Bienvenue, little miss Amélia!  After spending time with this beautiful baby girl and her family I can safely say there may be no sweeter sound than parents singing and speaking to their newborn in French.  I’ve always heard that French is a beautiful language but  hearing it spoken to a baby gave me a new appreciation.  Amélia is so loved and adored by her Mom and Dad and as you’ll see in some of the photos below I think she is just as smitten with them as they are with her.  Congratulations Isabelle and Pierre-Marc!  I loved photographing your sweet new addition and being able to share some time with you as you welcomed her home.

We are officially in “senior grad card” mode here at the studio as we work diligently to fill card orders.  I always love putting these together knowing what an exciting time this is for my high school senior clients.  I thought it would be fun to share a few of our most popular designs from this season:

I also have an exciting studio announcement to share!  Each and every year we get an increasing number of requests from consumers who worked with photographers who only offered digital images from their session.  They reach out to us to see if they can purchase card designs so they can share their favorite photos with their friends and family while announcing their new addition, graduation open house, or to send a holiday greeting.  We’ve received so many requests over the years that we’ve finally decided to open an Etsy store, Studio 202 Designs, where the general public can now order custom card designs as a ready to print file.   You can find out more about the services we offer by clicking on the shop link HERE and reading the product descriptions.

Here’s a peek at the new on-line storefront!

Last week, I shared a few tips for storing personal photos.  Today I thought I’d take it a step further by talking about my “everyday” camera.  As a professional photographer, the pressure to capture great photos can be overwhelming even when snapping everyday photos of the kids.  For years I lugged my equipment around to school concerts, sporting events, birthday parties, family gatherings, etc…  which not only was a pain to haul, but it always felt cumbersome and intrusive.  When I was shooting in a dark space or things were moving quickly I often found myself scrambling with my external flash and settings all in an attempt to capture great photos of these once in a lifetime happenings.  It didn’t take long before I started dreading having to document these events.  In fact, I started feeling like I was missing out on the event because I was so consumed with trying to take great pictures.  So often I longed to take off my professional photographer hat and attend these events simply as a mom.  For a while I quit taking my gear and relied solely on my iPhone and well, let’s just say those were anything but “great” photos so I knew I needed to find a happy medium.

This drove me to research small point-and-shoot cameras that would fit in my purse and/or coat pocket, but still live up to my expectations in terms of producing quality photos.  It took a while but I’ve finally found one I’m happy with and best of all…I’m actually using it!  Now, I will say that this camera isn’t exactly cheap but I’m a big believer in the saying “You get what you pay for!”.  The Sony DSC-RX100 is light & compact so it easily fits in my purse, but beyond that the quality of the photos are really top notch for a point-and-shoot camera.  One thing I like the most about this camera is the flash.  Most point-and-shoot cameras I’ve used have a bright, concentrated flash that tend to make subjects look white and ghostly.  The flash on this particular model is unlike anything I’ve seen in a compact camera.  I’m also impressed with the colors and overall performance in a variety of lighting situations.  I could go on and on about all the things I like about it, but I think what I like most is that it’s given me back some freedom.  Do I still use my pro equipment on my kids?  Absolutely!  But when I want to attend an event or when something is happening around the house and I don’t want the burden and pressure of hauling around my pro gear this little camera is a great solution.

Over the past few days I’ve been sorting through hard drives as I prep for the upcoming shooting season.  It dawned on me halfway through the process of just how many sessions I didn’t have a chance to blog last Fall.  I have great memories working with some incredible seniors last year.  After spending an hour or two with them I often felt they were more like friends than clients.  Justice was one of those seniors…she is hardworking, off-the-charts smart, and wise beyond her years.  We connected immediately and had so much fun working together.  She’s only a few weeks away from graduating from high school and I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead for her.  She deserves all the success that comes her way!  Congrats, Justice and best to you as you head off to college!

Considering I work full-time as a photographer it will probably come as no surprise to my readers that I have quite a few photos of my own kids.  Although I must admit it’s not as many as you might think.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to pick up the camera and document my own family every now and again as it’s easy to let my gear rest in its case when I’m not working.  On top of that I tend to be very critical of my photos and when I’m shooting my kids it’s often random chaos in less than ideal shooting conditions.  Thankfully, I’m learning to take off my professional photographer hat when documenting my family and I just do the best I can with what I have.  In other words, I guess I’m beginning to embrace imperfection and appreciating the photos for what they are.  For several years I had a collection of photos stored in boxes in my basement.  As the boys grew, so did the pile of boxes!  I  knew I needed to find a solution so my photos didn’t sit stored in my basement or on my computer until my boys graduated from high school and I was forced to do something with them.   After spending quite some time thinking through how I wanted to preserve our family photos I decided to move forward with albums for each of the boys.

