I went into Jeffrey's photography class knowing next to nothing about how to operate a camera, and…read morecame out feeling knowledgeable, confident, and genuinely inspired. Jeffrey is an absolute pro... he can look at any camera and instantly show you how to take beautiful photos with it. The class was made even better by the group itself! It was a diverse mix of people, all with different cameras but a shared goal of learning and creating. Everyone was kind and supportive, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. The class was hands-on, engaging, and packed with practical tips I'll be using for years. The pricing is more than fair considering the amount of knowledge and confidence you leave with. I can't recommend this class highly enough! Thanks, Jeffrey.

What an amazing experience working with Jeffrey!! I knew absolutely nothing about my digital camera…read moreI had for 8 years, taking his class has opened up a whole new world for me. Now I know how to use it!! He explained everything and the experience at the Walters Museum was epic!! Thank you Jeffrey!!

Justin is such an awesome photographer to work with! He made me feel so comfortable I could make…read morefaces, be goofy and relaxed! It wasn't awkward one bit! He is very reliable, delivered all the images quicker than promised (quick turnaround)!! (Also the photos are super high quality!) I first met Justin last year (2016) and loved how the pictures turned out! I have some amazing portraits (advertising styled) and action shots for my website. I really LOVE the pictures he stitched of me bouncing the golf ball! It shows my fun side, yet very professional and I look good! SUPER satisfied on how I look! Justin captured a lot of good moments where one can see how I love doing what I want! Also took some amazing intense action shots where one can see a lot of details! So I am back this year to get more pictures taken by Justin. I want to make a portfolio and update my website! I highly recommend Novak Photos for any types of photo shoot whether it's athletic portraits, professional headshots, family portraits, business websites, I mean pretty much anything for professional photography!!!!

Justin does an amazing job and is extremely talented! I have worked with him for professional head…read moreshots and an on-site shoot at the beach. He has a great eye and is very detail oriented especially when it comes to lighting which is hugely important. I definitely recommend him! You won't be disappointed in his work.

8/16/20 & 8/22/19…read more Once again Yelp fails to understand what a review is and delete another one of my reviews...fuck you very much:) and now on to my review. Back in February or March I saw and met with a representative at the Dulles Expo Center. This business is one of the attractions that caught my eye. Getting some photos taken with my wife could be a lot of fun. Doing nudes or something risky or out of our comfort zone would be fun. Talking to one of the representative gave good feeling and something I would like to try with my wife. I wish I could remember the name of the representative, but her name escapes me. I do remember some of the promotional photos I saw on this website and knew I had found the right business. Talking with this representative gave me the information and feeling that this business is worth doing. Doing business with them looks good because of the way the representative handled my questions.

I had a boudoir session with David and had an amazing experience. He was extremely professional and…read morehighly respected my privacy. My photos turn out beautiful. I swear he made my body and skin look 10 x times prettier than real life. David was extremely fast at responding to all my emails. Pictures and edits came back faster than expected. I highly recommend. 5 stars in every category!

I am beyond grateful to have been chosen for the Lavish Boudoir Body Love Project…read more I received VIP treatment from Leslie and her staff. I felt like a real supermodel. Lee did my hair and makeup creating a glamorous and flirty look. All I have to say is, watch out Tyra... you have some competition! They created a comfortable environment and helped me get in the mood with an upbeat music playlist that unleashed my inner diva. The overall experience was thrilling to say the least. I truly felt like a super model in New York shooting the cover of Vogue magazine. I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw the quality of the pictures. They were absolutely flawless and captured my inner beauty. I cried and said, "Wow, is that really me?!" I'm still in awe of the phenomenal photographic skill set Leslie possesses. She is a true artist. You might ask why I applied for the Lavish Boudoir Body Love Project. Well, my passion has always been plus size modeling and my dream is to one day be featured in a glitzy magazine or online representing a classy company like Lavish Boudoir. I was told when I met Leslie in person that I was picked sight unseen for this project. She loved my story. I spoke from my heart and here it is... I decided to change my life 4 years ago and make myself a priority. I learn how to live a sober and sassy life, one day at a time. My daughter Presli was my reason why. She deserves the world and I planned on giving it to her. I worked very hard to put all of my broken pieces back together. I learned to love myself and that I was worth it. My mission now is to empower other likeminded women and to lead by example. My favorite quote is " I love the woman I have become, because I fought to become her." I am turning 40 soon and I truly believe there is beauty in every age. I choose to love my body as it is right now and to celebrate my many accomplishments. I will never allow somebody to tell me I can't do something, not even myself. If you have a desire and it burns deep within your soul, I say go for it. Life is too short and none of us have the promise of tomorrow. I would like to thank Leslie at Lavish for the opportunity to share my story and to celebrate the next phase of my life... after all, 40 is fabulous and dreams really do come true. Forever a fan, Staci Lehman

This is what Leslie is meant to be doing and I'm so grateful that I got to do it with her!…read more I have always wanted to do a 40th birthday boudoir photo shoot so I did an extensive google search for the right person. When I got to Lavish Boudoir I was in awe. These photos are beautiful. Sign me up! And I'm so glad I did. The whole process made me feel like a superstar. Started with a beverage, makeup done by a professional and a multiple outfit photoshoot throughout various places in the studio. The photographer, Leslie doesn't just take incredible photos, she also made the experience fun. Yes, at first it's odd to be in lingerie around someone you don't know, but because of Leslie and the professionalism of her company I was extremely comfortable and relaxed. Then the reveal of the photos was also a luxurious experience. To this day, I look at my photos and feel gorgeous and elated that I chose Lavish Boudoir.

