It’s time for back to school! Have you gotten your senior portraits taken yet? If not, you’re in luck! This is the last month we will be offering discounted senior session fees. That’s right! 20% off this month! Give me a call today to book your session.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I got the opportunity to photograph both Amy and TJ on the same day up in Algona. One nice thing about going to different places and doing on location photography is that I get to explore and find new backgrounds. And even if I’m going to the same old places I’ve gone to a million times, each time is a little different because the lighting can change.

When I showed up at Amy’s house the morning of the session, I found her laying out about 10 different outfits. I asked her which ones she was leaning towards doing for sure and she replied “all of them”. It’s a good thing we were doing the urban session with unlimited outfits! It was also nice to find out that Amy and her dad had taken the time to go around Algona and scope out some locations they thought might work. It’s a great idea to have a tour guide when you’re not used to the area! I had found this really cool, blue/white textured wall that I knew I wanted to use (Amy’s black shirt really played well on it!) and then a couple of my other favorite locations were at the old depot and the nearby state park. The state park had a really old building (or one that was made to look old!) and a log cabin type building. So much fun! OH and not to mention the whole time I was photographing Amy & TJ, I pretty much laughed and smiled the whole time. It was a family affair and it was so laid back and fun! Thanks guys for an amazing Saturday session and for some amazing images!

Want to see more from Amy’s session? Check out my Facebook page. Also if you know Amy and you still need to get your senior photos taken, get a hold of her for a special deal on top of the 20% off in September. Last chance for savings!

So since expanding my business down into Iowa, I’ve had the opportunity to expand my clientele and meet new people. One night while I was out at the local hometown bar I got to met Jacci who happens to be the sister of my stepbrother’s fiance. She had heard about me, been to my website, and loved what she saw. She knew that she wanted me to do TJ’s session, a senior at Algona High School. She said she wanted his senior photos to be unique and not look like everyone else’s so my fashion/contemporary style was exactly what they were looking for. They also decided to have me do Jacci’s stepdaughter’s senior portraits as well. So a couple weeks ago, on one of my many trips to Clarion, I met up with them in Algona to do their sessions. Jacci had this AWESOME graffiti bridge that she knew we had to use and then for sure TJ wanted some photos with his four wheeler (also known as the death machine). We ran all over Algona photographing in a variety of places. These are my favorites from TJ’s session (Amy’s are up next!) Want to see more? Check out my Facebook page.

Also if you’re a senior and haven’t had your photos taken yet, it’s not too late! September is the last month I’m offering a special discount on senior session fees so call the studio or drop me an email to get something booked today and get in on the special deals. AND if you know TJ, contact him for an additional savings

I LOVE senior season! It’s one of my favorite times of the year because the seniors start coming in and I get to do all kinds of creative stuff. I get to tap into my inner fashion side, try out new lighting, new backgrounds and new poses. A couple weeks before her senior session, Shelby emailed me a couple inspiration images of what she wanted to try. I love it when people do this because then I know I’m creating images that are unique to them and that they will love. So early last Saturday morning, Shelby, Jody of Makeup Savvy and I met at the studio, hashed out a plan and started to play (with seniors I always have so much fun so I hardly can consider it work!). Jody had even brought some of her fantastic jewelry that she is now selling (check it out at Maison Galleria in downtown Stillwater or contact Jody directly) to help accent Shelby’s wardrobe. If anyone who knows me and has done a session with me before, you know that when I get an awesome shot I get all excited and start to jump all over (yeah a little weird I know..I just LOVE my job!). So needless to say, I was jumping around quite a bit during Shelby’s session Here are JUST A FEW of the killer shots I captured of Shelby last Saturday but if you want to see more check out my Seniors – Class of 2011 gallery on my Facebook page.

OH and I forgot to mention that Shelby is one of my fantastic senior models from Stillwater Area High School. If you go to school at Stillwater or see Shelby around, ask her about a special deal she can get you on senior portraits. 40% off all senior session fees this month too…just in case you were wondering  on what other deals we’ve got going on

Ashley is one of my senior models, representing the studio at Woodbury High. We had a fantastic senior model session earlier this spring and now she’s back to do her full senior session. Her session was so much fun! She brought killer outfits, Jody Olson of Makeup Savvy did a phenomenal job on Ashley’s makeup, and we just had a blast hanging out and creating some great photos that really capture who Ashley is. Since she’s got lighter colored hair, we did some really fun high key images on the white background which really made her eyes pop! She’s really into music and singing so she brought along some sheet music that we made a sweet background out of. I think my favorite images are the ones we did outdoors. The session was later in the afternoon and so by the time we got to the outdoor part, the lighting was PERFECT! I even had her do a little cat walk strut down one of the alleys which resulted in some amazing movement shots with her hair flowing behind her. My absolute favorites!!!!

