Elise | Mankato West High School Senior

Jack and Olivia

Becky | Shattuck-St. Mary's High School Senior

Makayla | New Prague High School Senior

There is no doubt that this blog has suffered over the busy summer. For the most part, I have felt like I just don't have time to do it anymore which is the truth. But I really do miss it because it allowed me to share what I just shot with you. I really want to start up again but being so far behind, there is no way I can get to each and every wedding and session but I am going to start by posting just 5 images from some recent sessions. Blogger allows the upload of 5 images at a time so this is a perfect way to start getting back on track without a huge time commitment.

2009 Holiday Card Templates!

I am so excited to announce my 2009 holiday templates! I've been waiting patiently and my favorite designer came through as always!

Cost:

Option 1: $25 design fee
-one 5x7 high-resolution file
-you are responsible for printing and envelopes

Option 2: $40/set of 25 cards
-25 5x7 double-sided holiday cards
-includes envelopes
-press printed on high- quality art linen paper

These are not your standard glossy photo cards similar to those you order from online sites. These are beautiful and rich with color and texture, designed to compliment your family photos.

To order holiday cards:

1. Choose a template from the following collection.
2. Print an order form and mail it back to me along with your payment.
3. You will receive a soft copy proof of your card via email.
4. Once approved, the cards will be ordered and shipped to your home!







*Photos must be taken by Olivia Wagner Photography. I will not sell templates or create a card for you with your personal photos or those of another photographer.

The "H" Family

I loved everything about this session! The family had me over at their home, the kids were so well behaved, and best of all, they were ready to have fun and up for anything!

Of course it's always easier to get these types of shots with older children, but I loved the connection that they had. After spending some time with them, they made it seem like having 5 children would be effortless!

(as usual, I hate what Blogger does to the color and quality!)











My boys and I survived the flu last week but I'm still not 100%. If there was a good time to get sick it was last week! We had no school all week and thankfully I didn't have a wedding this past weekend. I had my all day sessions scheduled for Saturday and I hear the flu is so bad that half of my sessions had to reschedule due to illness! I didn't leave the house all week but I hear the weather was cold and crappy so I didn't miss much.

Please know that I am behind schedule due to being out all week. Missing a day of work would have been hard enough but all week puts a huge burden on me over the course of the next two weeks. I had sessions scheduled that I had to cancel and now have to squeeze in this week on top of my already full workload. I ask for your patience (and mercy) as I try my hardest to get caught up! Thank you so much for understanding! I have the best clients ever!

Sick days

I just wanted to update my clients letting you know that I've been sick with the flu. My kids have it also so I'm taking a few days to rest and get better and try to be a mom. Thanks for understanding if I haven't gotten to your emails yet or if your gallery is due.

I hope to feel better soon!

The 5 minute session.

I get a lot of questions on how to take better photos of your kids. I am going to try to post some words of wisdom here as well as offering private lessons starting in November.

Photo tip #1: The 5 minute session. Usually when parents are taking pictures of their children, it is at a birthday party or holiday event where you get a one time shot to take a good photo. The photos above were taken of my boys in 5 minutes. We were going to grandma's and before we hopped in the truck, I told the boys that I wanted to take a couple of pictures of them and it would only take a couple minutes. Set aside time for a mini-photo session, 5 minutes is all you need!

Photo tip #2: Don't have them pose, have them do an activity. I simply told the boys to hug or try to give each other a piggy back ride. These were the results! Posing takes all of the fun out of it and then you end up with those cheesy, forced smiles. If you look at the time of the sequence of these photos they were shot from 2:30-2:35 pm. No lie. Sure, I could have pushed them and made them shoot for another half hour because I was getting such good shots, but know when to say when! I told them that later this week I want to do some more and knowing that it was fun and only took a few minutes, they will be much more willing to cooperate all of the other times I want to take photos.

the darkroom project...

I started photography 4 years ago as digital photography started to boom. I was pretty much self-taught which means I never started out in film or got to experience developing my own photos. I was recently inspired to build a darkroom in my studio and I am so excited!

I am on the hunt for a vintage camera and can't wait to shoot off a roll of black and white film. I can already envision the photos of my boys hanging from the clothespins. :) I'm not sure when the darkroom project will be complete but I look forward to making it happen!

Pet Portraits

This year I want to try something new! I have plans in November or December to team up with Pet Perfect Grooming (my studio neighbor) for fall/winter pet portraits. A day of pampering for your dog then a personalized pet photo session! Just in time for holiday cards!

Look for an official announcement with dates coming soon! For now, leave a comment below or shoot me an email if this is something you'd be interested in.

FYI- these would be pet photos only, no additional children or family shots would be taken.

Riley and Tenley

If you've ever logged onto my website, I'm sure you recognize this little girl! I am so in love with photographing her, I almost feel like I need to pay her mom instead of vice versa! Their mom is the best, she shows up with cute outfits and then sends them off with me, allowing me full creative freedom! The kids did great and we had a lot of fun together.

I am hoping to lean more towards this direction with my kids sessions next year. I would love to do more fashion-inspired sessions with the main focus on the children and not trying to capture that perfect family photo where everyone is looking and smiling at the camera. I just think it's less stressful on everyone involved and check out the results below:





Look at this little stud!
I am so in love with this outfit. It is the perfect example of how layers and textures add to the photo. Not to mention the to-die-for brown boots she's rockin'! The photo just wouldn't be the same if she was wearing a plain shirt and jeans for instance.



She told me she was writing, "Tenley heart Matthew" on this tree. Look out mom and dad! Her mom did say she was 6 going on 16. :)
This was all her! I did not tell her to pose like this!
I haven't shown a before/after in awhile and I love this photo. On the left is straight out of the camera and on the right is a little Photoshop.

Do you see why I wanted to take her home with me? :)