Twin Cities Family Photographer - Sweet Tea

When my friend Amanda asked about a family session, I was so excited - because I knew exactly what it should look like.  Amanda has a great appreciation for vintage charm and loveliness, so I automatically started thinking in terms of white muslin, tea sets, quilts and lace. And just by coincidence, she already possessed just the right items to style her experience.   What fun!

I think the kids were especially pleased to play tea and eat cookies with their parents.  What's not to love about tea and cookies?

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!

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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!