Limited-Time Senior Portrait Promotion

Now is the perfect time to book your senior session and enjoy our exclusive Rising Seniors Special.

• $250 OFF your Senior Session
• Graduation Party Invitations Included
• Available with the purchase of any image package
• Only three sessions available
• Cannot be combined with any other offer

This limited-time promotion gives rising seniors the opportunity to enjoy a luxury portrait experience while saving on their session.

Why Book Early?

Scheduling your senior session early comes with several benefits.

• Choose from more available dates.
• Have your portraits ready for graduation announcements and party invitations.
• Enjoy the best outdoor locations during the season.
• Experience a relaxed photo session before your senior year becomes busy.

A Senior Session That Reflects You

Every senior has a story worth celebrating. We work with you to plan your wardrobe, select the perfect location, and create portraits that showcase your personality. Whether your style is modern, artistic, bold, or timeless, we will create images you will treasure for years to come.

Reserve Your Spot Today

Only three promotional sessions are available. If you are ready to celebrate your senior year with beautiful portraits while saving $250, now is the perfect time to book your session.

We look forward to helping you create unforgettable senior portraits that celebrate this exciting milestone.

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Live Life Lux Events are an opportunity to create space for joy and fun, to stop and reflect.

Through Live Life Lux events we can connect deeply with this one precious life with great intention.

Our first event was a BYOB event at Rosebridge Farm & Sanctuary in Montgomery County, PA. Rosebridge is a self-ascribed “hidden piece of paradise, as it is home to many rescued animals.” They are 100% correct about that. They offer in-person bottle feeding and snuggle animal husbandry sessions and so much more. This truly is a magical place nestled in suburban Montgomery County, right outside of Philadelphia.

One of our Live Life Lux events included a farm tour and piglets!

Lux Summit Studio, in line with our Live Life Lux philosophy, hosted an event which included baby goat snuggles, calf feeding, piglet pets, and a farm tour. The evening concluded sipping wine with the goats while the piglets were put to bed and the rescue camels (you heard me right) settled in for the night.

We were so grateful to be surrounded by familiar faces of past clients and friends as well as fresh faces.

The very first Live Life Lux event was a huge hit. We were so grateful to be surrounded by familiar faces of past clients and friends (like Maria, founder of Life Foundation, and Liz Italia, Cat behaviorist and owner of Liz’s Kitty Boot Camp) as well as fresh faces. Mark your calendars for September 15th when we’ll host another Live Life Lux event returning to Rosebridge Farm for more rescue animal therapy.

Check out the official behind-the-scenes video from our very first Live Life Lux event at Rosebridge Farm.

Caution: Contents of this video may melt your heart.

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Live Life Lux:

Perspectives From Philadelphia Entrepreneur, Photographer, Author and Speaker Kristen Kidd

The importance of joy and fun in life can easily be lost in our hectic daily living. Prioritizing joy and fun in our adulthood can feel frivolous. In the midst of a never-ending to do list, it’s the first thing to drop off. We wonder, “How could I possibly go for a hike right now? How could I join that club or take that class or go on that vacation?” Sometimes we take it a step further. We label the desires of our hearts as selfish. Surmising that so many around us need so much from us, we couldn’t possibly divert precious resources for our own joy. We can’t “afford” to prioritize our own joy, let alone fun. What science is teaching us (and our inner voice of our highest self, if we listen) is that we can’t afford not to make joy and fun a priority. It is essential to being our best self, living our best life, and doing the best for ourselves, our loved ones, and the world around us.

As Simon Sinek says, “Putting yourself first is not selfish. Quite the opposite. You must put your happiness and health first before you can be of use to anyone else.” 

“With joy your don’t have to put on a happy face.

You can be joyful in the midst of the toughest situations.” – Neal Samudre 

It’s important to differentiate between joy and happiness. Joy is an embodiment and state of being that transcends a feeling. Whereas happiness is a feeling. In a fantastic article in Medium by Neal Samudre, cofounder of Enjoyco and therapist specializing in joy, he differentiates happiness and joy this way, “Happiness is a fleeting emotion based on external circumstances…But joy is an internal positivity that’s connected to hope. It’s the feeling that everything will turn out okay. With joy, you don’t have to put on a happy face. You can be joyful in the midst of the toughest situations.”  

Joy can help ward off the daily grinds to our well-being.

In that same article, Neal shares three reasons joy is essential to our lives. He qualifies each reason with scientific evidence. These reasons include the fact that joy makes us resilient and resistant. He explains, “If resilience is about bouncing back from disturbances then resistance is about being immune to disturbances.”

