1st Christmas

I think Max had a great first Christmas. He received way too many presents for a boy of just 4 months. :) See the rest of the pictures here.

Happy Holidays

Thank you to everyone for a very successful start to my business. I'm so excited for next year!

I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday. We'll be enjoying our first Christmas with Max.

Laurie & Aubrey

Last Friday I had a photo session with Laurie and Aubrey: mom and daughter. We took pictures at Laurie's beautiful condo. It had lots of natural light, but my favorite spot was right outside their front door. Those front door shots are always the best.

Here are a couple of my other favorites.

Max Saturday

I didn't post a Max Friday because I had a session. So, here is a special Max Saturday. I've been wanting to take this picture for awhile. Every morning while I eat my breakfast and check my email, Max sits in his vibrating chair and sucks his thumb.

Getting into the holiday spirit

Merry Christmas, from the Rs

Saturday I photographed my favorite little family. You can see their other sessions here and here. This session was for a Christmas card picture. Anthony and Keya have gotten so big. Keya is walking now and was a lot harder to photograph than at previous sessions! It was nice to catch up with them. We've been trying to get together just for fun, but Max is on the opposite napping schedule as Keya and Anthony. One of these days my two favorite little boys will get to meet. :)

Max Friday

I almost didn't make it!

Photo links

Some links of interest:

• Photocraft: Cool Thing to Do with the Pictures You Love -- Looks like there might be some interesting photo projects in this book.
• Wedding Photos We'll All Remember -- A collection of some mostly funny but really great wedding photography
• Export your photos from Lightroom directly to Flickr
• The Perfect Picture Wall -- Need some help figuring out how to hang up your pictures?

Max Friday already

Just took this one this morning!

Max Friday and more

Some quick pictures from yesterday's festivities. Hope you had a great day too.




And, of course, the turkey!

Catching up

No pictures this week. I need to finish up my open jobs. Have a great Thanksgiving, and I'll try to be back with a Max Friday.

Max Friday

He turned 3 months on Tuesday.

Something sweet

Now that I've gotten into the habit of blogging during the week, I feel like I need to keep up with it. So here is my "something sweet" today. My mom helps me out on Wednesdays and usually brings a little something for us. Yesterday it was a bag full of donuts. When you receive donuts as a present, you have to eat them, which means they don't count. :)

Also, an update on my schedule...I have just one session scheduled now through the end of the year. So, if you'd like a last-minute session, feel free to contact me. I'd love to photograph a big holiday gathering.

Stephanie & Josh, engaged

I was so excited for this session. I kept telling Stephanie and Josh that they are my perfect little couple. Josh's family owns a cool theater in Alma, Wisconsin. It was three floors. The main floor was the theater and the second and third floors were just awesome open spaces with lots of beautiful natural light.

I had never been to Alma before, but was excited when I saw it. It's a cute little river town with lots of old buildings. We found lots of places to take pictures, and they were up for any poses that I threw at them. I had a great time and am looking forward to their wedding next year!

Scott & Lynn

My second session on Saturday was with an old co-worker of mine and his wife. Scott is quite the photographer himself, but he only has the 20D while I have the 5D. ;)

Lynn wanted a Packers themed session for Christmas card pictures, and we even included the dogs. Scott and Lynn were nice to send home a gift for Max - a "Lil Packers Fan" bib. Ryan was super happy about that! Lynn and I were sure to discuss the big Packers/Vikings game the next day. I missed most of the game because I had another session (with, I later found out, a Vikings fan!), but the Packers won 34-0! Go Pack Go!

The Bs

My first session on Saturday was with a family that is very familiar with my sister. Dad used to work with her at one place of employment and Mom worked with her for a bit at another place of employment. It was good to catch up and see their kids. Their oldest has grown so much since I last saw him and I hadn't met the baby yet. He's so sweet! I can't wait for Max to be able to sit up. So many more options for pictures. :)

Just look at those cute baby toes!

Max Friday

And, because I didn't have any sessions last weekend, you get an extra dose of Max today.



And, because Ryan took this picture and I like it whole lot.

The dog

When I left my job, I found out exactly how much he sleeps during the day (a lot!).

My morning snack

Before baby, I used to daydream that when I was a photographer I would take a picture of my breakfast every morning and post it on this blog. I love breakfast and we get such pretty morning light in our house. After baby, I'm happy when I can actually eat breakfast without holding on to a certain someone. The other day, I did snap a picture of my morning snack though. :) Max takes a long nap every morning that I fully take advantage of. I usually make coffee and have "a little something sweet."

Flowers for me?

A couple weeks ago Ryan had to travel to Atlanta for work leaving Max, Freckles, and I home alone. I was a little nervous about the whole ordeal, but the week went by pretty fast and we managed to survive ok. While he was gone, I received a package from FedEx. Inside were these beautiful autumn lilies. I felt pretty spoiled.

40th Anniversary

I didn't schedule an official session this weekend because it was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. My sister and I planned a small surprise party for them on Saturday night. If you know my parents at all, you'll understand what a challenge this was...they know everyone. We never thought we'd be able to keep it a secret from them, but we did (and boy were they surprised). The party was held in the small, private dining room at the Firehouse restaurant in Viroqua. As my mom rounded the corner to the room, she saw her brother (all the way from northern Minnesota) and she freaked a tiny bit. Then she saw everyone else and freaked a little more and didn't settle down the rest of the night. My dad was just happy that he bought a new shirt for the event. :)



I have to admit that Max might have stole the show. Everyone was excited to see him, including his two great uncles and great aunt who got to meet him in person for the first time. Max only had eyes for his cousin Alex though.



Before the party I did a quick anniversary session with my parents. It's so nice to have a few pictures of them together. Usually my family is very camera shy.



Happy 40th, Mom and Dad!