Congratulations to Jill + Charlie! Here's a list of the amazing crew who were a part of their day:
Ceremony // Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church
Reception // Calhoun Beach Club
Planner // Blush and Whim
Hair + Makeup // Julie Swenson Beauty
Wedding Gown // Posh Bridal Couture
Bridesmaids // Bella Bridesmaids
Floral // Kenda Helal, Marketplace, St Micheal
Video // Capture Studios
Photography // Photogen Inc.
For those of us in the Midwest, weddings are a pretty seasonal business for us! We go from zero to sixty in one day and for the entire summer, we give all that we can to our wedding clients! We are on the dawn of wedding season and I thought this would be the best time to offer a little pre-season boot camp again this year for wedding photographers! The idea came last year, when I was preparing a little intensive for our in-house team. I wanted to put together something that would refresh our ideas, skills and inspiration. As I was been putting this together, I realized that the content is pretty great and that this could benefit way more people than just our crew! Last year's wedding boot camp workshop was a complete success and I'm happy to host this once again for the 2014 season. The workshop will be from 9am – 5pm on Friday, May 2nd. We will be hosting the workshop in Minneapolis and will be providing food + drinks for the day. We want to keep the vibe pretty casual and a great environment for learning! Topics for the workshop include:
- Using natural light to our advantage (especially in those dim-lit hotels and churches) - Group portraits - Photographing details - Lens choice & composition - Working with on-camera flash (perfect for family formals + reception lighting)
Registration is officially open for the Wedding Boot Camp – and the best part is, it is only $350 for the entire day! CLICK HERE to reserve your space, we would love to have you!
**Please note that the registration deadline is Friday, April 25th, 2014 and registration is non-refundable.**
2013 was a REALLY incredible season for our real weddings here at Photogen Inc. and also a great year for getting published! I've had a bit of time to gather some highlights to share with you, but to see more places we have been published, you can always visit our press page on the website! BRIDES.COM was an exciting place to be featured this year! They published Nate & Nicole's gorgeous wedding online. Minnesota Bride magazine published not one, not two, but THREE of our weddings in their current issue! Both the Cadogan and Bonfante weddings are featured in an article all about museum weddings and the Friendshuh wedding is part of the Great Outdoors spread. Wisconsin Bride magazine also gave us some love this year by publishing two weddings. Clare & Ryan's gorgeous wedding at the Enchanted Barn was part of a 4 page story, which talked all about mid-west destination weddings. The Evans wedding was also a big part of an article talking about the new trend in wineries as wedding venues. Another HUGE honor was to be a part of Ceci Style's online issue! Jacey & Aaron's wedding photos + invitation design were a part of this world-wide post! Lastly, our friends over at MNBride.com followed up Kayla & Erick's engagement session post with a new blog feature all about their wedding on the site!
Every year, I strive to get our wedding work published, because I love to share it, in hopes to inspire future brides. We also have the BEST of clients and work with the best-of-the-best vendors. Special thanks to all of the creatives that have contributed their amazing talents to make these weddings magazine-worthy!
LOVEe
They didn't think it would work. Both Amanda and Derek were up to the challenge to prove to their friends that online dating was bogus. You see, that is how each of these individuals met. They were both betting their odds that, you know, all of the cheesy commercials you see for e harmony don't really work in real life. That's what they thought. However, it's a good thing that there wasn't actually any money on the table, because they both would have lost it all. As it turns out, finding one another thru the crazy world of the internet actually does work - and it worked perfectly for Derek and Amanda. These two absolutely adore one another and they are also just SO excited to be with each other. They are the perfect match and if I could place my bets, I would put down all of my money that these two are going to last a lifetime.
Congratulations to Derek and Amanda on their engagement! I can't wait to be a part of your wedding day!
