First Family Shoot!

Beth is a friend I met on my first day of college back in 2000! We lived right across the hall from each other in the Getsch dorm at Bethel. We've changed so much since then... careers, husbands, baby (her, not me)! She emailed me Monday asking if I'd take some photos of her family (husband, John and brand new daughter, Meghan). I couldn't turn her down! What a great way to get experience and its just fun being around Beth and John because they make you laugh the entire time! Despite Meghan crying a bit at first, the day turned out pretty good. Here are a few from our time together at Minnehaha Park in Mpls in no particular order. I wanted to post these right away, so I haven't taken the time to edit them at all. I'll save that for later! The most difficult task for me today was dealing with the sunshine. The forecast said cloudy, so I wasn't quite sure how to adjust for bright sunshine. I guess its all part of the learning process...

(I must give credit to John for this "peek-a-boo" picture. It was his idea and I think its pretty cute!)

Second Shoot!

I am so lucky that I get to try my hand at doing a family shoot tomorrow! Check back for the pics! Not so sure how it'll turn out, but a baby is involved and babies are always cute, right? :)

Also, I attended my first official photography class last night at mncp (www.mncp.org) and it was... well... overwhelming. Let's hope that the next 4 weeks go a bit better and that the info sinks in!

Last, but certainly not least, we upgraded to a bigger, better, beautiful new monitor! Looking at and editing images will now be SO much better!! Yay for new and improved technology (and for a husband who can't say no to new stuff like this)!

That about covers it!

Oh, I almost forgot! I added a song to the site, but I think you have to hit the "play" button. Check it out! My hubby found it and sent me the link at work one day... aw... love.

Pacific Northwest Travels... and my first photo shoot!!

I had the chance to fly out to Seattle Friday through Monday to visit Taylor at school at Seattle Pacific University. Let me just say that Seattle is absolutely gorgeous, but I'm not so sure I could relocate there. The drivers are insane and the roads are even more insane! All that aside, the grass, flowers, hills, houses, bays, float planes and ships/yachts/sailboats were all great sites to see coming from Minnesota in the never-ending winter month of April.

The day before I flew out to Seattle, I had the chance to follow around my friend and wedding photographer, Ali, at an outdoor shoot. We headed over to the Walker Art Center's conservatory and sculpture gardens. It was a gorgeous (one of the few so far) spring afternoon. Ali immediately told me to take out my camera and practice. She critiqued my shots along the way while the girls had wardrobe changes. It was great. I had the BEST time! Now this is the way to learn photography... shooting with a pro! I didn't do any adjustments to the pictures yet.

So, now, first are some pics from the photo shoot and second are some from Seattle!

So, onto photos from Seattle!! Some of these are dark, but I don't have the patience to mess around with them right now...

Pike Place Market... flying fish!

The very first Starbucks!! It looked old and definitely not like your typical neighborhood Starbucks.

Mom and I walked across the street from our hotel to one of the bays where a bunch of old boats were lying around. This one struck me kind of funny... it just looks like it wouldn't last in the ocean!

We headed to a lookout area with great views of downtown Seattle. It was SOOO windy and cold, so Taylor hid behind my dad for a while. Just beyond that high bridge is Taylor's dorm. And just to the left in this picture is downtown.

Our last night in Seattle happened to be pretty clear and it didn't rain, so it was a perfect chance to take a night shot. It was also very cold and windy where we were, so we only lasted about 3 minutes.

Our new fav Queen Anne restaurant, the 5 Spot. Every month or so, they change the theme of the restaurant... food, decor, etc. Right now, its Route 66. Yum! That about wraps up the trip!