Happy Birthday Amber!

May 27, 2009 in LOVEe, Portrait

This last weekend was also my best friend, Amber's, birthday! Since I was conveniently in town for Lindsey and Cole's AMAZING wedding, I figure it would be the perfect opportunity to really surprise Amber! Joe, her boyfriend, is currently going to school 5 hours away, so we planned a sneak-attack-surprise for him to come down and spend the weekend with her!

SUCCESS!!!

We also finished things up with a mini-session at the witching hour!

Happy Birthday Amber! Your face was PRICELESS!

LOVEe

Photogen Inc Blog Episode #8: A Bryan Photo Workshop!

May 14, 2009 in For The Pro's, LOVEe

Photogen Inc Blog Episode #8: A Bryan Workshop! from eliesa on Vimeo.

I also want to give a HUGE thanks to B-Funk for REALLY doing a fabulous job on editing these blog episodes! Now, I just have to be more steady with the camera! ;0)

Enjoy!

eliesa

A Picture Can Speak 1,000 Words!

May 12, 2009 in For The Pro's, LOVEe

This images PERFECTLY describes the brotherly-sisterly-sibling rivalry between Brandon and Cadence!

I absolutely LOVE it!

I am truly blessed to have such kick-ass assistants - and moments like this!

Cheers!

eliesa

Just in Time for Mothers Day!

May 09, 2009 in LOVEe, Portrait

This week, I photographed Tracy's family for a personal project I am doing! After the shoot, I took a few snapshots of her beautiful little girl Lily!

How gorgeous is this little one?

This also comes with perfect timing, just before Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you hot mama's out there! If you are looking for something to treat your mother to, check out the Birchwood Cafe (Tracy's owns the restaurant and it is OH-SO-FABULOUS! Here is a special Mother's Day Menu - Check it Out!)

eliesa

Twin Cities 1 Mile!

May 08, 2009 in LOVEe

About a month ago, an innocent conversation turned into a dare. While indulging in sushi happy hour, my fabulous photographer friend Gina of Zeidler Photography challenged me to run the Twin Cities 1 Mile Race with her. The problem? I don't run. I've never been a runner. I tried track for 1 season in the 8th grade and that was IT! I've never run a race in my life and no-no-no I do not run.

However, later that night I was thinking about how much I hated how close-minded I was about doing it - it was only a mile, right? So, I decided to step up to the challenge! I started trying to run 1 mile a day and it was HARD! My body hated me and my joints ached, but I knew I could do it.

Yesterday was the day. Now, 1 mile seems like nothing, right? Piece of cake...YEAH. RIGHT! I'm not going to lie, the last 1/4 mile, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! Yet, I must say that I am VERY proud to have done this race, as little as 1 mile seems! Our official time was 9 minutes, 15 seconds (yeah, I know you probably ran that in 5th grade), but while training, I was running a 12 minute mile, so this is a whole 3 minutes off! No wonder I felt like having a heart attack!

The proof is below - notice how Gina is smiling, happy and breezing thru it - while I look like death is upon me! ;0)

Jessica, who is one of my up-coming brides also ran the race with us!
How cool is that to experience something like this with one of your clients?!?!

Team Photo!

Now the challenge is a 5k...we'll see...

Have a fabulous weekend!

eliesa

Stepping it Up!

May 06, 2009 in LOVEe

I never knew a Tweet would get such a response! Yesterday I Twittered " I'm stepping it up 10 notches. Get ready!" And today I woke up to a slew of e-mails wondering what we were up to!

Well, a girl can't tell her secrets! However, what I will say is that we are creating some very, VERY cool things and making some WAY cool plans here at Photogen Inc!

I did a lot of reflecting on the business these past few months and I am SO excited about the changes we are making! Don't expect anything super soon, but within the next few months, we will be launching some AMAZING things!

In the mean time - Spring is finally here! Each year I get obsessed with the lime-green-yellow colors that stick around for only about 2 weeks!

Enjoy!

Photogen Inc Blog Episode #6: Viva Las Vegas Part 3!

April 30, 2009 in LOVEe

Photogen Inc Blog Episode #6: Viva Las Vegas pt 3 from eliesa on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

eliesa

A Bryan Workshop!

April 27, 2009 in For The Pro's, LOVEe

This past week, I was SUPER pumped to be a part of the first ever workshop, put on by A Bryan Photo! The workshop was held in Alabama and I have to say: I have been to many awesome workshops. THIS WORKSHOP WAS THE BEST - HANDS DOWN!!!

Seriously! I am SO excited for what A Bryan's workshops will be in the future, because this one was truly unbelievable! Why? Allow me...

First: We were separated into groups of 3 based on our experience level! GENIUS! Because of this, I was able to learn and have conversations and go beyond the general-ness that can sometimes happen when in a large group.

Second: Guest Speakers! The A Bryan Team invited some of the coolest people in our industry to speak and hang out with us! Lara Casey of Southern Weddings, Bill Pyne of Richard Photo Lab, Shoot Q and Dena Robertson of Cypress Albums all gave very inspirational talks - outside of their realm of their products!

Lastly: They were open, honest and SO much fun! No topic was untouchable, no question went unanswered and I can't say enough about their hospitality and just TIME they gave to listen to us all!

I had SO much fun with my little group - and everyone overall at the workshop!

Be sure to check out the uber-cool Polaroids taken by Stephen DeVries!

My awesome group! Taylor Christian Jones and Jory Cordy - two KILLER photographers!

Thank you SO much to the 'Alabama Boys' for putting on such a fabulous workshop!

I KNOW there will be many more workshops by A Bryan Photo! For all of you photographers who are looking for a solid workshop that is totally inspiring - these are only going to get BIGGER and BETTER!

eliesa