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Random thoughts for the day | Delano, MN Family Photography

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Lot’s of random thoughts running through my head today… People who go to the gym on a regular basis harbor a LOT of hostility for the newbies with new years resolutions. ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ made me cry last night. I hate having to pluck my face. I purchased airline tickets to Vegas using a scam of a company…I sure hope we get there okay. I’m seriously debating a new diet involving a lot of shakes. I’ve made Lucy cry three times this week…it’s only Tuesday. Facebook timeline, does anyone know how to navigate that puppy? The other night I dreamed about Katniss, Peeta and squirrels. Brady said the word ‘octogon’ today, I’ve never been prouder.

This family met me on a warm evening back in August. It was sunny, then raining, then sunny again. But the light stayed pretty the whole time, and this little field was just perfect, I can’t wait to go back there this summer! We’ve been trying to shoot this session for 2 years now, so I’m glad we finally got the chance to do it!

These step-brothers were so stinkin cute together

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, childrens photography, family photography, family portraits, kids photography, minneapolis, modern portrait photographer in minnesota | No Comments »

kayna | rogers, mn senior pictures

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

I don’t remember if I mentioned it here on the blog, but my 9 yr old daughter is on the school newspaper. How cute is that? It came out yesterday, and she proudly showed me 2 different articles that were published with her name in the credits. The newspaper tackles age appropriate fodder, such as, “do you prefer taco’s or popcorn chicken for lunch in the cafeteria?” And one of my favorites, “teachers…they’re just like us!” Which reminds me of ‘Celebrities, they’re just like us!’ Which makes me think that the student who wrote that article has a mother who is a huge ‘US Weekly’ fan.

One of Lucy’s articles was titled, “3 fun new recess games”. Let me just share one with you: Game # 2~Bonk the Ball into each other. You need: one ball for each person. Step 1-throw the ball at the same time. Step 2-see if the ball bonked in to each other. Step 3-do it again and again. *note-play this game carefully!

Is it just me, or has my daughter just taught the school a very lame version of dodge ball? I’m glad she cautioned everyone…and I hope that whoever trademarked dodge ball won’t come after her and claim that ‘bonk the ball into each other‘ is a copyright infringement.

Skipping ahead to another beautiful senior from earlier this summer. I love how these turned out~Kayna, you are a rockstar…and so is her mom….she even knew how to ’smize’! Smizing is a made up word by supermodel Tara Banks (america’s next top model)…it means to smile with your eyes. I just googled it to be sure I had the spelling correct…and apparently there is more than one definition to that word. Don’t bother looking…it’s quite nasty. You’ve been warned. Seriously, don’t go hitting the google search bar. Some things are better left alone. Ahhh, okay, let’s just go to the pictures~shall we!

This next shot is my favorite~the light is gorgeous, don’t you think?!

Looking at these pictures make me long for warmer temps…someday I’m moving this business to Arizona….this next shot could have been taken in the desert, don’t you think?

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, SENIORS, high school senior pictures, minneapolis, mn senior pictures, modeling, modern portrait photographer in minnesota, modern senior pictures in minnesota, senior pictures | No Comments »

not your typical guys weekend | minneapolis, MN newborn photographer

Monday, November 14th, 2011

This past weekend my husband Korey went up north for a ‘guys weekend’. I assumed ‘guys’ weekend would be similar to my ‘girls weekend’. Our girls weekends consist of beer, cards, food and visits to the bar. As we’ve grown older, the food to beer ratio has tipped in favor of good food…we still try and party like it’s 1999, but our bedtime has gotten a little earlier as the years get on. Sometimes I think my girlfriends are so manly it’s un-natural. I once tried to be sneaky and take the gals to a craft fair. It didn’t go over so well…three of them refused to get out of my van. I mean, who doesn’t like a good craft fair? They have fresh kettle corn for goodness sake.

Here are a few highlights of my husband’s notsomanly adventure with his 3 buddies.

* Winery Tour…No joke, they did this.

*Walk through the woods. (this did not involve a rifle and a deer stand, it was simply a stroll).

*Shopping in Walker.

*A visit to the headwaters of the Mississippi….and a scenic driving tour along the border of Canada.

*Appetizers at the nice restaurant in town.

*Chippendales Show. The guys went to the casino and surprise, surprise, the chippendales were in town! They claim they didn’t know anything about it…I’m not so sure.

