Gudenkauf Family

I did my first set of family portraits! It seems silly that I haven't shot a family before, but I've never gotten the chance. I was a little nervous (well, more so than usual) and I researched lots of tricks to help me. This family has a 2 year old, and a 4 year old.. I knew I had a long shoot ahead of me :D

 The shoot went amazing! Wyatt was so entertaining, as I'm sure all 4 year old's are, and I quickly learned to work WITH him instead of against him. I would shoot a couple, and then show him. And I'd let him get his poses in, then ask him to do a certain pose. What an amazing family to learn with!  Here are a couple of their shots:

Christmas cards!

The time has come for family Christmas cards!! I've got lots of templates and you can see them on my Facebook page here!

Christmas card special includes an hour session, digital proofing, 25 cards plus envelopes, and 2 8x10s. I'll post the proofs here on the blog for you to check out. Book now, only 33 days until Christmas!


Here are a few of the designs!

Whitney and Levi

I had a couple shoot today :D It was pretty chilly outside, but we met at a very pretty duck pond in the 'Ville and luckily, it's in a valley (no wind!). The leaves have finally started to show some color around here after the rain last week. Levi and Whitney are definitely the "outdoors" type and I wanted to show that in their pictures. Though I'm sure they felt ridiculous in a couple of the poses, the results are worth the awkwardness! I'm in love with the pics from this shoot, and I hope you love them too!

Kyle

So.. I'm a photographer, and my best friend HATES having his picture taken! What's a girl to do? I decided to take him out and show him how fun it can be! I met him after he got off work and we started shooting right away. Unfortunately the light faded very quickly so we only got about 20-30 min of shoot time in.. but here are some that we captured! I'm happy to say that he is okay with shooting again, and we've made plans to shoot next week! And yes.. I'll say it.. my bestie is gorgeous :D

Ryan's Senior shots

Despite the high wind here, I met with Ryan to do his senior pictures. He is a friend of my younger sister (they are graduating together) and I've known him for years. We always have a great time whenever he's around, so I was expecting great things for the shoot. I was not disappointed! Here is a sneak peek of Ryan's senior shots!

Halloween at our house

As I said earlier, my husband and I don't have any children yet... but we do have a teacup chihuahua named Kylie and a 16lb cat named Clyde. Kylie was Wonder Dog this year. She loved her costume and ran all over the house in it :D Clyde.. now he's a different story. He is de-clawed on all four feet, but good luck getting him into any kind of clothing. He did like my small prop pumpkin however. But simply saying the word "costume" in front of him rewarded me with a very mean look. 

Wonder Dog!

"Don't even think about dressing me up!"

Learning

Though I have this business up and going, it would be a lie to say that I know everything. I, much like everyone else in the world, have room to grow and many things to learn. I am so blessed to have friends around me that are not only supportive but also knowledgeable! Occasionally I get the chance to do a mentor shoot with them, and learn how they do things. These pictures come from a few of those outings!

Baby Denver. I mentored under her mommy,  Misty Lingnau

This is Meghin, I mentored under Kevin Camp for this shoot.

Jenni

I graduated with Jenni, and it was so awesome to take her pictures. She's a natural model and seemed to do what I wanted before I even asked! I think we spent as much time laughing as we did shooting.

Swindell Wedding!

When I married my husband, I married into a HUGE family. I come from a family of six. Me, my mother, my father, my twin brother, and my two younger sisters. That's all. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter.... there were only six of us at the table. Getting married changed all that. A small get-together with his family? Thirty people, at least! Not that I'm complaining :) I love them all very much! But it was a lot to get used to, and more names and relationships to remember. We've been together for over 5 years now, and I still have to ask.. "okay, which one is married to her? What's that one's name again?" For the most part, I have it all down, but when the annual Christmas party has over 100 people there (all family)... it can be tough to get it all right!

My first big wedding was for one of my husband's cousins. His name is David Alan and he was marrying Maranda. I had done their engagement shoot, so I was already comfortable with them, and knew what it took to get them comfortable in front of a camera. But shooting a wedding is a big deal. If you miss a shot, you don't get another chance. It can never be re-created the same way. The feeling will be lost.

Luckily the day was beautiful and everything went smoothly. As always, I got tear-y eyed during the ceremony :) Just another quirk you get when working with me.. I get emotional <3

Here are several of their pictures. Evident is every one is the love that they share. I hope you enjoy them, and God bless you Alan and Mandi!