My latest photography projects

Scene Stealer

On Sunday, Justin and Kristin Schaack have the premiere of their latest short film “The Butler Did It” at the Project 21 Film Festival.  In honor of their premiere, I’m posting some of the still photography I have done for them on another one of their movie sets, “Spices Will Fly”.

Justin and Kristin are a married couple that own Above the Line Entertainment where they write, direct, and produce their own short films and commercials.  They asked me to do some still photography while they are on set, so they can focus on the production.  It’s so fun to watch the whole film process that I always enjoy being their Still Photographer.

You can check out Justin and Kristin’s blog at: http://abovethelineent.wordpress.com/ (Please take note of the header picture of them on their home page…that’s one of my shots from The Student Driver set.)

Once “The Butler Did It” debuts, I will add some other production shots from that film.  I don’t want to give anything away beforehand, but you can get a sneak peak of my shots on Justin and Kristin’s website. That was an awesome shoot and I can’t wait to add some of my favorite pics.

Not only do I get to experience the behind the scenes of a film production, but I also am listed on IMDB!  How cool is that?!?!  Click here for IMDB link

The Reuters in the garden

Yesterday I posted some pics of my photo shoot with Molly, Jeremy and the kids.  As promised, here are a few more shots when we moved from the falls to Cindy and Steve Schaack’s beautiful garden.  (The picture of Lauren with the pink flower was also at their garden.)  Thanks again Cindy and Steve!

Molly asked me quite some time ago to take family pictures for them, and we finally got some time scheduled for this afternoon.  We started out at Vermillion Falls, which ironically Adam and I had some of our wedding pictures taken there as well.  Molly and Jeremy were there then too.  :-)   At that time Lauren was just a “whisper” of knowledge to a small circle.  Now both Lauren and Jacob are growing so fast! Being their “quasi-aunt”  I had no problem scolding them for not listening and bribing them with ice cream after we were done.

After the falls, we headed out to Steve and Cindy Schaack’s to take advantage of her beautiful gardens.  Thank you Cindy!  (More of those pics soon.)

Here are a handful of pics from my entertaining afternoon with the Reuters…

On Sunday I went to the MN Landscape Arboretum to see what I could do with this macro lens.  I am so pleased with the results that I have at least 30 shots I am considering printing.  Here are a few of them.  Of course there were butterflies there, and I had to take pictures of them.

I have been wanting a macro lens for quite some time.  A couple of friends suggested that I rent a macro lens first to see if I like it and to see if it would be worth the investment.  So I have done just that for a bargain renting price during the long weekend.

For those of you who may not know what a macro lens is, it is a lens that allows you to magnify your subject to larger ratios than real life.  I don’t really care about the technical part of the lens, because the I know the most important thing…you can take some amazing pictures with a macro lens!

I love to see something closely and to imagine all of those little details that we can’t see with our naked eye or just don’t take the time to appreciate.  One of my favorite things about nature and macro photography is the more time you spend looking at it, the closer I feel to God.  The more I see His amazing world, how everything works together and how even the smallest petal or insect is so wonderfully made; the more I appreciate the awesomeness of God.

So it’s those details I am celebrating this weekend with my Macro Experiment.  I am so excited about how my photos are turning out so far that I thought I would share a few with everyone now instead of waiting for the weekend to be over.  I love the feeling of creative energy flowing!

Crystal explosion

Hart Family Part 2

Here are a couple of pics of the adorable sleeping Daniel from my photo session with the Hart family this past weekend.

The Hart family

One of life’s blessings is to see a happy family.  I had the privilege to see such a blessing this morning.  I did a family and baby photo shoot with my friends, Bryan and Cheryl.  They recently welcomed Daniel into the world, and the amount of love parents have for their children never ceases to amaze me.

Here are just a couple of the shots from today.  Hopefully, I will be able to add a few more some time this week.

Dad and Regina’s wedding

My dad got married on Saturday.  Although they didn’t want much for formal pictures, I was able to sneak them away for a few minutes to take a couple of shots.  It was a hectic day to get everything set up and prepared, but it was a lovely service and so nice to visit with everyone afterwards.

Usually I am a huge shutterbug at weddings.  This time I took so few pictures (for me anyway), even for a wedding that I am in and helping plan.  It just felt weird.  My niece and nephew love my camera and I am foolish enough to let them use it, so they monopolized as much time with the camera as they could.  Needless to say I have a lot of editing and deleting to do.  They love taking photos almost as much as I do considering they are so young.  I got Danielle her first camera for her 5th birthday this month, and now Johnny is certain he is going to ask for a camera for Christmas.

When I took the shots below, I mentioned wanting to get some pics of them in another location, and my dad said, “Really?? More?”  And my niece (who is picking up Portuguese from Regina) said, “No mas Auntie April”, which means ‘no more’.  I took 6 shots at that point.

May God bless Dad and Regina with happiness and love!  Welcome to the family Regina!

Fair Winners!

Hello everyone, here are my recent winners of photo entries in the Dakota County Fair.  I was so honored to receive first premium ribbons and awards of excellence for “A Big Sister’s Love” and “Daises in Sun Salutation” and a third premium ribbon for my Lightning shot.  Placing three of my five entries in my first photo contest was amazing!  :-)

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