Serious.

Meet Miss Izabella. I love her cheeks and her gorgeous lips. I thought it was going to be a tough session because when she came she was wide awake but after a little extra feeding a a little bit of walking and rocking, she was OUT

This sweet little lady made the best model. She slept the entire time and didn’t make a peep- oh and the best part— she’s SO CUTE!!!

And finally the TEENY TINIEST little buddy I’ve hever photographed. Weighing in at a whopping 4lbs, I couldn’t wake this little one up if I tried. I wish I could have kept her for a few days just to snuggle and take her picture

Love.

Meet Jeff and Danielle. UM- GORGEOUS?? No they aren’t models (but they probably could be!)

I loved her Badgley Mischka shoes!

The first look– they were SO cute. I LOVE, Love….

Jeff and Danielle have 3 boys– this is the youngest (yes Danielle just had a baby– it’s ok to hate her)

The girls. (being beautiful must have been a requirement for this wedding)

The ‘bling’

The first dance– SO HAPPY.

Next up is Lindsey and Ian. Their wedding was outdoors at the Gainey Center in Owatonna. What a fabulous venue! I loved all the little details Lindsey choose– from the custom designed shoes, to the custom jewelry and birdcage veil. It was all just pefection.

Getting ready

The happy little family

The guys

And the beauuuutiful girls

The kiss

We had to get a picture with the cool hats

Happily Ever After…

Next is Matthew and Nicole. They couldn’t be cuter if they tried!! You could literally SEE the love. I adored the colors Nikki chose and her dress is something I would totally pick if I were getting married again (LOVED it).

Their favorite thing to do as a couple is stop at the Blast to eat Ice Cream– so we did

Sunset images are my favorite and this is no exception.

AWWWWW. I just know all of these couples will have so many years of happiness ahead of them. Thank you all again, for trusting me to capture your days. XOXO…

CRAZINESS! Add a few weddings to this mix and you get one busy photographer. More to share very soon! Hope you all are enjoying the last few weeks of summer!!

ANYWAY- back to the fun stuff.  I have been having a BLAST with all of the 2011 seniors.  How gorgeous is this image?  I love the sun and clouds.  I did add a little bit of saturation but honestly not much at all- this is pretty close to straight out of camera!  YUM!

Caity:

Kacie (again, pretty much straight out of camera) and YES she totally got INTO the lake with her prom dress on Gotta love it!

I have more seniors to share BUT in true, Jennifer Nace style– I had to show some off a cute dressed up BABY

This is my favorite. At ONE there is nothing better than your fingers and your favorite lovey.

Cutest thing EVER, right??

LOVE him.

Obviously his Mom and Dad kinda like him too- so they didn’t want to leave him with me. BUMMER!

and if you haven’t said “AWWW” already, I bet you will now!!

YEP- his Daddy is a HERO!!

On another note- I will be out of the office until August 2nd. I will have email access but I’ll be enjoying some time with my family so unless it’s urgent, I won’t be returning messages until I get home! THANKS!!

“I promise I’m not trying to be smart… I mean it literally. If I were you, the client. Well, a potential client actually. Here’s what might be on my mind.

“I want professional photos of my family, but my brother’s friend’s cousin’s daughter’s babysitter just got a really nice camera and she’ll take photos of us and give me a disk of all the images for only $90. She has a website, so she is legit.”

Here is an analogy for you:

I have bad hair. It’s too thick, it’s sorta curly, sorta wavy, frizzy and a bad ashy brown color. My brother’s friend’s cousin’s daughter’s babysitter Jackie will cut, weave and blow dry my hair for $90. My other option is going to Jeff the hair stylist at the salon across the street. He charges me $250 for a cut, weave and blow dry. I decide to try both.

I’m sitting in Jackie’s laundry room waiting for her to gather her things when I realize she’s going to wash my hair in the utility sink. Leaning over the sink kneeling on a folding chair proves a little difficult, she gets shampoo in my eye and water drips down my neck into my shirt. We go in the house and she sits me down in her dining room, her husband is sitting on the couch watching Nascar and drinking a 40. He leans forward to grab a bag of chips and I notice his butt-crack. I remind myself that Jackie only charges $90, she probably can’t afford to rent a station in a salon, so I divert my eyes and forgive her. She begins to cut my hair. It seems to be taking quite awhile. She looks a little nervous. I remember that she’s still fairly new to cutting hair. I rationalize that she’s still better than I’d be at it, after all. Plus, she has like 500 fans on her Facebook page, and that has to mean something, right? Jackie disappears to mix my color. She’s gone for a long time. I get nervous that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. What if she screws it up and my hair falls out? I start to wonder… maybe there is a REASON why she only charges $90. Is that the only way she can get clients? Then Jackie weaves a beautiful blond into my hair. I try to forget about my nerves and begin to get excited. A cut and color for only 90 bucks, I can’t wait to show everyone my hair! She finishes up the blow dry and I turn to the mirror to discover its really yellow and brassy. The cut is a uneven and boxy. I take a deep breath and calm myself down. Well, it looks better than it did before, I guess, and I only paid $90. The next day I meet up with some girlfriends for drinks. No one says anything about my hair, and I’m afraid to ask what they think because I know it just looks average, or maybe even bad. I feel disappointed. $90 seemed like such a great deal.

I suppose it’s only a deal if the value is greater than $90.

