Snowmen | and a new year!

I came home from a shoot one day to find these three snow boys greeting me. It was the cutest thing!
I really wanted to do an awesome 2010 year in photos post, but then I realized how much work that would be so I decided to just write a bit instead. :)

2010 came and went in a flash! Seriously... a year ago today, this was my view:Now that little guy is walking around and getting into trouble left and right! Last year was definitely a year that was focused on my growing family and new baby. Although my family always comes first, I am excited to start the new year off with a clean slate. This year, I want to invest back into my business and am taking steps to make some great new changes for my company.

Some things I'd love to shoot this year:

- a live birth (I have photographed two before and they are amazing!)
- an engagement... not the usual engagement session but the actual proposal!
- more photojournalism in general... posed portraits are nice, but it is such a thrill to capture real moments!

If you know of these or any other opportunities that you think I'd like please contact me! I will continue to add to my list but it is late and my brain is only half-functioning at the moment. :)

St. Benedict's | Documenting history...

*edited to add...

Unfortunately... as excited as I was to be able to cover the closing ceremony of this church, my family and I came down with the stomach flu late Saturday night so I wasn't able to attend that early Sunday Mass. I was thankful that I did get to shoot some church details on Saturday morning. Here are just a few, I plan on putting together a slide show and making these available to any parishioners that may want some photos of the church. I will keep you posted!






_____________________________

I've photographed lots of events in the past 5 years, but nothing like this. I will be photographing something really special early Sunday morning. St. Benedict's, a small Catholic church just outside of New Prague will be closing its doors forever. Although I am not a parishioner there, I was asked to capture the last Mass and closing ceremony by my father-in-law, Deacon Bob Wagner who will be presiding.

For many, this church is such a part of their lives and has been there for generation after generation. They as children were baptized there and are now attending the baptisms of their grandchildren. It was built in 1851 and is the oldest church in the area. Imagine the history over the past 160 years.

I feel honored to provide these families with some imagery that will truly go down in the history books. Soon there will be nothing left in its place and only the memories that these parishioners will hold in their hearts.

To read more, there is an article I found here. I will be sure to have lots of Kleenex in my pocket that day. It will be an emotional one.

Kyle.

This shoot was a collaboration between Kyle and I. He is home from college where he is studying musical theater and wanted some fun, updated photos. He was hoping for some dramatic, iconic photographs so this is what I came up with:

College-age is a great time to be photographed! I think that at this age you are truly in your prime and looking and feeling your best.

Snow lovin' Linnea

Linnea is home from college in southern CA and as crazy as it sounds, she prefers snow to sand! She is my favorite to photograph so we did some fun snow photos today. It was freeeeezing, but she rocked it out of course!






Miss you L!

Awesome.

It's an iPhone 4 decal! Buy here.

Mini-sessions?

I feel some mini-sessions coming on... for those of you that would book a mini-session in the next couple of months, would you prefer something indoors in time for Valentine's Day or some fun in the snow outdoors? If you have another idea, feel free to enter it in the poll below.

Oliver | 11 months... almost!

Meal time is always fun with Oliver and I make sure to have my camera handy. These were just a few expressions I got within a matter of 5 minutes... my sweet baby boy is almost a toddler!
Seriously, when he puts his head to the side I can literally feel my heart melting.

love. that. boy.

For those of you that remember that I do have two other boys... I haven't featured them because I haven't taken any photos of them lately. :( It's hard because they are in school all day every day and we are usually busy on the weekends. I do have a fabulous shoot planned for them next week so check back!

Sonya & Dan | St. Paul Wedding Photographer

I first met Sonya when she booked me for head shots almost 2 years ago. We had some great conversation and I found out that Sonya is a true romantic at heart and she mentioned that if she were to ever get married that I would be her wedding photographer.

Fast forward a year later when she contacted me for wedding photos! I was so happy for her and was looking forward to the event all year. We shot in late November on a frigid MN day. We managed to sneak outside and do some walking downtown and ended up at the Science Museum. Here are a few of my favorites:











Thanks Sonya & Dan! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day!

Oliver | First steps!

Oliver is starting to take his first steps! He still crawls to get around but he's definitely discovering what his little body can do.

A little gem to start the new year...

I found this wonderful photo that I forgot about while looking through files... I now have it framed on my desk. Aside from some business changes, most of my New Year's resolutions have to do with my family. Make great memories with my kids, capture day to day moments with my nice camera (not my iPhone), put together photo albums for my kids to look through and talk about, and enjoy every little bit of them.

Happy New Year! It's going to be a great one!

Mini-accordions | Session albums

I am so in love with these! I ordered a bunch for grandparents and great-grandparents as Christmas gifts and they were such a big hit. They're the perfect little size to give away or keep in your purse to show your co-workers. They feature all of your favorite photos from your session. These would also be great for senior sessions or a cute little wedding book. If you have photos done on a regular basis- for example a new baby, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc. it would be cute to order one of these from each session and then you'd end up with an entire volume of books to put on a shelf. My son figured out that they stick to the refrigerator since they are magnetic so that is where I keep mine.


I have the cutest little template designs like the album featured in the photos, or if you wanted each photo to fill the page order the "just photos" album. One photo can also be spread across two pages if you have a horizontal photo that you love but don't want to crop it.

Contact me if you have any other questions! These are just one of the great new products I will be offering when I restructure my pricing in May. More on that later... exciting new changes will be coming!

Lindsey and Reed | St. Paul Wedding Photographer

Lindsey and Reed were married in November during the weekend of our first snow storm. It's hard to imagine back to the first storm because there's been so many since then! Lindsey wasn't phased by the snow (aside from the fact that some guests couldn't make it) and it ended up being a beautiful winter wonderland! It was a shame that the slushy streets of downtown St. Paul didn't mesh well with a wedding gown train and heels otherwise Lindsey would have been up for anything! Here are a few of my favorites: