I have known Brian for a while. Actually, he was my professor when I went to the U of MN to finish my degree. {Before you find yourself doing calculations, I was an older student and he was a young professor which made us about the same age.} We developed a friendship filled with mutual respect.

And then there I was, photographing his engagement session to Jessica. And their love was so true and joyful that I had to stop for a moment because inside I was incredibly happy for my friend.

Happy that they share true-love laughter often. Happy that Jessica looks at him with the most beautiful googly-eyes I have ever seen. Happy that I got to spy on their private moments and that they are wonderful. Brian and Jess are companions and friends and really two of the nicest people I have ever met. They are considerate and intuitive and kind and smart. And madly in love. And it shows.

It was a joy to photograph them alone, and with Brian’s son, Gavin {who, by the way, is three days younger than my Bella!}. They are an exceptional family and I am so excited to photograph their wedding in January!

A special thanks to Brain and Jess for braving the cold. We made a perfect plan in the summer to do a fall shoot with the beautiful leaves. We had no idea that it would snow so early this year and be in the 30s during their shoot. I do not know how they managed to look so happy and comfortable while shivering. I guess that’s what love does to you…

How could we resist cupcakes at Cupcake? We had so much fun and I am pretty sure that Gavin will only want to go there with me in the future as I was encouraging him to eat more and put frosting on his nose! If only my kids were so lucky.:)

I just want to say one more thing…Gavin is one of the nicest little boys I have ever met. To use Jess’s words, he is very disarming. He made me feel so welcome, and even though I was behind the camera, he insisted on me being a part of the cupcake-sharing rituals too. He is definitely a special and much-loved little boy and I cannot wait to see him again in January!

We had just finished the traditional groups shots. Then we did a more formal shot outside of the stunning church.

Then somebody said, “How about a tummy bump?” In my head I thought, “Did I really just say that? Did I just suggest that the bride and groom do a tummy bump in front of the church right before their ceremony? Huh, I guess I did.” Then I saw it in their eyes. They were eagerly looking at me, ready to go! Yes, ready to do the bump – right then and there. Oh how I love people who are willing to go along with my crazy ideas!

So, Megan and Ben get a fun little sneak peek, just like them! I hope it was worth the little grass stain before the wedding.:)

And because I know that it will be a while until you see your images, I thought I would give you one more…:)

More to come sometime in the future…

Lisa and Mike have had full lives. They have been married before. They have children and step-children. They have their own quirks and hobbies and interests. They are not new to life. But they were never home. They were searching.

Like Dorothy.

Lisa has loved Dorothy for a very long time. You know, the Dorothy. The midwest girl who gets thrown into a situation and has some crazy monkey-witch battles. The girl who stands tall and strong and keeps on the path, hoping to go home in the end. The Dorothy, who, along the way, meets some of her best friends. The kind of friends who help each other on the path only to discover that they were helping themselves too. And all the time she has a little dog under her arm. Her constant companion. Yes, Lisa loves that Dorothy.

And let me assure you that this is no coincidence. This is Lisa’s story too. This is her core and she is wonderful for it.

And now she headed home to where her heart is. Where Mike is. Where they both can laugh freely and rest their souls without fear. Where Lisa can hang her fancy red shoes and her barn boots.

Welcome home Lisa and Mike.

Mike is a talented piano player who worked hard for months before the wedding playing and recording all the music for the big event! Lisa did her part too – she wrote the entire ceremony.

You may recognize the little pumpkin in the images below as she is my little Bella! Lisa is a dear family friend of ours. I was so honored when she asked Bella to be in the wedding and me to photograph it. It was a blessing. And fortunately Bella didn’t do too bad for her first wedding.

Lisa and Mike, we wish you many blessings over the years. It was so wonderful to be a part of your day and feel the love between you two. It has also been my pleasure to work on all the wedding images and re-live your wonderful day. It was beautiful.

Here is their slideshow if you would like to view it…

When I first decided that I wanted to do photography professionally, my plan was to take awesome photos and hand over a disk of images to my clients for them to do what they would like with them. 

