I may be a little biased here, but I truly believe that one of the most thoughtful and special gifts you can give a loved one is a custom photoshoot. Instagram influencer and artist Siobhan’s boyfriend, who was overseas, wanted to give her something special for her birthday even though he couldn’t be there in person, and reached out to me to coordinate a surprise session for her which included a special film element to be added to their digital package. I brought along my Canon FT-b 35mm manual camera and several rolls of film to take some unique shots in between shooting the standard digitals. The way we worked the suprise so as not to ruin it, but to also give her enough time to prepare so it wouldn’t be an unwanted intrusion was to tell her that she would be receiving a special delivery that day, then a few hours before the appointment start time to tell her what the gift actually was…and it went off without a hitch! She was so thrilled, and we had so much fun in our session which took place in Greenwich Village and down in the subway. The first 3 images in this post are digital, and the last 3 images are film.

Here are some of my favorite images from this shoot (click/tap to view full size and un-cropped):

To see more examples of this style of photography, visit my lifestyle and film galleries.

All images in this blog post were shot on a digital Nikon D850 using a variety of lenses, and a Canon FT-b 35mm film camera using a 50mm prime lens, all individually post-processed in Adobe Lightroom using custom-built presets. Film was developed at the Bushwick Community Darkroom.

Jinnifer Douglass is a full-time freelance photographer based in NYC, shooting for both individuals and brands such as Google, Sotheby’s, Uber, Make Up For Ever, Squarespace, and more! Specializing in portraits, food, and special events, she works to make every piece of your social and website content ‘Insta-worthy’ with high resolution, full-frame DSLR photography and expert Lightroom editing. Interested in chatting? Leave a comment below, or send an email to hello@jinyc-photo.com!