Minneapolis Photographer | Second Wedding Photographer

This was such a fun wedding with Amelia Ann Photography! Normally I wouldn't have such a long post for weddings, but Anna and Clay's was filled with so many great moments that each tell the story of their day so well. Again, that's why I love being the second photographer-I am expected to see things from different angles and catch moments. The one memory that sticks out the most is Anna and Clay's first look. It had been a rainy morning and actually they were predicting snow for the day-not what you think of when you plan a wedding for early October. Well, just in time for the first look, the rain let up and the sun even came out. Their first look was secluded and really allowed them to have a moment by themselves before all the craziness began. One of the best I have seen. About a minute after they first saw each other-hail. And not light, little hail, but nickel sized downpour of hail! Luckily there were umbrellas handy so everyone was protected. Anna and Clay laughed and went along with it until eventually the best man drove through the park to come pick them up. It was memorable to say the least!
So this bride and groom met through the maid of honor: Anna's best friend who also happened to be Clay's younger sister-how adorable is that?! Both families were already very close since they had such a long history together. It was just such a natural and truly happy wedding day!

Project: Gratitude | January

After finishing the Project Life 365 album from last year (see it here), I knew I wanted to do another photo project this year. I did not want to do another 365 project. Did it once, and that was enough. While it was very rewarding, it was also very challenging. Through Project Life 365, we were given prompts everyday. While that was helpful on some days, most days it felt fake. I like to see things around me and appreciate what is in the here and now. I found with the prompts I often planned out what I would take photos of for the week rather than appreciating what was around me and focusing on what was actually happening that day. I am definitely more of a documentary photographer, so for me, this was just painful. Still, I will look back at the project with a lot of pride and am so happy I persevered even when I did not want to get my camera out the day after shooting a ten hour wedding.

Anyway, back to this year. I was not actively looking for a new project, but happened to stumble across Project: Gratitude. I knew it was what I wanted to do. The simple act of being aware of what's around you and appreciating it. Even when times get rough. Not only that, but without a daily obligation to take photos. There's no schedule. As often or as little as you would like. I hope to post about it occasionally throughout the month with bits of inspiration, but always have a post to wrap up the month.

So. Here's my month of January. It was a bit of a rough start and I actually purposefully did not bring my camera along for parts because I really wanted to be in the thick of it rather than feeling the urge to document. On the top of each image, I'll let you know what I was thinking as I took the image.

In January, I was grateful for....

the opportunity to say goodbye. 

While I don't live in the same town as my family, I am thankful that it only takes a few hours to get there. It's not the shortest drive, but do-able in a day. This time, it allowed me to get into town to be with my grandma before she passed.  Had I been farther away, I may not have had the opportunity to get there and see her one last time. I am pretty lucky. 

family. 

My dad's side is rather large and we are rarely all together. This was the most of us that have been together for a long time, if not ever, and it was just awesome to be around everyone and realizing what a great family I have.  On the left is a group of my first cousins in my parent's kitchen sharing stories and really getting to know one another. Many of us don't live in the same city much less the same state so it really was a game of twenty questions. So much fun-a night I will never forget. On the right is my dad and his siblings. Can you pick out my which one might be my dad? (iPhone images) 

 warm sunny mornings. 

With a little extra warmth for Lena. I must admit, I'm a little jealous. Ok, really jealous. 

 proud Packer fans in Minnesota. 

And yes, I did convert my husband to a Packer fan-something I am pretty proud of!

 community.

We live in a great city where even when it is cold out, people are out and about. This even was a kite festival on Lake Harriet in south Minneapolis. There was no wind and the temperatures were nice, considering it's winter in Minnesota, but the Lake was filled with people! So many people were out with their families, pets, and friends even though there really wasn't any kite flying happening.

 warmth.

January has been an abnormally cold month. There have been many days where it has not been above zero and I mean a high of -5. Yikes. Glad I have a warm home, hot coffee, and a snuggly dog for this Saturday morning.

 this guy.

While our home is feeling like a never ending project and money pit, I am so thankful this guy can do the remodeling and repairs. Yes, it sucks that most of our weekends are filled with house projects and we usually have sawdust or drywall dust on the floors, but we save a ton of money and are learning a lot. Like to never buy a house that needs this much work again!

 new friends. 

Especially when she's so stinkin' cute! She did a good job of wearing him out which has been a challenge since our walks have been cut so short due to the cold.  

 beef stew and mashed potatoes. 

For this cold January, it's hardiness really hit the spot. 

 neighbors.

Thankful I had the chance to help out a neighbor while she was out of town visiting family. Last fall, her husband passed away and over the past few months, we have become closer with her. I am so glad she has reached out to us and we know we can rely on her for help as well. It's nice to know you have a true friend right next door. 

