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 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 - 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 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 & Baby Photographer - Deck Mornings

My sweet babes.



I live for mornings like this.  :-)

Twin Cities Family Photographer - Shula's One Year Old!

One year ago, this little sweetheart was born 2 months early. You may have read all about it here. Three months later I had the pleasure of taking this photo of her after she returned from the NICU. And now, she's one year old!



As you can see, Shula is such a joy to her parents and those around her.  We are so thankful to have her with us!

Twin Cities Child Photographer - An Afternoon With Debbie

Over Memorial Day weekend my little family took a trip to visit the grandparents in the country.  While there I proceeded to follow Debbie with the camera, attempting to film her as she dashed about.  This little movie was mostly practice for me, as I begin to venture into the movie world...but it's also a nice little memory.  I love hanging out with my little girl. :-)

Twin Cities Family Photographer - Familial Love

Almost every family has them - the child or parent who does not want to be photographed.

But lucky me - this was not one of those families!

This session was such a pleasure.  I love it when clients get into the process and start coming up with their own ideas. They had such enthusiasm about the session, and you can tell from the photos how much fun they were having.  Sometimes the best part of a session is simply watching families play.  It's such a joy to see. :-)

Twin Cities Baby Photographer - Christening Overalls

Just before I got married, my grandmother gave me a beautiful antique china doll that had been made by my Great Aunt Ista.  I grew up around this doll and can remember being a little kid and specifically going to "visit" the China dolls placed in my grandmother's guest room.  This life sized china doll (when I say life-size, I mean its about as big as a 2-3 month old baby - and is actually *chubby* looking!) is named Michael, and was meticulously dressed in a beautiful white, hand made Christening gown, complete with a lace cap, white stockings and patent leather shoes.

The day my grandmother gave me this doll, I said to myself "This will be the Christening gown for all of my future children!"

And just as I had planned, a little over a year later I had my little Debbie, and dressed her in this gown for her baptism (see the image on the left - Debbie at 3 months).

However, when I mentioned this plan to my husband, he said that though he liked the tradition for the girls, his future boys were not going to wear a dress.  "Not even if it's cammo!" he said.

Two years later...enter Byron.  The first boy, and no Christening gown for him!

I thought it would have been cute to find him a little suit or something for the baptism, but I couldn't find anything locally, and I didn't plan ahead enough to purchase online... so I found a little blue bow tie, and this cute overall w/polo shirt combo at Target.  He looked adorable in it, as you can see!

So my boys may not get the Christening gown, but I think we have a sufficiently cute replacement.  Christening overalls (w/bow tie!).  Oh yes, I'm satisfied. :-)

But I wonder if Byron secretly feels a little jipped?

Twin Cities Food Photographer - Gluten Free Chocolate Lava Cakes

I have no illusions - I am in no way an illustrious cook. Not even a lustrious one. In fact, I'm barely a cook.

BUT, I do try. And every so often I'm successful at it. So lets pretend I'm a foodie for just a moment...

My recent try: Gluten Free Chocolate Lava Cakes. These were such a huge success that I simply have to tell you about them. They have changed the very tone of my recent (mostly) gluten free existence!

I created this recipe by mixing two recipes together...with just a little of my own ingenuity involved. So here I am taking a thankful nod towards Gluten Free Fix, and Cooks Illustrated {*nod*,*nod*}.

But why is this recipe so amazing? Well, besides the fact that they are delicious (and cakey - a treat seldom found within the gluten free diet), I love the fact that you can easily save and cook this dessert for a later date. - Catch that? You can pre-make this dessert, and then days/weeks/months later have it baked up and fresh within approximately 12 minutes. Oh, how I love love love love this simple fact!!!  This makes it the perfect dessert for random company - or possibly for those times you bring someone a meal. A new mom / neighbor / friend perhaps?

No matter who you make it for, they will love this cake too, I promise.
(Unless of course they are allergic to chocolate, butter or eggs...heh. Keep that in mind.)

So, on to the recipe.

You will need:
6 Ramekins & an Electric Mixer
...as well as (hopefully) more obvious essentials, such as an oven, measuring spoons, etc...