LOVEe
Laura and Nick grew up together and really met at the young age of thirteen! They officially started dating in high school and have been together ever since. One of the things that I noticed was how thoughtful these two are with one another, especially for a couple who has already known each other for their lifetime. One of the best gifts that Nick has ever given Laura is their dog, Emma. Emma is a gorgeous Golden Retriever who came along for part of their engagement session and she is a HOOT! Just full of personality and, might I add, a big fan of the snow. Both Laura and Nick light up when they are all together and as a dog lover myself, this warms my heart. St. Paul was our location of choice for their session, since this is the place they call home. And can we mention just how good looking these two are? They make such a classically, gorgeous, couple!
Congratulations to Laura and Nick on their engagement! We know your wedding will be absolutely stunning!
LOVEe
It is already the third of February in 2014. Holy shit. I mean seriously, when did that happen? We have been so busy over here in the Photogen Inc studio that I haven't even had a moment to connect with all of you blog readers, so hopefully this post can catch us all up! We have had an incredibly busy start to the year. As I thought about this post, my first thought was, "How can I possibly even explain exactly what we've been up to?" Then I remembered a specific photo I took on my phone, sometime last year, to write about the every-day-hustle that is being a business owner, a leader and an artist. I wanted to show this image, because frankly, it's normal. It's not pretty or perfectly styled. It's about as real as it gets. Some days I take fancy pictures that end up on newsstands, printed beautifully on glossy pages. Some days we are a part of a couple's beautiful wedding day and we deliver a gorgeous album of photos that will make their hearts swoon for a lifetime. However, most days, we are in the studio or holed up in a coffee shops on our laptops, feverishly editing, answering the never-ending-emails, answering phone calls, updating social media and making sure that our clients are taken care of. It means early morning and late nights. There's a controlled chaos and structure that goes hand-in-hand with running a business. There are routines, lots of meetings, time management and logistics that are involved behind-the-scenes to make sure our beautiful work happens. With all of this said, if you follow my Instagram account (and if you don't, you should), I often use the hashtag #livingthedream. This is also reality and also the truth. No matter if I am out shooting or mopping the studio floors, I am incredibly fortunate to live my dream - day in and day out. This is an incredible opportunity that I feel very grateful for. Not only do I have the trust of my clients, but they allow me to create and carry out my visions of what I think the best is. They trust our team, our experience and our process and our finished product and they allow us to truly be remarkable. The end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 has really made my take a hard look at myself as a leader and ask myself "How can I be better?" Now, I admittedly always have lofty goals and high expectations of myself, but this is something that I want to be even more intentional as the year goes on. I'm asking myself, " How can I be a better photographer and artist? How can I better impact my industry? How can I lead better for my team? How can I grow as a person?" So, in these winter months, before the crazy-awesome-wedding-season-of-2014 begins, I've been a bit more quiet. I've been traveling a bit, reading books and photographing many project that are leading me, in their own way, to be a better creative. I'm also starting to feel re-energized to blog again.
Connection with our clients, readers and vendors has always been incredibly important to me, so hopefully the photos below can catch you up a bit on all of our adventures. Our 'slow season' really hasn't been that slow. The editorial projects that we have been working on have been more-than-amazing and I encourage you all to check out the recent work and posts on the commercial site. In the meantime, I am going to leave you with a quote from a man named Bruce Edwards, who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of FAME. He was interviewed by The Minneapolis Egotist on "What I learned in 2013" and I loved these words on #livingthedream:
"What I learned in 2013.
Doing great work is hard.
Really hard.
It’s like running a continuously uphill marathon. In the biting below-zero-ness that is January. You stop for water, which is being shot at you from a fire hose. There’s a 40mph headwind, and the road is embedded with glass. You’re barefoot, of course. On the bright side, people are lined up to watch. On the less-bright side, they are throwing snowballs at you, and every quarter mile someone nails you in the nuts. Intentionally. Borderline gleefully.
Yet we do it. We love it. We live for it. We are smitten by the pursuit. And we revel in the completion of something we deem worthy of our craft. Occasionally, we’re even able to make it look easy. (Bonus points for fakery.)
What I look forward to in the coming year.
See above. Sick. And wrong. And yet here we are again. Here’s to the next marathon."
