Funny story.

Last week Jamie, my amazing husband AND bookkeeper, asks me what I spent $20 on at Apple last month as he’s reviewing my expenses.

I cannot remember. First off, what in the world costs only $20 at Apple? And second… did I get anything last month? I run a quick checklist of any new equipment. Nope. New apps? Nope. Maybe a movie rental or something purchased on iTunes? Nope.

I am just about to tell him to dispute the charge when I ask the date and match it with my calendar to see if anything jogs my memory.

Aha.

Apple as in APPLE ORCHARD. Not as in Apple computers. I paid for admission to the orchard and some donuts. And yes, it is awesome to have a job where those things are literally my business expenses.

First, an apology for (again) falling behind on blogging. It is a bit lower priority these days with so much happening in the world, and I feel like those of you who want to keep up with my day-to-day can do so easily on Instagram.

But that said, this is still my favorite place to share the work I love, and today, it’s a bedtime session from earlier this fall.

I adore these sessions because they capture the hardest part of the day for most parents, but also the ones filled with the most emotion. The laughter, the negotiations, the tears, the snuggles and the brushing and flossing of teeth. It captures the rawness of young kids and the exhaustion, and I love it all.

This particular family is one of my very faves, and I have been photographing these boys for their whole lives it seems. They make me laugh so hard, and spending an evening with this group was nothing but joyful.

I hope you enjoy the images as much as I do.

Hi there! This past week was Ezra’s SEVENTH birthday and we had a lot of fun (and holy cow am I tired!). The week involved lots of legos, new toys, many books, TOO MUCH SUGAR and a trip to the llama farm. It was lovely. And exhausting.

We also threw in a date night because, WE TOO need to be celebrated for these past seven years! We had another amazing meal at Colita and ended the night browsing over at the Northrop King building (highly suggest that!).

Otherwise, I’m still working on getting my feet healed from a horrendous case of plantar fasciitis, which today involved dry needling. I’ve been working on other solutions since last January, and my patience is running out. So yup, today I got poked like a pin cushion… and it was … weird. I’m pretty sore at the moment and am thrilled that it poured all day, pushing back tonight’s photo session. I could have made it work, but I would have been a limping fool!

If any of you know any delicious witchery that will cure plantar fasciitis, get at me. Please. Clearly, I’m up for anything.

So, believe it or not, two weeks after that cabin trip I posted yesterday, I got to do it again!

This time it was a couple’s 50th wedding anniversary being celebrated with their three kids and all the grandkids. There were classic car rides, snacks on the pontoon, card games, Olympics watching, dinner on the grill and lots of playing in the yard.

This shoot was particularly special to me as a) one of my dearest friends married into this family and b) I have met them all several times over the years for weddings, family photos etc, and it felt like I was just hanging out with people I adored. Those are the best shoots ever.

So! Since, I, um, FORGOT that I had a blog to do this summer, I’m trying to get back in the habit.

First off, just a personal check in.

I am staying busy. I get tons of sweet notes from friends and clients curious how my business is — it’s great! I’m doing well. I’m just still balancing a child at home and running things like file delivery, invoices, contracts etc and managing life around Covid, so it’s a little frantic. But overall, it’s good. Ezra will be back at school two weeks from tomorrow (but who’s counting) and then we’ll have consistent childcare/school again, which will be FANTASTIC.

However, that said, he has been so fun this year. Losing teeth, new dance moves, learning games like Solitaire and Soduku, and long bike rides together have really been magical. I know it’s easy to complain about the never ending family stuff with Covid, but truly we’ve had some really great times that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. (But please, let’s end this Covid nonsense shall we?)

Today I’m going to share some photos from a session I had in Wisconsin in July. It was a grandfather’s milestone birthday and his daughters and their kids all came together to celebrate. I absolutely love doing family photos at the cabin, and I’ve been lucky enough to have a few of those sessions this year.

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do.

Wow. Sometimes I get so busy taking photos, processing images, keeping up on billing and contracts AND updating my social media… that I forget I have a blog to keep up as well.

And that seems ridiculous to me since my ENTIRE photography career started with a BLOG. But here we are! Summer is almost over and I’ve barely posted a thing. Please know that if you want more frequent updates, I try to do more of that on Instagram since that’s what drives new business, but that’s no excuse for neglecting this space.

Today I’m going to share with you a favorite session of mine that happened around the fourth of July. It was a grandparent session, which I’ve been lucky to do a bunch of this summer. I adore all my family shoots, but seeing three generations together has proven to be even more special.

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do.

I know I wrote a bit about our Grand Marais trip last week, but here are a few shots at sunset.

If you are a long-time reader, you know that normally my favorite thing to do is to photograph Lake Superior at sun RISE not sun SET. But not in June.

In June, sunrise happens at 5:04 am, and I am not getting out of bed that early. Sorry / not sorry.

But here are some lovely sunset images anyway!

We just returned from Grand Marais, and what a lovely vacation. We go up north a lot, but we’ve never stayed this far up the shore. While the drive was a bit long, it was well worth it.

I didn’t take too many photos because these days I like to laugh and play more with my kid than lug a camera around — but it does have me longing for a new phone for better pictures, I’m not gonna lie. These were the few I took when I did lug my “real” camera out with me. Just look at all that blue water. Swoon.