post by leslie

This weekend, I took it upon myself to learn something brand new. Besides piano. 2018 is turning into quite the year for development around these parts!Anyway, I taught myself video, which was daunting to say the least. I filmed the family for several hours on Saturday (and a few more on Sunday) and then edited the film Sunday afternoon (and I mean almost aaaalllllll afternoon). One thing that's different? A photo is about 6MB. All the files and music from that video added up to 26GB. So I'm gonna need some more hard drives stat!But I truly loved the end result, despite its many, many, many flaws, and I've decided to really hone this craft in all my free time this summer (ha!) so that *hopefully* I can start booking video clients in the fall. We shall see.The video is below. Enjoy! 

post by leslie

So this week it rained. And rained. And rained. I'm really not that upset about it, but each day I'd check the forecast and the next day would be clear and then... you guessed it... it rained. Monday was one of these days and it was supposed to stop raining at 9 am. Then 10 am. Then 11, 12, 1, 2... you get the idea. As someone who has many family sessions scheduled on weekday evenings, I was starting to get a little panicky.But then it stopped. And I met my family in the woods, and we had an amazing shoot. Wasn't it gorgeous out? I shot this while waiting for the toddler to stop picking his nose. My job is hilarious!We also found these adorable baby frogs all over the dock.Normally I would send you off into the weekend with something funny and witty and charming right now. But I'm too damn angry about that guy in the White House losing a bunch of people's children. So instead you should read this and then call your representatives like I am.

post by leslie

Remember how I was in California last month? Yeah, I still have photos to show you from that. These were taken during my weekend in San Francisco with Jamie (sans child), when we hiked and explored the city without worrying about child bathroom breaks, snacks or constant interruptions. Am I a big nostalgic for that time? You betcha.Some of the photos are of the city on our walk and a few are of houses that I dreamed of coming home to. I can't escape that game.For your internet share of the day, I found these photos from the southern border to be quite captivating.

post by leslie

Yesterday, we celebrated my birthday (which is today) by taking Ezra to The Pizza Farm for a picnic. This year, we were so lucky to bring our dear friends from Norway who happened to be in town. You might remember Ezra's love of their daughter O, which you can still see is in full form above.Despite the rain, we still had a wonderful evening with friends, eating delicious food, chasing children through the farm and laughing at muddy pigs and cow pies. The photos are below! I highly suggest this outing.

post by leslie

This weekend I had the opportunity to photograph a lovely wedding on the hottest and muggiest day of the year. Well, that's actually not true. It was maybe the second hottest and muggiest day *this* summer, but still not the hottest, muggiest wedding I've ever shot. That award goes to the amazing Bloom couple who, I believe, were in Moscow this weekend escaping the heat by literally flying to the other side of the planet (smarties, those two).But I digress! Rachel and Ryan came to Minnesota for a cool and breezy wedding, escaping their home in Washington D.C. (joke's on them), but regardless, they still had a blast, keeping each other laughing all day long. And as we all know, couples that make each other laugh endlessly are my favorite kind, and this was no exception. And you guys have to see these photos because the groom's socks had their dog's face on them. Yup, these are my people.More photos below! Enjoy!

post by leslie

So back in May, when I was in California, it was still pretty cold in Minnesota, and I was so thrilled with all the color and the plant life I was seeing on the West Coast.Now that it's mid-June in Minnesota, our own plants and flowers are in full bloom (it's quite lush around these parts!), but it's not the color palette of California, which I am always so envious of. So I wanted to share some of the photos from that trip -- mostly just of the plants seen on my daily walks around the neighborhoods of Sacramento, but some of these also include homes that I dreamed of living in. Because I can never resist that dream when I travel. For your internet shares, sure I found a beautiful couch on sale and a delicious recipe. But in my opinion, the only thing we, as Americans, should be reading about and caring about right now is this. Please call your representatives. This is not who we are, and I am disgusted.

post by leslie

Normally, May hits and my family shoots kick into high gear. But this year was different. I'm not sure why ... maybe because it was still freezing out? Until Memorial Day when it was suddenly 100 degrees? But May was slow for families. And then June hit, and here we are back in the rush. And you guys, I couldn't be happier!I've been doing a lot of online workshops on my family photography -- looking to expand and grow and make more images that aren't just "pretty," but that tell stories and make me laugh. And in the last few weeks, I've had so much fun putting those skills to work.Don't worry, I still try to fit in the "pretty" photos during my sessions. But these more real moments are the ones that I adore the most, so these are the ones I'm going to show you today. The first one up top speaks to my soul.Each and every day I take forty gazillion deep breaths as I ask *again* for Ezra to put on his shoes/brush his teeth/put on some pants/eat his food/stop teasing the dog etc etc etc. And I cannot even imagine the exhaustion that a mother of two or three or four (or in one case I know NINE) kids. But through it all, we have to keep in mind that parenthood is, in fact, just as hilarious as it is exhausting."Can you please stop touching the furniture with your butt" is something I heard at a shoot once and now I have caught myself saying. It is just unreal. So when I attempted to document a mother feeding her newborn baby and a Ninja appeared out of nowhere (he was in normal clothes just moments before) and began banging on the window for attention, I knew I had to capture that. Because these are the funny moments that are worth remembering.Below are some of my favorite family images from the past few weeks. Some are pretty, some tell a story, some just make me happy. I hope you enjoy them.Also, if you'd like to book your own family session (even for holiday photos later in the year), get at me soon. My weekends in Sept. and Oct. are almost completely booked.And now for some internet shares of the day:+ What you can do to fight Trump's policy on separating children from their parents at the border.+ Some beautiful travel photos to ponder.+ Currently brainstorming uses for removable wallpaper. I'm thinking about the basement or the backs of stairs...

post by leslie

Something has changed this summer in our house, and it's the sound of real, live records being played.We've been undergoing a bit of a living room remodel (more about it later), but it involved rebuilding shelves surrounding the fireplace to a) look more original to the house and b) to create a cabinet on one side that housed the television (which meant getting electrical and cable/sattelite outlets over there). Once we had the TV next to the fireplace, our lives and direction changed. This meant that the fireplace side of the room was now dedicated to fireplace gazing, games of cards and Netflix.The other end (where the TV had once resided) was now a home to the piano, and we wanted to showcase our vinyl there as well -- creating a sort of music corner.We began looking for furniture that would match our mid-century modern piano and that would house a turntable, a bunch of albums and a speaker system. We couldn't find the exact right fit... so I reached out to my buddy Braden. Remember that guy? He made Ezra's incredible bed.He came over, made sketches, and built us the *most amazing* cabinet. It does everything we need, and we couldn't be happier.Another thing we invested in was SONOS (no, they are not paying me, but I wish they would). They now have a receiver that works with your record player -- so we can put on an album and then hear it in every room of the house. You guys, we are in heaven. And now Ezra knows how to operate it. So far, The Sound of Music is getting the most play from him, but that will evolve soon enough (like when he finds Purple Rain in the drawer).Below are some images of Braden's beautiful work (again). Also, please note that the piano bench is not original and we hate it and Braden's next project is to make one that looks right with the piano and the cabinet. I'm keeping him busy! But his work is so top notch that I can't resist. For your internet shares of the day:+ The author of one of my favorite parenting books has a post on time management, and it's fantastic.+ I'll be eating this all summer long.+ Good career advice. I had a similar conversation once, and it changed me forever (thanks London!).