Heidi

Heidi is a friend I met over a year ago when I visited the Twin Cities for the first time. She is also from Wisconsin (GO PACK GO) and was probably the person that welcomed me the most when I decided to move here. I have never told her how much I appreciated that, but I think she understands! We decided to take the kiddos out recently and did an impromptu photo shoot. She is amazingly gorgeous and was a perfect model. Take a look!!

I learned a lot from this session. It is not easy to pose someone, and I need to practice with that. I also learned that it is difficult to edit when you have been in multiple lighting situations. Heidi was a very patient muse and I hope I came up with some great photos for her!!

 

 

Giveaway at Stacie Jensen!

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Giveaway at Memora'belle!

Please check out this giveway!
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Snow Sculptures (NOT Ice Sculptures!!)

The first weekend in February our little small town has the great honor of hosting the U.S. National Show Sculpting Championships. It was a warm and sunny day, which is NOT ideal weather for snow sculpting!! Here are some of the images from that event.

This is my wonderful husband Alex! This is as close to a good photo of the two of them that I have. Loves of my life!!

This is my husband Alex and Vivian checking out the helicopter taking off, which is show directly below.

I loved the little ice medallions on this one! There was a lot of teams using solid ice this year. It was really cool!

This is what happened as soon as I took that last shot! I guess I am bad luck for snow sculptures!
It made a quiet wooshing sound followed by about 20 people going "oh no!!"

There was a giant ice puzzle piece inside of the sculpture. It was a mystery because it looked larger than any of the cutouts!!

This one was soooo cool! It as an archaeological dig with a T-Rex that came to life!! The snowmen running away are archaeologists!

Snow Times 2012 - Part II

We got our second (yes second) snowfall this winter in SE Wisconsin. Since Vivian's asthma wasn't acting up too bad today (a story for another day) we got her outside and took some photos. I think these turned out really great. It's not easy to shoot in the snow! I had some problems with white balance and over exposure but I got me settings figured out and it was a lot easier. Hope you enjoy! As always, constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.

What's So Great About Winter, Anyways?

What's so great about winter, you ask? The short answer: Nothing. I don't think there is anything GREAT about winter. Winter, in my estimation, is barely tolerable. So what is acceptable about winter? At times it can be stunningly beautiful.

When you wake up in the morning after a soft snow through the night, it seems extra quiet. People who live in snowy climates have often told they can "hear" when it has been snowing. It's like the world stops turning, just long enough for the blanket of white to leave a fresh, clean look for the onlooker to behold.

It has a refreshing feel. That is, until the sun comes out, turns all the snow to muddy slush, and things look nasty again. Here are some photos from a practice shoot I did today. I used my manual lens, a 50mm f/1.8. I don't use this lens very often because it does not auto-focus. I really need to practice with it to improve my skills. So I set out to do that today! Here are some of the images from this afternoon.