VLV Photography

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  It’s been a while since I’ve had a Monday post that wasn’t a sneak peek.  It has been a very busy October with sessions, orders, and custom design work.  I still have quite a bit design work ahead to do and if you didn’t know, every product is custom designed to the images used.  I think that is something I offer that is unique to my business.

With the portrait season winding down with the cooler weather settling in, I will have the time to get my website updates all completed that have been put on the back burner, as well as get my welcome packet information finally ordered.  I’ve stressed myself out trying to get everything done all at once but there is only so much time in the day and only me running my business.  If there is one thing I’ve learned about having my own business, it’s that sometimes you just have to acknowledge that it’s impossible to do it all, at least do it all right now.

I can’t believe it’s nearly November already.  When I think back to flip-flop days, it seems like yesterday.  This summer just flew.  I have a newborn session to look forward to in November though. Also, I will be an aunt again in March and also April and have already declared photography rights to the newest additions to the family!

Tonight I’m taking my little monsters out trick-or-treating.  Xavier will be a ninja, Alexandra a pirate girl, and Jozlyn has been a bee for the last 2 days.  She hasn’t wanted to take it off.  We have a tote full of costumes, as we’ve made it a tradition to go shopping after Halloween to snatch up the good deals.  Halloween is one of our favorite times of year and Fall is my favorite season in general.  But when you can get a $15+ costume for $2, you jump on it.

We decided three Halloween’s ago that we were going to have a Halloween party.  We lived in Bismarck at the time and we totally decked out the garage and had a pretty good spread of food.  I can’t tell you how much money we’ve invested in decorations, but like I said, you can’t beat the after- Halloween deals.  This was;  however, the first year we decided against the party.  October has been very busy for my husband’s job and I’ve had a crazy month as well.  It takes us at least 2 days to decorate and actually takes more preparation than Thanksgiving or Christmas! LOL!  Also, there are a lot of babies/young kiddos in the family and so it’s harder for people to stay longer.  The older kids really enjoyed it though as we played games and they would all get goody bags and play hide-n-seek outside.   I do look forward to hosting future parties though, once the little kiddos are all a little older.

Hubby and I did enjoy this Halloween though.  We don’t get out much but it was fun to dress up and go out with some family!  In honor of it being Halloween and all, I’ll share some images from Halloween’s past.  Next Monday I’ll share an image of my little monsters from this Halloween.  I hope everyone has a fun, tooth-rotting Halloween!
I was over 8 months pregnant here with Jozlyn!  And doesn’t my mom make an awesome KISS ROCKSTAR???  She’d kill me if she knew I put this on my blog! Muuuuahhhh!!!

Yeah, I didn’t do any costume shopping…

Hubs and I make some pretty cute rodeo clowns, huh?

This year I did wear the gown again. Next year…..I’m going all out! LOL! Happy tricks & treats everyone!

I’m going to brag this family up because seriously….we kinda go way back.  I put the title as I did because they don’t all share the same last name but I think anyone that knows “mom and dad Hernandez” knows they pretty much treat everyone like family.  Irma [a.k.a "mom Hernandez] and I use to work together as housekeepers in the local motel.  Wow-that seems forever ago;  actually 12 years, but who’s counting?
It was so nice to see her daughter, Maria, again after all these years too, as we were only a year apart in high school.  Add on a couple more years to the 12 I already mentioned.
Then there’s their son Joe.  I never got to know Joe that well but back in the day a good, dear friend of mine told me what a sweet guy he was.  I don’t think that’s changed much about him.  A very gentle soul, Joe seems to be to me.  If I remember correctly, I think we use to go to the same speech tournaments in high school too.

Next is  their oldest daughter Irma.  Irma went to school with my brother and I have no doubt he provided many moments of class “half-time entertainment.”

And last but not least, sweet Liz.  This summer I had the pleasure of working with Liz for her senior session.  She’s a natural in front of the camera and just naturally stunning.  All those little ”D” kids are adorable, not to mention spunky which is my kinda fun!

So now that I’ve talked this family up and how wonderfully kind and soft-spoken they all are…how about some images of love at its best, eh?  Thank you everyone so very much!

Totally dropped the ball on getting this posted yesterday.  But guess what…I already have tomorrow’s sneak peek of the Hernandez family ready to go!

