Sara+Colin's Wedding

Here is just a quick sample from Sara & Colin's big day today. The weather was unpredictable, but it was a fabulous day! Thanks for allowing me to share it with you guys!! Enjoy Hawaii! I will be back with more here later.

Okay, edit point!! I am back and so are all of Colin and Sara's photos. They are on my website HERE. Please check them out and let me know what you think.

These guys were just awesome to work with. One of the most laid back, easygoing wedding days I have been a part of. Thanks to Sara and Colin for making me (and probably everyone else) feel so comfortable. It was a great day with some dramatic weather. But dramatic weather makes for some dramatic photos and I think you'll find some keepers!! Colin and Sara just fit so naturally together that it made photographing them throughout the day so easy. One of those photo sets that folks compliment ME on...really it's a good looking couple that is natural in front of the camera...I just pushed the shutter release.

About 1250 times!

Enjoy.

The Bakke Family

Had a great time with our good friends the Bakke's and their twin girls Kate and Annika today. They came down from Lakeville to our new spot in the country and got some great shots. I love shooting kids about this age because if you go in knowing that they are not BOTH going to pose at the same time and make it your goal to get great candids, you'll have a great time.

We spent a good portion of our time outside after the drizzle subsided. We walked in the freshly cut hayfield, walked down the road by our pond, went on the big tree swing and took a hike up the big hill overlooking the valley.

It was super to spend a couple hours with them and to see how big the girls are getting. I hope to do it again soon!! There are more of their shots on my website HERE and also on my Flickr photostream.

My Brother/Sister

Though I have a lot of stories to tell about my time at FFA Camp this last week, I had to show off a couple photos of my new brother/sister from yesterday! He/She had his/her arms and feet up in front of his/her face the whole time, but we snuck a couple shots in there. I was really more interested in getting back to the bbbffish, bfish in the lobby though. Here are a couple photos.

Up North

What a little adventure I had on my hands the other night!! Mommy, daddy, Sogn and I headed north for SGLC at Deep Portage near Hackensack. We got there and unloaded and then daddy and I took Sogn up to Deer Lake where Gma and Gpa are for a few weeks. It was a great night and I went right down on the sand and started playing. I just loved the sand and water. Even in this sequence of photos, I was trying out the sand...just for the record...doesn't taste too good!!

We stayed the night at the cabin. We went for a boatride and sat on the swing for quite a while!! It was a great time. We went back to Deep Portage and it was great to see mommy. We are all headed back to Deer Lake next week. Daddy and I were walking outside last night and saw a deer. She was just walking around and eating. We snuck around this corner and she walked right by us. I kept saying, "buck, buck, buck". Daddy was very proud of me!

We even all wore our new Crocs when we went on a walk in the woods. It was a great walk, but the mosquitoes were really bad! I got a couple bites, but I really don't even know what's happening. Mommy and daddy keep a good eye on me!

John+Betsey's Wedding

What a hot day! This was a great time in Northfield with John and Betsey! It was a super fun time with a great wedding party, in a beautiful setting celebrating a great couple's new life together. They have a bunch of photos in their gallery area on my website and of course on my Flickr photostream.

This was one of the more challenging days technically for me as a photographer. The sun was SOOO intense and seemed to be peering it's way into every photo. I did everything I could to find reflected, deflected, and ambient light and really made some great shots. I always feel under the gun when the couple is waiting on me to make this thing work. When the sun shines bright, use that amazing blue sky to your advantage! I had to use off camera fill light as much as possible too. Felt like I nailed a few of them, but spent most of my day looking around with John and Betsey in the corner of my eye. Usually it's the other way around...couple in focus, scouting location in the corner of my eye.

Regardless, we had a great time and the reception out at Gopher Hills Golf Course in Miesville, MN was a gorgeous little hideaway in the country.

Thanks to John and Betsey for a great time and to everyone for being patient and smiling at me all day long!! I can't wait to hook up with these guys for a little Trash the Dress session soon.

