post by leslie

Our friends from Norway are in town, and we have been having a wonderful days with them. Parks, pools, ice cream, sushi, wonderful evening conversations, puzzles and games.And then things wind down, and we log onto our computers and learn about journalists being shot in the newsroom, immigration policies that break my heart and supreme court spots open up with the worst president in my lifetime filling the position. It's soul crushing. No internet shares today, unless you count my readings on what it takes to become a Canadian citizen. Sadly, I'm not sure my career counts as "skilled labor." I might be a little more quiet this week on the blog. Too busy calling all my politicians and trying to enjoy the small things.

post by leslie

Isn't this baby girl just adorable? This is my dear friend Leah's daughter, and we met up with her family at a nearby park for a picnic last night. These baby smiles are so infectious! I enjoyed them with a side of pizza, salad and the great chasing of toddlers around the swing set. For your internet share of the day:+ How to clean like a professional.+ People are jerks.+ I'm never riding a rollercoaster again.

post by leslie

This weekend, I took it upon myself to learn something brand new. Besides piano. 2018 is turning into quite the year for development around these parts!Anyway, I taught myself video, which was daunting to say the least. I filmed the family for several hours on Saturday (and a few more on Sunday) and then edited the film Sunday afternoon (and I mean almost aaaalllllll afternoon). One thing that's different? A photo is about 6MB. All the files and music from that video added up to 26GB. So I'm gonna need some more hard drives stat!But I truly loved the end result, despite its many, many, many flaws, and I've decided to really hone this craft in all my free time this summer (ha!) so that *hopefully* I can start booking video clients in the fall. We shall see.The video is below. Enjoy! 

post by leslie

So this week it rained. And rained. And rained. I'm really not that upset about it, but each day I'd check the forecast and the next day would be clear and then... you guessed it... it rained. Monday was one of these days and it was supposed to stop raining at 9 am. Then 10 am. Then 11, 12, 1, 2... you get the idea. As someone who has many family sessions scheduled on weekday evenings, I was starting to get a little panicky.But then it stopped. And I met my family in the woods, and we had an amazing shoot. Wasn't it gorgeous out? I shot this while waiting for the toddler to stop picking his nose. My job is hilarious!We also found these adorable baby frogs all over the dock.Normally I would send you off into the weekend with something funny and witty and charming right now. But I'm too damn angry about that guy in the White House losing a bunch of people's children. So instead you should read this and then call your representatives like I am.

post by leslie

Remember how I was in California last month? Yeah, I still have photos to show you from that. These were taken during my weekend in San Francisco with Jamie (sans child), when we hiked and explored the city without worrying about child bathroom breaks, snacks or constant interruptions. Am I a big nostalgic for that time? You betcha.Some of the photos are of the city on our walk and a few are of houses that I dreamed of coming home to. I can't escape that game.For your internet share of the day, I found these photos from the southern border to be quite captivating.

post by leslie

Yesterday, we celebrated my birthday (which is today) by taking Ezra to The Pizza Farm for a picnic. This year, we were so lucky to bring our dear friends from Norway who happened to be in town. You might remember Ezra's love of their daughter O, which you can still see is in full form above.Despite the rain, we still had a wonderful evening with friends, eating delicious food, chasing children through the farm and laughing at muddy pigs and cow pies. The photos are below! I highly suggest this outing.

post by leslie

This weekend I had the opportunity to photograph a lovely wedding on the hottest and muggiest day of the year. Well, that's actually not true. It was maybe the second hottest and muggiest day *this* summer, but still not the hottest, muggiest wedding I've ever shot. That award goes to the amazing Bloom couple who, I believe, were in Moscow this weekend escaping the heat by literally flying to the other side of the planet (smarties, those two).But I digress! Rachel and Ryan came to Minnesota for a cool and breezy wedding, escaping their home in Washington D.C. (joke's on them), but regardless, they still had a blast, keeping each other laughing all day long. And as we all know, couples that make each other laugh endlessly are my favorite kind, and this was no exception. And you guys have to see these photos because the groom's socks had their dog's face on them. Yup, these are my people.More photos below! Enjoy!

post by leslie

So back in May, when I was in California, it was still pretty cold in Minnesota, and I was so thrilled with all the color and the plant life I was seeing on the West Coast.Now that it's mid-June in Minnesota, our own plants and flowers are in full bloom (it's quite lush around these parts!), but it's not the color palette of California, which I am always so envious of. So I wanted to share some of the photos from that trip -- mostly just of the plants seen on my daily walks around the neighborhoods of Sacramento, but some of these also include homes that I dreamed of living in. Because I can never resist that dream when I travel. For your internet shares, sure I found a beautiful couch on sale and a delicious recipe. But in my opinion, the only thing we, as Americans, should be reading about and caring about right now is this. Please call your representatives. This is not who we are, and I am disgusted.