Vote for Max!!

Exciting news!

This past summer I took outdoor photos of this adorable boy, Max. His mom, Suzi submitted one of the images from that day to the Gap Kids casting call (see pic above.) They got a call back, and a while later were flown to LA for the big photo shoot!

Max is one of 4 finalists for his gender and age group. You can vote for him and view a short video of him with his mom at the shoot at http://gap.eprize.net/castingcallphase2/index.tbapp?affiliate_id=2x

I, for one, think he deserves to win! He makes a terrific model!

Here are some more of the images from our session this summer, taken at Lyndale Gardens by Lake Harriet.

Blue Photographic

I already know it's going to be a personal challenge to make regular blog posts. (At least in the months of November and December!) Here it is, over a week later, and I'm finally getting some of the images posted from our engagement session last Saturday.

First, I wanted to give a little background into Blue Photographic, the wedding photography business I started last year with my friend and partner, Paul Serafini. We have known each other since college (and he also just happens to be married to one of my best friends!) Paul really started taking photography seriously when he bought his first digital SLR. In fact, by the time I switched to digital, he was already very experienced with photo editing software, and taught me most (if not everything!) of what I know to this day.

Paul runs his own photo editing business, called Picturescue. He is now in the process of expanding his business to include portraiture and photo effects as well.

http://www.picturescue.com/

We decided to work together when I had gotten a couple of offers to do weddings through my portraiture business. I wasn't really sure I wanted to be a wedding photographer, (I mean, consider the PRESSURE!!) yet at the same time it seemed like the next inevitable step.

Once we got through the first couple weddings, we realized that not only was it a lot of fun, but also that we worked really well together. I think the best thing about us is that we each have skills that compliment each other. While Paul is probably more of a technically savvy perfectionist, I'm the one with the art background who doesn't mind breaking the rules. Paul has always had a love of nature and landscape, which shines through in the way he composes beautiful full shots. Since I'm all about portraiture, I'm always looking for great close up opportunities. We both love the energy and sense of reward we feel when we're photographing a wedding, and are truly honored to be allowed such an important responsibility.

When Paul and I started Blue Photographic, We decided to offer free engagement sessions to every couple who signs us on to shoot their wedding. We look at it as our opportunity to get to know our clients prior to their wedding day, and to give them a feel for how we work.

We have taken couples all around the Twin Cities for photo shoots, but we took this couple, Tiffany and Jeff, to Northfield. (One of my favorite towns, by the way!) It was seasonably cold and the two were great sports! Even though the wind was a bit harsh at times, somehow they managed to look comfy-cozy in all the shots...

I can't resist including a couple shots of a nine week old Basset Hound puppy that was out for a walk that day by the river with his new owner. He was so cute and kept stepping on his long ears!!

New Site, New Year!

Today I'm officially going live with my new site and blog! I knew this was going to be coming for awhile now, so I have purposely been holding off on updating images on my last site for the past several months. (Although I've stuck with a lot of images from the other site, I wanted this one to look new and fresh--and I've been very eager to share it!) If you haven't checked it out yet, please take a look!

I'm a little sad about saying goodbye to my old site, which my sister generously developed for me when I was getting started. That aside, many of the families and children on that site were there from the beginning when I was looking for people who would let me take their photographs for free! (Fortunately, they are still coming back!) It was a beautiful site, and I kept basically the same color palette and fonts. I think I will have an easier time keeping this one current.

This new site is only a precursor of great things to come! Within a month or two, I plan to move forward on a second site for my wedding business, which is a partnership with my friend Paul. We have spent 2008 shooting weddings together and building a really beautiful portfolio. Again, I'm really proud of what we've done and I can't wait to get it out there to see how it will be received. We already have 3 weddings lined up for next year, with an engagement session coming up on Saturday! I'll post some images from that shoot, along with a little more background about our business early next week.

Thank you for visiting, and please come again! I'm really looking forward to the new year and all that's in store!

Oh, and just one more thing; IF, by chance, you ever need any portraits of your family, your children, or your wedding day, now you know where to find me!!