This was a first for me…not that I haven’t attended Bar or Bat Mitzvahs before, but this was my first time attending as a photographer. This was a two day shoot. Friday we would meet up to get some outdoor family shots along with the Bat Mitzvah service and then the party on Sunday. When I first met Gabby she seemed just a bit nervous and shy, but seeing as how she’d been preparing for this day for quite some time, it was quite understandable. And now the pressure was on. I had one hour to get all of my outdoor shots before we headed off to the service, so I had to work quickly. Before the shoot I decided to go with a more casual attire of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, which ended up being the right choice instead of slacks and a dress shirt since after getting down low on the ground I came up nice and muddy. “Shabbat shalom everyone, don’t mind me, I decided to take my mud bath in my clothes today!”

On Sunday I found out that, yes, I can keep up with a bunch of preteens on the dance floor! 🙂 Overall it was a great and challenging experience and a lot of fun as well. There were some technical issues to battle such as two different light sources. The natural light through the ceiling and the incandescent bulbs which conflict with each other in the cameras white balance settings. But aside from that all else went very smoothly. Congrats to Gabby, Stan, Liliya, and the rest of the family!

Want to see more? Do ya? Huh? Do ya? Well then you can see all of Gabby’s images here!
http://public.fotki.com/biggy/gabbys-bat-mitzvah/