Spring is here!!

May brought lots of enjoyment in the form of beautiful weather, baskets of fresh fruits and veggies, and an adorable live feed of kittens.

That’s right. Kittens. They’re so cuuuuute!! It’s so much fun to see them run and play, but they are equally as adorable when they are sleeping and using each other as pillows. If you’d like to see how cute they are for yourself, here’s the link: http://www.apl.tv/kittens.htm

Bountiful Baskets is something I’ve heard of for a while, but was never interested in doing because I heard it was *so* much food. That is, until a good friend of mine suggested we split a basket! We tried it for the first time this month, and I’ll be honest, the fruits were eaten up before the veggies. It has been wonderful to have healthy snacks and side dishes lately!

Lastly, it’s flower planting season!! My in-laws were in town for Mother’s Day weekend, so I had some help in picking out blooms for the planters this year. Hopefully my thumb will get a little greener – last year’s flowers weren’t doing so great by the end of summer. Okay, by mid-summer. I promise I’ll do better this year!!

What wonderful things have you been loving this past month?

Everyone, meet Tim + Teresa. They are fun, cute, smiley, and they love any movie with Will Ferrell. We got along swimmingly. :-)

They also love the color gray, so I made it my mission to splash a little color into their session. This wall did the trick, don’t you think? :-)

Ohh, the giggles. Thanks, Tim + Teresa, for playing along with my silly games. I *LOVE* this photo of you two!!

There were so many things about John + Heidi’s wedding that I absolutely loved – I don’t even know where to start! The way Heidi couldn’t stop smiling after she put her dress on. The fact that both John + Heidi’s favorite part about the day was seeing each other for the first time. The mention of Magnus (you remember Magnus) during the ceremony. These flowers…

Love, love, LOVE when dad hands his daughter off to her groom – just look at the love and excitement going on here!! :-)

John + Heidi – Thank you for inviting me into your lives and to document the first day of your marriage! Keep on doing what you do – the way you laugh with and love each other is so beautiful, and it will bring you so many years of happiness. Hugs to you both!! :-)

If I could choose one word to sum up April, it would be… refreshing.

Refreshingly good-weather days allowed my husband and I to take several after-supper walks, and also get a bit of yard work done. (Soon we will not have a rock pile in our driveway – hooray!!)

Not only was the weather a breath of fresh air (literally), but so was getting to spend a relaxing amount of time with family (without my camera). “Without your camera?!” Yes, without my camera. You see, my 3-year-old nephew would rather take pictures with the ‘big camera’ instead of acting like his cute self in front of the camera. I’d rather watch him be his cute self. :-)

Anywho… here are my favorite things from the refreshing month of April!! :-)

1. Location Scouting –  My husband and I took a few evenings to drive + hike around various locations in the Black Hills in search of some breathtaking new backdrops for engagement sessions. Sure, repetition is great for my workflow and bookkeeping, but when it comes to keeping my creative eye sharp, I sometimes need a fresh perspective or a new challenge. A brisk walk to this location (and others) was just what I needed. :-)

2 & 3. I was able to spend a couple days with my brother and his family and that meant spoiling & loving on my nephews. :-) As I mentioned earlier, it’s difficult to get photos of them being themselves because after they hear the shutter click, they want to see the photo and then take more photos. So these were about all I was able to get of my nephews – putting their Lego set + puzzle together.

4. My cousin and his wife had a baby, and they asked me to come take pictures!! How could I say anything but, “I’ll be there as soon as I can!!” I couldn’t. And I was. Little Everly was just 12 days new when I photographed her and her loving parents at their home in Bismarck. Sometimes I’ll browse through their gallery and just ooh and ahh at how tiny and adorable she is. :-)

5. We spent the last weekend in April with my husband’s sister in Minnesota going to thrift stores and spending some quality time together. Again, my camera stayed tucked away. But check out this gold-rimmed milk glass dish set I scored!! $6.50 for 6 dinner plates, 6 lunch plates, 4 cups + saucers, and a sugar bowl and creamer set. The apricots are just what I’ve been savoring since we got home – hooray for warm weather fruits!! :-D

What have you been loving lately? Shorter sleeves? Open windows?

I have a big soft spot in my heart for couples who are up for to trying out new locations with me. Even if that means we have to hike a little ways, or even stop to watch some wildlife on the way. ;-)

I also love photographing couples who laugh together so easily. Take Steve + Lindsey, for example. I loosely set them up into this pose at the beginning of their session, and within seconds, this is what happened:

Very early on in the session, I found out this was a couple I could easily joke around with, so when I was picking out a sneak peek to post on my Instagram account, I chose that first giggly photo and captioned it “These two came all the way to the Black Hills to get their engagement photos taken tonight, and all they got was this photo in front of a white wall.” :-) But don’t worry, I took them out to the forest to get some great scenery images, too – just you wait!! :-)

**side note: Instagram the first place where I share photos from sessions now, so follow along (@studiolb) to be the first to see such beautifulness!

Before Steve + Lindsey traveled out to the Black Hills for their session, I had asked Lindsey if she had any requests of where to go. She requested forest and sunset. Hopefully this is what she had in mind. :-)

Steve + Lindsey – I can’t thank you enough for being so willing and excited to try out these new locations with me! Thanks for hiking with me, for teaching me about paw prints, for taking a couple ‘just one more’ photos, and for all the thumbs-ups. ;-) I am so looking forward to your wedding in July!!