Jackie and Bernie

It was one of those gorgeous days. Blue skies, not too hot temps, and photographing a wedding in a new venue. I’ve known Jackie for many years (“many” brings us allllll the way back to grade school). I haven’t spoken to her for quite sometime and then, she asked me to shoot her wedding. I was very excited. Happy to see friends from the past that I had lost touch with and see this loud, boisterous, crazy girl walk down the aisle!

It was a late afternoon wedding. We photographed the men in front of the corn field while the girls got ready.

j

The ceremony and reception were both held at the Simply Country Barn in Freedom, WI. This venue was so new that when I visited it a month prior to check it out, they were still working on the renovations. It was a little dark inside but the light pouring in from the stained glass windows by the alter gave me some yummy light that glowed on the wedding party. Jackie’s long long long time friend, Chad walked down with Frankie the dog as ring bearer.

Jackie and Bernie literally “tied the knot.”

After the ceremony, Jackie and Bernie had a glass of bubbly while they had a ride from a horse and carriage.

While we took formal portraits, guests were treated to a carriage ride. Jackie kicked off her wedding shoes and threw on her cowboy boots. Jackie and her friends and family have grown up with horses. It was only fitting to tie this theme in. Jackie even brought in 6 bails of hay for me that I requested to set up for outdoor portraits. What a gal!

After the toasts at dinner, Jackie wanted to thank a few people. The microphone would not work for her. Melissa, a bridesmaid, yelled out “Jackie, use your inside voice!” Well, if you know Jackie, you can only imagine. Sure enough, her booming, humous voice filled the room. It wouldn’t be Jackie without her laugh.

The evening ended with lanterns launched into the starry sky by the wedding party and dancing under twinkling lights from the DJ in the barn. I loved the guest party favors of coffee in little burlap satchels. I may or may not have taken two home with me that night.

Another great intimate wedding in the books. Thankful Jackie and Bernie let me be a part of their day.

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground When I Know You’re Not Around

I met Jennifer and her fun daughter, Sophia out at Pamperin Park last Wednesday in the early evening. The park was a ghost town! I was just there over the weekend and it was littered with photographers doing photo shoots. Especially for our peak WI fall leaves, October is prime time for Pamperin Park to be busy. So, this was a treat to have free range and quiet time to ourselves.

First, we started out in front of the pavilion at my favorite bench. I love this bench because its lower to the ground, unobtrusive, and provides a setting for a more intimate portrait. It was important for Sophia and I to get more comfortable together so she can put her trust in me and I, in return, can let her true personality and colors shine. She wore a sweet home made necklace with her name on it. The pink matched her headband and the bottom of her shoes. Its important to capture those details to remember later on in life.

Next, we started walking towards the bike/walking trail that opened underneath Hwy 29. Its a hidden gem! While most photographers photograph at the giant bridge, I wanted to give the girls the bridge that I love. The old, ornate concrete bridge where the original Pamperin Park entrance was. To get there, we walked the new trail and photographed along the way. The whole trail was bathed in crisp, colorful leaves.

We were wrapping up our photo session and noticed this beautiful creature relaxing in the water below. Sitting still made the reflection of the leaves show through in the water. A great ending to a lovely mother daughter photo shoot.

I Want Candy

I met Jesse and her future Mother-In-Law, Sheila, in December of last year to book her wedding. Looking at my work, Jesse told me that my style of shooting was exactly what she was looking for. She told me a few of her ideas for colors and accessories and I immediately knew those touches are what I love to photograph.  We met again a couple weeks before the wedding to finalize time frame and notes.

The wedding took place at Prince of Peace Parish on the east side of Green Bay. This was my first time here. With frozen espresso drink in hand and photo gear packed, my GPS led the way. At first, I was worried I was going in the wrong direction. After going through some residential, I arrived at the church. Jesse had told me it was a newer church and there were only newly planted trees on the grounds. She was definitely right. I saw a large water tower and only corn field in the distance. I got a little scared not seeing any shade knowing that it would be open sun during formal portrait time. I took this as a challenge and not a set back. I loved the look of the church. Modern style with a classic little garden tucked in the front. You could see they had wedding photography ideas in that little garden.

