Next time = Bug spray

This shoot was a memorable one. Everything was going just fine until we decided to try a new location. It was an old, run-down farm that I had been wanting to use as a location for a while. I had finally tracked down the owner and gotten permission to shoot there, so we decided to try it out that evening. Well, no one warned me about the millions of mosquitoes that would start swarming me as soon as we got on the property! In fact, they were so bad (like 20-30 on me and around me at a time) that right after I took this shot…

I inhaled one.

Not only was this highly embarrassing (hacking up a lung in front of my clients), but also super disgusting! The feeling of bug-in-windpipe did not go away easily.

Luckily, when we left the property, the mosquitoes stayed there!

Here are the rest of the photos…

Copycat. Me. I am a Copycat.

When I arrived to this session a few weeks ago, we were looking through this little guy’s clothes that mom had picked out for the photos, and I saw this great little Paul Frank sweatshirt. I said, “Oh yay! We will totally do some in this, I love Paul Frank stuff.” Then she proceeded to tell me that Paul Frank had a limited time line at TARGET. You are kidding me!!! (I believe I said this about 10 times.) Wait, Paul Frank boys clothes…in my price range?  D o e s .   N o t .  C o m p u t e .

So this is where the copycat part comes in:

After the session was over, I immediately drove to Target to buy Paul Frank stuff for my boys. And it felt dang good!

Here is proof. Ian and Cy’s picture on the first day of school, lol!

Now here are the photos from the session! You may recognize this family from a maternity and a newborn shoot last year…

The Queen’s Birthday

Happy Birthday to Queen of the Castle magazine! I appreciate all that they do for the women of the Chippewa Valley, and the opportunities I have had to work with them over the years. I had the privilege of shooting the cover of their latest issue, and had a blast doing it. So if you get a chance, pick up a copy and check it out!

I don’t have words…

Words cannot describe how much I love this family. Even though they were the “brains” behind the TP-ing of my house this summer, I STILL love them! (hmm. maybe I should post some photos of THAT!) They are honest, real, and truly loving people. I seriously could write a few paragraphs of the reasons I love them, but that would be overboard now, wouldn’t it? ; )

Soon after they welcomed home the 6th member of their family (from Ethiopia, the beautiful Brihan!!), they knew it was time to have a new family picture taken– and of course some updated photos of the girls.

And don’t miss your opportunity to see the three guys later in the post. It will be worth it.

Enchanted forest, old castle, and lollipops?

Seems like a weird combination, but for these three awesome kids, it worked perfectly.

This shoot ended up being the culmination of many ideas that have been rolling around in my head since I started my business in 2006. I have wanted to do a shoot at this location for a long time now, and have also wanted to add some deliciously colorful and sweet lollipops to some kid sessions as well! So when the opportunity arose to do both, I snatched it!

Of course we had to do some nice photos pre-sugar. ; )

Now, ON TO THE CASTLE!!

Now, bring on the SUGAR!!!

Also, a shout-out to Blakelee’s Chocolates and Sweet Things on Water Street for providing the gigantic lollipops!