I have done very few “front porch sessions” this summer, mainly because I prefer my normal sessions spaced out over more time so I can really get the kids to relax. But in some instances (like those in my neighborhood where I already know the kids), I relented.

These images are from one of those sessions. I will always prefer photos of kids playing and being comforted by parents to those of posing (unless kids pick their nose while posing — those are PRICELESS). So here are a few!

Oh, how I adore photographing this family! I mean, I’m not gonna lie, some of my favorite evenings are when I get together with some parents that I photographed getting married a few years ago, and then all of a sudden I get to follow their kids around while they all play together.

Watching families grow like this is such a highlight of my job. And because I only see the kids once or twice (sometimes three times if I’m lucky!) a year, they always seem to grow SO DANG FAST!

This little nugget loved the bubbles I brought, and it was so fun to watch her figure them out and play. One good thing about this pandemic is that I’m seeing how fun it is just to work with families in their front yards, where they are at such ease. It really has been magical.

This is Koda! He is Apollo’s sweet brother and holy moly do the parents of these dogs have a patience for dog hair that I do not! But the boys are so hilarious and fun, that I cannot blame the parents at all for bringing these two cuties home.

Koda here is the younger and more hilarious of the duo — always pawing at me and just melting my heart along the way. What a cutie!

I was so, so happy to get some dogs back in the studio this week! Meet Apollo. Isn’t he handsome? And FIERCE? Oh how I adore this boy.

Dog shoots are pretty safe for me right now because the client sits about 10 feet away from me and the pup while we shoot. I can also have clients wait outside in the car if they prefer while I photograph the dog and then bring it out when I’m done!

So if you’ve been pondering a dog shoot but weren’t sure how they were working these days, get at me! I’d love to get you some fun photos!

This week, I’ve been working in the studio on product shots and the like. While it is sorta exciting to, you know, LEAVE THE HOUSE, it’s also been so weird each morning as these blustery storms roll in out of nowhere and then disappear 30 minutes later. Today I turned around to snap the drips on the window panes, and I liked the effect and the blurred trees, so I’m sharing it.

Tomorrow? Something more fun, I promise. Come back and check it out when you need a smile.

I have been having a lot of fun these last few weeks seeing some of my very favorite clients out at area parks (or in their yards) as we play and I capture photos (from a distance). Many of these shoots have involved bubbles, squirt guns, water balloons and the like, so you’ll likely see many of those props in this year’s posts.

These photos were from a session last week over in St. Paul. I have been shooting this family for several years now and I think my smile might have been even bigger than the boys’!

This weekend was another holiday amidst the pandemic, and man was it… quiet.

There were no parties, no big fireworks, no hanging with friends… It was just more family time. Which is nice! I have a fantastic family and a hilarious kid and a fabulous husband and two insane but lovable dogs. And yet… holidays right now just don’t feel all that celebratory.

We tried to do our best with Dairy Queen and dipping our toes in the Mississippi River and riding our bikes to the lake and running to catch the ice cream truck. We watched movies and ate popcorn and enjoyed a deliciously juicy watermelon.

But we still missed our friends a lot. And we wish we had a pool. Ah well.

Hopefully next year will be a bit better.

We went up north to a lake for a week and forgot our fishing poles.

Did you hear that? That was my father all the way in Kansas smacking his head at us. Unforgivable to him, I realize.

Anyway, we still invented our own fun at the dock by dangling very thin strips of string cheese into the water and laughing maniacally as the sunnies came up to nibble the cheese or our fingers. It entertained us each morning during the daily “feeding.”

We also discovered a very lovely sandbar in the middle of the lake, where the water was only knee high. It was here that we explored endlessly and found such a variety of snail shells, as seen above. I think I’ve mentioned before that screens are not allowed on my cabin vacations, and this lake provided entertainment aplenty.