I showed up about an hour early to unpack and scope out the church. I met the delivery man from Marshall Florist and we chatted about the church and past wedding stories. He stayed until the wedding party arrived and I wished him well on his multiple wedding delivery day.

All the girls huddled into the bride room to get ready. Jesse was wearing a fun “bride” tank top. I loved the juxtaposition of the tank top and gown together. Her attention to detail was impeccable. The bridesmaids had gorgeous necklaces and the bridal bouquet even had a little bumble bee tucked in with other lovely broaches. Her little daughter, Gia, had a matching mini gown. So cute!

This church is a dream to photograph in. Natural light pours through large windows in all directions. It was a lovely ceremony and you could tell the priest really cares for his congregation. A funny little mishap happened during the light ing of the unity candle. As Jesse and Brandon blew out the individual candles, they accidentally blew out the unity candle. A first for me to witness! Jesse had this stunned look on her face and turned to the priest. He nodded and she reached for the lighter to light the unity candle again. We all laughed with the couple.

After the ceremony, we headed outside for pictures. The shaded entrance was large enough to fit the wedding party and interesting enough to make it work. I wanted to give the couple that new, edgy look you see in the magazines. It worked flawlessly. A little post processing magic and voila! A showstopper.

While the bridal party took a break in between pictures and cocktail hour, I headed over to the Ravine where the reception was being held. Jesse had told me a little about the candy bar but I had no idea. I walked in and wooooah nelly! Candy paradise! Having young children of my own, I had a premonition how this was going down. haha As guests started walking in, they immediately saw the candy bar. I thought the children would be the first to start filling up their bags but no, it was the older crowd in their 60’s and 70’s! I guess they weren’t worried about ruining their dinner by eating candy first. This woman had her little candy bag on the other side of her purse but my angle made it look like she was stuffing the candy “inside” her purse. haha

I thought it would be fun to do the wedding rings inside the candy hearts. Love ya!

Sheila was so happy that day to see her son get married and it showed in the images. I even caught her husband, Scott, taking pictures her and Brandon dancing.

Congratulations Jesse, Brandon, and little Gia!

Garden Party

My mother-in-law hired me to get some updated images of our niece, Abby. Its amazing how different and grown up she looks since I saw her last on New Years. We decided on the Green Bay Botanical Gardens so that she can showcase her new dress she bought in Iowa the beginning of summer.

As soon as we started shooting, it began to rain. Luckily, the rain only lasted momentarily and we could continue. Of course, the rain wasn’t going to stop me anyways. We have a couple images of the rain falling behind her.

The gardens are so amazing. Every time I’m there, there’s different flowers and plants to look at. I can’t imagine how much time and maintenance goes into that place. Then again, this is coming from a girl who can barely keep a cactus alive.

I saw a lot of myself in Abby while we were chatting and shooting. I remember being 12 and and looking for that creative outlet. I remember experimenting with my look and drawing all the time. I always felt “older” than my friends. They all wanted to play tag on the playground and all I wanted to do was think about art.

Abby was so much fun to shoot. I wanted to give her those grown up model shots but still keep the integrity of her age with some classic, youthful portraits. I hope we get to work together in a few years for her high school senior portraits!

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - 5 photos »

My Mythical Beast

It was the beginning of a great weekend. I was already psyched to do the Green Bay Triathlon for the 5th time on Sunday and share it with my friend, Tammy, who would be doing her first triathlon ever. Friday night, my husband worked late. The kids were sleeping over at my dad’s. It was 10:00 at night. On a Facebook forum, the ProClick, I saw someone post that the Northern Lights were out in full force and were visible in Green Bay. This was one of those “perfect timings.”

