calvin&caitlin {family photo session in Winona, MN}

Yesterday on the way home from my friend's wedding, we stopped in Winona, MN (where I did my undergrad), to do a photo session with an old friend/co-worker/boss and her two darlings, Calvin and Caitlin. These two were cracking me up--so adorable! And this is one of those photo sessions where a lot of the photos look great in both black&white and color, and whenever that happens it's way too hard for me to choose one over the other. So I don't choose. 

The sun didn't come out until the very last minute of the photo shoot, when the kids were ready to have a snack and go home, but I'm just grateful that we didn't get rained out (although you all know how much I love those sun spots...)

{LOVE} Aubrey&Charles (super special sneak peek!)

This past Saturday one of my best friends and college roommates got married in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Our beautiful and talented friend Sarah Hrudka was the photographer, but of course I was able to take a few (couple hundred) photos myself :-) More soon....

model shots {liz k from st. cloud, minnesota}

We almost had to reschedule this photo shoot due to rain, but thankfully it cleared up enough for Liz and I to get some shots for her modeling portfolio. We would have loved to use the sun but did our best to use what we had on this misty cloudy Sunday.... And don't you love her peacock earrings?! I really want to get my ears pierced just so I can wear some like that. 

eMiLy {monticello high school senior '12}

Yesterday I did a photo shoot with Monticello High School senior Emily, and it was a blast. She brought several different outfits as well as some great props, and this really helped us get a lot of different looks. I love that these photos create a dynamic portrait of not just her face but her personality and interests. We humans are multi-faceted and complex beings -- something I aim for my photos to show.....

I love the sort of 1970's/vintage look of these football photos - don't they just feel like fall?

Yes, she was really playing music, which I thoroughly enjoyed :)

Gotta love those sun spots. 

These last four are so stunning that I don't even want to put them in a collage. And is it just me or is Emily totally a Kate Winslet look-alike?! Beautiful. 

These last two photos had so much sunlight coming into them so they're a little bit grainier than the others but I think they're gorgeous nonetheless. I love all that airy light.... 

The above photo came straight from the late 1960's, yes?

the new lens

Whether your're a professional photographer or not, if you use a digital SLR I highly recommend the 50mm 1.8 lens - it's one of the most inexpensive lenses out there, and with it you can make some amazing photographs. This lens lets in so much light, which enables you to make clear and crisp photos even in lower lighting, and it can give any scene that dreamy, airy look, like this:

These photos are straight off the camera and taken from the passenger's seat of a moving car. These scenes aren't extraordinary by any means, but I love how breezy they are - and look at those clouds! Don't you just wanna eat them? Mmmmmm....

This lens is also capable of focusing on a small detail, making that small detail extra clear and the rest of the photo extra blurred, like this:

This lens does take some getting used to because there is no auto-focus as there is with the other lenses I've been using. I have to manually focus on my subject, which can be difficult, especially when the subject is moving. And there's no zoom - so my angles are limited and if I want the subject to fill more or less of the frame I have to move myself accordingly rather than just being able to zoom in or out. But the clarity and brightness of this lens is worth it, and I think practicing with it will make me a better photographer. And when you do get it right, the results can be amazing, especially for portraits:

See how her eyes are the most focused part of the photo and then even her face begins to blur out a little? There's no way my other lens could achieve this effect, and it's all because of light. I love light. And this portrait needed very little editing - all I did was increase the exposure to make it a little brighter and then sharpen it a bit. So easy!

guest post! (this is exciting stuff, y'all)

Okay, so I'm still writing the post but the photos I'm sharing are done by Jason - my life partner and photography-partner-in-training. He, too, loves working with light and interesting perspectives. We're huge fans of sun spots! And as much as I love being behind the camera, it's so fun to get in front of it too.

We did these earlier this evening off the county road just a few miles from our house using my new 50mm 1.8 lens. The inspiration for this shoot was the sweater I'm wearing, which I found at the thrift store last week for a couple bucks:

j/d&kids {family}

Saturday's late afternoon session with Jenna & Derick and their adorable little ones, Kaleb & Kylie (forgive me if I've misspelled those!), was perfect. The weather was perfect - a little overcast with just the right amount of sun poking through, and a nice breeze to keep the bugs away. And their coordinating outfits worked so well with our scenery. And I think everyone had fun, including mom & dad :-) And me!

Kylie turned one this summer, and so we wanted to get a few extra of her in her sweet white dress. She didn't like that idea too much but I was still able to sneak a few: