Karina 2/12/22 Karina 2/12/22

High School Senior Portraits for Brooke Menzock

“The photos are gorgeous. Brooke really likes your attention to detail."

~ Stephanie Menzock, Brooke’s mother

Karina 2/8/22 Karina 2/8/22

Fall Mini Session for Shannon Brady and her family

Shannon Brady wanted this session to be an 8th birthday present for her elder son. Love how they thought through all the little details of their outfits and how naturally they settled into suggested poses. We got quite a lot of color into the background on that cold November day.

Karina 2/7/22 Karina 2/7/22

Fall Mini Session for Briana Honrath and her family

It was pure joy photographing Briana’s family: 2.5-year-old daughter Aurora, husband Marc, his mother Pat and two friendly labradoodles Leonardo and Arnold. It was mostly chaotic but also organized, if you know what I mean. They certainly came well-prepared for the shoot and I just love the results of our mutual efforts.

Karina 2/6/22 Karina 2/6/22

Fall Mini Session for Casey Platt and her family

Casey was looking for family photos with her husband and her two little girls: 2-year-old Ella and baby Olivia. As always with photo sessions involving young children, we went along with the girls’ moods and impulses. Thus having given up on ideal backgrounds or elegant poses, we captured plenty of genuine smiles, hugs and kisses. The images below were Casey’s favorites.

Karina 2/2/22 Karina 2/2/22

City Break in Savannah, Georgia: October 2021

I’ve always wanted to visit Savannah, in fact since childhood when I read about it in a few books, but when we moved to America, there have always been more famous sights to see: New York City, Grand Canyon, the Niagara Falls, California, Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes and so on - a very long list of all the beautiful national parks and cities in the US

Karina 1/26/22 Karina 1/26/22

City Break in Washington DC: October 2021

I finally have time to go through our vacation photos! Here are a few from the city break to Washington, DC, back in October 2021. We just wandered around our favorite spots: the French bakery Paul, the National Mall, and a couple of hidden gardens we keep discovering with every visit.

We visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I think it opened just recently, so we were curious to see what was inside. The Soviet Union/Russian section was really well-represented and we learned something new as we’d hoped. We had a very interesting conversation with one of the volunteers who all but gave us a private tour of the features in the astronaut suit.

And the crown jewel of the Washington, DC, visit was the hockey game at the Capital One Arena. The Washington Capitals played the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Caps lost… at least cameras were allowed and both Dmitry and I clicked away during the pre-game skate and even the game itself.

Karina 1/8/22 Karina 1/8/22

Family Studio Portraits

“We really liked the pictures, very nice. Thank you.” ~ K.M.

Karina 1/6/22 Karina 1/6/22

Christmas at New York City: a portrait session with Shania Shields

Day 5, Part Two of photography workshop with Joe McNally in a New York City studio.

I was looking forward to this part of the workshop most of all as this involved photographing a professional dancer in a studio.

Shania Shields is a 2021 graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and she is a professional dancer, singer and actress who received her BFA studio training in the drama department at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Acting School and Stonestreet Studios. @shania.aprill

Shania’s stage experience was greatly appreciated by everyone in our group and it was mostly up to our skills as photographers to work fast enough to capture every graceful pose and elegant move. Anyone who had ever modeled for a photography session would agree that posing is not an easy matter. You are asked to freeze and keep the pose or repeat a movement over and over, maintain precision in your position and perfection in your moves and while doing all that, your face needs to express ease and happiness at all times. Kudos to Shania for being a perfect model.

Karina 12/29/21 Karina 12/29/21

Alena plays the violin

We really enjoyed the end-of-term Christmas concert organized by Leah Givelber of Center of Young Musicians at Edgeworth Club in Sewickley.

Hearing Alena perform her beautiful and complex musical pieces she’s preparing for an ABRSM diploma exam got us thinking that it’s probably time to upgrade her violin.

So we paid a visit to Phillip Injeian, a master violin maker, one of the many hidden jewels of Pittsburgh. He helped Alena navigate through a variety of instruments and choose the right fit for her and he even performed a short piece for us saying that “you shouldn’t trust a mechanic who doesn't drive a car himself”!

Thank you, Phillip, for this memorable experience.

Karina 12/26/21 Karina 12/26/21

Fitness instructor, Heather Taylor-Martin - Headshots for a Fitness Instructor

“Thank you so much! It was awesome getting to work with you.”

~ Heather Taylor-Martin

Karina 12/23/21 Karina 12/23/21

Alena’s Studio Portraits in Colorful Light

Here’s another set of portraits we created together with Alena. This time she wanted to experiment with the gelled lights and different colors. I love the mysterious and thoughtful mood of these photographs, it reflects Alena’s inner world. Which one would you select for the larger wall art?

Karina 12/20/21 Karina 12/20/21

Family Studio Portraits for Ryan, Mason and Keira Scott

“Thank you for the beautiful pictures! I am enjoying them all!! I would love to schedule again outside!” ~ Elise Scott, mother

“Thank you so much for the pictures. They look stunning!” ~ Ryan Scott

Karina 12/17/21 Karina 12/17/21

Alena’s Studio Portraits in Red

Alena’s portrait series in red.

Karina 12/6/21 Karina 12/6/21

Album for Josephine Reiter - High School Senior Portraits at Phipps Conservatory

“I think the pictures are just beautiful, thank you! I’m so glad we have them to mark this particular moment in time. I’ll look forward to receiving the album.“

~ Leah Givelber, mother

Karina 12/4/21 Karina 12/4/21

A Fall Foliage Family Session for Aizhamal

“I loved the photos - beautiful and natural at the same time.”

~ Aizhamal I.

Karina 11/25/21 Karina 11/25/21

Album for Heavyn Kerr - High School Senior Portraits with a Horse

“I fell in love with so many of the photos” ~ Heavyn Kerr

“Absolutely beautiful.” ~ Mary Ann Kerr, mother

Karina 11/6/21 Karina 11/6/21

Homecoming Dance 2021 at Valley Brook Country Club

“Thanks so much for your time and talents! 😊” ~ Stacy Hurt, Griffin’s mother

“Thank you so much!” ~ Heidi Colombo, mother of Jonathan

“Looks beautiful! So excited!” ~ Hazel Bigdeli-Golestan, Nikki’s mother

“Thank you!” ~ April Cordle, Alexandra’s mother

Karina 11/1/21 Karina 11/1/21

Mini-Sessions: Casey and her dogs

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”

~ Roger Caras

Karina 10/31/21 Karina 10/31/21

Album for Erina Fortune - High School Senior Portraits at Mellon Park

Senior portraits for beautiful Erina from Pine-Richland High School who recently learnt that she got into the LECOM Early Acceptance program! Now she is ready to enjoy her college life without worrying about taking MCAT, sending application to medical schools or even interviews. Congratulations! What an achievement!