Brooke & Travis: Family Session

Brooke and Travis have what I like to call "personality plus". They are a heckuva lot of fun, and know how to live life to the fullest. Plus they're totally in love with each other and their cute little pup George. What's not to like? :)

Last weekend we met up with them for a day of photo fun in beautiful Port Washington, Wis., a picturesque small town right on Lake Michigan. In the morning we did a family session and in the afternoon we did a bridal/trash the dress (which will be featured in an upcoming post). Even in the unexpected morning chill, they were total naturals in front of the camera, which made my job super easy.

Afterwards we went out for breakfast at a local joint and chowed down on corned beef hash, among many other breakfast delicacies. And later, we introduced them to the wonder that is Kopp's frozen custard. Noms.

For this session I rented the 35 mm f/1.8 and the 85 mm f/1.4 lenses. And let me tell ya - even though I'm still in love with my 50 mm, I found myself using the two shiny new lenses more often than not.

Gah! Look at those eyes!! And check out George's stylin' sweater!

Look: George has "Yoda" ears! :)

Awwww. :)

Stay tuned for a post on their bridal/trash the dress session!

Chris & Nina

Brian met Chris at his school's graduate student orientation last August and quickly bonded over their shared love of computer and video games. A couple of  months later I met Chris and his wife, Nina, and we all hit it off. So, when I learned they didn’t have any recent cute photos of themselves, I knew that needed to change that pronto.

Last weekend we braved the sunny, hot outdoors to capture their enduring love. And let me tell ya: these two were troopers. For reals.

The shoot was definitely challenging, but forced me to deal rather quickly with rapidly changing (and tricky!) light situations, mostly due to that bright, shining ball in the sky. All in all, despite the horrible lighting, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of photos we came away with – looks like my practice has been paying off!

Gah! Nina, you're so gorgeous! 

One of the best parts of being friends with these two is that their house is filled with love - both from the human and pet variety! While I was waiting for those two lovebirds to get ready, I snapped a couple of photos of their furry friends.

Makin' Dough.

As a child, I was obsessed with creating cookies and other baked goods. The passion continues to this day - I've actually somewhat seriously entertained the idea of becoming a full-time baker, but when I discovered I needed to be up at 2 or 3 in the morning in order to do so I quickly retreated to my puny little mixer and spatula in my compact apartment kitchen, condemning that plan to the realm of fantasy.

So, when I got the opportunity to photograph behind the scenes at a bakery up in De Pere, Wis. a couple of weeks ago (at a reasonable hour, of course!), I jumped at it. The employees were absolutely wonderful about having a foodie/slightly-clumsy photographer in their inner sanctum as they were pouring, sifting and mixing up a frenzy.

Enjoy, and try not to drool too much. :)

P.S. - Yes, all of the baked goods pictured below taste as good as they look!

Easter by the Bay

I know, I know...Easter was sooooo three weeks ago. Originally I wrote three paragraphs explaining exactly why I didn't get around to writing this post sooner. Then I realized all of that content would be better suited for another post.

So, let's focus on Easter. I know it's late. Deal with it. :)

Three weeks ago Brian and I drove the 9 and a half hours back to Green Bay to spend Easter weekend with my in-laws. It was quite relaxing (despite the fact that I was recovering from a wicked bad cold that I caught from Brian...he's too generous with his germs) and a lot of fun. There was much with the Easter egg dying, ham eating and goofing off to be had, and I used the opportunity to practice with my trusty camera.

Kind of random sidenote (for fellow photo geeks): I've been having issues focusing through the viewfinder - I'm not sure if it's because of my contacts or if I just need to adjust to the settings, but it's definitely something I'm working on.

Before dying Easter eggs, Brian and his kid brother (who kept giving me funny looks because my camera was in his face for the majority of the afternoon) played around with a football...and shot each other with Nerf guns.

Ohhhh boys. Gotta love 'em.







I thought this was a cool action shot:





We finally put away the football and Nerf guns and started decorating Easter eggs.



My kid brother-in-law makes some funny faces.

I decided to document it.









What a ham. :)

A photogenic ham, mind you!


Okay, is it just me, or does he totally look like Larry King in this photo?



Gotta have a Packer egg! Ya know, because we were in Green Bay and all...



And this was just funny.



I hope everyone had a great Easter, and stay tuned for a more detailed post on recent happenings in the K. household! As the song goes, there's some big "cha-cha changes" a-comin'....