It’s always a pleasure when we are able to photograph the Bima portraits before the actual Bar/Bat Mitzvah day. This way there is much more time and the environment and family is much more relaxed. Luckily we were able to do this for Cheryl’s Bima portrait shoot at Temple Emanuel in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Temple Emanuel is located at the top of a hill which gave us the opportunity to include beautiful scenery behind some of our images of Cheryl and her family because we were able to capture the great view from the large windows behind the Ark. It was also a very warm and sunny day so we had to take advantage of some great lighting coming through the stained glass windows. There were areas of the stained glass which were purple so it matched Cheryl’s purple colored dress and perfectly coordinated outfits that her family was wearing. The color purple, Cheryl’s favorite, continued into the decorations at the party the next week.
A few weeks before Cheryl’s Bat Mitzvah, the stuffed animals that would be used for decorations at the party had their very own photo shoot at the photography by Sky studio! These beautiful and wonderfully detailed animals are part of Cheryl and her family’s collection which they’ve acquired from all over. A zebra, a gorilla, an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros, a giraffe, and many more each had their individual close-up. Our favorite was the pink flamingo, even though it was a little tough getting it to stand up straight. These animals portraits were used on the sign in board and physically as the centerpieces at the party. Cheryl also had multiple portrait shoots of her own at the studio, one in her safari clothes for her sign in board as well, and another in her pretty dresses from the Bat Mitzvah and party. She looked lovely.
It’s not a coincidence that Cheryl’s favorite song is “Roar” by pop artist Katie Perry, because she had herself a wild safari themed Bat Mitzvah party at the Stony Hill Inn. When guests arrived, they wrote personal messages on her sign-in board which featured Cheryl in a leopard print top with a pair of binoculars, gazing at all of her animals pictured around the board. After making her grand entrance to her favorite song, (“Roar”), her family and friends danced and celebrated not only Cheryl’s Bat Mitzvah but also her birthday! The ballroom was decorated with purple and silver balloons to match Cheryl’s dress, and of course zebra balloons as well. The animal theme continued throughout the party, each guest receiving animal printed hats and zebra striped sunglasses. We set up a photobooth for partiers to come and take quick pictures with Cheryl, couples, family and friends, which were placed in fuzzy frames, (including leopard and zebra), for guests to take home as a keepsake. All in all Cheryl’s Bat Mitzvah was GRRRReat!
