xx Emory, Everett & Abby xx

Sometimes sessions with little ones don’t always go as “planned”. Sometimes they’re tired and hungry and just want to scream + play and not even think twice about sitting on Mom’s lap to smile for a boring camera. Guess what? That’s okay! Don’t stress about not getting super posed + smiley photos. I encourage them to be wild and let out all of their big emotions on their tiny little faces! These are the real moments that we see everyday anyway. Every year they’re in school you’ll get that super awkward photo of them sitting on a tree stump with a strained smile. You’ll cut them into wallet sizes and give them to Grandma and Uncle Joe, and you’ll all kind of giggle (super lovingly of course) at that overly posed, forced smile. The best photos are of them making silly faces, laughing while being chased/tickled, and that huge grin once the sugar from the ice cream hits! 🤪

xx The Miller Boys xx

If you’ve ever had a conversation with me that’s lasted more than ten minutes I’ve probably mentioned these cuties. Earlier this year I was in the habit of seeing them at least once a week so when Covid-19 and the Stay at Home order hit, my heart broke. It’s always really hard saying goodbye to these three boys for a few months when I’m traveling, so being in the same state, less than an hour away and not being able to visit was extremely difficult. We tried Quarantine Calls on FaceTime, but it’s hard to get a then 5, 3, and 1.5 year old to sit still, hold up the phone just right, stop playing with toys and have a conversation. 🤣 After three long months I finally got to see them and we had this awesome photoshoot! These might be my favorite photos I’ve ever taken. We took some pictures in their adorable, matching outfits (cue happy tears) and then played with bubbles and water guns in the backyard with tons of giggles, screams, funny faces and so much love.

The photos of them dancing have me dyinggggg haha!

Aaaaaand two that probably won’t make it up on a wall, but have me cracking up 🤣

xx Susie xx

This incredible human has kept me around to photograph a pregnancy, engagement, wedding and these “just because” photos. Susie you are too cool for words and I’m just so happy you’re in my life! This world needs more people like you in it.

Stay at Home Sessions - Love in the Time of Covid-19

Trying to stay positive and creative while not being able to leave the house. The quality of these photos are kind of shit if we’re being completely honest, but that’s pretty cool isn’t it? It’s incredible that we’re able to just hop on our phones or computers, click a few buttons, and then we’re instantly in our loved ones’ homes expressing our love during such a strange time. Not ideal, but it’s better than nothing, right?

Keep in mind, they will be grainy, a little out of focus, won’t make great prints… they’ll be different. We’ve got to play the hand we’ve been dealt and make the most of it. This is what life + love look like at this very moment. If you’re interested in giving this a shot with me, reach out and I’d be happy to spend a little time with ya. Completely experimental, a fun little memory and an excuse to drink wine in the middle of the day if you feel like it.

This was my first Stay at Home Session that I did last month. Thank you to Ireland and Maddy for inviting me into your apartment (and fridge 🤪) giving me a little glimpse of what your quarantine looks like. I couldn’t decide if I wanted the photos to look as if I were actually there with them or if I wanted to include the screens. I’ve included both in this post for now while I figure out how I’ll continue to do this moving forward. Enjoy!

xx Stay Home xx

Life is weird right now.

This is Schmoe, my roommate’s cat. No, I don’t know why she chose that name. Yes, Schmoe does actually love me, contrary to what her face may show in these photos.

We’re all in this together. Take a deep breath. Enjoy some photos of a grouchy looking cat.

This is my Day 12.

xx Courtney + James xx

James reached out to me a while ago asking if I could meet up for coffee to catch up. Little did I know that he had fallen in love with this gorgeous gal and was planning to propose! He told me he wanted me to be there to photograph the big moment. I was nervous and excited and scared and grateful. We planned the day, but Minnesota weather happened and the date we picked had awful weather. A few days later I got a text saying that the right moment came and there was a selfie of the two of them, sun in their eyes (and a few tears I think), recently engaged!!! I loved photographing these two. They just knew what to do, they made me laugh, they felt comfortable together and I could feel their genuine love for each other. Courtney and James, I’m so so so happy for you guys! Thank you for letting me be a part of this exciting time!!

