Kellie & Derek {engaged!}

We met up with Kellie & Derek last week at Centennial Lakes Park in Edina. They are getting married there this upcoming June, and we lucked out with a gorgeous day to be out doing photos. Kellie work a fabulous pink jacket which I loved! It makes the photos pop!

The day after our session I found the most awesome email in our inbox. It's emails like these that make us love what we do even more. Kellie said I could share it here on the blog, so here it is.

Just wanted to Thank you for making our engagement photo session so fun and enjoyable. You are Gene'o are talented and and amazingly compassionate about what you do and I am so happy that we will be able to look back at our wedding day through your eyes. Now having the engagement photos done, have worked with you, I am not one bit worried about that day.

I can't wait to show off our pictures!!

Emails like that make my day! Now, I'm happy to present Kellie & Derek!






This was the one photo Kellie really wanted. A shot of Derek kissing her forehead. So sweet :)






Kellie & Derek are Minnesota Wild fans, so we did a quick wardrobe change at the end of the session.



Our group shot was taken by "Ma". Derek's mom was in town so she came along on the shoot! I think she has skills behind the camera, don't you ;)

Thanks, Kellie & Derek! We are SO looking forward to your wedding in June!

Sonya & Mike {engaged!}

Last Sunday we met up with Sonya & Mike in Minnehaha Park for their engagement photos. We've photographed there in the winter before and it was super icy so we've usually played it safe and stayed up above the falls. Well this time we took the risk and went down into the cavern where the falls are located.

This one was taken up above the falls before we braved the climb down.

Then we headed down the stairs to reach the falls themselves. I didn't think it would be that hard to get down there because when we saw several people, including young kids, down there. Well Gene'o went down two flights of stairs on his butt (but didn't get hurt) so yes it was a bit dangerous but it was so totally worth it.

Mike & Sonya had their first date in this location. To commemorate, they brought a bottle of wine! G and I even had some and I must say it did help warm us up a little :)

We spent a little time around the creek getting some fun shots.




After we were done with the "safe" location we started the hike to get behind the falls.I think Mike even coined one area during the climb as "the hot bed of death". So don't try this at home kids (unless you want some amazing photos!). Once we were there it was so beautiful! The shades of blue, green, & aqua were stunning. We used a video light on this one and the blue is natural, hardly photoshopped at all!





It was getting late in the afternoon and we were losing light, so after we climbed our way out of the gorge we hurried over to this little corner in south Minneapolis near the Riverview Theater that I've always wanted to photograph at. I'm so glad we made it there, even just for 15 minutes, and I'm so glad Sonya brought her cute hat with!



It is my dream to have a photography studio in this red building! It's been vacant for quite some time and the "for sale" sign taunts me everytime I drive by it!



And finally our group shot! The one on the left is the outtake that Gene'o took while setting up the self timer and I'm trying to warm my fingers :)

What a fun session we had! We are so, so fortunate to be able to work with such great people. Can't wait for their July wedding near Brainerd. I can already tell it is going to be a blast!

Andrea & Nick {engaged!}

On Valentine's Day weekend my cousin Andrea and her fiance Nick drove up to the cities from Milwaukee, WI, so we could do their engagement photos. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, even though it was pretty cold. We decided to wander around downtown Stillwater because that always makes for some great photos!

It had been a few months since we shot engagement photos so we were super excited to get started again this season. Now it seems we have several shoots coming up so stay tuned for lots of great couples to make an appearance on the blog.

But for now, here are a few of our favorites from Andrea & Nick's session!
So sweet.




This one is my favorite from the session.

With this one being a close second!

Andrea had heels on so Nick graciously carried her out of the snow bank ;) Made for some cute photos!


I like these next two, Gene'o & I captured different angles of the same moment.



At the end of the session we went down by the river where the sky was amazingly blue and the colors just popped!



And the last thing we did was throw snow on them. Just for fun. More than once. As if they weren't cold enough already!

Here's our group shot taken after a super unhealthy dinner at Madhatters. I love their grilled cheese and fries!

We are so excited for their December 2010 wedding!