Barten's Farm, New Prague

This evening I actually went out and did some personal shooting. It's been awhile since I've done anything for myself and since my boys didn't want to cooperate, I ended up shooting some cool farm art. I would like to mat and frame these somewhere in my house. I have never done this type of shooting before and I really love a few of these!

These were all taken out at Barten's Farm in New Prague. I wanted to give a quick shout out as I have now done photos here twice in the past week. I first shot Sophia here and this evening tried to do photos of my boys. It didn't go as well as planned as they were more interesting in running around than even remotely looking at my camera. If anyone is looking for some pumpkin patch photos or some Fall harvest scenery for their session, please consider Barten's Farm. I received an open invitation to shoot there. Oh yeah, and while you're there, pick up a pumpkin or two!














































































































Okay, I did manage to catch this little gem, but purely by luck!

















I have yet to blog 2 family sessions from this week and my wedding from last weekend. I was not able to participate in the live birth today. My client was supposed to be induced this morning but went into labor overnight and had her baby early in the morning. It was a bummer because I was really looking forward to be able to capture that. If anyone is interested in capturing that wonderful moment for the birth of your upcoming baby, please contact me!

Of course, tomorrow is the first big all day session- 11 families back to back! I am going to be totally wiped Saturday night, but we'll see what I get to on Sunday. I know I have said how busy I am, but my schedule for October is completely nuts. I have a handful of days off the entire month (which will be spent editing like a crazy woman), and the days I am shooting I have 2 or 3 sessions booked. It is safe to say that I am no longer booking for October. Our house renovation project is well underway and things are chaotic and disorganized! I am hoping to be able to keep my cool through all of this and not end up in a straight jacket. I will be doing a mass mailing of family photos next week so if you're waiting, hang tight just a bit longer! Whew. Thanks!

Grey's Anatomy

It was 7:58 pm... I was busy making dinner and had a million things going at once. My husband casually says, "Isn't it a new Office tonight?" I look at the clock, gasp, and sprint out of the room. My two favorite shows premiered tonight and I almost missed them!!! I ran into the bedroom to tape The Office and kicked the boys out of the living room and turned it to Grey's. Did anyone watch?! I thought it was really good! I admit, toward the end of last season, I was a little disappointed in the story lines but still have to watch. I have a feeling it's going to be a good season! SPOILER: Now that George has professed his love to Izzie- I bet you money that Callie is going to be pregnant!

So yeah, I'm super excited for new shows to start up again!

HELL-O, look at this photo I found!!!

Henry

Henry came to visit me at the studio on Sunday! He is almost 11 months old and a very busy boy! After the studio we headed over to the park. Although it looks like a nice crisp Fall day, it was really 85 degrees and hot! Thanks for coming down guys!

Sophia

I first met Simone (Sophia's mom) while looking at a craigslist ad item for my sister. Simone lives in New Prague so my sister asked me to check things out for her since it was so close to me. In passing conversation, I mentioned to Simone that I was a photographer in town and she asked me if I was Olivia Wagner. Turns out she had already heard of me and had been wanting to book a session! Then, come to find out, my husband had recently refinished Simone's hardwood floors! What a small world!

We shot Sophia's pictures at a cute little pumpkin patch just outside of town. She was pretty reserved that day but we did manage to get out a few smiles. I know parents always love the smiley pictures best, but my favorites are always the serious ones! My favorite of this series is the one of Sophia holding the little pumpkin with her little tongue sticking out. How precious!

Exciting, exciting!

I just booked another wedding for next year and I'm scheduled to shoot a live birth on Friday!

Save the Barn!

People of New Prague and surrounding communities...

Your help is needed to save this barn. You may recognize it in some of my all time favorite photos and has been a recent favorite shooting place of mine. The barn is scheduled to be torn down next month. There is a public meeting on Thursday, September 27th at 7 pm in the New Prague City Hall, Council Room. This is a last ditch effort to come up with a possible use for this landmark. Possible uses for the barn are a history/community/art center. Money is available from State and National agencies for historic preservation projects such as this, but the support must come from the community!

I've always loved this barn, even before I became a photographer. It sits across from a newly built up piece of land and I think it could be used for something great! I would really hate to see it torn down and replaced with something commercial.

Please attend the meeting to show your support!

Fall Photo Shoot- just a few time slots left!

Here are the remaining time slots for the Fall Photo Shoots. The leaves have already begun to change rapidly so I'm thinking the timing is perfect!

September 29th- Minneapolis location (St. Anthony Main)

I will be sending out a mass email tonight about location information, time confirmation and directions on where to meet me. Please hang tight!

