the photokatie photojournal

Lost in "I Do" Land…

Well following my Christmas rush, I went off the grid into wedding-land, planning for my own ceremony coming up on September 10 (now only 157 days away!).  Now the essentials are all decided, the save-the-dates have been sent (aren't they cute!?!), and the ice is thawed, so I'm taking stock and planning my next move!

 

 

 

So I have two house-cleaning matters to attend to with all my lovely Minnesota clients:

 

•1•  FINAL SESSION DATES:  If you were planning on trying to squeeze in one more session with me before I ship out, I have a limited number of weekend session-times still available in May. Let me know asap so I can fit you in!

•2• FINAL ORDERS FROM 2010 SESSIONS:  If you had your photo session in 2010 (or earlier!) and were still planning to order prints or products, you have ONE MONTH to do so or contact me to request a design (*with the exception of baby plans still in progress-disregard!).  After 5.8.11, all of these sessions will be archived, and any orders will incur a $50 access fee--no exceptions, my mind is going to be very full with wedding and moving and will have not a brain cell to spare! 

 

As I go through and archive photos, I'll be sure to share my favorite child, baby, family, wedding and portrait images of 2010!  Happy Spring everyone!

Baby portraits: one year old at last!

Jude is one year old at last!  I photographed him for his one-year portraits just after his birthday, and man, did it go by fast!  Now he's walking all over the place.  It has been so much fun seeing him grow up in front of my camera, I can't wait to put it all together into a fabulous photo book to celebrate the whole year of adorableness!

 

Family Portraits: all these beautiful girls

Luckily this dad has an above-average sense of humor, no doubt honed over the last 6 years of sharing his house with his three lovely ladies.  Abby and Ella were more than happy to clown around for my camera in the back AND front yards, and turned on the smiles for some great family portraits, bubbling over with laughter with very little help needed from me.  A particular favorite picture of mine is the closeup of Ella and her daddy, where I think we can all see where she gets her good looks from--I swear they have the same face, just 30 years apart!  And their mom & dad were excellent models, too-- especially since getting engaged myself, there's nothing I like better than to photograph a "grown-up" couple who have just as much fun as if it were their engagement session!!

Welcome-baby-brother family portraits

Had a great time hanging out with this little guy and his charming baby brother a while back--both wide awake and full of energy, no peaceful-sleeping photos for this baby! Thanks, guys  ;-)

Lovely day for a wedding - Jason+Laura

A couple weeks ago I got to see this couple's story through to its "happily ever after."  After photographing this bride and groom first at their 1-year-of-dating anniversary, putting those photos (plus one of her engagement ring) together into a photobook to be used in his proposal, and even taking photos of Laura's mother's wedding dress before it went on to be used throughout her ensemble, it was great fun to see everything come together so beautifully for them.  They had the perfect day and the perfect place for an outdoor ceremony, The Woods Chapel in Orono, and every detail orchestrated to be simple, elegant, and/or tons of fun ;-)  Thank you, guys, for letting me peek in, tag along, hang out, and be generally amazed by how perfect you two are for one another!

(I'm told this little one is quite heartbroken that Jason is officially off the market!)

 

It's official…

The pictures will have to be worth a thousand words, cuz I don't know how else to tell you about my beautiful engagement ring  : )  I suppose when you get proposed to at a design convention for jewelers, it'd better be good, but I really think he outdid himself!  (I stare at it a lot…)

Yes, we were in Chicago for the big GV event, (where we first started getting to know each other, once upon a time) and on October 1st, three and a half years and several software versions later, Chris (very nervously) asked me to marry him!  He continues to surprise me constantly with his thoughtfulness, his ability to make me laugh and to make me feel more completely loved than I ever thought possible.  (So that was a yes ; )

So this means that before too long I will be finding my way back to the Quad-Cities after all!  (that's Iowa, for you Minnesotans) -- yet another unexpected detour from my "life plan," but you know what they say- life is what happens… and I'm awfully glad this did.  And while I love it here, I am looking forward to being close to family and old friends once again… but I have until July 2011 to enjoy the Twin Cities and my lovely little cottage!  And will be a frequent visitor after that I'm sure, and I hope to keep in touch with all my Minnesota friends and favorite customers and continue to have a part in capturing your family's story! 

Kids Portraits: Sweet Sisters

I was lucky enough this summer to get to do another delightful portrait session with one of my very favorite families from last year, and I can't believe how much these three beautiful little girls have grown!  It was lovely to spend some time with this sweet family and capture the fun they have and how much they love each other.  Covered the spectrum from beautiful dresses to running around in the park--all in all a good day for pictures!

Baby Portraits: Look out world, he's mobile!

Baby Jude, who we've been following in photographs since his newborn portraits, has hit 9 months (10 by now!), and is on the move!  With my first-year-photos baby-plan babes, my challenge changes drastically and quickly--from patiently waiting for the baby to do… anything, to trying desperately to keep up with everything the baby is doing!  And this little guy gave me a workout…it's hard to crawl with a camera!

Candid Kids' Portraits: Little Toes in the Sand

I realized at this shoot that I have been very lucky to photograph brothers and sisters who not only get along, but actually really like each other, even give hugs and kisses and play together!  Not always a given, but these two certainly do, and they have a great backyard, complete with a dock and a little strip of sandy beach to play on…what fun for family pictures! 

Newborn session: a long-awaited arrival

This newborn portrait session post comes with big, fat congratulations to one of my very best friends-- little Nate here has been loved and hoped for and wanted for a very long time before he finally came, and we are very, very excited that he's here.  And though you can't tell from the photos, he was intent on waking up during his photo session, (not wanting to miss a thing, I imagine) but we were finally able to get him to at least snooze on his momma long enough to get that super-sweet sleeping-baby face and some awesome photographs…