Ingredients:

6oz Dark Chocolate (I used approximately 15 squares from Trader Joes' 72% Dark Chocolate "Pound Plus" bar. Because I *heart* Trader Joes.)
1/2c butter (+ extra for buttering the Ramekins)
4 eggs
4 drops of Stevia Concentrate (if you don't have/want to use Stevia, simply increase the sweetener to 2/3c)
1/3c Maple Syrup or Honey
2Tbs Coconut Flour (or regular flour if you're not going the gluten free route)
1t Vanilla Extract
1/4t Salt

• Step 1. Preheat oven to 400.


• Step 2. Butter Ramekins GENEROUSLY (I've also used Coconut oil for this step. Successfully, I might add.)


• Step 3. Melt butter and chocolate together (I use the microwave. You can if you want).


• Step 4. In a separate bowl, add Eggs, Maple Syrup/Honey, Vanilla, and Salt. Using the electric mixer, whip these ingredients together at a crazy high speed until the volume nearly triples. You will know it's ready when the mixture drops from the whisk in a thick stream. It may take 5-10 minutes to reach this consistency, depending on your mixer.


• Step 5. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate, as well as 2Tbs Coconut Flour. Whip all of this together until you get a nice even chocolate color.


• Step 6. Pour the mixture into 6 prepared Ramekins.

At this point you can choose to cover the Ramekins with plastic wrap and SAVE them for a later date (place them in the fridge or your freezer), or you can cook them right away. When cooking immediately, bake for 12-14 minutes.  However, if refrigerated/frozen it may take slightly LESS time for them to bake (funny how that works!).

Bake the cake until it has a thin crust on top, but you can still see a runny chocolate center (clue #2 - the center will jiggle if shaken slightly).

I recommended baking one cake individually at first, just to get your timing right. That way you don't end up with a bunch of cakes too runny or too done (too done is particularly sad - the creamy melted goodness is the best part!).

Once baked, let cool for about a minute. Then set a plate upside down on top of the hot ramekin, and (using something to protect your hands of course!) quickly flip the whole thing over. The lovely little cake should flop right out of the ramekin if you buttered it enough - otherwise you'll need to loosen the cake by running a knife around the edges.  If that doesn't work - just eat it out of the Ramekin.  It tastes just as good. ;-)

This dessert is phenomenal when paired with ice cream. It's also quite fantastic when paired with berries and whipped cream. Either way, it's an amazing, easy gluten free dessert that I simply can't get too much of. Be sure to let me know what you think, if you try it!

Twin Cities Baby Photographer - Little Dahl Boy

Poor kid.  Doesn't stand a chance. ;-) (Caption courtesy of my dear husband!)

Seriously, how cute is that???!!

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Why I Hired a Birth Photographer

After reading my last post you are probably wondering why I would hire a birth photographer at all.  Seeing as I'm not fond of my own pregnant pictures - why in the world  would I want images from the actual birth??!

Because of moments like this.

At the birth of my first child, I did not know any better. Someone did take a few photos - but the light was very dim/tricky (common at births!), and this person did not know how to use my camera very well. Because of this, of the few images taken I do not have a single image from the day that was not blurry. Totally my fault. I had not prepared. But moreover, I was not prepared for how much I would care about those images after the birth. Before the birth I had seen other people's birth videos and thought to myself "why in the world would you ever want to remember that?!".   Birth was scary enough to me at this point - I had no interest in preserving those moments forever, because I had no reason to think that I would or could ever appreciate them!

Thankfully somebody else decided to care - realizing that one day, I would care too.
Now I cherish the few blurry image from that birth!  And now I realize how important it is to have a birth photographer.

But why are these birth images so important to you?

1. My birth images empower me to be a better, stronger person. There are few times in my life when I've been given strong and constant support and affirmation, towards achieving a goal.  And so far, I've only experienced a couple times when I've achieved something unarguably incredible (here is a hint -giving birth!).  I may not have looked my best at the time, but that's really not the point.  It's about what I was able to achieve, with the help of God and support of others.  These images remind me "If I can do that, I can do anything"!


2. My birth images help me to never forget the "firsts". I forget things so easily (my husband can attest to this!).  It actually scares me sometimes, how easily I forget things.  I think this is part of the reason why I became so interested in photography in the first place - because it became so important to me, to remember. To always remember the people most important to me, and the times we've shared together.  So of course, after I determined I actually wanted to remember the births of my children ( ;-) ), capturing images from those moments became paramount.  I can hardly express how happy I am that 5 years from now I'll be able to look at these birth images, and be reminded what those "first moments" looked like.  I'll remember how thrilled my little Debbie looked, the first time she saw her baby brother!  How proud my husband looked the first time he saw his son (awww!!); and how my sweet baby looked, the moment I met him for the very first time.  These "firsts" are captured moments I'd be sad to forget - and so I thank God for cameras and birth photographers.

