☔ Hope everyone had a cozy-enough rainy day.

Here’s some reading if you’re holed up at home this evening— and an all-Saratoga TV special, too!

— Abby

After 16 summers in Saratoga Springs — and two years of full-time living during Covid — photographer Lizz Spano is no longer just visiting. She’s open for business.

Starting Thursday (see details below), thanks to Spano, having stunning personal photos just got a lot more accessible here in Saratoga — and a lot more fun.

“The more unscripted, the better,” she says of her signature style. Think relaxed portraits of couples and engagements (her favorite), families, kids, solo sessions, content creators — even a group of girlfriends dressed up for the track.

“I love photographing anybody who really just wants to capture a moment,” she says (one of her personal taglines is “I never miss a moment”). “I keep it low-key and fun. And at the end of it, you’ll have some beautiful photos that you will treasure for forever.”

She invites you to stop thinking there has to be a “huge occasion” to warrant a mini-photoshoot.

“If you’re having lunch with your girlfriend, or your friends are here from college on a random Tuesday, and you just want some photos to commemorate it,” she says, “that’s where I really thrive.”

Sessions are easy: half-hour mini slots with 15 to 20 minutes of shooting (she loves Congress Park, but also a front porch, the track and anywhere else around town). Her pitch is simple: Don’t settle for the iPhone snapshot; walk away with photos you’ll actually want to frame.

BOOK NOW

Express mini-sessions ($150 for your whole group, including three professionally edited pics) in Congress Park this Thursday 3 to 6 p.m. during a first-ever pop-up at Keuka Spring Vineyards on Spring Street.

To sign up, visit lizzspanophotography.com.

📰 IN BRIEF

The New York State Gaming Commission offers its condolences to those affected by the Saratoga Casino Hotel fire and is doing a “top-to-bottom” review of fire prevention at the state’s 11 racetracks, reports Paulick Report.

Paint Your Own Jockey classes now offer female jockeys, posts Saratoga Jockey Painter on What’s Going on Saratoga.

Patti LaBelle headlines an A-list jazz fest Saturday at SPAC, writes the Ish Bulletin.

Saturday’s Stephen Foster Stakes (purse: $2 million) will feature Sovereignty, Baeza, Magnitude and White Abarrio, reports KetuckyDerby.com.

Darley Newman’s all-Saratoga PBS episode has been seen by history buffs the world over — now she’s bringing her Revolutionary Road Trip home to the Spa City with a June 30 event at UPH.

The date also marks the official launch of her new book of the same name. “In Saratoga, history is woven into every corner of the community,” Newman says, “making it an endlessly fascinating destination for curious travelers like me.”

Local celebs such as Sam VanDemark, Bill Dake, Joyce Locks and Upset the mini horse make appearances in the PBS special — which ran in the show’s eleventh season in 2024 and features the Schuyler House, the Saratoga Monument, and Saratoga National Historical Park.

“I especially enjoyed meeting the locals and experts who are so passionate about preserving the area’s rich heritage and sharing its stories with others,” she says. “Their dedication helped make for a memorable TV episode, and I’m thrilled to continue sharing these inspiring stories.”

To purchase a ticket to the June 30 event — which also features County Historian and Saratoga 250 Chair Lauren Roberts and Saratoga-based singer-songwriter Cassandra Kubinski — visit atuph.org.

Her new book, Revolutionary Road Trip, is available for pre-order.

The Dispatch is FREE to read — and only possible because of our paid subscribers. Don’t want to commit? Leave a tip of any dollar amount below.

Local, real, never corporate … I cannot do it without you!

— Abby