Today was certainly a Monday in regards to motherhood.  I swear someone slipped my kids something funny because they were bouncing off the walls all.day.long.  I have no idea what got into them but now here I sit, after midnight posting this and tackling everything else on my to-do list.  It is times like these where I see a little of my mom creeping out of me.  LOL!  I love my mom but I can still hear her yelling at me 20 years ago!  That may not seem to make sense but when I start yelling at my kids…I hear it in my own mind allllll over again!  One thing I started doing that adds a little fun to my yelling is cheering.  My go to cheer when the kids are taking their sweet ‘ol time is “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, L-E-T-S-G-O, Let’s [insert clap x3] Go!’  Now how many of you actually did that cheer with the clap?…..I know someone did.  Fun, isn’t it? lol!  Now the kids like it so it’s not as effective.  Might have to dig into the file in my mind from my football cheer leading days to chant a new one!  BTW, I only lasted one year cheer-leading.  I hated the cold.  And I still do.  I only go to football games for the hot chocolate and already told my son he better play basketball.  When I think of my new cheer though, I’ll share it here.   Try this with your kids though and be real loud and obnoxious.  I wish I would’ve had a camera handy the first time I did it. Priceless looks on their faces!

ANYWAY, enough about my cheerleading days.  Amen, right?  Okay, so this post is all about the Kalberer family.  I gotta say that Deb [a.k.a. mom] has the nicest voice on the phone.  I meant to tell her during the session that she had the perfect customer service voice.  Who could get mad and lose their temper at someone with such a nice voice?  Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest…..I’ve gotten to know Deb over the last month or so prior to our session over the phone.   By the time we met, it felt like we were friends.  The family is so sweet and are just genuinely nice people.

I was nervous about the weather at first but it really turned out to be a great day.  The only hiccup was my camera malfunction.  Inside I was freaking out (a canon mark II isn’t exactly pocket change) as I was trying to figure out what went wrong.  But I just needed to move on so I pulled out my trusty ol’ backup camera and the show was on the road.  The morning was pretty calm so I was able to use my lighting (yay! happy dance!) and I bet you can’t even tell.  That’s the beauty of it;  it’s so controllable. adds so much depth, and just gives an image natural, rich color.  I only wish I had a dedicated assistant.  I could use my lighting on every session.  My kids definitely have a job when they’re a little older!  Little do they know…..muahhhhh!!!! [that's my evil mom laugh]

So onto the images from this fabulous family!  Thank you Kalberer family for inviting me into your lives for the morning. 

Another sneak peek this week and this time it is Ryan who has center-stage!  I love farm sessions-so much “stuff” and fun “props” to work with.  I LOVED the old horse trailor.  People, your junk is my treasure! Hands down my favorite things are always lying around all rusty!

Poor guy though - it was only 30-something degrees out at 9 in the morning and on top of it, his first time in front of the camera. But you know what, I’m not sure I’ve had a client loosen up as quickly as he did. It took a few visionary statements, but he caught on pretty quickly to the look I was after.

Sometimes it’s easier to get clients into a pose, I have found, by having them imagine themselves in a certain situation in their mind and have them react with their body how they normally would helps. Also, sometimes it’s just easier to give a visual cue and show the pose I’m after.

Ryan did so well though and I think he was enjoying his short time “on the cat walk!’  I think my fave is the first jersey shot….LOVE it!  I’ll call that one the “GQ Jock” look-take note boys!

Happy senior year Ryan; make it a memorable one!

Where do these Monday’s come from?  Really can’t believe it’s Monday already.  And the last few Monday’s have been sneak peeks, so things with the biz have been busy!  I’ve enjoyed getting outdoors for my sessions lately and although it was a bit chilly for Kristen and Alex’s session, they had found thee perfect location!  I loved this spot and think I may give it a whirl for my own family pictures.  If I ever convince the family to give me 10 minutes to do it!  They always grumble when I mention pictures. Booooo……

Anyway, Kristen and Alex have been together for quite some time and I believe the first time they had professional portraits of the two of them together.  I guess that’s not something you really think about when you’re just dating, but why not?  When you’ve been with someone 5+ years, there is no reason to not have a custom photography session!  I always love when it’s a client’s first time with professional photography.  I am the first impression they get to the wonderful experience of custom photography.   Double happy dance for me!  I also love when it’s a client’s second time and it’s because they didn’t like their experience the first time!  That’s a triple happy dance right there!

So anyway…onto this couple’s little lovestory.  First of all, humungo (yes, humungo is now a word, in my dictionary anyway) brownie points to Alex and his romantic proposal ON A MOUNTAIN on a ski trip.  Possibly the same mountain I took on my butt on my first ski trip EVER and with my hubby (we actually had just started dating after that trip…awww….).  They love the outdoors and I think it’s super-cool they enjoy it so much together.  I think that’s so important in any relationship to have something you both enjoy doing together.

It has been so much fun getting to know these two and I look forward to their big day!  Thanks Alex for taking one for the team and getting your feet wet!  Don’t worry…won’t be the last time you’ll probably get your feet wet in your relationship!

Thank you for choosing me you two.  Now onto your lovely images. They sure make a good team heart, don’t they?

