Two spots remaining...ZOOM Camp for kids!!

The week of June 15th is our ZOOM Camp for kids! We have two spots remaining in our summer photography camp for kids! It is shaping up to be a fun filled, educational week! Melissa and I can't wait...you would think we were going to camp! The camp was created in response to the need in the Twin Cities for a camp for kids with an interest in photography! (see details below!)

So, call now if you have a child age 9-12 years who would like to be a part of such fun!! 651.343.4823!

Dog days of.....Spring 2009!

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." - Roger Caras I know the saying goes, "dog days of summer" but I couldn't resist! We recently had our second annual Dog Day at the studio....11 different and very beautiful dogs in one day. Of course, not all at the same time!! You should have seen the funny looks we received in the elevator at our building that day as we escorted the dogs and their owners in and out!!

Since we couldn't narrow the images down to just one blog post, I am going to separate them and give you all a peek of just a couple at a time so stay tuned for more to come in the next few weeks!

These two beauties are Maverick (the gorgeous Afghan) and Lucy (the equally stunning Shar Pei). Maverick loved going outside to be photographed and her coat was just sparkling in the warm spring sun! We couldn't resist putting Lucy in front of the chalkboard and drawing some butterfly wings and she cooperated like a trooper!!

Coming up next dog post...a great Dane and a very fluffy Pomeranian!!!

What does it take ...

for a photographer to actually, truly have a session for her own kids? Well, for me apparently it is 4 things intersecting at the same time. First, (this is really two-in-one) both my daughters have birthdays coming up. Marin will be 3 this weekend and Brynn will be 6 this summer. I have no idea how THAT happened. They think they are so big, but really it's still fun when they are still small. Second, we finally decided what to do with a room on the main floor that I haven't a clue what to do with up until now, and I really, really wanted to created a super-amazing-cool-creative piece of art for above the new couch (the couch is on order and expected to arrive in May ... it's soooo hard waiting for new furniture isn't it!). Thirdly, my youngest has some hair ... finally ... albeit sort of wild and crazy. Lastly, the light is getting warmer and sweeter every day and it just had to be a part of this moment. Wrapping the girls in warm sun and shining on their relationship with each other as it is growing and changing. The session had such a beautiful, casual, natural feel. Just the way we like it. I am entirely grateful they cooperated.

Here are some of my favorites from the girl's session, and once I have the piece finished and hanging I will share that too. I am even more excited for that than the couch. Now that is saying something! I hope everyone feels this way about their portraits. I can't wait!

Stories Event!!! What a party!!!

What a party it was!!! Saturday was our Stories event at the studio and what fun was had!! We want to thank everyone who donated books to our event to benefit the Minnesota Literacy Council...we are still counting (as we are still getting books dropped off!) but we are well past the 350 mark!! Almost double our initial goal!! THANK YOU!!!

We had a great turnout to the event despite the sunny, warm weather outdoors! Kids (and adults!) were fascinated by Colleen from WonderWeavers who entertained the kids with stories and her puppets, a craft, and very detailed balloon figures! And Cindy, the facepainter, was quite the artist! You can see from the images in the video, the facepaint was phenomenal!

Thank you also to Jennifer Pogatchnik from doodleinvite.com who brought her latest stationery designs for people to view and order for Mother's Day and teacher's gifts! Tracy Morrison brought wonderful new designs from Matilda Jane. And everyone enjoyed our rain-themed cookies specially handmade for the event! It was an action packed morning!!

We are hoping to make this an annual event so if you couldn't make it this year, stay tuned next spring for our 2nd Annual Stories Event!!!

Stories Event tomorrow...10am-noon!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!!! The Stories Event at the studio!!! Yah!! And the weatherman is actually calling for rain tomorrow in keeping with our theme of "reading on a rainy day"! We have been astounded at the generousity of our clients, friends and acquaintances who have already donated almost 200 books and the event isn't even until tomorrow!! THANK YOU!!!!

It is going to be a fantastic morning!! (Melissa and I decorated for the event yesterday so the studio looks like it is ready for a downpour...you will have to wait and see what we have done!) In addition to the WonderWeaver storytellers, fabulous facepainter, clothing from Matilda Jane, and sweet stationery from Doodleinvite.com, we have great door prizes! For every 5 books you bring in to donate, you will receive 5 raffle tickets!! Prizes include a HUGE gift basket donated by Post Pooch (wait til you see it!!), a gift certificate from Wild Child Hair, a very cuddle, somewhat enormous stuffed crocodile from The Red Giraffe, and many more!! (Thank you to all of our sponsors!!)

...did I mention the cookies we will have there? Yum!!! You won't want to miss this event so we hope to see everyone there!!

Chalkboard fun at the Studio!!!

We had an exciting new addition at the studio recently and Melissa has been having so much fun photographing in front of it!!! One cold, wintery day about 6 weeks ago, Melissa decided to paint a wall of the "camera room" (where all the magic happens!!) with chalkboard paint...the result was fantastic! We have tried to incorporate it into most sessions since then....take a peek at the video we created of our artistic chalk abilities!!

8 more days til our Stories Event!!!

Just over a week til our big Spring event! On Saturday April 18th 10am-2pm we are hosting a very fun event to promote reading! We will have face painting, storytellers, very yummy specially made cookies, and raffle prizes!! As part of the event, we are collecting new and gently used childrens' books to be donated to the Minnesota Literacy Council (especially needed are chapter books for the "more advanced" children's readers) Our goal is to collect 200 books....wanna guess what our tally is already?????? 125 books collected so far!!! We are well on our way to reach (and exceed) our goal!!

:Your book donations will benefit three children's programs of the Minnesota Literacy Council: Summer Reads helps low-income children and children with limited English proficiency in grades K-3 maintain or improve their reading skills throughout the summer. Over an eight-week period, 70 VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) read more than 13, 000 books with 7000 children in community programs. Summer Reads gives away more than 4500 books to young readers.

The Early Literacy and Families Program empowers parents to be their children's first and most important teachers. Through language-rich preschool classes, adult English language classes and home visits from bilingual literacy coaches, parents learn to incorporate literacy building activities into everyday home tasks to nurture their children's emerging literacy skills and school readiness.

Minnesota Reading Corps is a statewide initiative to help every Minnesota child become a successful reader by the end of third grade. In more than 160 schools throughout Minnesota, 362 AmeriCorps members work with 15,000 children ages three to grade three build vocabulary, phonemic awareness adn reading fluency.

A taste of spring....from Sprigs!!!

Okay, if Spring is going to take its time getting to us, then we will bring Spring to the studio! Last week, we had a very fun photo session with our friends at Sprigs (www.sprigsfloraldesign.com) who brought Spring to us by filling the studio with some of their "permanent botanicals" - stunning creations designed by Carol. We photographed the floral designs for them to include on their website. With Spring (hopefully) around the corner, Sprigs is busy getting ready to start planting their outdoor container arrangements.
Hope you enjoy this small taste of the season to come!!