The J Family {MN Family Photographer}

Meet the J Family. Yes, the second J Family I'm blogging about in a span of a few hours haha. I met up with the J Family at their home for their family portrait session. At first I thought big brother was going to make things QUITE interesting as he was NOT enthused to have his photo taken....or so he would have us believe......within not too long and just a bit of coaxing from me he was posing, hamming it up, throwing out shot ideas, and being the best helper ever! What a turnaround! You just have to let the kids come out of their shells a bit and then you can really get cracking. It was a gorgeous night for photos and with the fall colors just starting to turn we got some great colors in these shots and what a well-coordinated family too! I couldn't have planned it better myself! :) It was so fun meeting you J family-- enjoy your sneak peek!

The J Family {MN Family Photographer}

I had QUITE the adventure getting to this photo session with the J Family and then trying- note the key word here TRYING to leave.....haha- but that is what makes things memorable right? Mom Heather and I met last fall at a photography workshop in Chicago and we've kept in touch over the past year and the time just happened to be right for me to come down to her area and do family photos for her growing little family (baby M expected in November!!) What an ADORABLE and FUN family! The big sister-to-be is QUITE the little card and full of personality!! So cute!!! We were throwing out the knock knock jokes like you wouldn't believe and even if they made absolutely NO sense little H just let the laughter fly. She is such a special little girl. We also were lucky enough to bribe dad with an apple doughnut to haul this awesome chair UP a hill into the park so we could shoot with it. I know, its dangerous having two photographers together brainstorming shoot ideas haha. All in all it was a super fun shoot! Then came me trying to leave....and discovering I had locked my keys in my car....three hours from my home...and my spare set....can anyone say locksmith?? haha Oy- I "hope" I've learned my lesson now haha- thanks J Family for a very memorable session, I can't wait to hear of little M's arrival! :)

The Q Family {MN Family Photographer}

What a special session I have to share with you-- the winners of my New Year, New You Contest! The Q family was nominated by Tony's (dad) sister Andrea. Tony had a health scare this past year and is doing great now thank goodness! Andrea nominated the family for the free shoot, stating after almost losing a brother you really know what life is all about and her New Year's resolution was to see family more often. At the time Brandy (mom) was still pregnant with little baby R and it was quite the rough road for a while, but you'd never know it by spending the day with this family, everyone seems perfectly happy and healthy and joyful. What a sweet family and I have to love their fashion sense! ;) Andrea went on to say how pictures of them and their new family together would mean the world to them, especially realizing how lucky they all are to be here together. How perfectly put. We all should cherish our families every day and every chance we get. Thank you Andrea for nominating this special family and thank you Q family for inviting me down to spend a gorgeous day together on the streets of Stillwater and at the orchard- PS thanks for the quiche- YUM! :)

May {MN Senior Photographer}

How fun was this shoot!?! Be it a tad cold and windy, May rocked it just like we were in the middle of July! We did the shoot mostly on her family farm and we were at NO loss for places to shoot!! I could have spent the entire day out there!! So much fun to do all these photos right there at her home, that much more meaning to them and it really helps to showcase May's great personality, interests, and lifestyle! Check the Holly D Photography Facebook page for even more fun shots, even May having some fun scaring the cows on the farm ;) You are gorgeous girl- check out those eyes!!! Wowza! Thanks so much for asking me to shoot these photos for you May, you are awesome (and a great driver too- we rode in luxury around the farmstead ;) )Enjoy your sneak peek!!

Mr. & Mrs. N {MN Wedding Photographer}

Well, it was about a year ago I met this couple while shooting the groom's sister's wedding and I believe I recall jokes going around about them getting married and when the big day would end up being, etc. Well, it finally came! And guess who they hired for their photographer! (insert big smile here) :) Pretty soon I'll have the whole family covered, Dusty- guess you're next! ;) It was a gorgeous day for a beautiful outdoor wedding at Maplewood State Park. Maybe a touch warm for September, but we'll take that over rain any day!! Beautiful day for such an sweet and loving couple. Oh how I love getting to share the love of these special days--- thank you so much Jamie and Cole for asking me to be a part of the start of your new life together. Enjoy your sneak peek!!

Miss A {MN Child Photographer}

This little sweetie is pretty special to me, she's my sweet niece Miss A :) She is just so huggable and lovable I always want to just sweep her up and cuddle her and this day of ALL days ALL she wanted was to cuddle and be held by me.....not so easy when I need to be getting photographs of the child haha. But we made it through and snuck in some shots in between cuddles. I even got stung by a bee while shooting this little girl, but persevered on through the shoot ;) Enjoy the sneak peek of Miss A- I can't believe she will be 2 years old already on Friday-- Happy early birthday my "Abberdoo" :)

Samantha {MN Senior Photographer}

Um wow- can you say gorgeous!?! And this girl was supposed to be "camera shy" um--- no. Although of course there was a little warming up to the camera at the beginning as there always is, she in no time was firing at me these awesome poses and looks- this shoot was FUN! She wanted different and unique, one-of-a-kind senior photos and that is exactly what we tried to get- we went to places I'd never shot before and we tried to think outside of the box. She is a talented singer so we had fun at the end playing with the records to tip our hats to her musical abilities. She had great ideas for her clothing options and lots of variety, especially love the above scarf from I believe she told me Ecuador- wow! Thanks so much Samantha for choosing me to capture this special time in your life for you- best of luck in all of your future endeavors! It was SO hard to narrow this down to 5 for the blog post, check my Facebook business page for more photos of Samantha in her sneak peek album- all I can say is wow! :)

Kaitlin {ND Fashion Photographer}

Oh how I love fashion....clothes....shoes.....accessories ;) One of my many perks of being a photographer is getting to check out all the clothes and accessories out there and photograph them and trust me this lovely lady has it all! ;) She put together SO many amazing outfits we could have carried this shoot out for days!! haha I love her style and her eye for fashion and so I was very happy we got together again this year for a fun fashion shoot. There doesn't have to be a "reason" to get your photo taken-- just do something special for you, mark this time in your life with photographs. You will look back on them and treasure them always. Plus how amazing does she look!?! Enjoy your sneak peek Kaitlin! ANY time you want photos taken girl, call me- LOVED IT! :)

The N Family {MN Family Photographer}

Well, admittedly it was a bit of a brisk day at the lake, but you'd never know it from these smiling faces! I met up with this great family on Labor Day for some family portraits while their whole family was together at the lake. And can I say- what a good looking family we have here! :) Everyone was full of energy and laughter, which always makes for a great session! Thanks so much N family for finding me! It was my pleasure to capture this special time for your family. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Justin {MN Senior Photographer}

What an AWESOME batch of seniors I've had this year!! Meet another great guy, Justin. He is in football and wrestling and into hunting, among other things. We got to showcase all of those interests in his senior photographs- perfect! We were slightly concerned at the start of our session with raindrops falling on our heads, but we pressed on and it turned out to be a really great night, though a tad on the chilly side, though I have to remember it IS September already! Yikes! So nice to meet you Justin, enjoy your sneak peek! Best of luck to you in your upcoming sports seasons and senior year!!