I had the opportunity to spend time with a coworker I had worked with years before and just recently started working with again. It’s so fun to see how her life and family has grown! Even though her little boy, Ryder, was shy, I still got a couple quick shots of him. I really didn’t have to do any work, Hayden had no problem directing me to what pictures she wanted! A very fun, dynamic, active family! I can’t wait to take their complete family pictures later on.
It’s always fun to have a shoot with people that you know, because you’ve already seen their style, are familiar with their hobbies and what is most important to them. Shooting my baby brother’s graduation pictures a few years ago was probably one of my favorites ever - mostly because we were laughing the whole time!
After doing Megan’s maternity pictures, she wanted baby Oscar’s 3 month session done as well. It is so fun to see families grow and be able to be a part of their milestones. While the maternity session was in-home, we opted to doing Oscar’s first session in studio, and he did so good! Just a little snuggling necessary to keep him asleep, but when has that ever been a bad thing?!
While living in the Dominican Republic for many years, I had the opportunity to work alongside local tourism groups to advertise the beauty that is Samana. The northeastern peninsula is not only known for it’s natural landscape but also for the diversity of excursions available. This was so fun for me since I was able to showcase some of my favorite areas and activities so that others would want to visit and fall in love with the gorgeous island and it’s culture just as much as I was.
Amongst the attractions were the waterfalls of El Limon, which can either be accessed on horseback or by hiking about an hour through lush jungle-like forest. Once at the falls many people swim, or scale the falls and backflip into the pool below. always cool and refreshing, it is the perfect thing in the Caribbean heat!
Other than the falls, there are beaches surrounding Samana in all directions. A few personal favorites are El Valle, Las Terrenas and the ever famous island, Cayo Levantado. These beach days could hardly be considered work.
Of course, the Humpback whales migration is one of the most popular attractions. Coming into the Samana bay from January-March each year, thousands upon thousands travel to this coastline to see them up-close and personal in different sized boats ranging from skippers to yachts. Seeing the babies is always a special treat as well.
Some photos were used for advertising, while some were made into simple postcards to sell as souvenirs.
All in all, Samana is one of my favorite places on earth. I have traveled the Dominican Republic and always am so happy to come home to my sweet, little town. If you ever have the chance to visit the country, don’t miss the opportunity of seeing all that Samana has to offer!
The sweetest little pipsqueak! Rolo had so much energy but was so curious during our session, and we were able to sneak some sweet ones in before he passed out from playing- just the cutest!
This beautiful couple helped us out during the Spring Workshop and got to have a mock second wedding! They were so fun to work with and so easy to make laugh that my job was easy. They got married in real life four months before so they're still in the exciting honeymoon phase! The floral, greenery feel worked perfectly with the location in Stillwater, MN, and Juliette’s greenery crown accented it all.
On May 19th I had the honor of being a part of Jaimie Lauren Photo's Spring Wedding Workshop! It was amazing seeing different photographers collaborate on both the business and creative side of things to help each other grow and learn. We even got an in depth lecture on SEO, which helps businesses get more traffic on their websites and social media to ultimately grow as a company. To be honest, it was a lot more than I could take in at one time but I learned more than I could have imagined!
The second part of the day we had the opportunity to shoot a mock wedding, including detail shots, bride and groom and the full wedding party. The location was beautiful and we had full access to the grounds, a wooded area, wrap around porch and had a beautiful mock ceremony area set up as well. The greenery was gorgeous, even though we had a freak snow fall in the middle of May! Thankfully the whole wedding party was up to being adventurous and even went barefoot for the sake of our photos. We also had a mock engagement shoot which was fun to work with another couple as well.
All in all, a very successful workshop thanks to Jaimie!
