Twin Cities Child Photographer - Sweet in Pink

I am SO enjoying my new studio, now that winter is upon us.  Now my clients can enjoy in-studio style consultations and sessions!  This little girl particularly liked posing on my fluffy bench. :-)

Twin Cities Newborn Photographer - Motherly Love

I love mom + baby sessions!  This was no exception.  So lovely.



Have you watched Mirah's Birth Story yet?

Twin Cities Family Photographer - Merry Christmas!

Twin Cities Newborn Photographer - Candy Cane Baby

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads..."

Twin Cities Maternity Fitness Photographer - Pregnant and Working it!

(Note: These images were taken only two weeks before my sister in law gave birth to our sweet Cecilie. )

My sister in law is a triathlete.  She was also pregnant with baby #6 when the following images were taken. You'd think pregnancy might deter one from working out as much, but not her.  She was not about to let physical fitness slide, simply because of pregnancy!

She trains with Pellicano Endurance Coaching (located in Saint Louis Park, MN), and I've gotta say - this was by far the most ingenuitive and customized workout I've ever seen or heard of.  After watching her push herself for 2 hours straight (while), I came to this conclusion:

Pregnancy is not a disability, or a condition that gives us the right to be lazy/complaintive.  We are all as strong or fit as we want to be.

You can truly do ANYTHING, if you set your mind to do it!

So here is your challenge for the day...if a woman at 39 weeks pregnant can do the following, anyone can.  :-)

Twin Cities Maternity Photographer - Pregnancy Fitness

Remember my amazing sister in law?

As well as being a mom of almost-six, she is also a highly motivated athlete.  So at 39 weeks pregnant, instead of cute or romantic maternity photos, she wanted...fitness photos.

Shall we say, empowered???!!

 

 

 

 

Psst...Okay, so we staged this to get a reaction.  ;-)   She usually lifts two 10lb weights while pregnant.  But that's still pretty incredible.

Twin Cities Beauty Photographer - Old-Fashioned Girls

A few more favorites from this  vintage photo shoot.

I want to do more of these!!

Twin Cities Fashion Photographer - Broken Windows

So, we found this broken window...and I just had to do something with it.

Twin Cities Fashion Photographer - Pocketful of Sunshine

That song is running through my head on repeat - but it really has nothing to do with this post.

Or does it?  My models do look rather sunny...

Anywho, I've wanted to start playing around with other, more commercial genre's of photography.  So I found two awesome ladies willing to pose for me, and we headed out to the Stone Arch Bridge and surrounding areas.  Beautiful scenery around there...and the decrepit old buildings were perfect for what I was looking for.


You'll be seeing a couple more posts of images taken from this photo session...enjoy.

Twin Cities Family Photographer - How NOT to Dress for a Family Photo

This is a recent photo of my mom, sisters and I.

Cute right?
Well, mostly.  :-)

If this was not an impromptu photograph we could have improved it a lot by our wardrobe choices!  Notice my bold-patterned shirt?  Well, this shirt is a pretty good example of what you should never wear for a family photo!

I encourage families to stay away from "matchy-matchy" outfits - everyone wearing shirts and bottoms of the same color is almost never a good idea for a family session.  Especially not black and jean! I know the same-color-shirts-with-jeans look sounds like a nice uncomplicated way to get a decent portrait, but it can also be disastrous.  Even if you don't mind it at the time, you may cringe at the sight of it years down the road!

My own family has a large, black-shirt-and-jean family picture, taken by a professional years ago.  Great picture overall - LOVE that we got the whole family together for it and I have great memories from the day.  But if you look at it for very long you'll begin to notice the children's "floating heads".  The children are of course being held, or standing in front of an adult who is wearing the exact same color shirt as they are - thus creating the illusion that they are nothing more than floating heads.  Funny illusion, but not so great for a family portrait.

