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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

I'm baaa-aaack!

My trip was wonderful. It was the perfect amount of time to be away. I loved the coast the best, especially horseback riding! If you ever get a chance to do that in life (if you haven't done so already), I highly recommend it! It was the most peaceful thing, riding on such a big beautiful animal watching the ocean waves crash onto the shore... Anyway, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Oregon is a beautiful place to visit! 2 great things about Oregon:

- It's illegal to pump your own gas
- No sales tax!

A view of Manzanita Beach:






















Mt. Hood- there were forest fires on the mountain so the view was a little hazy:
















Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach:























Horseback riding! My horse was named Bart- Jenni's was named Chief. Bart was a naughty boy! When I pulled back on his reins to get him to stop, he would take them into his mouth and pull them forward so he wouldn't have to stop!


















Blogger is being a jerk right now and not letting me upload any more pictures. I'm going to bed!

More to come...

Thursday, August 17, 2006


I'm on vacation!

I will be visiting my best friend Jenni out in Oregon. I'm flying in Saturday morning and returning on Wednesday. Two days/nights at Cannon Beach, OR, then back to her place in White Salmon, WA for two days. I'm so excited! I found this gorgeous picture online... we hope to do a little riding this weekend, how fun! I've always wanted to go horseback riding on the beach! I'm looking forward to capturing amazing photos while I'm out there. Look for posts late next week.

I've got a busy schedule when I return, lots of editing, two family photo shoots, and meeting with a possible wedding client. Oh, and Jenni is coming back with me so a big girl's night out on the 26th! Then, September rolls around and it's wedding, after wedding, after wedding!

Monday, August 14, 2006

I booked another client yesterday. She called me at home on Sunday morning. That was an unexpected surprise. These days with the internet and email, I usually don't receive phone calls. Kelly booked a family session with her three daughters one of whom is a senior this year so we will try to capture a few of those. They live not far from Taylor's Falls so they would like to get some photos done there. I'm pretty excited, I have never shot there before. They also have 27 acres so there should be some great photo opportunities there as well.

I am planning another family photo shoot event. The tentative date is Sunday, September 24th. I have clients emailing me asking me when I'm going to have another one! I hope the fall colors are out by then. If you know anyone that is interested, let me know!

I'm so excited for my trip on Saturday! I'm hoping to get some beautiful photos at Cannon Beach, OR.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Garry Family

I shot the Garry Family today. Stacey and John have 3 boys, Willie, who is 3 1/2 and fraternal twins Luke and Gavin, who are 14 months. They did great and I am so in love with my new 70-200 lens!




My new assistant in training...

I gave Owen my old digital camera yesterday. He had so much fun! I told him he could take pictures of whatever he wanted. Anyway, here is a gallery of some of his shots and then a couple shots I got of him in action. Andy saw his gallery when he got home and said that Owen takes better pictures than he does!



















































































































Thursday, August 10, 2006

Booked.

I met with Nicole tonight at Shelly's restaurant in St. Louis Park. She booked me! It was great hearing about her wedding and meeting her fiancé Darren. Sounds like they have a great wedding planned. I was happy to hear that she had already decided on me awhile ago but tonight was just a formality.

I can't believe that I go to OR next Saturday already! There was a big story in the news where several individuals were caught plotting an attack on 10 commercial airliners flying from the UK to the U.S. How scary! We are on red alert at the airports and no liquids of any kind are allowed on carry-ons. I wonder how things will be next Saturday? I wonder if I'll be able to carry on my camera gear? I haven't flown in 3 years!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Organized!

Me and the boys went to IKEA today and picked up my new desk. I was bummed because when I got there, the finish (beech wood) that I wanted was out already, so I settled for birch wood instead. It is basically "maple" like my old desk. I contemplated going back in on Friday when they got more but seriously, how picky do I want to be? The boys had a lot of fun playing in the berry basket, which is a giant pit of plastic balls. That is, until some unruly kids got in and started throwing balls at everyone. Sad thing is, their parents who were right there didn't say anything to them besides a slight, "no," but that didn't stop them. I took a few pictures of the boys riding their trikes before we headed out for the day. When we got back, my awesome hubby got home from work and jumped right into putting my desk together for me! It only took me like an hour to get everything organized. I'm so happy now! Better yet, the Lakeville Office Max has my chair in stock so I'm picking that up tomorrow after meeting with Nicole.

Check out my new space!
























The best part- a magnetic message board! So far I have my first handwritten thank you note from a client posted, along with a picture of Owen I found. He is on Santa Monica beach when he was only a year and a half old.

Look at all of this new shelving and cubby space that I have. I can't believe I used to have all this stuff crammed in my drawer and on my desktop.




















Owen riding his trike earlier today:

























And Aidan... notice how he is taking his red car for a ride.

