Minneapolis Photographer | Second Shooting Weddings

I love to be the second photographer at weddings! The flowers, the shoes, the dress, the boutonnieres. So many details in just a few short hours. I truly enjoy all the details, don't get me wrong; however, the thing I like most is all of the emotion. The lead photographer is often interacting with the couples, family, or bridal party. I on the other hand, can remain a fly on the wall and see some of the interactions people would occasionally hide. Or while the lead photographer is getting her place for the ceremony, I can stay back and see the anticipation of the bride with her dad and the wedding party.  Also I love that I am allowed, and expected, to play around with different angles and viewpoints. It is such a fast moving day and I love the challenge of getting just the right moment from an interesting view. Over the next few months, I'll be posting a few of my favorites from some of the weddings last summer where I was the second photographer.

This wedding was with Erin Johnson Photography earlier this summer. Believe it or not, It was in the upper 90's all day, but the bridal party still braved the heat for a few images. These are just a select few from the day that I enjoy. The last one is definitely a highlight from all of last summer's weddings! I have never seen that done before-so fun!

Minneapolis Photographer | 2013 Favorites

I know, I know. I should have done this right away in the New Year and now it's almost February. Oh, well. At least it's not June. Better late than never!

So for every session I have, there are always one or two images that stick out in my head for months after. Sometimes it's not the ones you would think. I wanted to highlight a few of those from 2013.

I feel like this first one needs a little explination. Last year I shot a wedding on my own. Now I have photographed many weddings as the second photographer (blog post on that soon to come), but this was the first time I was the lead photographer. I have plenty of images of the bride and groom and the wedding party where they all look stunning. (Not joking. Check out the blog post here.) But this image was by far my favorite. As a surprise to the groom,  during the reception the bride's family sat him down and performed a dance flash mob style. It. Was. Amazing. It started out slow with just a few relatives, but eventually everyone joined in. Even the bride's grandma who wasn't incredibly mobile, danced along with them.

  

Lessons of the New Year

I don’t usually do posts that are mainly writing, but the start of this year has been different than any other. Introspective and quite frankly, hard. It has brought to mind lots of thoughts about why I so love taking photos so much and will lead to changes within Freckled Hilltop Photography. I wanted to share…

Wow. 2014 already. Every New Year I feel like I am always amazed at how time has flown by. Time seems to do that more and more as I get older. When people talk about the past for example, “Oh, in 2005 that one event happened” and I am thinking it was a couple years ago. Oh, wait. That’s practically a decade ago. Yikes. 

Lesson number one of the New Year: time is not slowing down.

On New Years Day we laid pretty low. I had worked at a wedding on New Years Eve and then we went to our neighbor’s for a very late dinner and stayed until about two in the morning.  Not too rough of a night, but still in recovery mode. Then I saw I had a voicemail form my mom. My grandma wasn’t doing well and I should give them a call. Crap. Well Grandma had pneumonia and many other health issues but had always bounced back. I called them back and it was determined she wouldn’t make it through the weekend. Enter immediate breakdown. My grandma was a very special person to me. They lived a couple miles away and would often babysit me when I was a child. My grandpa was always the stern, rough one but she was always so sweet and gentle. After my grandpa died in 1996, I would go and see grandma at least once a week to keep her company. I thought I was helping her by stopping over for a visit but in retrospect, it is obvious I was the one who benefited more than she did.  She was a very religious person and pretty strict but I felt like I could talk to her about anything. I felt she was so full of wisdom and her life had been so much different than mine. She always provided me with hope and offered a different way to look at things that was much more optimistic than the view of my teenage self. When I went to college she would still write me letters every now and then. Nothing too important, just updates about the weather and what she had been up to that day, but it made me feel connected to her even being so far away at school.  When I would come back to my hometown, I would try my best to stop in and visit her. I know that if it were me, she would have given the time to stop in and I felt it was the least I could do.  After the phone call, I headed back to see her the next day. I spent a bunch of time with her over a couple of days. She passed away on the following Monday-of course she made it through the weekend like they said she wouldn’t. Always a fighter. Now I have my great memories of her and the letters she wrote. And pictures. So many pictures of her and my grandpa and their kids. Below is one of my favorites of grandma Joan baking cookies with her 10 of 11 kids. Cookie baking was always a big deal around Christmas and one of the tradition I remember most. 

Lesson number two of the New Year: you can’t put a price on a personal photograph.

A quote I saw New Years Eve: “I can’t wait to pass down this 2048px x 1536px image file to my grandkids.” –No One

This really got me thinking. I cherish the images I have of my family and grandparents. I am moved to see my grandpa when he was a sailor in the Navy or my proud grandma with her 11 kids or my mom and dad when they were dating. They are my history. As a photographer, I would love to provide those memories for others’ grandkids and family members. 

Lesson number three of the New Year: print digital images.

Yes, it has only been 14 days. A lot has been realized. So what does this mean for Freckled Hilltop? Details haven’t been hashed out, but I am sure printed photos will be a must for each client this next year. Your grandkids will thank me. 

Six-Month-Old Baby Photographer | Henry

Henry is growing! The first time I met met Henry was at his home for a session when he was about a month old and he is definitely different (see it here). This time we met at his grandma's farmhouse over Thanksgiving. At first he was very curious about the camera and mister serious. After a few tummy tickles from dad, that quickly changed! He was giggling and smiling and we were laughing right along with him. I mean, how can you not?