Some of you might wonder why I wouldn’t choose a digital album like the books I create for my clients.  Truth be told, I came very close to choosing this as an option. However, there is something so nostalgic for me when I look back at old family photos of my own.  I’ve loved having hardcopy prints over the years and I especially love when there is a handwritten note accompanied by the photo.  For me there is something significant about passing down photographs and handwritten notes from generation to generation and it’s a tradition I’d like to continue with my boys.

I often find myself having conversations with clients and friends when they ask how they can preserve their own everyday photos so I thought I’d take some time to share what I’ve found works for me. In the photo above you’ll see I use 12 in x 12 in We R Memory Maker Linen Albums for my boys.  These 3-ring style binders hold a variety of clear plastic photo sleeves designed to hold an assortment of photo sizes.  I use both We R Memory Maker photo sleeves along with some Project Life pages.  When I take personal photos I store them in a folder on my computer and every two months or so I go through and print the pictures I’d like to include in their memory books. Then it’s simply a matter of putting the photos in the sleeves and jotting down a few details on a journaling card.  You can buy journaling cards at most on-line and brick-and-mortar scrapbook stores or create and print your own.  I’ve also created a set of printables (shown below) that you can download for FREE HERE.

Now, having said that I will tell you that often times when we are out and about and I’m without my camera I have to rely on my iPhone and Instagram.  Over the past year I’ve built quite a collection of photos and I am planning to put those images into a softcover digital book printed through Artifact Uprising.  This really makes it so I have the best of both worlds knowing that my boys will have hardcopy printed photographs along with a digital album filled with fun family memories captured on the fly.

I’d love to hear about how you preserve your everyday family photos.  Feel free to leave a comment below!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but trust me when I say I’ve been hard at work here at the studio.  On top of shooting some adorable babies and kids this winter I’ve also been busy planning some posts for the blog.  Over the past few months I’ve received several e-mails from people intrigued by some of the things I post on Facebook including storing personal photos, books, family trips, recipes, etc…  I’m excited to incorporate some of those topics into the blog along with some other photography related information.  I have some fun things planned and I can hardly wait to share them with all of you so be sure to stay tuned!

Now onto today’s session post.  We’ve had a long winter and considering there is still snow in our forecast I don’t see it ending any time in our near future.  While I not-so-patiently wait out this season I thought I’d share a few images I captured when I was speaking at The Savvy Photographer workshop in Alys Beach, Florida.  We had such a great time on this shoot and the kids couldn’t have been better to work with.

Some of you may remember these beautiful boys from this blog post.  It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since they arrived home!  I have to admit that I’m just as smitten with these kiddos now as I was the first day I met them.  If only you knew how sweet, happy, well-behaved and loving they are…they are every parent’s dream.  It’s been so much fun for me to watch them grow and learn over the past 12 months.  Last year both boys had a limited vocabulary and were on the shy side.  Now both boys are talking up a storm and are just as friendly and outgoing as ever.  It’s been quite the transformation and I know without a doubt it stems from their parents who are doing an incredible job with them.  They are two very lucky little boys!  It was such a treat for me to get to spend some time with them at the studio.  My favorite part was when little Kai came running down the hall and flew right into my arms and gave me the biggest bear hug of all time.  I love these guys to pieces!

As I sit shivering in my drafty studio on this frigid Wisconsin morning I’m dreaming of warmer temps and sunshine.  One of the last family sessions of 2012 took place on a gorgeous Fall afternoon…just one day before we experienced our first snowfall of the season.  (Talk about cutting it close!)   I’ve had the pleasure of working with this family on several occasions and I’ve become pretty smitten with the two little boys who happen to be almost exactly 5 years younger than my own boys.  It’s so fun to watch them go through the phases that almost seem like a distant memory now that my boys are getting older.  This year the family decided to have me out to some property that has belonged to the family for several generations.  It’s a spot that is sentimental and the little guys delight in running around exploring the woods and doing all the stuff one might expect little boys would do in a wide open space.  What made this session especially fun is that Holly, the mom of these two adorable boys, grew up on this property.  Her dad purchased a truck on the day Holly was born and he hasn’t been able to part with it since.  Knowing the history of the truck sitting out in the field I couldn’t resist asking everyone to pile in the back for a few shots.   It was such a fun day and I’m already looking forward to working with them again next Fall!

Now that the holiday season has wrapped up I’m finding some time to blog some of the photos and cards I designed for clients in the past few months.  This particular session was an absolute riot.  These two kiddos have such a great bond and they always ensure I get a lot of laughs in while taking their photos.  Here are a few of the images we captured including some outtakes that we used to line the envelopes for their Christmas cards this year.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!