A perfect combination of factors made this photoshoot one of my favorites of the year. My husband is in a band with a Classics professor at Carleton College, Jake Morton. Jake studies ancient animal slaughter and sacrifice through a very experiential lens: he recreates the process and rituals and documents what he observes. Since animal sacrifice practices were a very communal event, he invited a circle of folks to join him at Spring Wind Farm, including professors in adjacent disciplines (hey, liberal arts!), his students, farmers, and friends.
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Welcome Suvi! A Rochester Newborn Session
o many of us have been anxiously, eagerly awaiting Suvi James’ arrival, and obviously none more so than her glowing parents. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the wondrous presence of a 2-week old baby. Suvi nearly made my heart stop with her perfection. She already has wise, searching eyes and a range of emotional expressions. Whether she yawned, wailed, or smiled, it was magic. All photo shoots have an element of sacredness for me, but knowing how brief Suvi will be this tiny and fresh to the world gave this bearing witness a special quality. I delighted in every moment of the shoot itself, as well as the editing.
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Canada + New England Fall Road Trip
By January 2021, I allowed myself to start dreaming about what a vacation could look like. One that wasn’t confined to a few hours’ drive to a remote place where we could hunker in a cabin. We had a family wedding in Chicago in October, so I used that as our jumping-off point. I wanted to go someplace that felt truly foreign (read: speaking another language), but I also didn’t want to book plane tickets just yet. So, Montreal rose to the top of the list.
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Arb + Islands with the Street Family
Kelly is a fellow Northfield newcomer and new friend. During our first friend date she immediately felt like a kindred spirit. Hanging out with her family — Aaron and Mary Lou — was so relaxed and fun, it verified that she keeps good company, to boot. We were graced with one last splendid, warm fall Saturday afternoon for this session. We grabbed some golden hour sunbeams — and perhaps a few burrs from the prairie grasses. They busted out a little dance party on the bridge (instigated by Kelly and Mary Lou), relived some wedding day geese scaring, and were overall so photogenic and wonderful our time together flew by.
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Adams Family: Northfield Prairie Session
It’s hard to beat two dogs and a two-year-old wearing deer boots. Add in an absolutely perfect fall afternoon, a childhood friend, and sweet family that was there at all your tennis matches and band concerts…well, let’s just say this was a special family session.
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Jackson Family at Diamond Lake
It was nearly a year ago that I first got to spend an afternoon with the Jacksons taking photos, and the second time was even better. Thomas’s shyness had faded and his full personality was on display — fun, inquisitive, and clearly delighted by his parents. I love how intimate and relaxed both sessions were. We hung out on the dock right near their South Minneapolis home and played with the bubble gun and orchestrated a tickle fight, then ventured over to the park.
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Mitch + Tyler's Northfield wedding
Wow wow wow. I could not have asked for a better couple or more love- and fun-filled wedding for my first foray into wedding photography. While I have three older brothers, Tyler is the little brother I never had. I met him while working for his family’s dude ranch in Colorado, and I still remember him coming into the kitchen to kindly assure me my soups weren’t awful, or adding seasoning where necessary. Fast forward more than a decade, and he and his wonderful partner Mitch are living in Minnesota and planning to get married outside of my current hometown. What a dream!
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Courtney & James: Rochester Maternity Session
Editing through Courtney and James’ maternity session brought many emotions, but gratitude and love for these two people was the most encompassing. What an honor to have these two in my life and to have gotten this time with them, filled with laughter, tears, and anticipation. C + J, you are the most brave, giving, and loving parents and friends.
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Kelli, Kenneth & Leon
I was already floating from the beamy, foggy October sunrise, and then Kelli, Kenneth, and Leon showed up with quilts and the best baby cheeks and I nearly burst. While Leon saved his biggest laughs for the nap following our early morning session, I’ll admit I’m partial to little ones who are pensive, curious and content. Leon had such a gentle gaze, and as the daughter of a quilter, I adored seeing him wrapped up in and crawling around on the quilts made by his mother and other family members.
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Northfield: Owen's Senior Session
Hanging out with Owen, I knew we would have been high school friends. He showed up in a three-piece suit and his bass clarinet and pivoted effortlessly into his letterman’s jacket and trap shooting garb. He radiated confidence whether we were strolling downtown or crouching in prairie grasses in the arb. The two things that stood out to me the most from this session were his huge, infectious laugh and the absolutely amazing relationship he has with his mother. Truly, the two of them felt like best buds and it made me beam, so of course some sweet shots with mom snuck into the session, too.
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