If you are a senior at Woodbury High and want awesome images like Ashley’s, contact her for a special deal! And don’t forget that all senior sessions are 40% off this month!!!!

Every model needs to eat! Thank goodness Dairy Queen is right across from the studio. Mom to the rescue!

So if you are new to my blog, you probably think the only things I photograph are newborns. While a lot of my recent sessions have been children I do a lot more than that! For example, I got a call just this week from Joan and Doyle Freemyer who are realtors in Woodbury. They had just gotten a listing and needed some photos ASAP of the house so they could put images online and create brochures. I came highly recommended from another realtor, who I happened to photograph last fall for new head shots and business cards, and so they gave me a jingle to see if I could help them out. Sure enough, our schedules meshed and I was able to photograph the house for them this week and I must say, the house is fantastic!!! If you are looking for a place in Woodbury, you definitely need to check this one out!

I think the BEST time to photograph newborns is when they are just around one week old. It’s great because they are still in the very sleepy stage and are super easy to work with. Take Christian for example, he and mom showed up to the session right about the time he should be getting hungry again. It worked out great because mom and I had a little time to chat about what outfits to wear and what images we wanted to capture, then I could set up my first background while she gave him a little of his bottle to make him really content. It worked like a charm! Since we really wanted to do some naked baby shots, we decided to start there first. I had just picked up some new pieces of fabric to use as baby wraps and was DYING to try a brown one out with him. I love how all the colors came together and really love how the extra texture of the fabric adds to the photo. I also tried out some other print fabric as a background with a simple white blanket. As soon as we wrapped him up in the blanket, he was out like a light! I absolutely LOVE how I was able to capture a few sleepy smiles from this little cutie. Enough to make anyone’s heart melt! You’ll also see photos of this little one at Dr. Gabrielson’s women’s clinic in Webster City very shortly. If you’d like to see more photos from little Christian’s session, check out the Children & Family gallery on my Facebook Page.

Babies, babies everywhere…and loving every minute of it Khale is another one of the cuties that will be featured in the woman’s clinic in Webster City, Iowa. At only a couple weeks old, he was a doll to work with! So easy! We got some great wide awake shots that show off his beautiful eyes and capture a couple great expressions. Then we turned on the heat and watched as he slipped into nap mode. He got really comfortable very quickly and before we knew it he was off into happy little dream world. So cute! If you’d like to see more of Khale and the rest of my recent baby session images, check out the Children & Family gallery on my Facebook page.

So as a part of my plan to expand my studio into Iowa, I have partnered with Dr. Gabrielson’s women’s health clinic and will be displaying some of my artwork in his Webster City office. So I have been getting the chance to meet some of his amazing patients and photographing their new little family additions Aleigha got to be my very first model! She is such a sweetie and has gorgeous eyes (I LOVE baby eyes!). She started off the session wide awake but by the end, we got the room warmed up and she feel fast asleep for some very cute naked, sleeping baby photos.

It’s funny how you never know where life will take you and who you will meet up with again down the road. For example, a couple months ago after posting some of my first images of my niece Quincy, I got a message on Facebook from a couple people I went to college with. Suzie, Adam and I had all been RA’s at Morningside College and had a chance to get to know each other fairly well. But as it usually goes, after graduation we lost touch. When Suzie saw my photos of Quincy on Facebook, she knew she wanted me to be Lorelei’s personal photographer but wasn’t sure that since I’m mainly located up here in Stillwater while they’re in southeast Iowa, if we could work it out. It was perfect timing! I was looking to expand the business down into Iowa more so it was the perfect opportunity. We decided to meet up in Des Moines (kind of half way for both of us) to capture some images of little three month old Lorelei. It was a great session! She’s such a doll and this is such a cute family! Can’t wait for the 8 month session!