It snowed a few inches yesterday, and it finally looks like winter around these parts! Instead of the dreamy wonderland look of a forest, I thought it would be fun to capture the urban aspect today with this bike abandoned in the snow.I snapped this image on a break while Jamie and I had our first annual Smack Attack planning session. We spent the day batting ideas for 2016's creative goals, financial goals, behind-the-scenes magic etc etc etc. We spent roughly four hours focusing on next year, and I'm pretty excited about all of our plans. It's so easy to get down in the trenches and just to focus on getting the day-to-day work done. It's another thing to figure out how to make more time for inspiration, preparation and to try to push yourself to improve.Wish me luck :)For your internet share of the day, I loved this story about where all the new slang ("on fleek, etc") is coming from and how it spreads. And if you are a music lover in the Twin Cities, I'm pretty dang excited about this opening.

Soooo, no Monday at the Madhouse today.Very sorry about that, but I've been stuck in bed sick for the last coupla days, and the rest of the weekend was spent taking care of a vomiting Ezra. Our holidays were not necessarily ideal, but at least we were not traveling when this monster of a stomach bug hit the family.To be honest, normally I would have just skipped a post today. Yes. I'm *that* sick. But! But today is the launch of my new pretty website! I've been working with the amazing Margaret on it for a few months now, and I'm so excited to show you around! So I had to blog something :)Alas, here is my Christmas tree. Nothing too special, but something shiny and new to go along with my beautiful new site. And hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have a few images from the holiday to show you. We'll see. I' gonna be honest, there was so much nursing of the ill going on, that my camera was not my top priority.

Hey guys! Are you winding things down? Ready for some R&R? I certainly hope so.We are staying put this holiday season, and we have no visitors planned. Just time with the family and our friends, and we are so excited for a quiet long weekend. The rush leading up to Christmas is so insane with all the shopping or wrapping or lunches or whatever, that the actual day where everything is closed and you are really just sleeping, eating, watching TV and taking walks is like magic to me. Oh, and fires in the fireplace! Let's not forget about that.Don't get me wrong, I love the pre-holiday hustle. But now? Now it's time to relax. And I am all on board with that idea.And in that spirit, I will be stepping away from the blog until after the long weekend. But trust me when I tell you I'll have a nice, juicy surprise for you when you return on Monday morning.And these photos here? They probably look familiar. These are a small sampling of my favorite shots from this year. To see my full edit (about 40 images or so), click on over here. And happy holidays!

This is Flint. He stole my heart this weekend.His mom is growing a human baby right now, and she wanted some photos of her favorite eldest child for the nursery. Oh, I had so much fun on this project. Here are a few of my favorite shots from our session.I also didn't take any live photos today because... because I *did* take live photos for the Star Tribune and I'm not allowed to share them. Yet. You'll see them later.And besides being out on assignment, I was finishing my holiday shopping. Which was insanely busy, but also insanely successful. You know what impulse item I got for myself Shuttersmack today? An awesome Santa suit!Now I only need to find someone to play santa, and we might have some fun holiday sessions next year... fingers crossed... And for your internet shares today, how about some amazing drink recipes for the holidays, eh? I'm thinking of trying some sort of punch this year. We'll see. I'm also including this peek into a beautiful NYC apartment. I love seeing how New Yorkers make the most of their space. This is lovely. And lastly, I'm loving this instagram feed.

Today, I feel like winter showed up. It's been in the 40s here in Minnesota for the last few weeks, and we have no snow on the ground at the moment. We have seen small flurries, but this is not a typical Minnesota winter.Which is sorta funny. Why, you ask? Because this fall, I was feeling super ... uninspired. While I was fortunate to make all of my financial goals in 2015 (yay!!), I was in a bit of a rut creatively. It happens to the best of us, and I was wracking my brain on what I could do to kick start my creativity and to take photos that I would love to hang in my home (that were not of my son or dog, that is).I realized that some of my favorite photos were of nature and the outdoors, and were mostly black and white. So I've been mulling the idea of starting a personal project for myself -- photos of winter. And then, wouldn't you know it, winter is refusing to show up! Ha! Joke's on me!But today, I was driving home from a presentation at the art museum (what a way to kick-start inspiration!) and I stopped at Lake Calhoun to watch the choppy water for a bit. There is something I love about watching a dark lake in motion as the weather changes -- the texture of it mesmerizes me. So I decided to shoot some photos. And then I noticed the ice buildup on the shore, and I thought, "Well! Let's start this project, shall we!?" And here we are!I don't really have any idea on how often I'll post images for this project, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I think I'll also put them over in my fine art gallery in case any of you would like to order prints for your own homes.Now, for your internet share of the day! For other creatives who might like some inspiration, I am enjoying this blog done by wedding photographers. I know I shoot weddings, but I don't really consider that my main profession and the articles over there are still very enjoyable, so I hope you like it, too. And if that is too cerebral for you, this made me laugh and I might have to go see the film with a girlfriend. :) Happy weekend! 

This lovely girl is named Greta, and man, she was hysterical. She was so ornery during our shoot that frankly, I was surprised she wasn't MY dog. After Memphis and Magda, I have come to realize that I attract only the "most special" girls, and Greta would fit right in with that crew. But I finally got her to calm down and pose, and just for fun I threw on these devil horns (purchased for Magda one year for Halloween). And then she blinked and it looks like she's laughing and I am in love with this photo. Plus, I love all the detail in her salt-and-pepper face. What a cutie!For your internet share today, this story about a volunteer in Minneapolis just reminded me yet again how one person can make a difference and I should maybe work on that and get off my duff. And this column on anti-intellectualism was fascinating and terrifying and yet I saw the truth in it. Sigh.

This morning I got to photograph this little girl who is only SEVEN HOURS OLD in that photo. Omg, she was adorable. Just adorable! And so calm and so alert (wide eyed and curious!). I loved this photo of her brother helping to wash her hair.So how are all you doing? Me? I'm slammed with work and holiday stuff and trying to fit in time with friends and the kid and the dog and such. But really? I'm good. Really good.Surprisingly, I'm not seeing Star Wars this weekend. Crazy, right? I mean, I would like to, but... time. I just don't have it. Except for opening night, and I don't have tickets. So! I'm going to wait and try to catch a matinee next week. But for the rest of you, I hope you love it. And this gave me goosebumps, so it's my internet share of the day. MAKE SURE YOU WATCH UNTIL THE END.

I am shooting in the studio for Scotch again during all the daylight hours on Monday and Tuesday, so instead of showing you another behind-the-scenes look, I thought I'd show you the totally adorable Great Dane that I photographed this weekend. Do you see how tall he is? I have photos without a human in them, but the scale here is unbelievable! And he was just about the sweetest boy ever. And oh, those eyes! I feel like he and Merlin would have been amazing friends.For your internet share of the day, how about this new Star Trek trailer?! It has the Beastie Boys in it! Could I be any happier? Not sure.