Danielle and Jeremy- Married!!!

If you haven't already checked out Danielle and Jeremy's slideshow...you really should. Here is a link to it: http://www.raivala.com/slideshows/daniellejeremymarried/index.html

They had a picture perfect day at the Golden Valley Country Club. The whole day was relaxed and all of us just went with the flow. The ceremony started at 5pm and we did all of the portraits after the wedding which lead us to some great sunset light. It was soft and just made Danielle and Jeremy glow even more. It was magical to watch Danielle and Jeremy snuggle and enjoy the day. I was glad to be there photographing the moments for them.

Justin's Senior Portrait

This is my cousin Justin. I cannot believe that he is a Senior in high school already. I finally feel my age because I want to say, "I remember when he was born". It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but I guess it was.

We did a quick fall portrait session so that Justin could pick out an image to use for his high school yearbook. We are going to do another session this upcoming spring so that I can photograph him in his baseball gear and hopefully, get some action shots of him bowling. He is amazing at bowling. He got a score of 299 one time. That puts my 87 to shame.

Blog Neglect

I admit it, I have been neglecting my blog. I have been so busy photographing weddings, taking family portraits, processing images and creating slideshow that I felt like I couldn't keep up with my blog. Sorry about that everyone.

The good news is that I am making time right now to show everyone what I have been working on. Are you ready for some major posting? I hope so because here comes quite a few posts. And I still have a family portrait session that I am currently processing and a wedding too. That means more blog posts will appear later this week.

Happy reading!

Grand Marais

On Monday the Raivala family headed up north for a quick visit to Grand Marais. It was our first family vacation this year so all of us were really excited about it. I have quite a bit of emails and calls to return from my 4 days away so I need to keep this short so that I can respond back to everyone.

With two little boys we decided that it would be best to make a few pit stops along the way. One of them was in Two Harbors were the boys found some ducks to feed. It was their first time feeding ducks so they thought it was pretty cool how the ducks raced to get the bread. There was a lot of giggling going on.

Jon decided to see if he could hand feed the ducks. Sure enough, one of them went for it.
We also stopped in Lutsen to take the Gondola ride up the mountain. The leaves on the trees were so beautiful. I just love to see all of the bright colors and deep contrast between them. I could stare at them all day long. The kids on the other hand, didn't want too. :)
I was able to entertain Ethan long enough to enjoy the sunset and large waves on Lake Superior. He thought that it was cool to see waves splash on the rocks which bought me some time to sit back and relax.
It was a great trip. I am all ready daydreaming about going back next year.

Out of Office

Hi everyone!

I am heading up north to Grand Marais for a few days with my family. I am really excited to go because the leaves are starting to change up there, which means that I get to take pictures of the beautiful landscape and fall foliage. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am!

I will be back on Friday morning for a few hours before going to Danielle and Jeremy's wedding in the afternoon.

Feel free to send me and email or leave a voicemail for me so that I can return it when I get back.

Have a good week everyone!

-Katie

Holiday Cards

Tis the season to get a jump start on your holiday cards!!! I know that many of my clients are excited about their holiday cards this year. I have to admit....I am too. Here are the different card styles that I have created:







Name: Santa's Hat



Size: 5x7








Name: Serendipity
Size: 5x7 Name: Snowflake Kisses
Size: 5x7




Name: Suede
Size: 5x7

Name: Heavenly Snowflakes
Size: 5x7

Name: Ribbon
Size: 4x8

Name: Royal
Size: 5x7

Name: Santa's Hat
Size: 4x8 Name: All the Flutter
Size: 5x7

Name: Candy Cane Stripe



Size: 5x7

Name: Doily
Size: 5x7

Name: Dots
Size: 4x8

Name: Film Stripe
Size: 4x8

Name: Dramatic Lace
Size: 5x7

Name: Vintage Floral
Size: 5x7





Give me a call at 612-481-7342 or send me an email by accessing the contact link at the top of this page so that we can talk through your holiday cards and place an order for you. Keep in mind that you can choose to have up to 3 images from your portrait session on your holiday card, choose your own salutation and personalize the card by including your name/s.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

I recently became a member of a worldwide organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS). This organization provides free child bereavement portraits to families that are loosing a child or that has recently lost a child.

Yesterday I attended a training course that outlined what to expect during a session, how to prepare for one and many other important areas of the program. It was really a mind opening experience. A few times during the training session I looked around at the other 20+ people that were attending it and I started to wonder why did they choose to become a volunteer photographer for NILMDTS.

For me it started when I was a teenager and came across some images that my mother took of my sister Tammy after she had passed away. I remember my mom telling me that a local department store had lost the images, the only images of her little girl, and how she kept calling them over and over again for a long time until the images were miraculously found. Those are probably the most cherished images that my mother has.

Photographers: During the training course yesterday it became very obvious to me that more volunteer photographers are needed, especially in the north metro area. Please consider volunteering with NILMDTS. It is probably the most cherished memories we can ever give someone.

Everyone: Please help us educate our community about this organization so that more parent's can have beautiful portraits of their children. For many, it will be the only images that they will have.