I spent a few hours with a dear friend of mine on Sunday. She came over for dinner, along with her husband and their two darling daughters, and we started discussing how quickly childhood goes, and how badly we want to remember all the little bits that seem to get lost in the clutter that is life. She keeps a blog to remember these things – for posterity or blackmail or graduation party slideshows and wedding toasts – and she mentioned that every month she writes down all the things she doesn’t want to forget. The little things that are big things when they happen. Minutia. Celebrations. Hard days. Good days. Smiles and tears. Any and all of it. I liked the idea so much I’ve decided to steal it. I used to be a mom blogger. I used to keep better track of my memories. These girls are growing like...
an afternoon with colie | MN family + lifestyle photography
I talk often about how blessed I am – how lucky I feel to be able to make images for people, to document such miraculous and wonderful and amazing moments in their lives. As trivial or trite or contrived as it all might start to sound, I truly mean it. I AM so lucky. I am thankful for photography partly because of what it does for my soul, but mostly for what it allows me to do for others. These images become our legacies. Someday, they will all be old photographs. They will outlive us. Last Saturday I spent a few hours with my friends Cortney and Trent, and their five week old little girl Colie. My uterus contracted, tears welled up in my eyes a time or two, and I made a few photographs for two people who just became a family of three. And with every single click...
life is a fleeting, miraculous wonder | a birth story
When Cortney and Trent asked if I would be able to document the impending birth of their baby – I jumped and squealed at the opportunity. I absolutely adore birth photography – and moreso, I’m am a photographer because I am wholeheartedly addicted to the amazing experience that is making images and telling stories for people. The only catch, I explained, was that I had a wedding on April 6th, and that would be the only day I’d be unavailable to be on call. Cortney and Trent more than understood and, with a hand placed on her growing abdomen, Cortney solemnly swore that her baby would stay incubated safely in her womb until after April 6th. Shortly after midnight on April 7th, minutes after her oath had expired, Cortney texted to let me know that her water had broke and they were headed to the hospital. A few hours later,...
twenty frames
It is seemingly impossible to take too many photos of your children, but it is possible to take too few. When I first picked up a camera I shot everything. All. The. Time. My camera seemed to be permanently positioned in front of my face. I have folder upon folder on my computer of photographs of my girls. Archived by year and then by month and sometimes even by event. Every year since 2009. But then I realized the other day that I don’t have one folder for 2013. No January. No February. No March. I promised myself I would never stop shooting just because. But I did. I rarely pick my camera up anymore when I’m at home. And I hate that. A lot. Ferris Bueller once said that “life is pretty short. If you don’t stop to look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” So last...