CJText.jpg

xx Ireland + Maddy xx

Here are some super adorable photos of my baby sister and her girlfriend. I’m so fucking proud of you both!

Love is love is love is love.

xx Leah + Jacob xx

My little sister got engaged over the holidays and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them!! I got a message from her then boyfriend, Jacob, the morning of the proposal, asking if I could somehow figure out a way to capture the big moment. Luckily enough, I had planned to take a few photos of Leah as a present for my Dad so she wasn’t even slightly suspicious. (She knew about my dad’s present because I went to his work recently and the photos he has on his wall of our entire family were taken like 10 years ago. I sent a photo to Leah and we had a good laugh about how dated the photos were, so I figured it was time for an upgrade!)

I was suuuuper nervous and I for sure was not making any kind of sense when giving direction. I wasn’t exactly sure when Jacob was going to pop the question, because we didn’t really talk much about it beforehand. Looking back now, probably not the smartest choice, but I think we both were just too excited and nervous that we weren’t thinking clearly haha! I’ll let Leah share how she remembers the actual moment, but dang, it was pretty darn adorable and I’m so glad that I was able to snap a few photos!

Look at how sweet the are together! *cries uncontrollably while scrolling*

Oaklee || One Day Old

The weirdest + coolest thing happened to me two days ago (okay, two weeks ago now that I’m making this blog post today). I FINALLY had the opportunity to do a “Fresh 48” shoot. If you’re not familiar with what this is, it’s when a photographer goes to the hospital after a mama gives birth to photograph the first few hours together. They’re different than your typical newborn shoot with the whole “baby in a basket on a bed of flowers and tiny crotched hat”. Don’t get me wrong, I can totally appreciate those photos, they can be absolutely beautiful but they never really screamed “ME”. Heading to the hospital to document the raw emotions + moments - how your hands shake a bit while changing their clothes, Grandma’s (and luckily enough in this case Great Grandma/pa’s) proud smile, the feeling of exhaustion, joy and relief all intertwined together, their wrinkly, crusty toes - seemed more like “my style”.

So why haven’t I done a shoot like this before? If I’m being completely honest with myself, I kind of half-ass-ishly would offer this session by posting on social media every once in a while. I had a few people tell me they were interested, but it never worked out due to canceling last minute, me being out of the country, them choosing a different photographer, etc. I was usually pretty bummed when it didn’t work out, but then again, I wasn’t really putting myself ALL the way out there because, well, the rejection scared the hell out of me. I realize now, that I just wasn’t ready. And then this day happened. Here’s a little bit of the nearly 5 paragraph long text that I sent my amazing friend, travel partner, Spanish studying amiga, photography mentor, giggle buddy, hero, and bottle-of-vino-tinto-sharer, Aminda.

“I don’t know if it was the new lens, all of the studying that I did in Nicaragua, the knowledge and energy that I gained from you or what, but when I started editing those photos, man - something clicked. I actually felt like a Photographer for the first time. Like really for the first time. Like I can finally say ‘Soy fotografa’ and be confident about it… That probably sounds so silly, but I needed that shift.” It was the first time in a long time that I was actually proud of myself. Which for me, is life-changing.

Here are a few of my favorites from that day. I was realllllly feeling the black and white. Imagine that…😂

Gwen || Senior Photos

I can’t believe this little one is almost 18…

Or that it has somehow already been seven years of spending almost every holiday, birthday, random Sunday together. Thank you for always making me feel like part of the family and welcoming me in with open arms, even when I beat you at Hand and Foot or you have to carry the team on your own when people can see right through me during the first round of Mafia and for being nicer to me than your actual sister sometimes... ;) The future has so many big, exciting things in store for you.

Love love love you!

Amanda || Chillin' in Her Super Cute St. Paul Apartment

It’s officially that time in Minnesota. With 6-12 inches in tonight’s forecast, winter is here. As much as I enjoy winter and the snow during the holidays, come January I’m usually over it… However, as I strive to focus on the silver lining, seeing the bright side of every situation, I AM happy to say that this season in MN means in-home sessions. I love coming to your home and photographing you curled up in fuzzy blankets, drinking wine and eating your favorite Thai takeout, cuddling in the kitchen, etc.