Andy's boss told him that there's enough misc. hardwood flooring to do our bedroom. Pretty exciting! We're going to put hardwood in, put in white trim, paint, and get these new dressers from IKEA. I would love to put in some kind of wainscoting or beadboard because I love that beach cottage look. We'll see he said. But hey- free hardwood flooring! Cool!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

My lenses came today! What a nice surprise. Although, I am sending the f/4 back to exchange it for the f/2.8. After a few talks with Jen today, she convinced me to get what I need now instead of settling. I 100% agree. Although, I am not getting the image stabilizer so that will save me some money. I didn't like it when I rented it and Jen said I don't need it. At least I can do a clean exchange and not have to try to sell the f/4 down the road. She also hooked me up with several wedding dates to choose from so I can assist. Yay! I also got my new driver's license in the mail today and my picture doesn't suck! It was like my birthday all over again! I also called IKEA and my desk is in. The boys and I will be taking a field trip tomorrow...

I did take a random pic with my new 24-70. It's so new and crisp and black and shiny! That f/2.8 sure is sweet, isn't it? More shooting tomorrow!


Hooray!

My lenses are coming tomorrow. As impatient as I am, it seems like I am waiting on so many things lately. My lenses seemed to take forever, I found a new computer desk at IKEA that I want but they are out of stock. I found a new comfortable chair at Office Max and they are on backorder until the 22nd. I can't catch a break! I did manage to snag a cheap printer on clearance. I haven't had a working printer in months. I am in total organization mode. I started cleaning out my old desk and throwing things out so that whenever I get that new one I'll be all set to rearrange the way I do things. I bought these cute little plastic cubby things that are the perfect size to hold CD-R's, and my boxes of 4x6 photos.

I booked two more clients yesterday for family sessions. I'm pretty excited, that's three total this week. I also got a call yesterday from a mom in New Prague who's son is getting married. Unfortunately, it's for next month and I already have a wedding that day. But she told me that she would keep me in mind for future photography. September is looking like it's going to be another June which means another busy month. I have something going on every weekend and a couple of jam packed weekends. Jen Cress called me yesterday and asked me to assist. She's so awesome, I can't wait to work with her again.

I am meeting with my high school friend Nicole on Thursday to talk about her wedding next year. She is considering me as her wedding photographer.

Thomas the Train was a lot of fun on Saturday. Click here to see pictures.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Referrals

I received two emails today that were referrals inquiring about my family photography. How exciting! I love knowing that happy clients are telling all of their family and friends about me. This kind of business only builds itself, I am slowly finding that out. There isn't any amount of advertising or marketing that can compare to hearing about someone first-hand from somebody you trust.

On a much more sad note, I am still waiting to receive an email from B&H saying that my goods are being shipped! I logged onto their website today and received this message:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for shopping at B&H.

Sorry, due to a power outage in our New York City location, our store, web site and phones are currently not available. All orders will be shipped out on Monday (August 7, 2006), or as soon as power is restored. Please check back with us later.

The following are our business hours:Sunday: 10:00 am to 5:00 p.m.Monday through Thursday: 9:00 am to 7:00 p.m.Friday (winter EST): 9:00 am to 1:00 p.m.Friday (Summer DST): 9:00 am to 2:00 p.m. Saturday: Closed

We apologize for any inconvenience.

What a bummer! I placed my order Wednesday evening and it looks like my lenses are not shipping out until Monday. I have a shoot planned for next Saturday, hopefully I will get them by then! I ordered the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L, and 70-200mm f/4L... my first two L glass lenses! I'm so excited! I also got a nifty hip back, a reflector, and a lens cleaning kit.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

My first entry...

I thought I would start a blog for all of my photography endeavors since all of you are probably getting sick of random pictures from me in your inbox! This way, if you're wondering what I'm up to, you can check out my blog. A brief history... I started my business almost a year ago to the date. I bought my camera the day after my birthday last year. I posted some ads on craigslist for family photography and I had clients the following weekend! It's amazing to think I have come this far in less than a year.

My first posted photos are collages of my first photo shoot event. I planned this back in June and it was a huge success! The theory was I would pick a location for one day and have everyone come to me instead of me driving all over the place like usual. Clients booked a half hour time slot and received a custom designed 12 x 12 collage and a CD of their session. Despite the 100 degree weather, it went really well. Everybody showed up on time, kids behaved themselves, and everyone had a good time. In between appointments in the afternoon, I also booked two high school seniors who shared a session. Clients continued to contact me even after I was all booked. I have enough spillover clients to book another full day of shoots! I think I will do these more often!

I rented the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens for the day. It's a $1,700 lens and is worth every penny! It was such an awesome lens, I can't wait to get one someday. I am getting the much cheaper f/4 version this week!

Eva and Thomas- a new client. My first appointment of the day.



The Reisigs- they were my first client ever about a year ago...




















The Lorensen's- they were a referral from Laurie.



The Courtemanche's- This is Laurie and 4 of her 5 kids!




















The Lester Family- my second client ever.



The Tinklenberg's- a new client



A few senior pics:





Upcoming events:

Family shoot for Stacey Garry, mother of 13 month old twin boys, and a 3 1/2 year old boy. Should be fun!