post by leslie

Today was the first day back at preschool (he'll be there three years thanks to a mid-September birthday), so I thought I better do the obligatory photos! We had a super busy weekend that was full of last-minute work emergencies for Jamie and a trip to the state fair with 270,000 other Minnesotans (Not our best decision! But we still had fun!).Here is the link to last year's first day, in case you are curious about his growth the way I was. This kid continues to amaze me. Last night we were reading a book about dinosaurs and how they were year so many billions of years before humans when Ezra interrupts me to ask, "Hey Mom! Well, how was the first baby ever born then? There was no mommy to hold it in her tummy! Where did it come from?!" The deepest questions always come at bedtime.Here are your internet shares of the day!+ A new camera that I can't wait to get my hands on.+ How to fall asleep fast.+ We never stop working. Relevant to my life right now. 

post by leslie

Another day, another brown dog! This sweet girl came in with her family this week, and I snapped some adorable images of her and her older brother. Five dogs in two days? Bring it on! I love breaking the new studio in like this! For your internet shares of the day:+ Wanna crash a wedding at First Ave?+ The New York Times covered our amazing state fair and loved it. Duh.+ Trump's tariffs on newsprint are being blocked, which is fabulous news for journalism. 

post by leslie

This morning I had a shoot in the studio with three dogs (at the same time), and they were extremely easy to work with and well behaved! I was stunned and thrilled!But of the three, this guy here stole my heart when he walked right onto set and plopped down with his legs crossed just like magic. What an adorable pup!For your internet shares of the day:+ The constant judging of what women wear annoys me to no end, and I think Serena played this beautifully. Also, to the person who said, "One must respect the game and the place," Serena Williams IS the game. Seriously, back off.+ I am so excited to hit the fair this weekend, and this just made me EVEN MORE SO.+ And speaking of the fair, the Star Tribune is killing it with their fair photo essays each day. You can see them here.

post by leslie

Look at this cutie pie! I've been taking her photo for... well... since she was a tiny baby! So almost 2 years! I adore this family and am so excited to see them each year. I also love it when I show up and kids aren't quite ready yet because, in case I haven't mentioned, my favorite shots are not the posed ones, but rather those that capture real life. These images got a bit of both.Up until now, I've been photographing one or two families a week on top of dogs, commercial and other gigs around town. But starting next week (September), the shift happens where I have 3-5 families on the books each week on top of the normal jobs. In other words, it's about to get a bit nuts around here. But that said, I'm pretty excited about it. Something has shifted this year that has made me relish capturing the real-life worlds of these families. Perhaps it's having a kid myself, and realizing how fleeting these first few years are, but whatever the reason, I am beyond eager to dive into the mad rush this year.For your internet shares of the day:+ Life tips.+ I have had a tab open with these shoes for four days. I want them. I don't want to pay full price for sandals in August. We shall see how this turns out.+ I don't think I'll ever make it to Kyrgyzstan, so I'll gaze at these images instead.

post by leslie

Sorry to fall off the grid like that, but my parents came to town at the end of last week, and I put my devices away. We spent our time fishing (as seen above -- he caught nine little guys like that one! Grandpa is a great teacher!), reading books, solving puzzles, playing Go Fish and playing with the early birthday present Grandma and Grandpa bought. We also cooked a little and ate loads of ice cream on the front porch. A pretty great weekend!For your internet shares of the day:+ I am always so enamored by airstream trailers. I'm not a tent camper by any means, but this? Yeah. I could swing this.+ How to ace the most common questions asked at job interviews.+ I keep hearing rave reviews about these towels -- what a great hostess gift!

post by leslie

Last weekend I was invited to photograph a little girl's birthday party, and wow, I had no idea what an amazing party it was going to be. This family goes ALL OUT for their birthday celebrations, and it was so much fun to see the love and energy they put into every single detail. The party theme was Under the Sea, and below are some of my favorite photos and just some of the amazing decor and food that they had there.Anyone else think this mom might have missed her calling as an event planner? So fun! For your internet shares of the day:+ Joanna Gaines has some new wallpapers coming out, and I think they are lovely.+ I might make this for breakfast this fall.+ This beta fish photography is lovely.

post by leslie

See that? That's my brand new, very expensive, central air conditioning vent. So now you can all relax, because this home improvement project will certainly mean the coolest days on record from here until eternity since we finally decided to spend the money.But those vents sure are pretty, aren't they? And since it's only 70 degrees out today, I'm not even running it. Ah well, I'm sure it will warm up outside eventually, yeah?That's been the news around these parts.And now for your internet shares of the day:+ NYU now offers FREE MED SCHOOL. Wow.+ Jamie and used to watch a guilty pleasure on TV called Grimm. We had no idea the two lead characters were actually married and today I got to see the inside of their real-life home and isn't the internet the most entertaining thing ever?+ Life as a parent in South Africa. This series fascinates me!

post by leslie

In case you were wondering, either 43 is the age at which you decide you are too old to leave the house past 9 pm for a concert OR having a four-year-old is the stage of parenthood at which you are just too exhausted to head out that late. I'm hoping it's the latter and that by age 8 or 9 we are all sleeping in past 8 am and I can get back out to more shows. Until then, photographing concerts takes more effort than I ever thought possible, and it's just not as much fun as it used to be.Don't worry, I'm not giving up! I'm still planning on putting in the work, but I'm being honest in telling you that at 9 pm on a Friday night after a week that involved three commercial shoots, a wedding and moving my studio, making it out to Beach House took some serious pep talks with myself.And that might also why if you ask me to review the show I will say: "Oh, you didn't get tickets? Just put on your headphones, blare some Beach House, and turn on the visualizer on your mac. Same thing as the show."I don't have any photos of the band's faces because they play in the dark (or are backlit).And I promise I'm not as grumpy as this blog post is making me sound! I'm just being honest about the levels of exhaustion we are facing in our world right now, and how certain parts of our lives are evolving with the lack of sleep and the amount of work and the increase of "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" that is happening.Anyway, here are some more photos from the show! And internet shares below!+ Check out these amazingly beautiful cakes!+ The photos of the week this year were fantastic.+ I haven't linked to The Sartorialist in a long while, but I still love popping over there for both inspiration and (let's face it) giggles at what those Europeans are up to!