These are also some of the reasons related to why I became interested in birth photography as a profession.  But I'll leave the details on that for a future post. :-)

So why did you hire a professional birth photographer?




1. I couldn't take them, myself! Obviously.  But I also knew that unless I specifically asked assigned someone to exclusively take photos, I would have a very difficult time finding anyone else with the "free time" to take pictures.  Afterall, my husband would be paying full attention to me (and I wanted him in the photos!), and my doula and the midwives would have their hands full as well.  I didn't want a repeat of the first birth, where I only got a few blurry photos...so I knew professional was needed.


2. I wanted good pictures of my brand-new baby. Come to find out - new babies are exhausting.  So exhausting in fact, that I barely have any pictures of my first baby before she was three weeks old (just fyi, camera phones don't [yet] make for quality documentation), and by then she looked so different from when she was first born!  By hiring a birth photographer I was assured that I would have quality images of my baby as a newborn.  This was important to me, so I knew I needed a birth photographer.  This turned out to be a wise decision, as my hardy little boy has grown out of his "newborn look"  very quickly.  By hiring a professional birth photographer I was able to get some beautiful images of my brand-new baby, and I am so happy to have them!

Now I know I have yet to tell the tale of how I came to choose the fabulous Erica Laurice as my birth photographer...but I'll have to leave you in some suspense.  Babies to tend to, and all that!  But go ahead and view more images from the birth on her blog...and stay tuned for my next post.

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Byron is finally here!

It's been so long since I wrote last - and no doubt you've forgotten all about me!  But in my defense, some very big things have been happening around here lately.  And most importantly...

[caption id="attachment_1749" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Me, at the baby shower - week 40!"]

Byron is finally here!

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Derek Michael: A Birth Story

This little guy showed up somewhat unexpectedly, over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a beautiful, joyful -  dare I say perfect birth - giving his parents much to be thankful for.  I am yet again amazed at the wonder of new life, and the blessing this brings to all of us.

I am also super excited to share the slideshow I created for this birth (below), because I've added clips of REAL FOOTAGE from the birth itself (don't worry, it's the good kind)!  Give it a watch and let me know what you think.

At the time I wasn't sure how it would all turn out, so I didn't even let the mom and dad know I was going to film anything.  But they really liked the results! I hope to create more slideshows like this for future clients, as I think these little "live moments" really help to capture the powerful emotion of the event.  I'm VERY excited at the possibilities of this approach, and look forward to pursuing it further!

Twin Cities Pregnancy & Birth Photographer - Yoga Winners!

Welcome to 2011!

And now to reveal the 3 winners of my Blooma Yoga contest.  Thanks to each of you for leaving such encouraging comments on my Why Birth Photography? page. I love hearing from my readers!

This contest entitles 3 winners to a whole month of unlimited Blooma Yoga classes.

And the winners are...

Amanda Oman

Natalie Kirby

&

AnnDee Bashyal

Thanks again for entering!  I'm so excited to share this prize with you, and I hope each of you enjoy it to the fullest.

Twin Cities Wedding Redux Photographer - Wedding Photos (Re-done) a Year Later!

My friend Jen had a beautiful wedding. Everything went perfectly (for the most part!), and everyone had a great time. But to her, there was one disappointment...her wedding photos.

One year after her wedding, Jen formed a grand idea to resolve this problem. Why not fly her friend Elizabeth all the way down to TN, to do a Wedding Redux?

Well, this turned out to be more than a grand idea - it was a GREAT idea! Jen and I had so much fun planning this session, and all without the wedding-planning-pressure like the year before. We had the time and leisure to visit 3 different locations and to get all the poses she wanted. Her husband Zach was a great sport about it as well - I think he enjoyed seeing his wife so excited and happy. :-)

My favorite part was seeing the amazed look on Jen's face as I periodically showed her images on my camera. Jen forgets how beautiful she is, even though she could be a model. It was my pleasure to provide irrefutable proof of this! :-)



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