Jack and Ari

It is always a pleasure to see these boys... Ari just turned one and Jack is four. These two are long time clients of mine and I just can't get over how big they've gotten!
I love his cute little face...





I wish I would have gotten his eyes in focus but I still love this picture. By the looks of it you'd think he was just laying here, but I happened to snap this in a matter of about 2 seconds right before he popped back up and took off!
The closest we could get to the both of them together!
Jack wasn't loving smiling for the camera today... I think four year olds sometimes just have to prove that they don't have to do what you want them to do. I did manage to snag this gem in the final minutes of our session. It was well worth the wait!
Good to see you again K&R!

A cute little owl and some mud.

I fell in love with this owl backpack at Anthropologie and just had to get it. We already had an owl hat so I threw together an outfit today after the pack was delivered. We also had to take advantage of the nice day out since it's supposed to snow and be cold tomorrow. I promised Aidan there would be some puddles in it for him so he was excited to do photos!






The only rule was... don't drop the backpack in the mud!

Spring/Summer Outfit Ideas

So... I got my mini Boden catalog in the mail today and I was drooling! I was fighting the urge to order about a dozen things for the boys and wishing I had a girl! There are some great spring and summer items in there, check it out!

My number one question I'm asked is, "What should I dress my child in?" Here are some great ideas! As you can see, accessories are a must! It's not just about finding a cute dress, it's the contrasting tights, fun rain boots, and a cute sweater to go with it. All of these additional layers and items add so much more to the photo and can always be removed later in the shoot. I love when things are coordinated, but not necessarily all items from the same store. For my boys, I usually find one "inspiration" piece that I am in love with, whether it be a hat, boots, etc. then pull color or texture from it and end up finding other matching items elsewhere.

I LOVE styling shoots, so if you don't have a clue, let me know what your budget is and I'd be happy to help coordinate an outfit for you! To me, fashion inspires photography and it all ties together with finding the perfect location and props for that amazing shoot.

October Portraits

Hello blog friends!

I've been so busy with EVERYTHING but just wanted to give a quick update on fall booking. I know it's crazy to start thinking of fall portraits when it's still winter but due to a crazy amount of weddings I am taking on for October, I will be scheduling a limited amount of portraits in October 2009. I will be taking one family shoot per week, on a weekday during the 4 weeks in October. Since the weddings are on Friday and/or Saturday of each weekend, I am keeping Sundays sacred for my own personal sanity and to spend time with my family. This means there are NO Saturdays or Sundays available in October! If you were planning on a fall shoot, please keep this in mind as it's going to kill me to turn people away come September but I do have my limits and want to keep quality top priority. If I remember correctly, 5 pm appointments were blessed with some amazing light that time of year! As of now, I do have November 7th and 8th open if you wanted to schedule outdoors before it starts to get too cold. I am possibly thinking of doing an all day shoot up in the cities on Saturday, September 26th if I don't end up booking a wedding that weekend. There usually isn't fall colors that early though. :(

For now, here are a couple of pictures of Aidan with his birthday cake. He was a bit conflicted this year... he wanted Iron Man invitations but a Wall-E birthday cake. Thursday the 26th is his actual birthday and we're celebrating with some family hotel water park fun! The big family celebration is always fun but so hectic so I am looking forward to a bit of a mini-getaway!

Sophia and Aidan

My niece Sophia and my son Aidan are 3 years and 5 days apart. This weekend is their big party weekend so today I tried to get some 2 year and 5 year photos at the studio.





I got this sweater and hat set ages ago at babyGap. It's been in the closet forever so I finally decided to bust it out. Aidan wasn't in the mood for photos so this is pretty much all I got!



I'm excited to officially celebrate this weekend!

Jami and Robert

To capture the spirit of a couple. That's what I always strive to do when shooting engagement sessions. It was my first time meeting Jami and Robert, she booked me specifically just to shoot their engagement session since their wedding will be up north this summer. When trying to brainstorm for ideas for the session, Jami mentioned that Robert didn't have hockey on Valentine's Day so that was their only available weekend. Hockey? Well, we must do photos skating! Jami also loved the urban style engagement photos so we hit up some of the Minneapolis hot spots along the river. It was freezing but we got a chance to warm up inside the Guthrie. It was actually my first time there if you can believe it! It was great getting to know them and I felt that I captured their spirit and had a great time doing it.

p.s. I discovered a new talent today, I can shoot on skates!












One of my favorites of the day:
A la Sixteen Candles- minus a birthday cake.

I love the feel of this one:
I could have posted so many more! Happy Valentine's Day!