I can't exactly remember how I found Liz but I don't care, I'm just glad I did!…read more We booked a studio newborn session for our first little one and the entire experience and final product was more than we could have hoped for. It started with a lovely phone call for us to get to know each other and for Liz to get to know what our goal was for the photos. In our case the studio session was the right call. Our little one had some minor issues that left our hospital discharge date in limbo but Liz was so kind and accommodating in working with us to find the best day. It was a relief because it allowed my husband to join and worked around his crazy schedule. The studio is warm and welcoming. Liz is such an easy and gentle person and it was such a pleasure to chat with her during the session. Being a nurse and having little ones herself made me feel extra safe handing over my two week old for a couple of hours. She was really receptive to our wants for the photos. They turned out absolutely adorable! I squealed when I got the final images. We got some family shots, some cutesy shots, and some detail shots as well. A perfect mix to remember our baby girl's first few weeks of life. If you're anywhere in the DMV area I encourage you to reach out to Liz. Once you chat with her for a minute I'm certain you'll book her for your maternity or baby photos. We can't wait to return for more photos as our little one grows. Thank you Liz!

My husband and I had such a wonderful experience with Liz for our maternity photos! We aren't the…read morebest at posing, but she made everything feel easy and natural by guiding us the whole time! She made sure every pose showed the love between us and the excitement for our baby. Liz was so kind, patient, and made sure we felt comfortable throughout the session. Her studio was beautiful and inviting, and her pricing was very reasonable for the AMAZING quality of work she provides. We're so glad we chose her and highly recommend LVP to anyone looking for a professional and relaxed photo experience!

More experienced photographers may disagree, but as a beginner, I found WSP's "Focus on…read moreComposition" course super helpful. The class tried to instill a habit of thinking through a checklist before taking a picture (or evaluating it afterwards). The checklist included, among other things: * What's the subject? * Do the direction and quality of light work for your subject? * Does the background distract from the subject? * Check the frame's edges: Is the cropping awkward? * Is there comfortable spacing between the elements of your photograph? Our class was small, so in addition to the lectures and the pithy, informative handouts, we could spend more time going over our homework, getting concrete suggestions for how to improve. For example, the instructor (Joe Yablonsky) would sometimes suggest moving the camera up, down, right, left, closer, or further, to get a cleaner background, a more flattering portrait angle, or more interesting "directionality" in the photo's lines. Other times, the instructor would notice patterns-- that my ISOs tended to be too high, or that there's dust on someone's sensor, or that the focusing was sometimes off. He'd then ask how we took the shot, and suggest new settings or focusing methods (or suggest cleaning the sensor!). Sometimes he'd ask the class to weigh in on the critique, so we could also benefit from our talented (and opinionated!) classmates. One session was a fun field trip to the National Mall. At the National Gallery of Art sculpture garden,we chased photogenic squirrels and captured tourists' hilarious reactions to Joan Miro's Personnage Gothique, Oiseau-Eclair. (Google it if you don't know it). I watched as one classmate got several amazing portraits of strangers, just by walking up and asking. The instructor also gave me a demonstration of how to get my camera to focus with a neutral density filter. (I had been having trouble with that). The course just ended last week, and I still need a lot of practice. But it's made my photos noticeably better. (One of my homework assignments even got published last week, as the page 2 photo in the Washington Post Express!) The downsides: Classes can be expensive! (Luckily I had a gift certificate). Sometimes you can find coupons or Living Social deals, e.g. here's one that's on right now (as of late March 2014): http://conta.cc/1jNpdud Washington School of Photography can be a pain to get to without a car. It's somewhat walkable from Twinbrook Metro, but the commute from DC (especially with weekend red line schedules) took me more than an hour.

Love these guys...they've taught me so much about the technical and functional aspects of…read morephotography, from how my DSLR works to how to better frame and compose my shots. I'll be taking my third class, on composition and design, next month. The 2 teachers I've had, Joe Yablonsky & Cortney Jackson, are instructors that I would recommend to anyone who wants to pursue photography as a hobby or as a profession.

September 2017 I'm…read moreupdating my previous review only to say Shira will be our family photographer for as long as she will have us. She was just as kind and thoughtful with our now almost two year old and new six week old baby. I had to reschedule this time and she completely understood. I was also very impressed with how she dealt with our toddler. She's a handful and quite independent. I don't know how she did it but the pictures she captured of her were amazing! December 2015 We decided to take family pictures of our six week old with Shira and we were not disappointed! She was so pleasant and professional. We definitely enjoyed working with her. The baby responded very positively to her. I definitely would recommend her to others looking for someone to work with their family. Her edits to the picture were great because they were minimal but enhanced the natural beauty of the pictures. We were able to make great Christmas cards and provide prints for our family across the country. As an aside, she had to reschedule and was very apologetic. We understood but she still compensated us with additional pictures because she knew we were slightly stressed about the timing. She also stayed a little longer to make sure we had options. I'm just sharing as an example of the kind of customer service she offers. Not many are good at that part of the business these days.

Yesterday I had a 2 hour private lesson with owner Shira. She was completely open to anything I…read morewanted to do. My priority was to learn how to use my DSLR without relying on the automatic setting. I had a little experience with some things so first Shira gave me an excellent review then pointed out aspects of the camera completely new to me. AND she wrote out notes on what we discussed! I now have a valuable tailor made cheat sheet. After the camera review we walked around Columbia's Lake Kittamaqundi to apply the lessons learned. Shira is friendly, patient, calming. She is a born teacher. With her help I have become a more confident photographer.