be gone over in great detail.

My workshop partner, Kimberly Wylie, is a hidden gem in the portrait photography industry. Not only has she recently won best in Dallas from her local ABC station with her unique artistic talent but she also has a lot to share about running a business as a mother, artist and entrepreneur. She is friendly, very high energy, and extremely warm. It's no doubt why her clients love her!

Kimberly, myself, and Kimberly's business partner Jessica will be taking turns with each of the segments based on our greatest strengths and we will be teaching to the entire class at the same time. We are also privileged to have Carrie Sandoval and Brittany Woodall from Baby as Art to join us to be part of the photography section with a live newborn photo shoot. The class will be sure to help you achieve all your goals and dreams.

The group will be limited to 40 and we are currently half full. For more information please visit living the dream workshop website.

Speaking of goals and dreams - time after time when I teach photographers at different workshops pricing is always a common question and concern. It's for this reason that I have launched just PhotoPrice for the iPhone, the first and only iPhone application to help wedding and portrait photographers price their services. It's just $5 and a great way to learn a little bit about pricing and manage your price list at your fingertips!

You can see a virtual tour of PhotoPrice at the photo price app website and you may purchase it here (select itunes to open the link)