Posts Tagged ‘Iowa portrait photographer’

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 ;)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Ok so there’s one thing I know for sure…never go into a children’s session with a solid game plan. Now I’m not saying that you should go into one unprepared…just be ready for the unexpected. For example, Paxton ALWAYS takes a nap from 9-10, so of course we scheduled his session for 10:30 so he’d be bright eyed and bushy tailed. But of course, on the day of our session he refused to take a nap (must have been really excited for his first professional photo shoot! :) ). And Paxton is always the little boy with a smile on his face, except for the day of the photo shoot. So a session that looked super easy on paper wasn’t so much in real life. But never fear! I’m always ready to improvise and do whatever it takes to get fantastic images!

We started out Paxton’s session outside by the big, green John Deere tractor (I shall refrain from making a comment on the farmer’s color choice of farming equipment). I could tell he was a daredevil when he was standing by himself, holding on to the tractor step, and then decided to let one hand go. Pretty sure Mom got just a little nervous right about then :-) So what better to do with a daredevil? Why not perch him on the ledge right next to the door! I thought it sounded like a great idea! (with close parental supervision of course!) I should say that Mr. Daredevil behaved himself and no one got hurt in the making of these images! On to outfit number two! There was some amazing window light pouring into the living room from the giant wall of windows, so we started to take photos with Paxton on the couch. Right about this time Paxton decided it was almost nap time and started to fuss. Here’s where the creative thinking comes in to play….how to make a tired child last for a few more clicks of the shutter? We had him bang on the coffee table, which entertained him for .5 seconds. Then we brought in Dad to help Paxton stand up which usually makes him a little happier…no such luck on this day. And last but not least, we took him to his favorite spot in the whole house, on the giant, comfy bed in Mom & Dad’s room! SUCCESS…and I must say a huge thank you to Uncle Ryan for showing up at the most opportune time and getting little Paxton to smile for us :-)   So even though he wasn’t bright eyed and smiling the whole time, we got some great images of Paxton. I can’t wait to photograph this little cutie again! Want to see more images of Paxton? Check out the children’s gallery on my Facebook page!

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Well I decide it’s high time I updated my blog since I haven’t been all that on top of it the last month. So why not kick things off with some images from a wonderful wedding I photographed back home in Clarion, Iowa.

Now there are three kinds of brides: super high maintenance and have a photo list a mile long, middle of the road who have an idea of images they want, and the laid back bride that is there to just enjoy her day and let’s the photographer do whatever she wants. Amanda is the third type of bride, SUPER laid back. Ever since day one of working with her she was like “do whatever you want.” When we designed her invitations she gave me some direction and let me go to town to create something fantastic for them. When we did the engagement session, she let me chose which outfits and which locations to photograph at. And the wedding day was no different. She gave me four family groups we had to get then let me do my thing the rest of the day. I kept asking her “are you SURE there’s no certain shots you want?” and her reply always was always “whatever you want to do.” It’s kind of nice every once in awhile to have a wedding that is super laid back.

And so, without further ado…here are some of my favorite images from Amanda & Josh’s wedding. OH and if you were a guest, the full set of images from the wedding day are now online for you to view! Just click here and refer to the cards that were handed out at the wedding with the access code printed on them, or drop me an email and I can send the code to you as well.

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Well summer is here and the Class of 2011 are officially seniors! Now’s the time to start thinking about senior portraits and getting sessions booked before the summer is gone! If you’re looking for senior portraits that are unique, fashion forward, and will stand out, then I’m the photographer for you! Check out my other blog posts and the senior gallery on my website to see what I can do.

And one of the best parts about booking in July? You get 40% OFF ALL SENIOR SESSION FEES! Call (651)491-5571 to book your Senior Collection and nab one of the last prized weekend time slots available!

Know one of the Senior Models pictured above? Contact them for an additional savings off your senior session fee. You can find Ashley at Woodbury High or find Shelby and Alex at Stillwater Area High School.

One nice thing about having a big family is that it usually grows quickly when everyone starts having babies! First my cousin Eric and his wife Rachel had baby Logan, then about 6 months later my sister had Quincy, followed by Ava and Laila born to two more of my cousins on my dad’s side. (Needless to say, Christmas will be CRAZY this year with all the new babies together!) And I’m so blessed to be a photographer and be able to capture the milestones of all these little ones! A couple weekends ago, another one of my cousins, Amanda, got married (blog post yet to come from the wedding day!) so Stacy and Ava came from Chicago while Eric, Rachel, Logan and the grandparents came from the Sioux Center area. Since we had everyone in one place, we decided we’d do Ava’s 3 month session and try for some group photos. Well let’s just say that getting an active 10 month old (Logan) and a 3 month old in one photo can be quite a challenge! We didn’t get many photos of them together but we did get some great shots of Logan by himself along with a group photo with Grandma & Grandpa! After that we switched gears and focused all the attention on baby Ava. She had some of the CUTEST outfits (the green one is my favorite!) and is so laid back that we could even get her on her tummy without a fuss. AND we learned that she can hold herself up pretty well which created the best photos from the session, in my opinion. She’s such a little doll and I can’t wait to photograph her as she gets bigger! These are just a few of my favorites and if you’d like to see more check out my Facebook Gallery.

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I can hardly believe it’s been three months since little Quincy joined our family. My how time flies! She’s getting so big and full of expressions! It wasn’t long into the session before Quincy had her first baby meltdown of the day (being a model is HARD work!) so I set up my laptop, hooked up my hard drive and put on some soothing Kenny G music which usually calms babies down. However, Grandma informed me that even at the early age of 3 months, Quincy has a very particular taste in music and preferred a little Lady Gaga over Kenny G. I didn’t believe her so, to prove her wrong, I turned on some Lady Gaga, thinking that Quincy would continue to have her meltdown, thus postponing the session until she calmed down. Oh but how I was wrong! Grandma quickly picked up little Quincy, snuggled her tight and started bouncing her to the music and surprisingly Quincy calmed right down! Who knew Lady Gaga was the new thing in children’s music! HA! So for the rest of the session, we played some of Quincy’s favorite songs like “Poker Face,” “Just Dance,” and “Telephone.” Good call Grandma! :-)

These are some of my favorite shots from the session, including a 9-up wall collage that I’m going to talk my sister into hanging in the nursery…WAY to cute NOT to! :-) Stay tuned for more images of Quincy in the upcoming months. I learned some new tricks at After Dark, a photo conference I attended last week in Minneapolis, that I want to try out on Quincy the next time I’m in Iowa. I love having a little model of my very own!

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