What a year it has been! I am so thankful, and grateful to everyone who has helped to make this year so special for everyone here at Laura Novak Photography.

Instead of rushing around to buy presents each year, John and I pick out one piece of artwork together. Last fall we went on a short weekend vacation to Asheville, North Carolina with our friends Andrew and Rachel of LaCour - a photography studio based in Atlanta. We stayed in a very cool new hotel called the Grand Bohemian and fell in love this this artist whose work was displayed in the gallery named Joshua Smith. Right now we are slightly obsessed with atmospheric landscapes so we ended up purchasing one of his pieces for our home instead of Holiday gifts.

The one we got was not listed on their website but here are a few examples of his work from their website to enjoy:

Happy Holidays to everyone and best wishes for the new year to be filled with joy, happiness and of course - great artwork.

As you may have been able to tell, one of my big passions this year has been the idea of merging of interior design and family photography. I'm so thrilled that Philadelphia Magazine has taken interest with the concept, and am honored to have my work chosen as part of their January issue in the Home section.

A big huge thank you to Nicole from Red Balloon as well as Zoey and Lauren from Philadelphia Magazine for making this all happen. It's such a joy be in the presence of such talented women.

It was a few years ago that I photographed this beautiful little girl's mom for her bridal portraits in the very same location where this session took place. They were living here in the Philadelphia area and getting married in the bride's hometown of Dallas. When I asked who their wedding photographer was, not totally expecting them to say someone I knew, they said "Huy" - a very talented friend of mine from the photography world based in Dallas. I was so excited for them because I knew their wedding photos were going to be awesome!

Now it's long past their wedding and I couldn't have been more thrilled to meet their newest family addition. She's beautiful, and of course shows very early signs of deep thoughtfulness and curiosity - no surprise considering her parents are incredibly smart!

Mom and dad were telling me that the yellow fan-shaped leaves on the right here are Ginko, Asian imported trees with medicinal qualities. Dad even listed off all the different medications that are made from Ginko, I love it when I learn something new during the photo sessions!

I have many more fall sessions to share despite that we are buried right now in the Northeast with almost two feet of snow. So please bear with me as I continue to play blog catch up through the Holidays!

Every year I spend an afternoon in NYC photographing this lovely family, who keeps growing with each year! Just like all things sweet, these darling girls are so wonderful to photograph at their apartment just west of Central Park. I also love that mom & dad always like to have a photo taken together as well - it's such a nice image for the kids to have as they grow older.

Last month you may have seen some blog posts and tweets going out about a very exciting event that had been in the works for a long time. On November 16th we hosted Vicente Wolf at the Kravet showroom in the Design Marketplace. There was an incredible turnout of over 50 interior designers (many of whom I have began to work with) as Vicente led a discussion about how designers can incorporate family photography into interior design.

Vicente and I talked about ways to create an artful display of those who live in the home as part of a comprehensive design concept. While many family photo displays are sometimes thought of after a room is designed, Vicente encouraged designers to include high-impact custom family photography as room feature during the designing process. Currently what sometimes happens is that family photos are put in a small frame on a mantle or desk simply because they weren't part of the original design concept. It was exciting to hear Vicente's perspective that great opportunities exist for photographers and designers to work together on creating a room that is meaningful and personal to a client by incorporating family images.

I'd like to send along a huge thank you for all who attended and encourage our local blog readers to keep an eye out for Philadelphia Magazine featuring more about this concept in their January issue. Photographers who are interested in learning more about how to work with interior designers are invited to attend the free Joy to the World telesummit on Monday, December 28th. In order to register, please click here to join in the fun.

Sorry for the blog lapse this week - I have been super busy with the new studio in Glen Mills, PA and am still catching up on fall sessions I photographed. All good stuff! And lots to share in the next few weeks.

I had such a great time with this family of brothers, sisters, step-brothers and step-sisters. Everyone gets along famously and interacted in a wonderful way for the camera, making my job easy! Dad actually teaches the 6AM yoga class I go to (or have great intentions of going to each day) so it was really fun to see him in a different role.

Tomorrow I'll be photographing the newborn baby from this beautiful maternity session. After photographing this couple's wedding, I knew that she would be gorgeous to photograph pregnant and I right.

Dad is a sports announcer and had lots going on between football and baseball in the midst of their schedules, he make sure to be there for a few photos - one of which was my favorites from the session.