When you are preparing for a photo session, first be sure to put each person in colors that compliment their skin tone.  This is possibly the most important step to creating a portrait the whole family will love.  The second, and more complicated step, is to choose colors that compliment each other and do not clash.  And thirdly - bonus points for choosing clothing you can layer, accessorize, or has a nice texture to it; this can add a lot of personality and depth to the finished portrait.

A good rule of thumb for those group holiday photos: Dress in neutrals (beige, ivory, taupe, black, gray, and white) which compliment your skin tone.  These colors will blend easiest and best for impromptu photos, and most people have a neutral colored shirt on hand.  The colors may sound a little boring, but you will find there are so many different shades within the neutral palette (pinks, greens and purples, even!) that can actually create very deep and rich color combinations.  Just be sure not narrow the colors down to black and white - you'll like the photo far more if you let everyone choose their own neutral combo.

Happy Styling!

Questions?  Leave me a comment below.

 

Twin Cities Family Photographer - Fall Flair

Have you noticed that it's BEAUTIFUL outside?!  Despite slight feelings of dread (regarding Minnesota's freakishly long winters), fall is my favorite time of the year.  And I am having a blast capturing the beauty fall holds for all of us.



 

You may notice this family from last years session.  I'm so happy to do this for them again. :-)

Would you like to get your holiday cards taken care of?  If you are interested in having me photograph your family portrait this year, please contact me ASAP.  Dates are filling up fast and Christmas will be here before you know it!

 

 

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Introducing MN Birth Photographers!

I've been hinting about this for sooo long now!  And now I'm happy to finally make it public.  MNbirthphotographers.com is up and running!


If you've been reading my blog for very long at all, you might have noticed that birth photography is a passion of mine.  I truly love it.  It holds a special place in my heart above all other forms of photography.

Ever since I first started photographing births, I began to realize that in order to be truly successful, and to live out my dream as a birth photographer, I would need to join with other photographers who shared a similar vision.  And so I founded MN Birth Photographers:  To elevate the art of birth photography by connecting expectant parents with photographers, and providing resources for the birth photography community.

It's all very exciting!  I am working with such a great team of photographers, and their encouragement and hard work is what has helped make this possible.

So check us out - and let us help capture the most important moments in your life. :-)

MNBirthPhotographers.com

Twin Cities Child Photographer - Swinging By

Ahhhh!  It's almost fall!  Wow.  That went fast.
It smells like fall, too.  Some of my neighbors have their fireplaces running already, and are making me wish for one of my own. Not because I'm cold of course, but because it smells so amazing. I'll admit that I've brought out my jacket a few times this week, but come on MN winters last half the year! I can't give in quite yet.  I'll be wearing short sleeves as long as we can possibly stand it.

So you might have noticed that I've been gone most of the summer.  This is partly because of  The Big Move - and all the busyness that comes with settling in.  But it's also because I've been heavily engrossed in a special project - a project I hope to release to the public in the next couple days.  I'm very excited about it, and I think my readers will appreciate it as well.  If you follow my facebook page at all, you might have a good idea what I'm referring to...

After such grand achievements I'm almost ready to come back to this blog full force...but you'll have to bear with me for just a while longer.  The October project is: Renovating the Studio!



P.S. Yes, my kids are incredibly cute, aren't they?  I love them so much I can hardly stand it!  They're just so squeezable!

Yes, squeezable.  And all of you moms out there know exactly what I mean. :-)

Twin Cities Child Photographer - iPhone's Make Good Photos Too

This may be a camera phone photo, but I think it is one of my favorites of Debbie, to date.  I'll keep my 7D and be oh-so-thankful for it, but the iPhone is pretty awesome for those random pictures I'd miss otherwise.

Oh yes, dirt piles make for endless entertainment at softball games.

Who needs a ball and a stick when all you need is a good pile of dirt??!
That's my Debbie.

 

Twin Cities Child Photographer - On Photographing One's Own Children

One of my initail motivations for pursuing photography, was so that I could take better photos of my own kids. This worked very nicely for the first couple years of my daughters life, but as soon as Debbie turned two she suddenly became very difficult to photograph. She just doesn't like it. Not usually - and especially not if her mother was behind the camera!

