Well we got our chance for the outdoor session last night  and it was super super fun!!  My friend Jennie joined us and she was a huge help!  Thanks Jennie! 

Shane (far right)  is our pastor’s son and this is his band.  They won “battle of the bands” to win a spot on stage at the MN State Fair, so congratulations guys!!  They are playing TONIGHT at 7pm so check them out if you get a chance!!  It’s a great opportunity for them!  they were totally willing to do anything we asked!   They look like they are running from crazed teenage girls or something!    Sam the drummer Zach – lead vocals Shane – guitar & vocals  A shot of Jennie in action.  She was using a fisheye so can’t wait to see this image!  fun stuff! Here’s my shot!  (btw….used my 24-70 for the whole shoot)  I told them to pretend like they were fighting here…hehe! Once we started losing light a little bit (around 8pm) we worked w/ the strobes more.  I was using a vagabond II, alien bee 800 (set to 1/2 power), a 60″ shoot-through umbrella and pocket wizards to fire the light.  I like how it turned out!  yeah, this was before we lost the light obviously….but actually was only like 15 min before the shot above.  Just depends on how you do your camera settings.  used a strobe on this shot too. Love these two!  Oh, and jumping was their idea!  They got some major air!  (and landed pretty hard so we only did it twice!)Thanks guys for having Jennie & I be your official band photographers!  haha!  It was a fun change of pace for both of us!   

btw…………..I posted a lot more photos on my Facebook “Photos By Robin” page.  Click “like” and become one of my FANS! 

For starters, starting September 1st, I am going to be renting a studio downtown!  My friend and fellow photog Shelley sweet-talked me into it, so I’m going to try it for 6 months.  The studio is in a really cool old building in the arts district of NE Minneapolis. 

To go along with my cool downtown studio, I thought it would be a GREAT time to launch SoShe – Photography for Girls and Women!  (logo by Karen!  Thanks girl!  You’re the BEST!) 

One of my goals with SoShe Photography is to target fashion-forward girls ages 12-16 years of age.  You know these girls – they are the ones that LOVE having their photos taken….the ones that LOVE doing their hair and make-up….the ones that LOVE posting their photos on Facebook…the ones that LOVE going to the mall!  Unfortunately, a lot of girls this age hardly ever get professional photos taken!  All they get is their yearly crappy school photo or else they hold their camera out at arm’s length and take self-portraits.  If they are really lucky, then maybe they get to have some quick solo pics if their parents book a family session.  Then when they are high school seniors, they get great senior photos taken.  Why wait until your girls are seniors!? 

My goal is to capture great photos for these poor, neglected girls!  haha!  Seriously, my goal is to provide a service to a group of clients that I think is strongly under-represented.  I’m hoping too that parents will be on board with this idea of paying for a session for their girls  (since most kids that age are flat broke – so they need their parents’ $$!!) 

Another goal of SoShe Photography is to focus on those poor neglected MOMS that only get their photos taken as part of a family session!    So to kick off SoShe, I took a day off of work and booked the studio for minis on Friday September 10th!  What a great time for moms to come for a session just for THEM!?  It can be a boudoir session (tame & tasteful of course!) or just some fun new headshots!  Hey, the kids are in school so take a 1/2 day off work, get some fun photos taken and maybe meet your hubby or a friend for lunch.  Doesn’t that sound like a great mom day?  I think so! 

I’m also going to try a new introductory pricing structure especially for SoShe!  Here’s what I’m thinking:

• 20-30 minute sessions.  If you want a longer session, book 2 sessions back-to-back.
• $100 for 10 edited images.  Additional edited images to be purchased at $10 each.  And best yet, you will get to choose the images you want edited!  (note:  if you book 2 back-to-back sessions, the cost would be $200 for 20 edited images.) 
• Once you pick your images, you will be able to download the edited versions when they are ready.  No need to wait for a CD to come in the mail!  The photography release will also be e-mailed to you.
• Especially for Friday September 10th, if you want your hair and make-up done, the cost is $20 and it will be done by the amazing Karen Yang.   You would need to arrive 30-45 minutes prior to your session for styling. 
• Especially for Friday September 10th too – complimentary glass of wine to clients age 21 and over!

Here are the times for September 10th (sorry, all spots are taken!):

• 10:00 – Trayce S.
• 10:30 – Amy P.
• 11:00 – Sara B.
• 11:30 – Darcy F.
• 12-1pm – LUNCH BREAK
• 1:30 – Colette W.
• 2:00 – Amanda

Let me know if you are interested!  I am pretty much booked out for 2010…so look for more SoShe mini session dates in 2011!  If I think I can squeeze it in though, I’d love to do another date yet for 2010 – probably November or early December.

And to clarify, I am just branching out a little bit – I still welcome families, babies & kiddos! 

Backing up a little bit here…………when Jacob told us he had a girlfriend I of COURSE had to stalk her check her out on facebook!  I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found.    She is beautiful both inside and out!   One of the things I noticed right away is she has quotes with almost all of her photos — some she’s written herself (she also writes music!) and others she’s found along the way.  I think the quotes you like says a lot about your personality.  I asked her if I could put some of them with the photos I took of her and she agreed.   This was one of my favorites.  Elle’s mom Jen told me that Elle just LOVES having her photo taken!  I told her mom that I just LOVE taking photos = a VERY dangerous combination!   haha!  But I’ll try to take it easy on her and not be a creeper.    Jacob & Elle… Used that technique I talked about HERE a long time ago.  Anyway, thanks for letting me practice again on ya Elle!  You are quite amazing.  (i.e. I approve.  ) 

Juanita said that Lauren just LOVES shoes – so I asked her to bring a bunch of her favorites.  I had a slightly different idea for this, but of course Lauren is TWO and had other ideas – and I think it’s even cuter than what I had in mind!  (I like it when that happens!) 

I had quite a few of them (like 15!) so my co-worker Karen took some and then I called up my friend Jennie and asked her if she wanted some.  She said “Sure!” and I also asked to borrow her adorable little girl, Ryan (almost 3yrs), to take some photos with them!! 

These were all taken in my garage – but I can see lots of possibilities for them in studio too?  Jennie had some GREAT ideas too!

I met Ryan’s dad and OMG she looks JUST like him!  But I also think Ryan looks SO much like Raven (you know, “The Cosby Show”, “That’s SO Raven”) when she was little, don’t you?!   Love the dimple & curls!  Here Ryan is laying on her back on one of the signs. She’s quite the mover & shaker!  haha!  Here’s beautiful Jennie too!  If you haven’t checked out her work, you MUST!  She is amazingly talented! 

Ryan’s cute top is from Target and her pants are Matilda Jane.  Love the rain boots too!   Oh, and the little necklace is from the Dollar Spot at Target! Clients = If you want to use these for your session, let me know and we can plan it.  Also, they still have some Liberty of London clothes at Target!  But they’re going fast! 

And really inexpensive too!  I love this little bikini too!  I’m really into fabric flowers lately – can’t get enough! 

Anyway, check it out when you are in your local Target! 

And she was bugging and bugging me to buy her these new shoes too.  I thought they were WAY too wild and she would never wear them, but she LOVES them!

 Anyway, I had her model it all for me today and thought I’d share.  Stuff here is from Rhonna’s parisian pack and the plain frame is hers as well.  The “me” and bird frame is from here.