Austin's Baseball Shoot

Had a great little shoot with my buddy Austin and his dad Craig on Wednesday night. We met last year and I did a little work for them from Austin's baseball season in 2008.

So we hooked up in Northfield on a beautiful evening and captured some great shots (after climbing the fence next to the locked gate). Austin played catch with his dad and I shot a bunch of sequences from different angles. I really love my Canon 40D and it's ability to shoot 6.5fps. Because we weren't shooting in a live game situation, the 70-200 2.8 lens stayed in the bag and I could shoot with my 24-70 2.8 instead. I also got some great shots with the 10-22mm wide angle. The brilliant blue sky with it's high clouds added some real drama to the shoot.

Ultimately, I am doing a composite design of Austin's pitching sequence. Something like the one I did for Cory from Stillwater last summer. Which I will post here when I get back to me other computer.

Back to Nebraska

I have been gone away this week with mommy to Nebraska for SLCCL. It has been fun except I miss daddy and my teeth are KILLING ME!!! I am getting three new ones at one time and mommy is having her hands full keeping me passivised. I have been a real bear, but I just can't help it! All the state officers have been really patient with me and helped mommy out too. I am really excited to get home tomorrow to see daddy. Then we're leaving Sunday to head up north. Some time at Deep Portage and then to Deer Lake with Gma and Gpa.

Daddy has had basketball camp this week while we've been gone and he has tried to get caught up on a lot of work at home. Weddings have kept him busy on the weekends and he has more the next few weeks too.

Hans & Rachel

What a weekend it was. You know, I have been blessed to shoot weddings on many, many weekends with some awesome people. I am truly humbled that couples trust me to capture the monumental moments in their lives. I know I say that over and over, but it is so true. I got to spend the whole weekend with Hans and Rachel and capture some of those moments for them.

This was a unique event for me. Rachel and my sister, Amy are best friends since elementary school. So I have known Rachel and the Schwingler family for many years. They are some of the most kindhearted people you will ever meet. The Sviggum family has been like my surrogate family for many years. They were there n Kenyon the day I took my first job out of college and took me in as a part of the family from day one. I had the pleasure of teaching and coaching Hans and his brother Erik and sister Marit. I even lived in their farm house for four years while I was in Kenyon the first time around. This is a special, special family to me. Though Steve was the MN Speaker of the House for several years and currently is the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, he is just one of the big Sviggum family that has embraced me.

Okay, wipe away your tears. That was all pretty emotional. Whatever!! Back to my first statement...what a weekend it was! It was the celebration of an intelligent, loving, faithful, commited, hard-working couple coming together. Hans and Rachel met at Gustavus, went their separate ways to medical school and dental school, but will spend a lifetime together now.

We got some absolutely great photos. It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise and so many great friends and family came together for this celebration. The wedding was at my parents' home church in Rochester and the reception was at a golf course in Stewartville. Don't forget to check out the Groom's Dinner photos from Friday night in the Sviggum shed! We stopped at the Plummer House in Rochester and got some great shots on the way to the reception as well.

Matt & Amy's Wedding

What a wonderful day it was! I haven't seen two people quite as IN LOVE as Matt and Amy. If it was a day for candid shots of the couple gazing into each other's eyes...THIS WAS IT. It was an ominous day outside in Lakeville, but we had a wonderful time in the Crystal Lake Event Center for their wedding and reception. They had really fun families and a wedding party that was so easy to work with. This was just a day where Matt and Amy made ME smile the whole day as well.

The wedding and reception were in the same location which really made for a slick day for me. It allowed me to wander with the couple and wedding party and really shoot without sweating the moving stuff around all day. The only drawback was the terribly winds outside, but we were able to sneak away just before dinner to a protected side of the building and get some shots.

Matt and Amy were the first couple that I booked solely from my Facebook group called Matt Addington Photography. That little social networking site is pretty darn amazing. I thought it was just really cool to keep in touch with folks!

These guys were great and I was so appreciative of them and their families who treated me so well. I was blessed to work surrounded by such great people. I wish Matt and Amy all the best!!