Much to her grandparents dismay, most of Debbie's pictures from the past year are of her looking the other away - or simply giving me that blank, smile-less stare. As if to say, "Okay mom, I'm looking at the camera - but I'm not going to like it."

Yesterday I tried to sit Debbie down for a quick little session in front of the living room window. The lighting was just perfect, and as I saw the way it lit up her blond hair I knew I had to capture the moment.

Only moments before I took this picture, Debbie was perfectly happy reading books and re-arranging the furniture. But the moment I tried to get her to sit still, this is the look she gave me:

[caption id="attachment_2078" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Seriously, how heart-wrenching is that?  I just want to take her picture, not her reason for existence."][/caption]

Apparently she was not going to make it easy for me.  Now I had to really work it.

Tickles, funny faces and peek-a-boo proceeded.  But it was her personal favorite that tipped the scale. You see, the one sure way to make Debbie laugh,  is to..

wait for it...

make scary growling dinosaur noises!

Girly, huh?

After a few growls (and reciprocating squeals), she gave me this:

But as soon as I took the shot she must have thought:  "Uh, oh, mom got me laughing! I'd better compose myself quick!"

This is OK though.  This look is so Debbie that it truly deserves to be captured.  Smiling is not always important - as long as you catch that gleam in their eye!

A couple tickles later, I got the look I really wanted.

[caption id="attachment_2082" align="aligncenter" width="467" caption="Ta-da!"][/caption]

Whew! That was a 10 minute work out right there.

As soon as I took this photo she was done, and on her merry way she went.

(As a side note, I am continually amazed at how exuberant, emotional and particular an almost-3-year-old can be!!! Where does this come from anyway??! - Oh. Right...)

And that my friends, is what it's like to be a photographer, photographing one's own children.  Not as easy as you might have thought, eh? :-)

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Juniper Helen : A Home Birth Story

Though I am in the midst of unpacking my house (and will probably be so occupied for a while), I hope you enjoy these images from Juniper Helen's birth!

Birth Photography continues to be a growing passion of mine, and without a doubt my favorite event to photograph. :-) I look forward to photographing more births for this fall!

Twin Cities Toddler Photographer - Lily is One!

The last time I saw Lilyana she was 6 months old!

And now here she is at a year, toddlin' around like a pro.



Such an adorable little princess!

I have had the pleasure of photographing Lilyana from the time she was a month old (and even before that, if you count the maternity session).  It is so much fun to watch these little ones grow, and to have the honor of documenting their mini milestones.  They all grow up so fast.  You have to work quickly if you want to catch moments like this on film!

---

The next time you  hear from me, I will be settled in my new HOUSE! We move this weekend.  I'm soooOOO excited to have a place for the little ones to run, as well as a studio for my clients. Oh yeah, good things happenin'.  Catch you on the flip side!

Twin Cities Toddler Photographer - More Lake Play + Summer Changes

Here are a few more favorites from this super-fun toddler session!



I apologize for this week's lack of posts, but I'm getting ready to move into my new house.  And yes, I am EXCITED.

This will be our first house as a matter of fact.  And though we have many sweet memories from life in this apartment (both of our babies were born here, afterall!), we are now more than ready to say goodbye.  A two bedroom apartment (on the 3rd floor no less) get's quickly cramped with two children under 3yrs on the loose.

So stay tuned - I look forward to showing photos of the new house, our plans for it, AND the beginnings of my new photography studio! So many exciting things happening this summer, and I'll do my best to keep this blog updated as they come about.

Twin Cities Child Photographer - Lake Play!

Do you still get this kind of a thrill as you wade along the beach?

How fun it is to be 1 year old!!

(Watch for more images from this fantastic session.  I simply couldn't resist sharing this one ASAP.)

Twin Cities Child & Baby Photographer - Deck Mornings

My sweet babes.



I live for mornings like this.  :-)