Looks like the comments are accumulating for my last post. 14 comments so far! Remember that the family needs 25 comments for a free 5×7 print, so if you haven’t commented yet, be sure to help them out!

Here is another wonderful family from a shoot a while back. We had a great time out in the country air (minus the slight scent o’ manure–haha!) on some land that this family owns and has plans to build on someday. They informed me that this was their first official family photo shoot EVER. What an honor to be the first photographer to capture this family in photos!

Well, for the last 8 days I have been sick with the flu. The cough, nose, throat, body ache, laying-in-bed kind. And if you read my last post you know that I DON’T HAVE TIME TO BE SICK!!!!! Well, I was finally able to finish these images for these awesome people last night, who have been so kind to me while waiting for their photos (as you can see from their attire, this shoot took place WEEKS ago!)

So a little bit about them…

There are times in our lives when we meet people who are truly deeply in love, deeply connected, and just overall great people. They enjoy each other, they know how to live life to the fullest, and they radiate kindness and peace.

In honor of their coolness, I am going to do a CONTEST. If they get 25 comments on this post, I will give them a free 5×7 print. So help them out, people! Leave a comment so that these folks can have a free photo of their choice!

Here are some great shots from a recent senior shoot. In light of today’s huge snowfall here in WI, I am enjoying this look back at a (much) warmer day when I got to ride shotgun in Zack’s super-cool Jeep…which his mom was driving. Zach was chivalrous enough to drive his mom’s minivan so these two gal pals could take his Jeep for a spin. Thanks, Zack! And don’t worry, you still looked cool driving the van.

I am so behind on blogging and editing it is not even funny! This fall has been my busiest since the beginning of Genesis Photography. Thank you so much to all of my clients who have been waiting so patiently for their photos. I promise, they are all coming!!! And Mikayla, I know you are reading this…rest assured that your brother’s photos and your family photos are coming soon…next, in fact!.

For this next shoot, we drove out to Coon Fork County Park at the request of this senior. Her family has tons of special memories there, and now we can add these fun images to their list. It was a perfect evening for photos, and the natural outdoor beauty of our surroundings helped to capture Brittney’s natural beauty and energy. Enjoy!

Chelsea’s one special request for her senior photos was to have some shots taken in water. So we found the perfect spot, set up the shot, and then gradually realized that Chelsea wasn’t alone in the water! About three minutes into shooting, she started laughing nervously and saying “I think something is biting me…” but she bravely shook it off and we kept shooting. It was only a minute later when she realized something was, in fact, biting her, and she immediately got out of the water. What do you think Chelsea, was it worth it? =)

Oh, and a few of the locals wanted to get in on the action!

It seems that I have a story to go with every shoot lately! And this shoot was certainly no different. We were about 3/4 done with the shoot, and we had just headed back to our vehicles for a possible location change, when all of a sudden—BAM!, a huge noise rang through the air. We turned our heads and saw a terrible car accident about 50 feet from us. My senior’s mom and I both called 911 and heard kids in one of the vehicles screaming and crying (from the shock…they weren’t injured) so we headed over to help in any way we could. Both drivers were very shaken up, and soon an ambulance and firetruck came and the medics took over.  After they arrived, I took this photo:

It was a scary situation, and it took my adrenaline a couple hours to subside.

So here are the beautiful photos from that shoot. These are what make this session memorable to me. They are some of my favorite senior images ever, especially this first umbrella photo. Sofi, I love your sense of style and I had a wonderful time photographing you. Hopefully next time it will be a less eventful meeting!

I know this senior thought I was crazy when I lathered on the 10 gallons of bug spray, but when I explained the inhalation/mosquito attack situation from my previous shoot, she understood I was crazy like a fox, not just plain crazy. (Grant told me to write the fox part. He is so lame.)

Lindsey, I hope you have a wonderful senior year, and I know that whatever path you choose will be a blessing to many people.

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…

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…

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!