'Tis the season to celebrate and last night, our team got together for our annual holiday party! This event has become a real tradition that I host every year and it makes me so happy. It's pretty simple - we all get together, have some cocktails, I cook a giant pot of chili and sign our holiday card for the year. Each year, I step back at this party and have a bit of a moment. All of the people that fill the room are helping me realize my dream - day in and day out. They give me their time, their talents, their creativity and their support, all to create these amazing images for our clients. When Photogen Inc. was first started as a company, I knew that I wanted it to be 'bigger' than me. In many ways, I still don't know what exactly that means, but what I can say is that this year, we have 14...FOURTEEN people on the team! These people support all of the brands; Photogen Inc, Rivets and Roses and Eliesa Johnson Photography. Yes, I'm the boss lady to this entire operation, but each and every one of the people on our team inspire me on a daily basis to be a better artist and leader for our clients, our crew and our industry! 2013 was an incredibly successful season for us! As a business, I feel like we really hit our stride. As artists, we created some amazing work. As colleagues, we supported, critiqued and have all grown better as people and as friends. We've been published both nationally and locally countless times, which I consider a great honor. Part about what I love about taking photographs is the ability to share that with a community. We live in a very global world these days, and our images have stretched from our local city of Minneapolis to as far as Europe and across the states.
Every year, I have some pretty lofty goals and crazy ideas that I normally share on the blog. However, for 2014, I am still defining and re-defining what those goals are. What I do know is that the plans we are making will no doubt be brilliant and take our brands to a whole other level! When I do determine what these exciting things are, I will most definitely share them with you all! In the mean time, I am taking a little break to read a couple of books, drink some wine, take some personal photos and travel between the holidays and the new year.
To our clients - thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for an amazing year! You have welcomed us into some of the most important moments of your life and we are all so grateful to be a part of your story!
Happy Holidays to all of you followers and readers! Cheers to 2014!
LOVEe
(of course, we had to share some of the Polaroids from our party shenanigans!)
Brett and Kate have known each other since the 6th grade. It wasn't until highschool that their romance began, but I would like to think that these two are life-long-sweethearts. One of my favorite things about this couple is their love for rap music. We put on a little Jay Z during their session and Kate said, "I mean, we're like the original Jay Z and Beyonce!" LOVE that. These two will be making it official this spring and I just can't wait!
Congratulations to Kate and Brett on their engagement! In the words of Jay "...Remind yourself. Nobody's built like you, you design yourself..."
LOVEe
Bailey and Logan have a love that is inspiring, hands down. I've had the pleasure of getting to know this couple quite well during their engagement session in DC and they quickly became some of my favorite people in life. Their relationship is based on a true, solid friendship, a hell of a lot of fun and also some serious dedication. On their wedding day, getting to know their family and friends more, I formed an even greater understanding of these two, because the people surrounding them were also an amazing, solid group. Bailey and Logan's love was a bit unexpected. When they met, neither of them were really looking for anything. They lived across the country from one another and after initially talking, a spontaneous plane ticket to go on a date changed everything! During their day, you couldn't help but feel the love and know that it was a perfect example of, truly, what everyone is searching for in life. That's a pretty cool thing to witness and makes me one lucky lady to get to document such things for my job!
Congratulations to Bailey and Logan on getting married! I am SO happy for you two and can't wait to hang out more in life!
LOVEe
Danielle and Matt are college sweethearts who have a unique story. Even though they met in their college years, they actually had a long distance relationship through most of it! Matt went to school down in Florida, while Danielle studied here in Minneapolis. As they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and years later these two are ready to get hitched! For their engagement session, we went back to the University of Minnesota campus, which is where many of their memories began!
Congratulations to Matt and Danielle! It's been so great to get to know you and I look forward to the big day!
LOVEe
Jill and Charlie are a couple who are filled with a positive energy that is contagious. When you are around these two, you can't help but smile and laugh, which I absolutely adore. Between their awesome personalities, the fact that they are dog lovers and our instant photog/client connection, Jill and Charlie were a couple who booked with me on the spot. As an artist, it is always great when clients connect with your work, which is exactly my experience with these two. Trust is a great foundation to any relationship, but it's actually more important with your wedding photographer than you would expect! For their engagement session, we went to Theodore Wirth Park. The fall colors were still pretty strong and we simply went out, explored and had a ton of fun!