Here are a few shots of Amanda and some of her plant babies at her place. She let me come over and hang out for a bit while I played around with my new lens that I am currently loving!

Andrew & Ashley || Minneapolis Maternity Shoot

Had some fun with these two about a month ago! Maybe it’s because she’s my cousin, maybe it’s all the love that I have for these two, but the second that she put on that black dress, I was absolutely stunned. I think I stood there for about 20 seconds with my mouth open, looking like an idiot. I’m now convinced that everyone should wear a black dress during their session ;) Here are just a few of my favorites from that beautiful Fall day!

Jena & Tim || Granada, Nicaragua - De Boca En Boca

If you didn’t know, I’m currently traveling in Nicaragua. It all started in a grungy, dive bar in NE Minneapolis.

After our fair share of bottomless mimosas, (Ebenezer at Red Rabbit hooked it up and helped us find the bottom) una Reina IPA at La Doña Cervecería, a basket of tots and some reggaeton on TouchTunes at NE Moose Bar, Aminda and I were, somewhat coherently ;), talking about how we wanted to make our dreams of traveling and photographing happen. We started kind of jokingly, kind of seriously giggling about what would happen if we got an uber to the airport right then and there and somehow woke up in the morning in the middle of Central America. And that was that. We pinky promised that we would soon be photographing while practicing Spanish somewhere down south. So, long story short, we’ve been in Nicaragua for almost two weeks now and are LOVING IT.

A few of days ago we met a couple at our hostel, De Boca en Boca which is located in an incredible little city called Granada. The two of them were sitting on the couch in the common area and I actually texted Aminda and said, “Can we just take a sec to recognize how beautiful this couple is?” A few hours later they joined us for a glass of wine and we hit it off immediately.

Jena is from Canada and Tim is from New Zealand. They met on Bumble and were actually living only three blocks from each other at the time. Small freaking world, right? They recently made the decision to leave Canada and move to New Zealand, but decided to travel around Central America first. We chatted about the time they spent in Mexico and Guatemala, all of the highs - they spent time on Lake Atitlán, where I spent most of 2017 - and all of the lows, like the extremely distinct taste of a “sulfur burp” which you know all too well if you’ve had a parasite. They were open and honest and even shared a recent, rather traumatic story with us. All was going great until they got to Ometepe, an island on Lake Nicaragua that is home to two volcanoes. They were in their hotel room, hard boiling eggs when Tim went to light the other stove and there was an explosion. There was a gas leak and when he went to ignite the other flame the stove exploded, blowing the tiles off of the counter and leaving Tim with second degree burns which he needs to keep bandaged. As to not divulge too much about their painful experience, I’ll wrap it up with how impressed I am with their attitudes and positivity. This couple is absolutely lovely and I am so happy that Aminda and I were able to give them a little souvenir of their time in Nicaragua, that hopefully brings them warmth and happiness.

The Miller's || Color Fun

I may be biased because we’re related, but this is for sure my favorite family to shoot… ;) We started out with a few, classic, posed shots to get “A Nice Photo for Grandma”, and then had some fun!

Parker || Cake Smash

Look at those eyes, AND THOSE CHEEKS! I’d like to pretend that the reason he’s so smiley in these photos is because kids love me, but if I’m being totally honest, it was probably the sugar… ;)

Kelsey & Pamir || Wedding (Shadowing Aminda Villa)

This day was an absolute DREAM! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shadow my all-time favorite photographer, Aminda Villa! As you can see in some of the photos (I kept her in some of them), I was standing mostly behind or to the side of Aminda, watching her do her thing, learning, and soaking up her creative energy. And holy crap, does she do it incredibly! She was so great with the bride and groom, Kelsey & Pamir (who were absolute freaking gems, and can we just talk about how extremely photogenic they both are?!!). I could go on and on about how welcoming, amazing, loving, & bad-ass this entire day was… buttttttt, instead, check out some of the shots that I got while “second shooting”. :)