Now, the Aurora Borealis is not the easiest to photograph. There are so many factors that must take place. The moon can not be out or at least must be dim. The sky must be clear with no clouds present. You need to find an area where there aren’t a lot of trees to block your view. A country area is ideal with no street or city lights present. Last, the Aurora Borealis must be out. Did I mention the Aurora Borealis must be out?

My husband pulled into the garage at 10:30pm. A rarity to have a night away from the kids. I peaked into the garage and said, “The Northern Lights are out. Wanna go?” He drove and I stared out the window. I couldn’t believe how thick the lights were. It looked like a giant blanket of haze filling the sky. To the human eye, the Northern Lights are grayish but the camera picks up a green color and sometimes other colors like pink or purple.

We ended up somewhere between Howard and Pulaski. We parked the car by one of the entrances to the Mountain Bay Trail. Now, I have tried twice last year to photograph the Northern Lights. Failed both times. So this was my chance. I set up the camera and tripod, aimed it up at the sky, pressed the shutter, and waited…….30 seconds…….When the image popped up on the camera screen, I literally jumped up and down all giddy. Its one of those photographer’s dreams to be able to shoot the Northern Lights.

We tried photographing ourselves with the Northern Lights but forgot our lantern in the car that would have helped light our faces. So, we became ghosts instead.

By the time 11:30 rolled around, Aurora Borealis was fading away. We decided to pack it up and call it a night. I was very pleased with my first encounter shooting. Especially, that we didn’t have to travel far from home. Sometimes, the lights are only out for a few minutes and we were lucky enough to get these. The image with the car lights trailing actually was the only car that passed us the whole time we were in that location. I am definitely hooked and want to chase the Northern Lights next time I have the chance.

Gluten for Grandma

I brought out my old crop sensor camera and we drove to Stevens Point on Saturday to visit my 93 year old grandma. We haven’t been there in two years and it was long over due. The moment our 3 year old daughter walked through the door, she immediately latched on to Grandma. She sat down next to her and just kept talking and talking (did I mention she’s a social butterfly?) My grandma was wearing what I think was a pendant of Mother Mary (I didn’t look too close). Amelia loves necklaces and just kept grabbing at and holding it in her hand. That long moment of the two of them together on the loveseat was so sweet.

 

I walked into the back guest room and saw old bibles and rosaries laid across the bed. Grandma was going through and getting ready to donate them to missionaries. She raised my aunts and uncles Catholic. Here was a “confession book” of my dad’s.

I started opening up the old bibles to see if I could figure out if they belonged to certain relatives. I found this one of my dad’s. Inside is a dedication from 1960 from my grandparents as a first communion gift. She let me take it home along with this rosary. I don’t know who the rosary belonged to but I loved its old beads and patina on the metal. Regardless of my beliefs/views, I still respect and honor others.’ Its still my history and I love hearing the stories.

We didn’t stay long and wanted to take my grandma out for dinner. We told her she could go anywhere she wanted to. She picked Bill’s Pizza. I thought that was a funny place for Easter but I didn’t resist. So, I do my best but I still cheat every now and then with gluten induced food. I rarely eat pizza and when I do….I *do.* A little too much. Being with Grandma, I took one (or several) for the team. Hence the title of this post “Gluten for Grandma.” Bill’s Pizza is soooo good. I like thin, cracker like crust and Bill’s has that old mom & pop pizzaria taste. Our three year old, Amelia, I kid you not–ordered a salad. The waitress thought she was just joking. When the pizza came out, Amelia was upset that the salad wasn’t. The waitress had to go fetch a salad. Amelia ate it and didn’t touch any of the pizza. I guess sharing a salad with her every Monday after Yoga from Festival Foods is paying off. 

After dinner, we drove Grandma home and headed back to Green Bay. I hope to visit her again for Mother’s Day.