A month after I purchased my first digital SLR, I gave a CD of images from Christmas to one of my sister-in-laws. I printed out a few for myself, they looked great. Then one day I was at my mother-in-law’s house and I saw a terrible picture. It looked kind of like one that I had taken but it was orange and dark and blurry. My mother-in-law said that my sister-in-law had printed out a few of my images from Christmas at Costco and had given them out to our family. So there were my images, with my name on them, in the hands of people I love…and they looked terrible!

And I saw so clearly how much I love photography and think of my images as my babies and how I want them to be the best they can be.

I saw what a difference a professional printshop (and Photoshop) made on my images. That neon sign said that I needed creative control from start to finish. I knew that I wanted to be more than a photography chop-shop. I wanted to give my clients full service. I wanted to spend quality time with my clients and not try to squeeze as many sessions in a week as I could. I wanted to make sure that all images bearing my name were as good as they could be. I saw clearly the direction I wanted to go and never looked back.

I can’t show you the print quality until you come to my office, but I thought it might be fun (and a little nerve-wracking on my end) to share some before/after Photoshop images with you! 

Although a good image needs to be well-composed and exposed with great lighting and expressions right out of the camera, every image needs a little tweak before I share them with my clients. Some tweaks are so minor that no one would ever notice but me. And some images just cry to be played with a bit more like two recent images below.

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I liked this image. Beautiful Dani. The pose. The lighting. The blues. The wind in her hair. But straight out of the camera it deserved a little something. A little special Photoshop effort…

This is now one of my favorite images! So warm and soothing and I cannot take my eyes off of hers.

Again, right out of the camera this had potential. These two were so full of affection and they were having a great moment (on a cute bridge)…

But this Photoshop technique made this image even more special! This is also one of my new favorites!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little behind-the-scenes and saw how I came to run my business the way I do. It was really guided by the love of photography and commitment to quality (that sounds like such a warm and cozy corporate moral phrase!).

This may be the first time I have publicly shown my straight-out-of-the-camera shots (I hope you still like me!). I am feeling a little naked at the moment but I know I will get over it. Maybe I should have paid attention to the flashing buzzing sign in my window now that says I should keep some things to myself! What fun would that be?

And the images of Megan and Ben’s engagement session were beautiful. 

Of course, as their photographer I will take some of the credit for the beauty of these images. I work hard. However there is the big beauty in these images that comes directly from Megan and Ben. It is in their joy to be with each other. It is in the comfort of their touch. In the sparkle of their eyes.  The clutching of their hands. They have such joyful easy laughter that shines through in their images, and that makes them beautiful. And…their good looks certainly help too!

It was an absolute joy to photograph Megan and Ben. They are so full of kisses and laughter. They are true naturals in every way – with the camera, with me, and most importantly, with each other. 

I am so excited to photograph their big day in August! Does your dress have a pocket for tissues, Megan?

Aren’t they a good-looking couple? They will have some beautiful babies together someday (that one was for you, Ben!)?

No shortage of affection between them…

Megan happens to live next to one of my favorite hang outs. If you have not eaten at Broder’s, then you are really missing out in life. It is one of their favs too so we had to include it…

And of course we also had to hit up the bridge where Ben proposed. How romantic…

My favorite image of the day…

Megan’s daughter, Abigail, joined in on the fun too! To see her excitement for the day and her love for her mom and Benny were touching to say the least…

Abigail loved this worm (and the two others that she found during the shoot)! She was excitedly chatting about taking them home as her new pets. She wasn’t so excited, however, when I suggested she put one on her nose (everyone has their limits I guess). A little patience and persistence and we had success. Of course afterward, this was the shot she was telling people about! 

Please forgive my lack of posts. I have no excuse other than home construction and sick kids. You see, when my little Abe threw up at the dinner table over Mother’s Day weekend when my husband was out of town, I took the night off. And when my computer has been moved all over the house to temporary offices (I am now typing this in my dining room), I was not very productive. And I hope that you can understand and laugh and roll your eyes with me and know that this is just temporary. That soon I will be back to my old self, because that’s how us blog buddies should be! 

I will, however, leave you with a little sneak peek now. Just to assure you that I am on my way back to the blog road.

Enjoy this little sneak peek of the oh-so-cute-and-in-love Megan and Ben’s engagement shoot. These might be some of my favorite two of the day. I know that I should build up to my favs, but I am not that patient!

More to come soon!