Update

Hello blog readers! :) As usual, life has been more than hectic for us lately, but I am going to make it a priority to update our blog more often.

Gene'o & I just returned from the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI)Conference in Las Vegas last week. Attending this conference was one of our business goals for 2010. To say we learned a lot on this trip is an understatement. My mind is positively swimming with ideas for Kage! We feel that attending these conferences is important for us to keep up with current trends in the market and to learn from and network with some very talented photographers from around the world. We attended some very inspiring classes and we're excited to incorporate what we learned in our day-to-day work! One of the highlights of our trip was participating in a mentoring session with Victor Sizemore, which included an awesome styled shoot in the middle of the desert. Stay tuned for photos!

On another note, our sweet, gentle, and elderly St. Bernard, Delilah, passed away on March 2nd. It was a very rough time for us, me in particular, and I miss her very much. Here is a photo of our old gal enjoying the dog park last spring. This was her last trip there as she had a really hard time getting up and down the hill and I could see it took her a few days to recover from that trip.

Her ashes were returned to me today which has me thinking about her more than usual. We miss you sweet Delilah!

That's all for now, I hope to update with photos from our Las Vegas desert shoot tomorrow!

All About Weddings--Landscape Arboretum

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is a wonderful place to get married. They have a variety of gardens and indoor locations to chose from making it a great venue for a variety of seasons. We spent the majority of our day out there today because Gene'o & I participated in the "All About Weddings" fair that they hosted today. It was our first bridal fair and we had a great time! A lot of prep work went into our booth, I've spent the past month designing a handful of new sample albums, creating our displays, and creating our slideshows. While I was the creative mastermind behind our booth, Gene'o helped by making sure our display was able to be put together effortlessly. It truly was a team effort!

We met tons of great people today, both potential clients and other vendors. If you met us today, thanks for stopping by! We'd love to hear from you!

Here are a few photos of our booth. We didn't bring much of our gear along with us so they aren't the best photos, but they give you an idea of what it looked like.

A few details showing our materials (and candy that I carefully hand-picked to make sure it matched our branding, I'm crazy like that.)


And here is one of the slideshows I put together to play at the event. Hope you enjoy it!

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!

Bandit & Bonnie (and Rascal) need a home!

One of my favorite things to do is photograph animals! I've been volunteering for Feline Rescue in St. Paul since 2002 and one of my "duties" is photographing kitties in their foster homes. Bonnie, Bandit, Rascal & Peanut were abandoned without their mama at a feed store last year when they were little babies, very malnurished and very shy. They received lots of TLC in their foster home and now they're ready for forever homes! Peanut was adopted awhile back, and not pictured is their brother Rascal, who was being camera shy and decided to hide while I was there :)


How can you resist this face?

For more information on how you can provide a loving, forever home for these cuties, please call Cathy at 651.230.3263. And I'll leave you with one of my favorite messages: Please don't breed or buy while shelter animals die!

Kate & Adam {married!}

Kate & Adam were our first wedding of 2010, and they just happened to get married on one of the coldest days we've had in January so far! Despite the cold, the wedding was warm and cozy inside of the gorgeous Woman's Club of Minnesota, located near Loring Park in Minneapolis. Kate's grandma is a member there, so it was a very fitting that the wedding took place there.

We started the day as we typically do by doing some getting ready shots. You may notice that the activities of the guys are much different than the ladies during getting ready :)


First looks always produce some of my favorite photos of the day. Theirs was no exception.



But the bride and groom portraits are what I love the most! The Woman's Club had all kinds of great locations inside with good natural light, which was awesome considering how cold it was outside. The chandeliers were especially awesome to me, and I took lots of photos with them in them!


And a few other faves.


We did brave the cold for just a few minutes! This was outside on the balcony, and it was only about 10 degrees.



One of my favorite group shots from the day.


After photos we headed downstairs for the ceremony. It was dark by now and the candlelight ceremony was beautiful.


Like I said, I couldn't stop photographing these chandeliers!




Here are some of the details. The flowers were done by Dawn at Appleblossom Flowers. The white roses were perfect for a January wedding.



And finally, the first dance.


And our last photo of the day was taken by Adam. It was the first wedding that Gene'o & I shot as a married couple! Horay!

Kate & Adam, we had so much fun with you guys! Your full gallery will be ready very soon :)