Congratulations to Jill and Charlie on their engagement! I SO look forward to bring there on the big day!
LOVEe
Laura and Fotis had a wedding that I could only dream of shooting. As I learned at their engagement session in Seattle, this couple has a love for spontaneous adventure, good food and the finer things in life. How could we not be the perfect match? This all held true when it came to planning their wedding! I was thrilled to learn that Stephanie from Park Place Planning was working with Laura and Fotis to plan their day, because she always does such a great job! The women at L'atelier Couture helped Laura find the perfect dress and Fotis's tux was hand made by the Italian designer Isaia! Bastian + Skoog did a gorgeous job on the flowers and the staff at La Belle Vie blew us all away with the food. All of these very fancy and pretty details aside, I most enjoyed getting to know Laura and Fotis's friends and family. The couple chose to have an intimate wedding, along with a Greek wedding ceremony that brought together the perfect elements of family, faith and culture. Their day is one that I will remember forever!
Congratulations to Laura and Fotis on their fantastic wedding! Though we still have a few more weddings to share here on the blog, this wedding wrapped up our 2013 season and it ended on the perfect note! I look forward to many more dinners with you two!
LOVEe
I have known Sonja and Brad for a while now. This is the 3rd family wedding for the bride's family that I have been invited to photograph and it's been such an honor every time. It's also been cool to witness the traditions and differences between each sister's wedding. For example, the mother-of-the-bride has always created the floral arrangements for the events and all of the weddings have been a small, intimate group of guests. Yet, each couple has always made it a point to bring out their personal style as well. Sonja and Brad were married at the Minnesota Boat Club, right on the river of downtown St. Paul. It was a beautiful fall day and the party was the perfect mix of elegance and fun!
Congratulations to Sonja and Brad on getting hitched! Thank you so much for, once again, inviting me to be a part of your family's big event!
LOVEe
You may remember Hillary and Matt from being on the blog in the years past for their engagement and wedding photos! I have known these two for years now and they are two of the most grateful people you will ever meet. They are currently expecting the first baby (which I feel is the first of many...) and I was honored to be asked to continue to document this time in their life. I don't normally photograph many families - and I especially haven't photographed a lot of maternity sessions. I wanted to do a little something different and Hillary and Matt were up for anything! We decided upon a sunrise session, and took it to another level by getting in the water. Now, it's getting a little chilly here in Minneapolis, so these two were really good sports to go along with all of my crazy ideas! Overall, it was totally worth it. The sunrise on this particular morning was absolutely stunning and the light was golden.
Congratulations to Hillary and Matt! Thank you so much for continuing to let me be a part of your life!
LOVEe
This couple means the world to me. The groom-to-be, Andy, and I grew up together. We rode same bus all through grade school and we lived on the opposite edge of town, which meant that those bus rides allowed for some quality-friendship-building and annoying one another over the years! Without a doubt, Andy is one of my favorite people from childhood and when he first introduced me to his soon-to-be-wife, Allie, I knew she was someone special. I had never seen Andy light up around anyone like he did when he looked at her and she clearly adored my friend, as well. These two are totally perfect for each other. First, they really have the friendship thing down and their relationship is built on a really solid foundation. They are also both band teachers, so that is just adorable in it's own right. I've gotten to know both Andy and Allie over the last two years, as a couple, and they have really grown together, which is really great to see from a friends perspective. For their engagement session, we traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, which is where the two began their relationship while Allie finished up college. We went to many of their favorite spots around the city and even made a special trip to the New Glarus brewery!
Congratulations to Andy and Allie on their engagement! I'm so happy to get to be a part of this time in your lives!
LOVEe
Every once in a while, a couple calls me to simply photograph their engagements. Lauren and Robbie will be getting married in their home state of Indiana, but wanted a photographer to document their lives here in Minneapolis. These two met while interning for Target after college and started things off with a great friendship. As time went on, their romance blossomed and the two are now getting hitched next year! For their engagement session, we went to some of their favorite places in the city - and caught some absolutely amazing light!