 

 

Every mornin’ I would see her waiting at the stop Sometimes she’d PhotoShop and she would show me what she bought

This week has been a break from shooting and has been spent on my Big Mac working in Photoshop. I’m in love with this new album template that I purchased. The original template is a pink damask but I customized this to coordinate with the blue t-shirt. It has a very elegant but sassy feel to it. I probably love editing as much as I do shooting. It has taken me a good year to feel comfortable in Photoshop. I would tell people, “Yeah, I speak fluent Lightroom but Photoshop is Greek to me.” I have an old PhotoShop 3 version that came with my second hand Mac (Photoshop is now in its 6th version). It used to make me so angry because I didn’t understand it (just like any adult trying to learn something new). Now, I can’t imagine designing without it. The majority of my image editing is done through Lightroom (with the exception to skin blemishes or taking out an eye sore of an image like a light socket) but all of my album designs, business cards, and marketing is done in Photoshop. I’m a one-stop-shop. My control issues take over and want to do it all without outsourcing to someone else.

I recently created a 8×8 album with this template in the pink damask with a coordinating black and white damask fabric bag to store it in. It should arrive on my door step on Monday and I can’t wait! I really want to give my clients a high end product that will make them smile and remind them what that moment felt like for years to come.

Today, I started mocking up this high school senior graduation announcement. Originally, it had white and yellow flowers. Uh, not the most masculine design for a guy. I easily took those out. Also, the pattern of the pieces of tape was a bold white and black stripe and didn’t go with the fall park colors. So, I went into my library and pulled out this green design. The high school colors are green and yellow. I thought it fit nice.

I’m only scratching the surface of Photoshop’s digital gift and I’m eager to go deep, down the rabbit hole. My next goal is to learn how to “composite.” I also want to spend a day and try out HDR. I know how but just haven’t taken the time. I’m “patiently” waiting for Spring to arrive in WI. I’ve had enough of these Winter doldrums. Give me color!

 

The Most She Will Do Is Throw Shadows at You But She’s Always a Woman to Me

This past weekend I packed my bags and headed to a girls’ getaway in Wisconsin Dells. This was my first weekend away to myself since September. A group of 5 of us rented a condo and stayed in for two nights. We cooked, inadvertently started furniture on fire, chatted, and I had my first ever professional massage.  

I brought my camera equipment with me. I told the girls I wanted to do some boudoir photography in the rooms. A couple were apprehensive but I assured them that we would take it slow and that I promised to make them beautiful.

Saturday morning, I made breakfast (a fabulous french toast) while the girls got into hair and make up. Having done group shoots in the past, I knew this would be an all day affair. I started with the girl that couldn’t even pronounce “boudoir.” haha

I love making women laugh while I photograph them. You can’t fool the lens when an outright burst comes out. Its so natural and beautiful and makes the whole image shine. 

I know that boudoir photography gets a bad rap. Some consider it “trendy” while many others consider it smutty. I don’t view it that way. I see these beautiful women–real women in front of me and I want to pull out this inner beauty that is buried deep inside. I want to catch that twinkle in their eye and show them this glow that can emulate all around you if you just let it.

It saddens me all the self confidence that has been lost along the way in women in general these days. Magazines, television, movies…We need to show our mothers and daughters how strong we are and not put ourselves down or go on “diets” or ask, “does this make me look fat?”

Its hard for a photographer to know his or her own personal style. Its easy to look at another photographer and say, “Oh! I know your style! You do…and your posing is always…and the processing is always…” But to understand your own takes some time. These past 12 months I’ve been really focusing on what my own style or “branding” is. I look at my work and I think about how I interact with clients/models. One workshop I watched, the theme was “What is your branding in 3 words?” 3 words? yikes. ok……Then, I thought about it:  Intimate. Clean. Timeless. With a side note of Vintage. Intimate being most important because no matter what you are wearing (or aren’t wearing) I want to create this connection between us or between you and the person you are next to. I want it raw. I want it sweet. I want you to look at the final image and gasp at that moment that was created. It has nothing to do with how pretty you are or how photogenic you are or what label you are wearing.

I really want this to be my calling as a photographer. To show women what I see. To give them back their self confidence that has been hiding for so long. Because it doesn’t matter the age that you are. We all have that twinkle in our eye. It just takes a little’ ol’ Canon to make it last.