Of course, we will experience devastation in our lives, but joy can help ward off the daily grinds to our well-being and help us heal when challenges do come our way. Neal shares the third reason joy is essential is because it makes us healthy. Citing research indicating that one of two reasons life expectancy dropped in 2018 was despair and research linking laughter and high-quality relationships to longevity. 

Cultivating a practice of fun can feel like a whole other level of self-absorption. In the face of continual global and personal devastation, who would be so entitled as to make fun a priority? Writer Jack Gilbert answered this best in his poem, A Brief For The Defence,

“If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,

we lessen the importance of their deprivation.

We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,

but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have

the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless

furnace of this world. To make injustice the only 

measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.”

Jack Gilbert

In the article How Having Fun Makes You Healthier And Smarter, Outside magazine makes an argument for prioritizing fun citing research that shows playful adults live happier, more satisfying, and healthier lives. As if that weren’t enough, studies have shown that the more you laugh, the longer you’ll live. 

Joy and fun, like every way of being, is a practice.

It takes time, intention, and other resources to cultivate and maintain.

Did you know humor can ­reduce stress-related hormones that suppress the immune system? Outside magazine’s article also shares that when we have fun “the body releases the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which leads to elevated mood and a healthier cell-proliferation process. Hormonal balance is crucial for our immune system’s strength and our ability to recover after strenuous athletic activity, as is cell growth, which helps the kidneys, lungs, and other organs regulate body functions. Meanwhile, some studies suggest that serotonin released by enjoyable activities could help promote neurogenesis, or cell growth in the brain.”

So, what brings you joy? Joy and fun, like every way of being, is a practice. It takes time, intention, and other resources to cultivate and maintain. It’s not something that we can phone in or squeeze into our schedules. It starts with a choice and choosing over and over again. We look for joyful moments big and small every day. Talk about it and share it with loved ones.  We’re honest with ourselves about what we want and choose to embrace the desires of our hearts. Then, we create time and space to plan the bigger joyful experiences. Chunking down the bigger pursuits into manageable steps. Even the act of clearing space for big acts of joy and making a baby step towards them is life-changing.

One small step at a time, one choice at a time we begin to see joy show up in our lives and become an indelible part of who we are. 

Family, pet, branding, and boudoir photo experiences are one way our clients choose joy. They celebrate the love of family (furry or human), their own personal strength and resilience through their boudoir experience, or the joy of their career achievements and goals through branding and headshot photography.  

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Intention As A Driving Force In Our Lives

In our first blog, we shared the first tenant of Live Life Lux (LLL) – cultivating gratitude for what is while working toward our goals. The second tenant of LLL is allowing intention and purpose to be a driving force in life, fueled by our values and passions.

One of my favorite quotes is Mary Oliver’s timeless question “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” It can be easy to lose sight of intention as overwhelm devolves our purpose to mere survival. Our mantra becomes “Just get by. Just get through.” How do we shift from survival mode to living in our intentions and purpose?

In times of overwhelm, it can be important to simplify. Cut out all the fillers; the things we’re doing to feel better about our current state of affairs, but aren’t actually serving us. It’s time to get down to the brass tax of what feeds and nourishes your being. Fillers include crowding the margins of our calendar to overflow with appointments and activities that aren’t ultimately leading to your greater desired purpose. We all have our own versions of fillers. Getting clear on what they are is the first step to choosing healing over a band-aid. 

Here are two places to start in reclaiming your purpose and letting go of what isn’t ultimately serving you. First, as always, start with a meditation to clarify and reconnect with intention. Insight Timer has a number of recordings on intention. Don’t get lost in how good or bad you are at meditating. Put the headphones on. Close your eyes and listen.

Next, let yourself have what you need. Whether a day off, a special experience like a boudoir photo session to celebrate your strength or a branding photo session to affirm your goals, or simply a walk outside or a shower. No matter how simple, let yourself know you’re listening to the calling within. Allow your heart’s desire no matter how frivolous it feels. This will help you reset, which will make you a better human.

Once you’ve cleared the proverbial cobwebs to uncover your sense of purpose, you’ve cleared the space for intuition to guide. Keep asking yourself what you need rather than trying to convince yourself that you don’t need. Ask your higher self for guidance on your intention and purpose. If you keep creating space for quiet and solitude, even if only for a moment, you will get the inspiration you’re looking for. Write it down once it comes. No matter if it’s a note in your phone or a journal entry, simply give it life by speaking it into existence. Soon, your intention and purpose will grow legs and be on the run. Manifesting takes consistency. It’s not a one and done sort of thing. It’s always a practice. So, continue to create and honor opportunities to show up for yourself in these ways.

