Aren’t they cute together?  LOVE the outfits here too!  Such fun color combos! Ethan’s so stinkin’ cute! and his sis is no slouch in the cuteness department either!  When we were taking these, some ladies walked by and were “oohing” and “aaahing” over her!  {btw….her adorable outfit is from Matilda Jane – the headband is from etsy} I know this one is a little blurry, but I love it!  awwww! Thanks for coming guys!  Your family is way cute!

And thanks again to the other families that came out too!  I really enjoyed these beach sessions!  It’s probably because of the “kick of your shoes and have FUN” sort of feel to them!  I’ll definitely be doing beach minis next summer again! 

(btw….art here is a canvas painting by my daughter Claire!  I thought it would be fun to bring along and incorporate into some of the sessions!  I told her I’d pay her $5 for borrowing it….haha!) The only real guidance I gave my mini session attendees was NO WHITE SHIRTS WITH KHAKI’S/JEANS!  I really didn’t want that “uniform” look.  OK, could they BE any cuter?  Kudos for the outfit choices Kim – they were perfect! Aidan has always been in school for our other sessions so Kim wanted to make sure we got plenty of photos of just him!  No problem – he was a breeze!  And does he look like mom or what?  So cute! A brotherly moment…!  At the end of the session Kim & Aaron let Anders go for it!  He’d been eyeing that water the whole session – haha!  These just make me laugh!  Plus he threw a little fit when they took him out, which made me laugh too!!  Thanks for coming guys!  You are all so cute together!

(but gotta work the next 6 days so it’s not going to happen right away…!  )

    My son Jacob assisted me and he was a HUGE help!  Thanks Jake! waiting…. (btw….had a punch biopsy yesterday – they think it’s fine but making sure since it’s a sore I’ve had for quite a while.  I literally almost passed out!  I’m such a wimp!  eek!  I also had to make sure not to get it wet!) There was a FREE outdoor concert last night but as I had hoped, hardly anyone was down by the beach! 

It sounded great and looked like such a fun time!  I SOOOOO want to pack a picnic lunch and hang out there some time!  Maybe this weekend when we have my cousin in town!?Anyway, many more images to come as I have time to edit them!    Thanks to all the families that came out last night!  You all did an AWESOME job!

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! 

Since no blog post is any good without a photo, here’s the neighbor kids playing in the empty lot next door.  They have quite the fort over there!

(paper here is from this site)  I tried something different on this photo – used Sheye’s Vintage Wash duotone at FULL opacity, then saved that file and layered it over my normal sepia edit and changed the opacity to 51%.  I kinda like how it turned out.    Isn’t she so cute?  LOVE the big brown eyes and all the curls! They were actually swinging her here but I liked this one the best.  Sadie was fussing a little so dad gave her a few throws up in the air.  She loved it!  Marilyn & Sadie – awww – so cute! Marilyn & Jason – awww!  Thanks for coming Marilyn, Jason & Sadie!  It was nice to meet you!  Your family is way cute!