This past fall I got to photograph several past wedding couples, Kelsi and Brandon included, and there’s something so extra fun about photographing couples now that they’ve settled into married life and started a family. It’s such a journey and it’s so beautiful to get to witness it unfolding.

Last summer when I photographed a family wedding (hi Kaylee & Kile!), I got to catch up with Kelsi (ironically, in the parking lot as she was grabbing a pull-up from the car and I was waiting for the party bus…wedding photography is super, duper glamorous!) and it made me extra excited to get to see them in the fall for their family session. The kids loved playing at the fossil gorge and we promised them some play time after their photos. And seriously, look at these smiles. They are angels.

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I‘ve known Emily & Owen since 2012, when I shot their engagement session. Then in 2013, they got married and I got to see them again at Emily’s sister’s wedding in 2015. When their daughter, Abigail, was a baby, I got to photograph them again (just look at those chubby little baby cheeks!) and so it was so much fun to see them again, now with a little boy too! Aiden was the happiest little boy and seeing the two siblings together was so adorable. Abigail loves her little brother and he absolutely thinks she is a delight as well.

The best thing about photographing young families is that, while we aim to get a classic everyone-is-smiling Christmas card photo, there’s also a lot of room for play. And those genuine interacting photos are my favorite ones.

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I‘m so thrilled to offer online galleries for my clients! The gallery system I use, Pass+, is the #1 sharing solution for photographers and has been leading the photo industry for years with its technology and ease of use. (For first time users, keep scrolling; this post will show you how to use it!)

Years ago, I stopped using discs and USBs because I believe this is the safest, easiest, and quickest way to get images to my clients. I’ve been using online galleries since 2012 and absolutely couldn’t be happier with the seamless integration with social media and on-the-go mobile devices. Who doesn’t want to have convenient access to their photos right on their phone?

After your engagement session and, again, after your wedding when your photos are completed, you’ll receive an email with your gallery invitation. This gallery is for you to use both for your own viewing and also to show off your images to your friends and family. You may download your images (on your computer and also on your devices) and order prints and canvases directly through your gallery.

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The Ohloffs are another family dear to my heart. I’ve had the privilege of photographing them several times (their engagement, their wedding, their family) and every time, they come with beautifully styled outfits (Beth has the best sense of style! I really need her to dress me.) and they bring perfectly laid back personalities which makes it so easy to photograph them! Their daughters have grown so much since I first met them and I just love their smiles and love for each other.

This past fall, they drove all the way from Des Moines for their session and, knowing personally exactly how tricky it is to travel with kids and, separately, take our own family photos, I cannot imagine trying to combine the two. But I was so glad to see them and keep giving them updated photos for their walls and their memories.

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Last year when I blogged this family’s session, I wrote about how Greta and I met (in prenatal yoga when we were both pregnant with our boys; she gave birth exactly 1 month before me and I remember being so jealous that she was done being pregnant first). I actually don’t remember us ever talking to each other in yoga class other than the general introductions at the beginning of class. But as luck would have it, we both needed lactation help and ended up back at Mercy hospital at the same time with our newborn babies.

Greta and John are both amazing artists (this is an understatement, but I don’t want to appear overly dramatic with accolades) and we are so lucky to have been on the receiving end of some of their talent. For Henry’s first birthday, Greta gave him an ABC book that she drew. Last summer when we went strawberry picking on a humid, stormy afternoon, she drew a beautiful piece of strawberry field art to commemorate the trip.

She’s the first to pull something out of her bag that I notoriously forgot (sunscreen? hand sanitizer? snacks? a hair tie? sand toys?) and has magically produced a roll of paper towels out of her car when one of my kids got a bloody lip at the park.

It was such an honor to photograph them again this past fall (see their previous session the year before!) and even better that I get to call them friends.

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The Casalettos moved to our neighborhood within the last 2 years (they live right around the corner from us on the next street) and we get to see them out on family walks a lot right now, passing by on the other side of the street, waving and yelling our hellos. They’ve left us chalk art on our driveway and invited us over last summer to play. They are such an energetic, wonderful family.

So I was super excited to give them some updated family photos last fall! Their son, Vinny, is a year older than Henry and is just so cute! I probably bribed him with smarties and I have no shame in that. Look at his adorable smile!

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