Mary Oliver’s quote is a popular one. Honestly, it can feel a bit daunting, right? “This one precious life…” Whoa. Okay. Cool your jets, Mary. What people often miss are the stanzas that precede this question. 

“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?”

–Excerpt from “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver

I think we can all relate to this. Ultimately, it’s in her questioning and uncertainty, her opening to simplifying – creating space and time to breathe. This is where she experiences her greatest connection to life. It starts with one small step – a walk outside, kneeling in the grass. It’s in the stillness where the well spring of intention starts to flow. 

For a practical guide to setting and executing intentions, check out this piece by Minimalism Made Simple. If intentions are a daily part of your life, tell us about them. Leave a comment in the reply box below this blog. We also welcome questions and comments.

Live Life Lux,

Kristen

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A mentor’s wisdom on finding the joy

In the coming weeks and months we’re going to be talking about living life lux – what it means and why it matters. A mentor once shared a story with me that became a governing principle of my life. This story is the foundation of Live Life Lux. So I’ll share it here. 

Don’t lose sight of the big picture

There was a man that went for a walk. On his walk, he passed by a building under construction. As he passed by he saw three men performing the same tasks working on the building. He asked the first, “What are you doing?” The man replied, “Laying brick.” He asked the second “What are you doing?”. “Making a wall.”, said the construction worker. He asked the third man, “What are you doing?” and the builder shared, “I’m building a cathedral.” 

It’s easy to get lost in the monotony of the day-to-day and lose sight of the big picture, what we’re working toward, what we’re building, why we’re doing all this. It’s easy to get lost in laying the brick and lose touch with the pride and joy (and even fun) of building the cathedral. The foundation of our cathedral is the principle of Live Life Lux.

By acknowledging the good we find abundance

The philosopher Eckhart Tolle says, “Acknowledging the good you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” Cultivating gratitude is the first tenant of Live Life Lux. Today we want to focus on our gratitude for you. You are our why. Every celebration in your life deserves to be honored and immortalized. It is our greatest joy to share in your journey through your photo session experience. 
In 2022 we celebrated over 150 cathedrals being built through transformational photo experiences. Thank you for trusting us to help you honor the story of your life. Here we’ve compiled some of our favorite moments from a year filled with creating timeless heirlooms, helping you, our clients, stop to reconnect with your why and affirm your life and paths that brought you to where you are now. You’ve come so far.

The importance of showing up for yourself

Every moment you show up for yourself and those you love is you building your cathedral brick by brick. We’re happy to be here to help you stay connected to that truth and remember the big picture by immortalizing every brick you place. From courage, strength, and resilience expressed through a boudoir photo experience to the joy, fun and beautiful chaos of family and pet photo sessions. From honoring the legacy and the indelible mark made on our hearts through a senior pet session to celebrating personal achievement, goals met and dreams yet to come true through personal branding and headshot portfolios. These are the moments that make up your life well lived. This is how you Live Life Lux. 

In 2023 the words of Abraham Hicks guide our gratitude forward. “You have to be satisfied by what is while you’re reaching for more.” Here’s to a year of moving forward and reaching for new heights.

Author:

Kristen Kidd is founder and co-owner of Lux Summit Studio in North Wales, Pa. She specializes in pet and family photography. She and her husband David, along with their two rescue dogs Hudson and Nito, call Lansdale home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Together their full-service photography studio serves Bucks County, Chester County, Philadelphia County as well as the tri-state area, including New York, Maryland, and Delaware.

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Do we ever savor a rainy day like this as adults? Next time you’re dodging drops think of this guy and enjoy the moment.

No holding back for Sammy.

Sammy found the best puddle in his North Wales yard to make the biggest splash.

A gentle smile and her best green snippers in hand. Covered by her trusty umbrella and pink slicker. She’s ready to make the best display, just like the one she made with her mother at the bouquet design class they took together.

Lena curates her perfect bouquet during her rainy day family photo session.

Lena gently pats each bloom in her pockets. All’s safe and secure in her pink slicker pockets.

She searched her entire backyard in her Montgomery County home to find the very best flowers for her bouquet.

Lena shows off the biggest bloom in the bunch.

Pausing in a puddle in between picking flowers for her bouquet.

This Montgomery County rainy day family photo session reminds us that sometimes the best family days are a washout.

It was a warm summer day at Greta’s North Wales home. She took the day off to reconnect and reclaim time with her family. It was also pouring rain. I marveled when I arrived, camera in hand, as their lively world unfolded before me. For the first few minutes they raced around the home showing me favorite toys, dance moves, games and general gymnastics that all kids love to perform when they’re so excited they don’t know what do with themselves.