*Coffee in bed. This one is my favorite…I said, “Kor, why don’t you ever bring ME coffee in bed?” He said he would but I would probably bite his head off for waking me up. True. true.

All in all, it sounds like they had a real cozy weekend. I get to have a mini-girls weekend with my sister-in-laws this weekend. The theme will be TWILIGHT. I’m excited!

Another sweet little newborn on the blog today! This chick was a fighter!! She was not a fan of sleeping and fought to keep her peepers open the entire afternoon! So the sweet, sleeping pictures that we did get I consider a total victory!!

princess!!

This is the view I saw the most…This face speaks to me…it says, ‘don’t mess with me’.

I love the feel of this last one, so pretty!

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, minneapolis, modern portrait photographer in minnesota, newborn, newborn photography, pictures of newborns | No Comments »

your mission: the casual wink | minneapolis maternity + newborn photography

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Winking is hard. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to master the art of the wink. I have recently found myself mildly obsessed with working a wink into conversation. For instance, I’ll be in the middle of a photo shoot, and I’ll say something cute and witty (usually it’s more tacky/raunchy, but just go with it), “Can I have you sit on this chair…no, no, uncross your legs…that’s what he said.” BAM, right there, perfect time for a sweet little smile and tiny wink. Only, it doesn’t look right. I look like I suffered a mild seizure. Or at the very least, developed a tic. I’ve practiced a lot in the mirror…it’s getting better, but it still seems to be missing something. I think it’s confidence. Or maybe it’s a gender thing, and only men look natural doing it (oooh, another ‘that’s what she said moment’). When a sexy, smouldering actor winks at me from the big screen….oh, I’m a blushing puddle. But in the real world, the only winks I’ve received have been from creepy Uncle Bob types.

So I challenge you all: go forth and wink. If you, like I, are naturally twitchy, keep firm rein on your non-winking eye, lest the wink turn into a blink.

Now that we’ve got our mission planned out (seriously, start simple, like a little thank you wink when you’re checking out at Target today), we can gaze at this combo maternity/newborn blog post! These pictures were all taken on the same day, as I moonlight as a mid-wife (GIANT WINK). Sorry. Anyways, love this couple~they are awesome….and they made a super cute baby…double awesome.

Fast forward a few weeks…..and TADAA! Baby girl is here and looking totes adorable

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, Uncategorized, baby bump, maternity portraits, minneapolis, modern portrait photographer in minnesota, newborn, newborn photography, pictures of newborns | 1 Comment »

the plan | cottage grove, mn kids photographer

Monday, June 13th, 2011

I always knew I wanted 3 kids. My firstborn was a total angel. She never gave us any trouble. The kind of baby you can buckle into a car seat, take with you to lunch…a movie…maybe some grocery shopping…and THEN get her out and feed her. I know, if everyone had babies like this…well, there would be a lot more of them!

After our daughter, I was ready to try again right away! But God had other plans. Every month I would convince myself that I was pregnant…I went through more pregnancy tests than you can imagine. A girl can only lie on her back with her legs in the air for so long before she can’t take it (how’s that for a nice visual…anyone eating lunch right now??!!), after some good doctor drugs, and a few sad miscarriages…we had ourselves our second child. And he was insane. Like, walking at 8 months insane. See, if I would have gone with my own time-table…Lucy & Riley would have been about 18 months apart. Instead, they are 3 years apart. Heaven help me if my own plan had worked! I definitely would have committed myself to some type of psychiatric ward.

The reason I was thinking about this today, is because the session I’m blogging today is of two siblings, ages 1 & 2. I don’t know how the mom does it, she is so cool and calm as the energy just pours out of these 2 crazy kids! Thankfully, God makes kids CUTE (a simple, but genius defense mechanism, so we don’t just leave our naughty kids in the woods somewhere for a pack of wolves to raise-this thought has NEVER crossed my mind, I swear). These two munchkins are extremely high on the cuteness scale…no chance of anyone leaving them in the woods

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, Uncategorized, childrens photography, kids photography, minneapolis, modern portrait photographer in minnesota, toddler photography | 1 Comment »

times have changed | st. michael, mn senior pictures

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Senior pictures have come a long way. When I was a senior (in the decidedly unfashionable mid-90’s), everyone wanted to get the EXACT same style photos as their friends. This usually meant the entire class passed out similar looking wallets of themselves posing against the same white pillar and hugging the same oak tree.)

