Something else to check out!

A couple of years ago when I was blogging a lot, many of my friends participated in weekly ritual blogging. I started my own, Thursday's Thumbs. I would post once a week about a product or item that I tried that week and give it a Thumbs Up! or Thumbs Down! based on my experience with it. I miss doing that so....
I did it! I opened up a blog dedicated to Thursday's Thumbs! Check it out http://thursdaysthumbs.blog.com/
I just wish I could find that picture I used back in the day when I first started doing TT.
Join me over there each Thursday as I rate products and items we've tried through that week! Also feel free to drop me any suggestions.
Want to try something but are too chicken? Tell me about it and I just might try it for you!

Vacation Extended

I've decided to extend my vacation until the end of February. If you have a newborn and would like a session please feel free to contact me as I know time is of the essence when it comes to how fast they grow in the first weeks!
In the meantime to get your fill of Jen please visit my new project "365 Days of Jen" where I attempt to take and post at least one picture a day in the year 2010.

Happy New Year!

This makes me tear up

I love how these turned out. They are so beautiful!

Just one more sneak peek for little Oliver and family before I finish up their gallery and head further into my vacation.











And join me on January 1st as I begin my own 365 day project of photography at 365 Days of Jen

Oliver

Ohhhh, this little boy is such a sweetie! Sadly, we had to reschedule his session twice in the last few weeks due to illness in my family, and I think the third time was a charm! He was so sweet and let us do so much with him. Here are just a few images that I played with while emptying my memory cards to my hard drive. I'm sure I'm going to have more to share later!
Hope you enjoy your sneak peek Shayne and Max! Happy Holidays!

Kristy and Marshall

Celebrated their one year wedding anniversary last month. Congratulations you two!
Kristy had asked me to take a large family portrait of Marshall's family last Friday, but then we also took some time to take a few of just them before meeting up with the rest of the family.

These two look so classic in black and white.

Hope you enjoy your sneak peek!





And check out these red hawt boots Kristy wore! I love them!



I have to say that posting this last image on the web does not do it justice. Something changes when it gets resized and displayed on the web that takes from it's glow. This is an image that begs to be printed BIG.

Winter Vacation

Brothers

This could possibly be my most favorite storyboard ever!

Jen's Family

On Monday I'd called Jen, because we had a session scheduled for her two boys, and was delighted to hear her husband answer the phone which meant it was going to be a family session instead. They got to the park just as the sun was setting, so we hurried and did a few poses we knew we wanted and had enough time to get some fun shots in at a couple of locations.











I also wanted to mention that her youngest son was one of my first newborns I photographed... time moves on too fast.

Crafty me

I did something for me today! :) YAY!
I've been dying to get my hands on a cute cover for my camera strap. Today I decided to spend a little of the money I made doing sessions on one, but as I looked, I couldn't find one I really wanted to plunk 20 bucks down on (well maybe one). But then I remembered one of my friends showing me a link to a tutorial making one. "I can do that!" I thought. So I googled "camera strap tutorial" and found one that looked simple enough for me. I have some material I wanted to use but ended up running to the fabric store for complimentary prints to go with them. I'd also found (while looking for camera straps) a pattern for a super cute purse that I decided to buy material for and try to make. While I was there I saw that a bunch of things I'd been coveting for years were on sale and even some on clearance! Whoopie!!!
So here is my first strap I made. It's made out of flannel that has a pink and green butterfly print with 70's style designs. I love it! It also grips my shoulder better than I thought it would. It also has padding on it so I hope that it will be both comfortable and absorbent on the days I'm working a hot session!

I wish

I had a better way to show my beautiful images than this blog or my website. So often the images I work on look so beautiful in my Photoshop and then once I resize them and sharpen them for the web they somehow lose their lustre.
This is one of those examples. I love how this looked in Photoshop, but now uploaded to my blog it doesn't look right.
I love creating storyboards for my clients. Usually I create one to go in your gallery, but if I haven't and you'd like one made feel free to contact me and I'll get one put together for you!
They are 10 x 20 inches. You can find frames for them at just about any store. They usually come with a mat inside and 3 holes for 4x6 or 5x7 images. You just take the mat out and slip in your print and voila!

Koch Family

On Saturday I met up with the Koch family at Long Lake Regional Park for a family session. It was a warm sunny day but we had quite the wind going which made it a little trickier to get some non-windy hair shots. I love the colors they chose to wear, it's warm and adds to the feeling of the richness of fall and unity of family.
Hope you like your sneak peek!

Samuel

Awww, look at this cute little guy! Samuel was 7 days old when I visited him to shoot some product images. These are the beautiful baby cocoons that Laura Michels makes. They are so soft and warm and cozy! Samuel's mom said at the beginning of the session she wasn't sure how he would do because he hates to be naked, but once we got him into one of these things and his mom cuddled him for a minute he was warm and snuggled and content and stayed that way the whole time he was in there. He loved it!
Congratulations Katie and thanks for letting us use your adorable little guy!
Check here to see Laura's other items!

Reminder

December 2 is the last day to order prints in time for Christmas.

I'm back!

I'm back from two days of time out for me! Thank you for your patience to those who are still waiting for the completion of your galleries. I plan to have them all up and ready for your viewing pleasure by the end of Monday.
Amazing what two days out with 2,500 of your sisters will do!

Christmas is just around the corner!

There are only a few short weeks left to get your outdoor session done in time to have prints for Christmas!
At this time of season expect your session's gallery to be up in two week's time and once prints are ordered and paid for at least another 3 days. Prints are only sent out for printing after they are paid for.
So if you are on the fence or playing with the idea of having a session done for holiday cards, don't take too long!

Olivia

Saturday I was so happy to see the sun shine because I had Olivia's session that afternoon and we'd already had to reschedule once due to weather. This session was to celebrate her 3rd birthday. Isn't she so adoreable?! I just love those dimples and blue eyes.
Pretty soon she is going to be a big sister and I can tell by how sweet she is with her baby doll that she is going to be great!
Hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Private Photography Lessons

Thinking of buying an SLR this holiday season?

Did you get one last year and have yet to take it off it's auto settings?

Wanting private lessons to show you how to make the most of your camera

and your images?

I have only a few openings this winter for private lessons instructing you how to use your new,

or not so new, SLR camera. If you register before December 25, save 25% off!

Three two hour sessions $240 $180*.

Makes a great gift!

email me at Lessons@jensportraits.com to request a registration form.

*50% due at registration, other 50% due at the first lesson.

Amanda

I was so happy when I got an email from Amanda's mom asking me about doing her senior portraits! We scheduled them for Friday afternoon, and through a turn of events ended up shooting earlier in the day than first planned. It was a good thing too, because by the time we finished up at Minnehaha Falls the rain moved in. It was about a half hour before her session was first scheduled to begin.
I hope you like your sneak peek Amanda, and have a great senior year!

Happy Birthday!

Today I was so super lucky to get to photography JJ for his first birthday! JJ has overcome so many obstacles in his short little life and it's a miraculous thing that he was home in time to celebrate his first birthday with his family. His family and their experiences in the last two years of having two babies with HLH have touched so many lives, including mine. I'm thrilled to be showing this sneak peek! I hope you like these Laura.
Happy Birthday little guy!

Before the snow came

On Friday I had scheduled a session with my friend Amy and her family. We were getting a little nervous because of weather reports. It was cold and snow was on the way! After going back and forth on whether to go through with it or not we finally decided to try it and if it didn't work out to try it again another day. I don't think we'll have to do any retakes, I'm loving these shots and I hope you do to Amy!