Two months pass and I find myself sitting at Jeff’s station in the salon across the street. The receptionist offers me a cold drink and the most recent issue of People magazine. Jeff comes over introduces himself and asks me what I’d like to accomplish today. We talk for a few minutes about the specific color of blond I’m looking for. He asks me questions about how I style my hair, what I like, what I don’t like, and tells me a little about whats in style right now. Jeff seems as excited as I am for my new look. I look around to see all the latest flat irons, blow dryers, collections of brushes and combs. Jeff rattles off instructions to his assistant while examining my hair and she’s back in a jiffy with 4 bowls of color. As Jeff begins to weave in and out of my hair with light blond and medium honey and chestnut brown I close my eyes and listen to the calming music on the satellite radio. I feel relaxed and confident. I trust him. I sit with my hair under the dryer and once again I’m offered a cold drink and a magazine. Jeff comes over to inspect the progression of the color. He exclaims how perfect it looks and brings me to the shampoo station. There is a big cushy leather recliner. I put my head back and he begins to wash. The shampoo smells like mint and lavender and he spends an extra few minutes on a mini scalp massage. Jeff dries and styles my hair with ease. When he’s finished he spins my chair around and I hardly recognize myself in the mirror. I look like I belong in a fashion magazine. The cut frames my face perfectly. It’s sassy with a hint of modern, just the right amount to suit my style. The color shimmers as I turn my head. It seems almost as if there are thousands of shades of blond intertwined throughout the locks of hair. It reminds me of what my hair looked like when I was little, after spending all summer in the sun. I feel proud. I meet up with some friends for lunch the next day. They must have commented on my hair 10 times. One of them demanded Jeff’s phone number and asked me how much he charged. “$250″, I told her. She replied, “Well it looks a-MAZE-ing, what a great deal.”

The $90 Jackie charged me wasn’t a great deal. The $250 Jeff charged me was. How is that possible? They both gave me a cut, weave and blow dry.

The difference was the experience and the quality. The $250 that Jeff charged me included a cold diet coke, and comfy chair, state of the art equipment and supplies, experience, knowledge, and a quality product. It included a feeling of pride and excitement that lasted until it was time to return for more. The $90 Jackie charged me included cheap dye, dull scissors, a wet shirt and a butt-crack.

When I thought about it later, I thought, well wouldn’t it be great to find someone who was somewhere in between, you know, someone who is amazing and cheap? But the problem is there is no such thing as in between. When someone offers quality, they have to charge for it, they have to cover the cost of running the business, continuing education, supplies, marketing, and they have to cut themselves a paycheck. Otherwise they are not running a business, they are the proud President of a Non-Profit Organization.

So if you find yourself presented with what seems like a “great deal” for your family photos, ask yourself if the $90 is worth an experience with Jackie. Personally, as a client, I’d rather pay $250 for an experience that feels priceless, than waste $90 on something sub par. Value is a magical thing. ”

http://clairealyseblog.com/2010/07/01/if-i-were-you/

Anna has a beautiful family.

They all love her very much.

Her Brothers love her.

Her Momma and Daddy love her.

I Love her.

Miss Anna captured my heart the moment I read about her on her Caringbridge site (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annarogotzke) I heard their story through Madelaine’s Caringbridge site- and I contacted them to see if they would like to come in for a photo session. These sessions are a gift to the families, but they are an even BIGGER gift for me. 

**if you know a child affected by Cancer and you think they’d like a free photo session (including the digital files) send me an email!! **

First a cute little set of cousins. Grandma wanted some pictures of her babies together. It was so much fun!

I’ve had the pleasure of photographing this little lady during her first year- she has captured my heart…

…and obviously she has captured Momma and Daddy’s heart, too. *melt*

I am always honored when clients come from hours away just to see me. I’m always hopeful the session goes well because they can’t exactly stop back another time when the kids are more cooperative. I had no reason to worry though- these little princesses enjoyed playing dress up and just couldn’t be more adorable…

Boys aren’t safe from my props either This little one was just a SWEETHEART. His little smile is just precious…

Images like this choke me up because they truly capture what is so special about kids– their wonder and innocence. I love every minute I spend with these perfect little beings:

Remember Miss Madelaine from a few posts ago? WELL she has been blessed with a new baby SISTER!! I am just so very thrilled for their family. They have been through so much this past 2 years, they deserve something a little extra special. Ellie is certainly EXTRA special:

A few weeks ago a friend I went to Kansas to help a fellow photographer out with her newborn posing. It was so much fun meeting these beautiful little babies:

We also got to photograph this beautiful little girl- meet Miss Emme.

When I returned from my trip I got to meet his cute little guy. He was just a HONEY. So sleepy and good. I LOVED his hair:

The next little guy made me WORK. He just did not want to sleep! He was only a week old but he was so strong and alert! Finally after a few hours of eating (literally LOL) he was out:

Next up is sweet little Clare. I was so excited to meet her! I love dressing up little girls (and yes, I have all of these cute outfits at my studio)

With all of these cute kids that have been in recently, I decided I really needed to get some updated photos of my OWN kids. So I made them go outside to do a few images. My little Aidan turned 6 a few months ago- and his tooth was SOO ready to fall out and I just knew I had better get some pictures of him while he still looked like my baby (cry cry cry).

Both of my buddies. I was trying to get them to smile. It wasn’t working so well, but then my husband said “anyone want a poop sandwich?” This is the result:

I love them. I really do.