HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

To all of our wonderful and valued friends.

Well it's Wednesday December 31, 2008 and the year is ending. Here at Renaissance Studio we are all looking forward to a new year filled with many good things.

As photographers and videographers our work always brings us some surprises and interesting assignments. This year while having a wonderful holiday portrait season we got to photograph our miracle baby (read our blog) and realized what joy was all about. We spent hours on the beach with families, couples and gnats watching beautiful sunsets and getting great photographs. And were surprised to see one of our photographs of a young actor in the Playbill of a Broadway show.

Our wedding season included many sisters and brothers of couples whose weddings we had already done, but was topped by a bride who's parents wedding we had photographed 27 years ago. The experience was heightened by having Josh, our son, photographing mother and daughter with me. What a blast seeing all the old faces again. This is what we live for. Over the years your family becomes our extended family. We love it!

Our Bar Mitzvah year was interesting. A boy who broke his leg just before the affair but still had a blast swinging around the dance floor in a wheel chair. An autistic Bar Mitzvah who performed perfectly. A Bat Mitzvah who's father is a magician who sawed her in half on the dance floor. Said it was the easiest way to keep her home at night. And a Sweet 16 with CP who had the wildest party of the year.

Our commercial photography/video department (Josh & Ron) saw us photographing and videotaping one of the largest machines on Long Island for Cincinnati Machine (as big as 1/2 a football field) in operation cutting two 4000 pound blocks of aluminum simultaneously. We participated in the Jones beach clean up and a breast cancer walkathon both for Canon USA. And Josh's video for Long Island Spirits was shown on the Jumbotron at the Hamptons Classic.

Liz, Josh and I (Ron) would like to say thank you to all of our clients, brides, grooms, babies, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs and families, (all of whom have become friends) for their gracious support over the last and previous years. We couldn't have done it without you.

As always we look forward to seeing you and your families this coming year and every year. We have new things planned for this new year. Come visit us and see our new Grunge/Urban outdoor studio. Ask about our new wireless simulcast video for your affair. And see some of our new backgrounds. Life gets boring if we just do the same old things.

So to all of you a HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
Ron Liz & Josh Denenberg

BROADWAY BOUND

We always get a kick when we see a familiar face in print. One of our young actors whose portfolio we did last year was just in the Broadway Play "To Be Or Not To Be" Congratulations Dante!

MIRACLE BABY

Recently Josh & I learned about the American Child Photographers Charity Guild (wwwacpcg.org) A non-profit, volunteer based organization of child photographers from all over the country  who have come together to form a guild dedicated to children in need and their families. These photographers across the nation have networked together to provide families of desperately ill children free keepsake portraits.
We decided it was time to pay back the community for all the years of joy and success we have had in photographing happy smiling kids, so we joined. This week we had our first opportunity to participate. We'll let you read the story in her mothers own words but be prepared for a very HAPPY ENDING.

My daughter Ariana Destiny is a true miracle. Miracles don't come often but when they do you will recognize them. The journey of my daughter has been a long journey. When I found out I was pregnant last July it was the happiest time of my life. Early that year I had suffered a terrible ectopic pregnancy. I didn't know If I couldn't get pregnant again so I was shocked that I got pregnant right away. Up to Nov everything was going fine until we had our sonogram and the Doctor gave me and my husband this look and knew we were in trouble. He called my Doctor and told him that I had a short cervix and baby is coming out. I was only 22 weeks so I was put on bed rest. Every week I had to go to see a high risk specialist this one particular week they tested my urine and said that I had protein in my urine. So the next week I was scheduled to see the Dr, but I never made it there.
On January 7th, 2008 my husband rushed me to the ER. My blood pressure it was 189/112 and I had developed preclampsia. I had never heard of this before. They were concerned because I was only 27 weeks so they admitted me because of the short cervix and the high blood pressure. They were able to get me to 29 weeks and 5 days when my body started shut down. They were losing me and and Ariana. They did a c-section and Ariana was born. I don't remember much after that. I heard her cry and I didn't get to see her until I got a called from the NICU said that Ariana coded and they worked on her for 6 hrs to bring her back. My daughter was a very sick baby, she was touch and go, she had heart surgery at 6 weeks. Time and time and again she was touch and go. She would get better then get worse. But I never stopped praying, I kept my faith. There were times when I felt like giving up every week I would get calls for the Hospital telling what had happened to Ariana, the worst calls were early in the morning.
She has been in three hospitals for 171 days. She weighed only 2lbs and 1oz when she was born. today she weighs 17lbs. She was on 17 medications and is on none now. According to the Dr's my daughter is supposed to be blind, deaf, not able to move but she doing everything a 7 month is supposed to be doing. She is very alert and she so talkative. She doesn't need physical therapy which is weird considering she had been in the hospital her whole life. She does not have to see her lung Dr and her high risk DR. until DEC. This is weird also according to the Doctors she had the worst lungs a baby could have.
They told me they never had a baby like Ariana that is doing so well. Her records don't' match her. I just wanted to share my story. People are so blessed when they have healthy babies. I never had baby shower and at one point I could never accept gifts. It doesn't matter if you have a boy or girl as long as the baby is healthy. Some time I hear people complaining about their pregnancy or new born baby, when you have your health you have everything.
My husband and I would  like to say thank you for taking our first family portrait.  The pictures came out great.

HOLIDAY PORTRAIT TIME

Families come in all sizes and shapes, just like the Vogel family from Smithtown. Even the dogs wanted to be in their holiday portrait.