Something I've been working on in order to offer more unique senior sessions, is including something my graduates enjoy that isn't necessarily a sport or school activity. For Melanie, that something was that she has a sweet tooth. You'll see.

We chose to meet up at St. John's University for a session, in order to capture all the variety the school grounds has to offer.

P.S. Wild hair is my favorite.

Are you ready for the best part?

Upon finding out that Melanie has a sweet tooth, I asked her what her favorite candies were and she said Skittles and Starburst. Amazon sells a bundled bulk pack of the two. Cha-ching. Perfect. How stinking cute is she?!

We love to include sports gear when possible. It's nice to have that memory to look back on. 

Golden hour in the prairie is a dream. so much color and glowy light. 

Thanks, Melanie, for being such a fun young woman to photograph! Happy senior year!

Our goals for this sesh were relaxed, natural, and just sooooo over the top cute. We did it! 
Katie and Dylan met while in college in Winona, so that's where we headed for their engagement sesh. (Did you know that Kia goes to college in Winona?!)

We started out by some brick buildings in downtown Winona that Dylan used to live near.  No, Katie didn't plan to match her shirt to the brick wall, but it looks pretty damn cool, eh?

For engagement photos, we love it if we can direct couples into a pose and they just snuggle and smooch and hug and chat their way into and out of it. It allows for a lot of variety and a lot less stiffness. Movement allows for some fun and playfulness and moments we couldn't possibly pose you into. 

We wandered around from block to block looking for spots to stop. For real, sometimes we can make something out of nothing. After that, we headed for a tourist spot near the lake. 

We drove up to the bluffs and parked the car to walk out to the scenic area. Along the path there was a wildflower field. Worth a stop.

The. Bluffs. Did. Not. Disappoint.

We celebrated their engagement with a little champagne back in the wildflower field.

I absolutely love spending part of an engagement session in water. Especially right as the sunsets and golden hour is at it's peak. I meannnnn, how romantic are these?!

Congratulations, Katie and Dylan!!! <3

When one of your childhood friends asks you to photograph their wedding, it's always an honor. There are so many lovely wedding vendors in Minnesota, I'm always so proud when someone chooses us. It means a lot to be there for one of the most exciting days of peoples lives. And also, I'm sorta just a hopeless romantic and I secretly (now not so secretly) cry at every wedding.

It's been an interesting year for weddings. Covid certainly has changed how we do things. These two had to make some major adjustments and had a total of 12 people at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Richmond. Nevertheless, it was an absolutely lovely day!
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I mean, come onnnnn! This first look is too sweet. We love a little booty grab, too haha!

I really love when love is visual. These are real smiles, real adoration. I feel like we can learn a little bit about love from each couple we photograph. These two made their day sweet and special and will get to host their friends for a party this fall. 

Some of their friends and family did a drive by congratulations parade. It was so sweet, Kia and I both cried a little. It was bittersweet. 

Their families planned a sweet little surprise garage dinner reception. Full decorated with all the cute details, and even if it was a much simpler reception than what they originally planned, it was still beautiful.

I am convinced that pine trees make the best backdrops. 

Congratulations, Shaunte' and Steve! Cheers to many more years!

On my way to this shoot, my maps app on my phone took me to an outer edge of Jay Cooke State Park and said, "Arrived." So, I took a wild guess about what direction to go through the park to get to the entrance. Along the way, I crossed over a bridge with a breathtaking view that I'd otherwise have totally missed. Want to see it? The photos at the end were taken from that bridge.

It was pretty muddy, but we decided to cross the big bridge across the river to get to these falls. 

The colors this weekend were PEAK. We couldn't believe we got so lucky as to see these yellow leaves and trees still full. 

These two are the sweetest. For real, sometimes I hardly have to pose folks and they are just naturals. These two are exactly that. 

Right behind the main buildings of the park entrance were tons of fallen leaves and a cute little wood bridge.

As we got out to this spot, near the bridge, it started to drizzle. We decided to just keep going. The overcast sky made the trees in the distance even brighter looking.

See! The view from the bridge begins here. 

Pure freakin' magic.