It wasn’t long before they were running towards their rain coats, goulashes and umbrellas. This is the point at which any mom would be tempted to say no. Muddy, drenched children does not sound like the best photo op. Yet, Greta wanted to celebrate everything she loves most about her kids through her unique family photo session. Their charismatic spirit and blissful joy through everyday life is a powerful inspiration and reminder of what really matters. That life perspective is a beautiful place to be transported to every day as they see these moments displayed in their home through their powerful wall art. What greets Greta as she walks through her home is the truth that some days we need to stop and pay tribute the beauty and gifts in the chaos and in the imperfections.

It’s in-between our well laid plans that the real living happens – the perfect goodness. And, yes, sometimes that means grabbing the rain coat and goulashes and making the most of a rainy day.

Lena wanted to pick flowers for an bouquet she planned to design with her mother. She shared with me that her favorite thing was the flower arrangement class that she and her mother took together recently. Lena found her best green snippers and delicately went about clipping the very best flowers from the backyard. Then from the side yard and front yard. No flower bed was left untouched. Later she arranged her flowers in a pint size mason jar and proudly thrust it towards me. She declared that she made it just for me. That’s when I asked for a towel to wipe up the puddle my heart had become on the floor.

Sammy was poised to show me his very best and biggest puddle hops. He found the widest and deepest puddle. Then, he took a running start and SPLASH! Over and over again he gave thanks for the rain by simply enjoying it. I can’t think of the last time I enjoyed the rain as much Sammy.

It reminded me to think of his beaming face every time I’m hurriedly dodging drops or when I’ve lost my connection to the goodness the earth is giving me.

We can be tempted to shutdown our plans when they’re not running according to our original vision. Often when we lean into the changes that we did not plan and can’t control, we can find a goodness we didn’t expect. We find new gratitude and perspective for what we have. Enjoy leaning into the challenges this week brings you and listening to what the world is offering you.

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Bucks County diva dog, Miley flashes her signature Poodle smile when her dog mom Heather is by her side.

Harley’s Haven Dog Rescue alumni Sabrina loves to play tug of war in her Bucks County backyard.

Miley revels in some lovin’ from Heather.

Read below to see how Heather’s foster, Sabrina, became her foster fail.

A Perkasie Dog Mom’s backyard pet photo session will warm your heart for days.

Last year Heather reached out to me for a lifestyle pet photo session with her precious pups Bianca, Miley and Ariel. Then, life got crazy. She had to postpone her session. I obliged, because, Hey! I can appreciate as much as anyone how maddening it all gets. Life went on.

Then early this summer I received a message. It was Heather. She explained that in the time that had passed, her beloved Bianca had suddenly passed. She had weathered her grief and now was determined to not miss another opportunity to celebrate her special bond with her canine companions. So, we scheduled her lifestyle pet photo session. Now, the legacy of her family has been captured for her to celebrate within her home daily.

Heather was devastated when Bianca passed.

As we prepared for her session we talked in depth about her the love she had for Bianca that made her loss so devastating. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly shift her grief, but her heart was opened to something. She just wasn’t sure to what. That’s when Sabrina came careening into her world. Heather has a long history of fostering for Harley’s Haven Dog Rescue in Bucks County and Sabrina came through her home as a foster. Sabrina was full of cuddles, sensitive and a ball of energy. Heather describes the moment that created the shift she was so desperately looking for in her grief journey: “The Heavens opened up when Miley got Sabrina to chase her. I knew it was going to be okay.” Miley and Bianca loved chasing each other and Heather couldn’t imagine a time when the balance of their family would be restored, until now.

The grief we feel over the loss of a pet can be as unique as our grief over the loss of a human.

We grieve some humans more than others based on what they represented in our lives. We have our own, unique needs when a pet passes. There is no one size fits all in grief. Yet, the grief over the loss of a pet is still categorized as disenfranchised grief. Societally it’s it remains unacceptable for us to prolong our mourning over our furry family members. Most of us wouldn’t dare consider missing work when a beloved pet family member passes. Yet, we can easily be more deeply connected to our pets than a number of other humans in our lives. We can fight the stigma attached to this grief by openly sharing our own grief journeys and normalizing this experience of loss.

When you lose a beloved pet know that you’re not alone.

Reach out to others around you that you trust. Find a supportive community like The Greater Philadelphia Pet Parade. Listen to yourself. Practice self-compassion. Speak to yourself and your needs as you would to a friend and claim the time and space your need for yourself. In time, the shifts you need will appear and the pain will soften.

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