Bagel Babe Spotlight: NY’s Sweetest Photog, Laurel Creative

I’m so excited to be announcing a new series here on Blondes & Bagels! Ever since my whole blog redesign and lightweight rebranding I’ve been thinking a lot about the content I create. I want to make sure I’m always working towards adding value and inspiring – and few things inspire me more than you guys.

Bagel Babe Spotlight will be a new blog series where I interview babes that are just kind of killing the game. Maybe they’re entrepreneurs, maybe they’re creatives, maybe they’re not even women – but they’re all hustlers. So get excited for this new series and definitely tell me if there’s someone you’d like to see an interview from!

I can’t think of anyone better to kick off this series than Lauren from Laurel Creative. Lauren is a New Jersey/New York based photographer and is proooobably one of the sweetest humans I’ve ever met. Honestly.

Getting your picture taken is so raw and weird and awkward. It just is. Especially if you’re like me and struggle with the “modeling” aspect of blogging. Lauren is like a warm sip of cider – so friendly, so warm, and super comforting. Almost like you’ve known her for five years when it’s been like five minutes.

Total doll face.

But that aside – she’s also kind of a badass. She runs from shoot to shoot around NY photographing some of the biggest bloggers out there. Her aesthetic is noticeable – you can tell it’s a Laurel Creative shot when you scroll past it on your feed.

Check out my interview with Lauren below and definitely make sure to check out her website and Instagram – she’s the perfect photographer if you’re in NY!

The woman behind the lens!

What types of photography do you do? (blogging, weddings, etc)

I shoot around 20 weddings a year, and I shoot 3 fashion bloggers a day (Roughly 60 shoots a month!) ! I shoot bloggers in NYC and NJ, and weddings all over the place! I do most of my weddings in NJ, NYC, and Pennsylvania

Hit me with a fun fact about you that we won’t know just by scrolling your Instagram. 😉

I’m a TWIN! MY sister is a history teacher down in Virginia.

How did you get started in photography?

Photographing my twin sister. haha. But actually though! I would always take photos of her and of girls in my high school classes. A few senior portraits turned into a few weddings, and the snowball of work grew bigger and bigger. I’m SO thankful.

When did you decide you were ready to go full time? Was there a specific moment you knew it was time to take the plunge?

I was working as a part time graphic designer in NYC, and I was shooting a blogger before work )7:30 AM), going to work 9-2 pm, then two more blogger shoots after that. I was working my butt off- and kinda making myself crazy. But those crazy long days are what grew my business to where it is right now. I made it one year with that crazy schedule and working part time graphic design, and then I made the plunge FULL TIME wedding and fashion photography July 2017

NY photographer

Your photos are so aesthetically consistent and eye catching! How did you start to develop your photography style or personal brand?

You’re SO sweet!! Since I’ve had my business, I’ve always gone towards edits that resemble real life lighting/color but with a little bit of a difference/boost to them. I have been creating my own custom lightroom preset for about 6 years now. Tweaking it as i please and as my style organically grows. I recently have been loving color!

Let’s take a trip to an alternate universe! If you weren’t a photographer, what do you think you’d be doing as your career?

Woahh great question!! I would probably be an art teacher to highschool students. I’m not the best painter or studio artist, but I could see myself teaching yearbook or a photography class. (Whoops! Can’t seem to escape photography haha) Or maybe teaching a photoshop class!

What’s your favorite place to shoot in New York?

Without a doubt, the West village! Or Greenwich village. It’s so versatile, honestly. You can get the big street feel, taxi’s, stoops, parks, all in a matter of a few blocks!

What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about being a photographer/working for yourself?

My favorite thing is that I have a flexible schedule. (generally speaking). I have an amazing husband (Hi Erik!) who works a 9-5 job, so I try to keep my shoot days ending at 5 ish. Although I do begin by days at 7:30 AM. I love working for myself in that aspect and being my own boss!! . My least favorite thing about working for myself is ironically having to schedule. Working with bloggers, I am constantly texting/receiving texts from my clients about scheduling shoots, and as much as I ADORE my job, sometimes It can be hard to keep my schedule manageable.

NY photographer

Any cool new creative projects you have in the work that you’d like to share?

Ohhhh- there’s a few new things on the horizon! Some things I cant share yet (hehehe). Definitely going to be growing the laurel creative team in the coming year, and I also plan to do more styled shoots!

Obviously the most important question – what’s your go to bagel order?

Woah your questions are on point!! Well ma’m, that would always and forever be: 2 eggs, cheese, ketchup, salt, pepper, on a cinnamon raisen bagel toasted.

Don’t forget to check out Lauren on Instagram for some serious inspiration!

Until next time, Babes!