Luckily, this trend is starting to die down, and seniors are finding their own style. They don’t want to look exactly like everyone else…because being unique has become the new trend. And if I’m totally off base, well then…let me know, and I’ll dig out a white pillar and we’ll all take turns leaning against it, arms crossed, smiling cheekily at the camera.

A few weeks ago, a lovely photographer friend of mine invited me to come along for a stylized senior session with two gorgeous girls. They had their hair and makeup done professionally, and had help choosing their outfits. We then hiked about 2 miles through a mosquito infested swamp to this beautiful little field. Sadly, I will never go back their again (did you not hear the part about the 2 mile hike??), but it was a beautiful location! Thanks Angie-for allowing me to tag along And thanks to ‘S’ & ‘L’, you girls definitely know how to rock a session!

Have you seen my senior site? Check it out HERE!

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, SENIORS, minneapolis, mn high school seniors, mn senior pictures, modeling, modern portrait photographer in minnesota, senior pictures | 15 Comments »

frostbite | minneapolis kids photographer

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

I can now add search and rescue skills to my resume. Yesterday, Lucy had a friend over, and they went outside to play. It was pretty cold out (I think it was about 9 degrees-too cold for me, that’s for sure), but they insisted. I went to check on them, and I couldn’t see them anywhere. I screamed and hollered, and there was no reply. Finally, I spotted a flash of pink up in one of the tree’s in the ‘forest’ area. How they even managed to hike out there is beyond me…the snow drifts are taller than I am. On their way back in, Lucy lost her boot and sock in a snow bank, and couldn’t get them out. She was just lying on her back with her foot in the air, crying. I tried coaching her from the front porch (screaming things like, “if you don’t hurry up, your foot will turn black and fall off”)…but I could see she wasn’t in any shape to un-bury her boot and get it back on her foot. So out I trudged…I tried to carry her back, but she is deceivingly heavy (not like me, you can pretty much tell I’m heavy at a glance!!), so I sort of dragged her and her naked foot back to the house. Well, at least I got my exercise for the day.

This is the 3rd time I’ve photographed this little cutie. Her pictures are on display all over my studio…can you blame me?

Her mommy has had one heck of a year, fighting breast cancer (and kicking ass, btw)…I begged her to jump in a few of the pictures (and then promised not to post them online)…so, even though I think she looks absolutely gorgeous (seriously, I don’t know anyone else who can pull of bald as well), I’ll just share this one…cuz the little peanut looks so cute!

And….goodnight.

Posted in childrens photography, kids photography, minneapolis, toddler photography | 2 Comments »

baby it’s cold outside | minneapolis kids photographer

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Why are people surprised that Christmas is almost here? It happens on the same date every year…like clock-work. My little brother called me yesterday, “soooo…what do you want for Christmas?” Really? You wait until December 22nd to ask me what I want? Then he asks what he should get my parents. My mom says it’s a guy thing, but I think it’s a Mike thing. Well, I imagine it will be gift-certificates all around! And I’ll be happy, because who doesn’t like a gift certificate?

I’m going to be really sad when Christmas is over…because my middle guy, Riley has been especially well-behaved these past few weeks. As soon as he starts acting wild or naughty, all I have to do is pick up the phone and give him ‘the look’, and he instantly corrects his behavior. The last thing he wants is for mom to put a call in to Santa this close to Christmas…he asked for ‘criss-cross-crash’ (it’s a hot-wheels track), and he would not be satisfied with a lump of coal. Does Target sell lumps of coal? Just in case?

This session was so much fun…and SO cold. We shot this right before Thanksgiving, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a session where I couldn’t feel my hands or my face after 5 minutes. Little ‘K’ was a very busy little 4 yr old (which kept him warm…thank God for small favors!), and it took me awhile to figure out the best way to keep him still. Dirty words. Worked like a charm. Of course, his mom had to deal with him saying “stinky poop” for the rest of the day, but I’ll do whatever it takes!

Isn’t momma gorgeous? I went to college with her…we were dorm-neighbors at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato…ahhh, the good old days. When I’d stay up until 4am and then take a big old nap every afternoon. We had more fun breaking the rules there…but I digress, back to the pictures!

Did I mention how fast her little dude is? Holy buckets, he took off down the stone arch bridge, and I didn’t think she’d ever catch him.

As you can see, catch him she did!

I think he has wings.

Posted in Minnesota Photographer, childrens photography, family photography, family portraits, kids photography, minneapolis | 5 Comments »