9:30 am: booked
10:15 am: booked
11:00 am: booked
11:45 am: booked
12:30 pm: booked
1:15 pm: booked
2:00 pm:
2:45 pm: booked
3:30 pm: booked
4:15 pm: booked
5:00 pm: booked
5:45 pm: booked

October 6th- St. Paul location (possibly Crosby Farm Park)

9:30 am: booked
10:15 am: booked
11:00 am: booked
11:45 am: booked
12:30 pm: booked
1:15 pm: booked
2:00 pm: booked
2:45 pm: booked
3:30 pm: booked
4:15 pm:
5:00 pm: booked
5:45 pm: booked

I have one of the slots for September in the works for being booked, so that only leaves 3 slots left!

I was just reading up on Crosby Farm Park but have never been there, so I would love to hear from someone who has firsthand experience. I read about trails and bluffs along the Mississippi and that sounded very appealing. I had last year's Fall Shoot at Hidden Falls which is right down the river and that ended up being a great location!

No internet!

Augggghhh! I haven't had internet all day. It is finally up and running and the guy figured out it was my router that was causing the trouble. I have been going insane, I had no idea how much I relied on the internet for EVERYTHING! Now I have a zillion emails to go through so bear with me if I'm a little behind in replying...

Thanks!

House progress!

I came home from my wedding on Saturday night to find our dumpster out front filled up with our old carpet! I walked inside to find almost everything cleared out and our kitchen's center island in the middle of our living room! Things are well under way here but a little confusing! It's throwing me off big time. My husband is stalled for now since the dumpster is full and he has yet to rip out the ugly linoleum on the kitchen floor. But once that floor goes, my working conditions will dramatically change. I am going to have to set up shop somewhere else. Also, once the floor is installed and ready to be coated, it's going to be a two-night stay in a hotel for us because the fumes are so bad. I'm actually looking forward to that part though! I could use a little vacation!

It's going to look so nice when it's all done though! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... Now we are talking about replacing all of our furniture in the living room.... yikes, don't you hate how you intend to fix one thing and it becomes a WAY bigger project than you first imagined? :)

Updates...

I'm finally caught up with blogging! I say that on a Friday night, going into a weekend of shooting...

I was planning on going up to Minneapolis on Thursday to check out a location for next Saturday's Fall Photo Shoot after my scheduled engagement shoot. Unfortunately, our shoot got canceled due to storms along with the hopes of picking out a location. As of now, I am planning on St. Anthony Main, but still need to get up there and check it out. I know it's driving all of you planners crazy but I honestly can't believe how fast it has come up. I feel as if I have had no time to do anything and the constant feeling of so much to do is overwhelming. As soon as I can get up there I'll get the specifics and send out an email. This weekend is crazy with a wedding and family shoots so I'm hoping for Monday.

Oh, and if life couldn't get any crazier... my husband is planning to install new hardwood floors in the rest of our upstairs which includes the kitchen/my "office" and living room. This is a HUGE project as we'll have to clear out our entire main living area including my workstation, refrigerator, stove, kitchen table, sofas, etc. and life as we know it will be out of commission for a week. We need to do the project before winter and I made suggestions as to when would work best with my schedule, but since he is doing all of the work, we're going according to his. ;) Also, since I'm booked solid, there's really no difference, any week is going to suck! So, my life is about to be turned upside down! I know all of you are very patient already, but I'll have to ask for extra patience once construction begins.

On an exciting note- I have booked my first 2008 wedding under my new pricing!

Graham and Gunnar

Referrals are funny. Serena is my cousin Myra's old college roommate. They lived together for 4 years and have since gotten married, started their own families and never see each other. It turns out, Serena lives 4 miles away from me, so when Myra was down at the studio last month Serena wished so bad that she could have stopped by to visit!

Serena wanted photos of Gunnar, who is almost 4 months old. She claims she doesn't have any pictures of him! Our session went great and the boys are so cute! About 20 minutes into our session, Serena asked if that was it and if we got enough. I was just getting warmed up! She said she was used to the mall places where they only take 5 shots. :) My absolute FAVORITE is the horizontal one of Gunnar holding his blanket. That is going on my website- STAT! I knew it the second I hit the shutter!

Braeden and Tiger

Braeden just turned 1! It was my first time meeting him and he brought along his buddy Tiger. It was a first for me- the first dog to ever have his photo taken in studio! We weren't sure how things would go as Braeden got sick on his way down, but everything went great! What a cutie!