Look at these two lovebirds! I had an engagement session with them last night, and I loved how the light was hitting her clavicle and jawline. Sexy, indeed! What you can't see is the swarms of mosquitos that were eating us alive while we shot this image. Oh, the sacrifices for art!I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I have tomorrow booked full of dog shoots in the studio (!!!) and then brunch with friends on Sunday. Pretty excited for that!Here are a few things to keep you entertained from the internet:+ I love this approach to kids' allowance.+ I cannot get enough of seeing what people pack for vacations.+ And I never wanted to take a screenwriting course... UNTIL NOW.

This weekend while I was toting my camera around shooting hikes or families or whatnot, I kept stopping to photograph the details. And then I realized it wasn't so much the details as the different textures that nature offers. These are a few of those snaps. It's just amazing how much beauty is all around us every day and how numb you can get to it. Lots of internet shares today! Enjoy :)+ What does David Sedaris pack when he travels the world on tour?+ How to talk to kids.+ A podcast that's purpose is to bore you to sleep.+ My new favorite food blog.+ Just plain trippy! Click this! Do this!

Did you hear about the strawberry moon on my birthday? Of course I had to see what time it was rising! 9:05? Oh yeah. You better be sure I was gonna photograph that!After dinner, Nyberg hung around for a bit, and then we headed down to the lake to watch it happen. It was a gorgeous night, and so much fun.In the photo above, the moon looks a little "smudged" in the top, right corner. That's part of a whispy cloud! And the sailboat is out of focus because it was moving pretty fast and I had to keep my shutter open for awhile to capture the light off the moon. Still, I was pleased with this image. I particularly like the reflections on the water. Quite the birthday gift from mother nature!As a reminder (not your internet share), you can buy this as a print along with a bunch of my other nature shots over here.And for your internet shares of the day:+ Recently there was a Friday Night Lights reunion, and I'm sad to say my Riggins crush just ended.+ A friend of mine had a large brain tumor removed last fall and is throwing a huge party to raise money to help with her expenses. If you live in Minnesota, you should come.+ I loved this piece on how to be the best hostess. (stretch goals...)+ I need to buy some of these for Ezra stat.

I'm finally finding the time to really go through and spend some time with the photos from last week's wedding, and what a wonderful day it was. This couple and their friends and family were just so wonderful and supportive of each other. There was no stress or worrying or frantic-ness about this day. It was easy, and fun and all about enjoying the moment -- which was a treat for everyone. The bride refashioned her mother's wedding dress and she was married in the same church as her mother, which as a really nice touch as well. Wishing these two the best in the many years to come!Enjoy the highlights*...       Also! Note that I won't be blogging on Monday as it's my birthday and I'm gonna try to stay away from all work possible. You'll get your family update on Tuesday! Cheers!*Special thanks to the fabulous Lucy who helped me second shoot this wedding!

The garden I planted with Ez is going nuts! And it is so much fun!First, the cherry tomatoes are the furthest along -- there are dozens on the vine and we're just waiting for them to ripen.Also, we ate our first strawberry last week and it was divine! I should have planted so many more of these! But the squirrels made me nervous, so I stuck with only one plant. I love how those seeds look when the fruit is young.And here are the (stinky) wonderful marigolds that I am crediting with keeping the squirrels at bay. The berries are nestled in a group of these babies.The romaine isn't far enough along to eat yet... but soon!Here we have radish starts!And green beans!And more of those tomatoes!And lastly, the basil. Oh, I'm so excited to put this basil and those tomatoes together! Other things we are growing: cucumbers, leeks, beets and carrots.For your internet shares of the day:+ It only takes seven minutes to purchase an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in Pennsylvania. Now think about how long it took to get your driver's license.+ Oh, and meanwhile, check out how long and expensive it was for this lady to have this healthcare procedure. It's long, but everyone should read through to the end. It's worth it.+ On a lighter note, here's how restaurants "trick" you into ordering a second glass of wine.

At the end of the wedding in St. Cloud last weekend, I snapped this shot of the golf course as we were preparing to leave. I loved the remaining colors of dusk and the moon so high in the sky. It was such a gorgeous evening!I wish I had more exciting updates around these parts, but it's just been a lot of work! Oh! One exciting tidbit is that my new summer intern, Erin, started this week! She's helping me to update a bunch of stuff on my website and, in general, just helping me to keep things better organized. And in return, she gets to shadow me on shoots and learn all about weddings and editorial shoots and corporate shoots and how to work with newborns. I think it will be a win-win for both of us, so I'm super excited to have her on board.Besides that, the most exciting thing in my world (besides the family) is my garden. I'll try to update you on that later this week...For your internet shares of the day, feel free to go ahead and sign this.But if you want something more lighthearted, I particularly liked this list of father's day gift ideas.

It was extremely steamy during Friday's wedding, but once that sun started going down, things got magical outside. This is one of my favorite shots from the day, but I'll be putting together more later this week.For your internet share of the day, this story made me so, so sad. I'll try to be more upbeat tomorrow, but for now I'm still reeling about the shooting in Orlando. It is beyond me how someone on FBI watch lists can get guns so easily in this country while women have to jump through hoops for needed healthcare. If only we women had the funds of the goddamn NRA.

It's almost the weekend! And it's gonna be a hot one up here in Minnesota.Today (Friday), I'm shooting a wedding out of town, so I'm blogging the day before because, let's face it, when I return from 9 hours of shooting more than an hour away, I'm gonna just want to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. Weddings slay me, and I am left a weak, crumpled lady who just wants her shoulders rubbed and a glass of wine. And I don't want to learn anyone else's name for a very long time.Anyway, I'll give you some wedding photos next week. Until then, please enjoy this lovely stormy lake that I photographed in Bloomington. Oh, how I love moody clouds.And for your internet share of the day, this is my favorite thing ever. What a mom in the 70s would have blogged. It was taken straight from my childhood and I love it.