 

Dear Prudence, Won’t You Come Out to Play

I was excited to travel to Oshkosh a couple Sundays ago to photograph the get-together of four sisters and a mother.  I was even more excited to try out what I learned from the techniques of Sue Bryce (a New Zealand photographer).  What I *wasn’t* expecting, was the enjoyment I had at this First Congregational Church.  Now, I’m not one to preach about religion (after all, I am a wondering agnostic) but the peace I felt the moment I entered the doors was like no other church I have entered in the past.  Holly told me that we would be photographing her mother and sisters after service at about 11am.  I arrived at 10:30 mid service to be on the safe side.  I decided to sit down in a chair on the other side of the wall.  I could hear the sermon very clearly.  My first surprise was the voice of a woman.  It was Carol DiBiasio-Snyder, the pastor for that morning and the start of Lenten.  This was the first Christ based church that I have ever heard engage in the power of meditation.  Now, this Yogi’s ears perked up.  The ENTIRE sermon was about meditation.  As I sat alone in my chair in the extremely quiet hallway, I began to feel a huge smile on my face as she spoke of peace and the importance of “just being.”  I thrive best on silence and as I closed my eyes, I could here the soft humming of “OM”–the sound of everything around us.  She spent about 15 minutes instructing everyone through the meditation.  She broke it down in simple terms and did about three meditations.  At the end, as my eyes were closed, she said “Amen” and I found myself saying “Namaste.”  After the service, she walked out and I stood up to greet her.  She was my height.  A short, happy, peaceful woman.  She hugged every person that passed her.  There was so much light in her.  She reminded me of Kathleen from the Bay Area Yoga Center.  I heard later that she even used a singing bowl.  I wish I could have heard it from the other side of the wall.

OK, enough about the sermon, on to the photographing.  Holly’s mother, Joanne, is the organist for the church and has been doing this for over 44 years!  The daughters wanted photographs of them and Joanne next to the organ.  I also wanted to get some close ups of the organ itself.  I asked Joanne what her and her daughters’ favorite knobs were.  I wanted to have memories documented of these.  So much talent poured through Joanne’s fingers as she just rolled out one tune after the next with no hesitation as the girls gathered round.

After the formal images at the church, we drove to Joanne’s home to get some more intimate shots of her and the girls.  She has a beautiful, old home.  The type of home that oozes character and the decor of a slightly excentric lady–my kind of lady!  There’s a fireplace in the living room.  The daughters wanted to recreate an old photo they have of them sitting in front of the fireplace.  After we did those, I wanted to get individual portraits for the girls of each one with their mother.  I saw some lovely, natural afternoon light soaking through the windows.  We rotated a rattan sofa, replaced the Christmas colored pillows & afghan for white bed pillows, and removed the floor lamp.  This created a cleaner looking area so that all the focus would go towards the women.  All images in the living room were created with natural light and a white reflector to bounce on their faces.  Each daughter had to play assistant and hold the reflector–a task I *thought* would be easy.  Those silly girls making my job harder.  haha

Then…….I saw *It*…….

Were they not going to tell me there’s an F*in’ Steinway just sitting in the next room?  OK, I wasn’t going to leave without photographing this beauty.  I mean, it was just begging to have my lens all over it.  I asked Joanne to grab her favorite piece of music, sit down, and just play.  I opened up the curtains to let more natural light in and I started pressing the shutter button.  The entire right wall was filled with stacks and stack of sheet music.  There was ANOTHER piano sitting next to this one.  There was no doubt music was Joanne’s blood.  You could see the enjoyment she has even after all these years.

After all the pictures were taken and all the camera equipment was packed up, they invited me to lunch at a nearby restaurant.  I had the pleasure of driving Joanne there.  She told me a few stories along the way and how she loved my car.

I loved my experience from that day.  To be invited into someone’s home and share their moments in time is what I strive for.  It can’t be duplicated.  I won’t let it be erased.  I create heirlooms.