It’s another Monday on the calendar and the chill is in the air. I do love those Fall sweater weather, hot chocolate-kinda days. Fall is my favorite time of year, by far. And with all the leaves turning has gotten me thinking about my own family pictures. I really want to have a professional photography session for my own family but my kids and my husband only allow me literally 5 minutes when I take the pictures myself.   I would probably be more embarrassed by their behavior during the session that it would be the last time I even consider such a thought!

So to all you moms out there, I get it. I understand completely. If it weren’t for moms setting up the appointments and going through all the preparation work, family/children/newborn/engagement sessions would probably never happen. Now I know there are men out there who do take an interest in photography and in the planning process of portrait sessions; however, this is generally speaking. And if you don’t have any idea how to use the camera you have, you more likely aren’t even using it, or at least using it to its fullest potential.

I try my best to make those who work with me, feel at ease and certainly do understand the stress that can be involved when preparing for a portrait session. But I’m here to tell you that preparing for a portrait session does not have to have leave you pulling your hair out. Think of it as a time to let loose, laugh, have fun, maybe enjoy an activity as a family;  such as playing in the leaves, building a snowman, you name it. If you worry about the kids being on their best behavior-the first step is leave the threats out of the equation and simply tell them to have an open mind and it’s just a time to have fun and be themselves. Don’t put too much emphasis on behavior. Leave that to me! You know how kids seem to listen better to those that aren’t their parents sometimes? At least my kids do at times. It’s really no different when I work with kids as they usually don’t know me. By the time I’m ready to leave, I get hugs, high five’s, and waves goodbye.

I had such a fabulous family session over the weekend with the Vander Vorste’s. This was such a fun session and I got to try a new concept I had in mind of using for a recent engagement session but didn’t get to it. However, in order to keep their holiday cards a surprise, I won’t be sharing that specific image today, but rather some other ones I’m equally excited about!

These boys did not lack personality at all and I love that! Some kids are so shy and that can create different challenges, but these boys weren’t shy one bit. I had to coax some smiles but I think even they had a fun time!

And how about that sign? It was the first thing I noticed and knew I wanted to use it. The corn field in the background couldn’t have been more perfect. Loved this session and loved my time with this family! Thanks V.V. Family! I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Well, two sisters on the blog in one week and these two are on their well on their way to being famous;  on my blog that is!   I posted Brittney and Matt’s engagement sneak peek just recently.  You can view their post here.  But this time, Brittney’s sister, Steph, gets my blog’s center stage!  There were several cute ones from this session-including their little boy Brevin and his killer lashes (and he just started walking over a month ago-so he was go, go, go…);  however, this post is all about the little bun in the oven.  I’m glad the weather was gorgeous and you just can’t beat the colors of Fall in images.  Also, the nice, quiet drive to Bismarck for me is always a nice change of pace.

I just adore this family and appreciate having the opportunity to get to know them over the last few months.  As I mentioned in Brittney and Matt’s blog post, I photographed their family this summer.  Now, over the next year, I’ll be able to capture Steph’s family growing and document all those little details we so easily forget as mother’s amidst our sleep-deprived days.  Not only that, they just grow so fast.  It’s the only stage of life where it seems to be here and gone.

I must say, this was my first time bringing all my gear (lighting) into someone’s home and I was unsure because the softbox I use is literally a giant.  In fact, that’s what it’s called.  LOL!  But, it all worked out and I am very pleased with the results.  Thanks for your patience Steph and Rick for several reasons;  not limited to my poor navigation skills!  And I have officially decided that my next vehicle I get WILL have a navigation-panel-thingy-ma-bob!!

Thank you for inviting me into your home and into your lives.  I cannot wait to meet the little one! Enjoy & share the baby bump love!

First of all, I have to start out by saying “I AM LOVING THIS WEATHER!!!” It really does not get much better than this for October! This might be the calm before the storm but I will take these gorgeous days while I can.

Mother nature delivered too when it came time for Brittney and Matt’s engagement session. I actually met them when I photographed Brittney’s family. You can view that blog post HERE. I also photographed the wedding of Carrie and Brian, who are friends of Brittney’s. If I’m not mistaken, I do believe that Brittney had introduced Carrie and Brian. You can view their blog post HERE. So as you can see, there was a little bit of a history there already. Also, once wedding clients choose me as their photographer, there are several forms that get sent out (very soon via USPS), one of them being a “Getting to Know You” form. I ask several questions on this form about their relationship, interests, and so on. When I got this back I thought I was reading about me and my hubby; there were so many similarities. During our session, I found out about even more things we have in common.  So it’s been really fun getting to know these two and being a part of their love story.

I really love getting to know the people I photograph. The things you may not think much about or don’t often share with others, really do help me create a session that is very unique to you and the relationships between those being photographed.

All that being said…here are the fabulous couple of 4 years Brittney & Matt. Enjoy & Share!

Thank you for the amazing session you two! I can’t wait until June 2012!!