Here is an email I just received from the mother of Kim after the party on Saturday. This was addressed to myself, the DJ and the event coordinator.

“gentlemen,
Words can not adequately convey how much we loved our day! You ALL out did yourselves, providing THE BEST of everything, catering, music and photography. There was NOTHING we would change, and only wish the day did not have to end. I know our memories will last a lifetime. It was a real pleasure preparing for Kim’s Bat Mitzvah, with your help and guidance and we would not hesitate to recommend you to our friends and family!

thanks again and hope we need your services again someday.”

This is what keeps me going. Money is secondary and is only a means to survive and live off of photography but emails like this are what I live for. These are what keep me motivated. I just hope I don’t get too old to do this one day. maybe they’ll find the fountain of youth by then!

Thanks Kramer family!

Here are some portraits from the temple we photographed last Wednesday.

Here are some teaser portraits from our Bimah session yesterday. The reception is on Saturday so be sure to tune come back here for an update and some teaser portraits from then as well.

Everyone was really nice. I hope Ben remembers how to put on his Talis because I won’t be there to do it for him on Saturday LOL. Good luck Ben. Mazel Tov.

Harrisburg Photographer

Philadelphia Photographer

Bar Mitzvah Photographer

The story below sickens me. Seriously. I never say anything about other photographers. Any of my clients know this. It is not anywhere near professional. But I would be doing a disservice to my clients if I didn’t share this.

Oy vey! Bat mitzvah photographer accused of stealing guest’s purse

By REGINA MEDINA
Philadelphia Daily News

medinar@phillynews.com 215-854-5985
Sometime between the DJ playing “Hava Nagila” and “Last Dance” at a recent bat mitzvah party, the professional photographer allegedly stopped snapping pictures and got sticky fingers.

Steve Raab, 60, of Huntingdon Valley, allegedly stole a guest’s black felt purse and apparently used a credit card it contained to pay for gas and dog food, Montgomery County authorities say.

Now, county prosecutors want to know if Raab, who specializes in weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and other festivities, has stolen other items while at work.

So far, there are no indications that Raab has stolen before, said Assistant District Attorney Steven Latzer.

Raab and his wife, Susan, 63, were arrested Friday and charged with theft, criminal conspiracy and other charges. The couple, who have run Creative Photography and Video for more than 30 years in Newtown, Bucks County, and in Northeast Philadelphia, are out of jail on bail until a March 26 preliminary hearing.

“It’s obviously distressing,” Latzer said. “You place your trust in them [photographers], you have a good time. You don’t consider the fact that the photographer is going into your things and stealing them.

“In situations such as this, not only did he steal a purse, but he also stole the trust of the people that hired him,” he said.

Steve Raab was hired to videotape and snap photos of a bat mitzvah at the Philmont Country Club in Lower Moreland Feb. 2, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The purse belonging to an out-of-town guest went MIA between midnight and 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, the police criminal complaint said.

The purse reportedly contained an American Express credit card, an iPhone, makeup and other items.

The victim canceled the card, but not before the Raabs used it to purchase $60 in gasoline at a Philly Amoco BP and for a large bag of dog food, valued at $66.32, on the same day, according to the complaint.

Susan Raab was not at the party.

The couple allegedly attempted to buy a global-positioning system and a man’s shirt at a Wal-Mart in the Northeast, but the transaction was declined. The Raabs allegedly tried once again – and failed – to get the GPS at a Target store in the Northeast. The transactions at Target and Wal-Mart were recorded on surveillance video.

The investigation led cops to Raab’s studio at 120 S. State St. in Newtown, where Lower Moreland Township Detective Rick Small showed the surveillance photos to Raab. The photographer said he had found the credit card “laying in the parking lot” outside the Philmont Country Club, according to the police complaint.

When Small asked where the card was, “Raab, without hesitation, pulled the card from a left jacket pocket that he was wearing and gave it” to the detective, according to the complaint.

Eventually, the couple hired a lawyer who helped facilitate the return of the black purse including all missing items, prosecutors said.

Small asks anyone who believes he or she was the victim of a theft at a wedding, bar/bat mitzvah or other private party at which Raab was the photographer to call him at 215-947-3132, extension 223. *

Here is the link to the original story: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/16017157.html

harrisburg photographer
maryland photographer