Charlotte the Shar Pei

Charlotte the Shar Pei loved being photographed! And can't you tell from these images?! She and her owner, Ann, came to the studio last month for a session. Charlotte enjoyed herself immensely and "worked" the camera very well!! She has such a sweet smile and we loved capturing it for Ann.

Jax is one!!!

We are loving these brothers!!! It has been incredible for us to see this family grow over the past year and a half. When we first met them, Baby Jax was still in mom's belly so we created beautiful family of 3 portraits of them. How special was that? At that time, Jose was 2 years old and life as he knew it was about to change with the arrival of a baby brother! Over the past year, we have witnessed the relationship of these sweet brothers develop and grow. And now that Jax is one, it is all about playing together and discovering new things to do and play with. Creating art for their home has been such a joy and we look forward to adding to their collection in the years to come. Happy Birthday, Jax!!

Chloe.

How cute is Chloe?!? It is fitting that Chloe's owner, Erin, came to the session in her stylish rainboots since here in Minnesota, we have been experiencing a long stretch of rainy days! Chloe was a star and loved posing for Melissa. Maybe a future in modelling awaits dear Chloe?

CONGRATULATIONS, Melissa!!!

"10 Fingers 40 Toes"
"I'm All Ears"

"Couch Potatoes"

(Melissa is far too modest to announce this herself but that doesn't mean that I can't do some bragging!!) I am thrilled to share that the results of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) 2011 International Photographic Competition were just announced and Melissa merited with three of her images (General Collection, Showcase Book and Loan Collection -the Loan Collection is the highest possible honor to receive!) For those of you not in the know with these categories, this is a prestigous achievement-in other words: THIS IS HUGE!! I have included the three images that merited so you can see how truly remarkable and stunning the images created by Melissa truly are!

PPA's International Photographic Competition (IPC) is the gold standard for photography competitions and features the best of the best photographs from around the world in an exhibition every year. Having an image "go Loan"--chosen for inclusion in the world's most prestigious photo exhibit--is an achievement professional photographers cherish. Loan Collection images are on display throughout the year at PPA headquarters in Atlanta, and at various events worldwide, and will also be published in the much-anticipated “Loan Collection”


Melissa's images will be on display in the gallery at PPA’s annual convention, Imaging USA, in January 2012 in New Orleans, Louisana (and you can bet that we will be there, to!!)

Playful Parker!

Parker loved being photographed! (and we were equally loving photographing him!) We so enjoyed meeting Parker and his owner, Mark-what a pleasure! Parker is a gorgeous schnoodle with personality plus! We are so glad that Mark saw our display at Dog Days in St Paul and decided to bring Parker in for one of our Dog Days of March sessions. We are looking forward to photographing Parker again at the end of the summer for some "urban dog" images to compliment the stunning portrait now displayed in Mark's home. See you soon, Parker!

We are ready for our Seniors 2012!

It is that time of year already!! While we all prepare for summer, there is a whole new crew of soon-to-be high school seniors who are already preparing for senior year! It always surprises us when we start getting calls about senior sessions in May-we love that these juniors are so excited for their final year of high school! We love their energy, enthusiasm and zest for life. We thought we would post a few of our seniors from past years-it is fun to see what they are all doing now!

If you have an incoming senior in your house, call us soon to schedule your planning session with Melissa. We are currently booking into July-and you know how fast summer flies by! Call 651.343.4823 to book your session!!