BCM - How did your life change when you became a dad?
Michael - When I became a Dad, I became a kid again. Your life changes because
your life becomes all about them – and giving them the best experiences possible. My kids give me every opportunity to laugh and have fun and so I pride myself on rolling on the ground with them, jumping through the air off sand dunes with them and burying treasures at the beach for them to find. What changed the most is my creativity. It has soared tremendously. My mind thinks in ways that will awe and
inspire my kids – so I constantly seek ways to make our time together extra special.

BCM - What has been your most memorable moment (s) as a dad?
Michael - I have had so many memorable moments as a Dad, but two stand out in my mind so clearly. We take our kids to New Orleans every year for Jazzfest.  A friend of mine is on the board of the Festival Foundation gave me his brass pass (stage access) to go onstage to see John Mayer. Jonah is the biggest John Mayer fan – so Jonah is on my shoulders right behind the keyboard player on stage watching Mayer play in front of 60,000. That alone would have been the moment of a lifetime, but then Jonah says to me, “Dad, let’s go right in front of the stage” and
proceeds to lead me by the hand into the photo pit to watch the rest of John Mayer’s set. Music is a very important part of our life, and that was a pretty stellar moment – his appreciation for live music at the ripe age of 7.

The other most memorable moment was watching my daughter Eden win the
Ronald McDonald NYC Kids Charity Marathon at 5 years old. We were thrilled to see her run for charity together with hundreds of kids from schools around the city, but when we saw her actually leading away from the pack and winning the race, I went nuts. When she finished the race in 1st place, I felt a greater sense of pride than I had ever felt in my life. The feeling that comes from watching your child perform so well just goes beyond words.

BCM - What has been the biggest challenge for you in fatherhood?
Michael - The biggest challenge for me as a father has been balancing that precious one-on-one time between Jonah & Eden.  Since each of them wants to always have that full "Daddy Experience",  I’ve setup “date night” for Jonah and Eden on separate nights of the week. I even added it to their Google Calendar (we all have Gmail accounts :) ) so they could look forward to it each week. We'll do spontaneous things on those nights - like walk over to the Little Shop of Crafts to paint a cereal bowl or take a scooter ride to the IMAX.

BCM - What inspired you start your photography business?
Michael - During my years at Tulane, I had countless opportunities to photograph
the visual city of New Orleans. Photography continued to be my creative companion throughout my travels. Then, as we spent our first summer with Jonah and Eden at our Beach Club, an amazing thing happened at the beach club. I began to photograph my friends’ kids - and “wowed” them  the very next day with rich color printed enlargements. With the beautiful beach, shoreline, sand dunes, and sunsets as my summer playground – I had a recipe for super fun (and
beautiful) portrait sessions. The next thing I knew, I was asked to photograph families throughout the summer. I built a word of mouth reputation based on my personality and camp counselor-like approach to photographing kids. Everyone tells me I should run a camp :)

BCM - You and your wife, Gal work closely together for your photo business.
How do you balance your work life and your personal life?
Michael - Working together has been a remarkably great experience because we
both understand the common goals of the business. She is also an honest critic of my work. She'll tell me when something is not up to a certain standard - and pushes me to continue to creatively try new things. We are both very client-focused and go the extra mile to make sure they are pleased with the experience of working with us. Also, since we live in a digital age, we are able to enjoy an active personal life and perform business by mobile devices and laptops. We even have a bed & breakfast weekend planned this summer around a photo shoot in upstate NY. Gal has been an incredible partner for me and is doing a wonderful job growing the business – enabling me to focus more on delivering beautiful photos. Plus, you know what they say is so true, “Behind every great man…”

BCM - What types of activities do you like to do w/ your kids?
Michael - We love to travel and take our kids everywhere. Some people think we
are nuts for bringing our kids to Jazzfest, but for every John Mayer moment, there are dozens of other magical experiences that can only happen by traveling together. It's the ultimate "disconnect from the rest of the world and RE-connect with your kids" time. Also, we are huge Disney fans. We are at rope-drop for each trip and I have helped the kids master the secret art of “zero lines in December.” If you want to do Disney the right way with kids - check out the hidden gem -
TourGuideMike - http://www.tourguidemike.com.  Our beach club has also
been a very big part of our life – for the total package of beach, sports, music, dancing, friends, family and of course, photos!  Books are probably the most consistent and important activity in our life. We all read and the kids really enjoy reading on their own now as well – but the bedtime book reading is my treasured precious time with them. Lastly, my daughter Eden has got the photography gene in her and snaps almost as many photos and video as I do. It’s actually the only
time I get to see what I look like in pictures. Lol.


BCM - Which BCM event was your favorite?

Michael - Biggest Baby Shower Ever! Seeing so many new “moms-to-be” soaking up the resources available to them was like watching kids in Dylan’s
Candy Store!

"Michael is currently nominated for Best Family Photographer NYC 2009. Stop by the voting page to cast your vote."  http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/new-york-ny-usa/best-new-york-family-photographer