Congratulations to Lauren and Robbie on their engagement! Thanks for letting me be a part of your story!
LOVEe
Sarah and Tim are a wonderfully playful couple. These two met while attending Georgetown in their quest to become outstanding and distinguished members of society, but what they really found after law school was true love. Even though their professions are quite serious, as a couple they are light-hearted, fun and let me tell you - these two know how to throw a party! One of the things they were most excited for on their wedding day was their band, which came all the way from Atlanta to perform! They are called Jessie's Girls and the crowd was instantly on the dance floor. Earlier in the day, Sarah was telling me about Tim's awesome dance moves and lets just say that lawyers + good music really know how to dance. The overall day was absolutely gorgeous. Sarah and Tim's ceremony took place at Minnehaha Falls and the reception moved to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where Munster Rose and Twirl Events designed a beautiful space that transformed all of the guests. And can we take a moment to talk about Sarah's dress?!?! It was a gorgeous Lela Rose that the bride found in a magazine and the women at L'atelier Couture were able to bring it in for her! I love that story and the dress was just absolutely stunning.
Congratulations to Sarah and Tim on a WONDERFULLY fun wedding! We had a blast!
LOVEe
Brian and Laura are clients of mine who live and work in China, therefore, much of our relationship was built via e-mail and skype until a week before their wedding, when we finally got the opportunity to meet one another for their engagement session. I had already known from the first phone call with Laura that I just adored these two, but getting to know them in person was truly such a pleasure. Their wedding took place in Laura's hometown of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, which is a tiny, historic, town along the river. Since this was technically a destination wedding for us, we traveled down the night before, which allowed us the chance to get to know their friends and family more as well. By the end of the weekend, I felt like we had made some really great friendships - especially with Laura and Brian. During their engagement session, I asked each of them what it was that they loved so much about one another. Laura's answer was pretty awesome. She said, "Brian is so great, because he allows our relationship to be really multifaceted. He can be with me at a big professional work event and in the same day sit on the couch with me to watch a movie. I appreciate him just being able to be with me, no matter what the day holds." I personally think that these are great words to live by in any relationship, but after being with this couple the entire weekend, Laura was absolutely right. These two support and love each other - and also don't hesitate to have a ton of joking and fun in the meantime!
One of the funnest parts of the wedding was the venue, which took place at the Historic Dousman House. A fun fact about Laura is that during high school, she use to be a tour guide on one of the other historic properties called the Villa Louis. Normally, photographers are not allowed in the house to take photos at all, but we were allowed access to capture a few stunning moments of the couple in this gorgeous space.
Congratulations to Laura and Brian on a fantastic celebration!
LOVEe
Haley and Taylor are one of those couples who when they stepped into my office, I was instantly in love with them. A little secret (well, ok, not so secret anymore...) about me is that I love country music. Yes, I am Jay Z's number one fan, but there is nothing like rolling down the windows, letting your hair blow in the wind and singing country music! What does this have to do with Haley and Taylor? Well, these two actually met at a country music festival! These things are usually filled with music, beer and partying and the last thing you think is going to happen is to meet the love-of-your-life. However, for Haley and Taylor, they have been together ever since and I am beyond thrilled to be photographing their upcoming wedding! For their engagement session, we went to some hot spots in Minneapolis and wrapped their session with some of the most gorgeous light!
Congratulations to Haley and Taylor on their engagement!
LOVEe
Laura and Brian are my clients this year that win the award for living-the-furthest-away. This couple currently lives in China, so all of our correspondence has been via Skype. They are getting married this weekend and despite their busy schedules, we found time to fit in a few beers and an engagement session! Laura and Brian are a totally chill couple who greatly enjoy simply hanging out with one another. It was SO great to meet these two - even if it is only a few days before the BIG day.
Congratulations to Laura and Brian on their engagement! We are SO excited for your wedding this weekend!
LOVEe
