Blog – Studio Laguna Photography

Snowbirds

November 16, 2014 By katrina 2 Comments

I love working with these kiddos and watching them grow up! Normally, we do their portraits indoors, but this year when I suggested outside at one of their favorite places, I was met with an enthusiastic yes, especially since that meant they got to play in the snow! We started off just running around, playing, throwing snowballs and making snow angles. Then somehow their mother sweet talked them into enduring the cold in their Christmas outfits. I love how the images turned out!

Portraits of kids at play is underrated in the portrait world. Yes, of course lovely smiley pictures are great, but how memorable will it be to have pictures of your running, jumping, smiling, goofy kids down the road? Lifestyle images for family sessions rock because they show such personality and freeze a moment in time…

…like this moment, when a younger brother beats his sister at a staring contest!

Now for the more formal portraits…the kids rocked it! You’d never guess it was pretty darn cold outside.

Enjoy the sneak peek!!!

Fall in St Paul

November 9, 2014 By katrina 1 Comment

Chris and Beth had their engagement session today! We squeezed it in right before the first big Minnesota snow, so things were brisk but still lovely along the Mississippi. We started with a walk where Chris proposed, then headed along the river. These two U of M alum enjoyed getting a shot of the Minneapolis skyline in a portrait.

Beth’s engagement ring is an heirloom diamond from Chris’s grandmother, it was so lovely!

As luck would have it, we found a home with maroon and gold mums in the front yard, perfect for some Gopher pride!

Then things got really serious…time to put on the team jerseys and decide whose team is better…it wasn’t pretty folks.

Actually, it was pretty darn cute.

Beth and Chris, thank you so much for a lovely afternoon! I can’t wait for your wedding next year!

Perfect Fall Day

October 25, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

This autumn has just had the most idyllic weather, and we were blessed with another lovely day for Brady and Kristin’s family portraits in Minneapolis. It took a bit to get Libby’s smile going, but after a lot of dancing and tickles and snuggles with mom and dad, the smiles started coming! It was such a blast hanging out with such a happy loving family this afternoon!

Just look at that smile she gives Daddy…so sweet.

Brady and Kristin, it was so great to see you and your lovely daughter! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Cocoa and Fig

October 24, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

Today I photographed some of Cocoa and Fig‘s delicious desserts. Though it was ridiculously hard to concentrate on shooting as the amazing smells drifted around me, we managed to get really great shots of their cookies, pies, and gift boxes. I was most impressed with all of their gluten free options and at how fantastic their pies looked. When looking for pies and other desserts for Thanksgiving and Christmas, be sure to think of Cocoa and Fig! And if you haven’t been to their Edina shop yet, be sure to visit, it is adorable!

I truly enjoy photographing food, and love thinking of ways of making things look interesting and appetizing.

Mini cheesecakes! YUM!

This pecan pie is a work of art.

Hearten Social

October 23, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

Last night the Independent Wedding Association presented a new concept for the wedding industry. Hearten Magazine is where IWA members get to flex their creative muscle and educate their clients. It is something near and dear to the members hearts, and we wanted to introduce it to the masses. So Hearten Social was born. A place for vendors, clients and past clients to support their favorite IWA members and see what is new and trend setting in the wedding world. It was a lovely open house event hosted by a few key vendors. Brett Dorrian Artistry Studios provided mini makeovers, The Vintage Type created lounge spaces for guests to relax, The Traveling Photo Booth introduced their newest product which is oh so AWESOME, Avant Decor draped the lovely Aria to perfection, and A & Be turned a few of their gorgeous gowns into wall art.

Spark Letterpress, Distinctly Debbie Floral and Flutter Boutique worked together to create a gallery of looks for every style. Chowgirls and Patisserie 46 had delicious snacks for the guests to enjoy, Sky Focus Films sponsored the refreshing drinks and flavored waters, Becca Dilley, Jeannine Marie, Lauren B, Natalie Champa Jennings, and Studio Laguna (thats us!), hung banners of their work and photographed the event. Uptown Valet made sure guests parked with style and Marie from International Cigars showed guests how awesome it is to have cigar rolling as a part of an event. Reverend Debra Ting had an interactive board where guests could write their favorite wedding traditions. Something New LLC displayed one of her custom pieces framed by her design sketches. A rotation of Hearten’s beautiful images, all collaborations of the members, rotated on a giant screen behind the bar provided by AV for You.

I truly love everything about the Independent Wedding Association! The collaboration, the focus on education, ethics, and quality, and the innovation and ideas that come out of this group are all stellar and top notch. Thank you to all who came and be sure to check out the past editions of Hearten Magazine which is chock full of inspiration and ideas!

Wisconsin Adventure

October 19, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

October for photographers is like April for tax professionals. It is when the worlds collide, when weddings are winding down but the editing is all due, and when every family wants portraits with the fall colors. It is the end of months of no weekends or vacation, where you cram is as much as you can so you can still pay your mortgage in the slow season. I’ve been attempting over the last couple years to take a fall short vacation since autumn is my favorite time of year. I usually don’t even have a camera with me…I rarely have it with when I have a family memory to be a part of since I want to be in the moment…but this time we planned to have so much of our vacation include down time for the kids to explore, we brought a camera along.

We had an amazing time visiting with friends in Wisconsin, camping, traipsing through the woods, spying gorgeous old barns, antiquing, talking for hours by the fire, and just hanging with our kids. We didn’t shoot many images, but did get a few fun ones. Here are my favorites.

The way I do sessions with my kids is set up an experience and have just a few minutes of actual shooting. These couple images were after we explored an apple orchard.

These images are from a nature preserve in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. Simply stunning.

Is there anything more idyllic?

This little trip was the refresher I needed to go right back into editing all these lovely weddings we shot this summer!

Wayzata Senior Portraits

October 16, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

I, John, get to blog today! I did a senior portrait session yesterday with Ian. Ian’s interest in math and computers made for easy conversation as we went from spot to spot, exploring what Brookview Park had to offer.

We talked about video games, which has been a spark in both our high school paths….especially Metal Gear. Although there are awesome Metal Gear games out now, there are some great older ones too. No need to pull out your NES, SNES or Playstation 1; just download an emulator and the old school ROMs of your choice.

Ian, I had a great time talking shop with you. Enjoy your sneak peek and keep on gaming!

St Louis Park Family Session

October 15, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

When you tell your clients to meet you at an Appliance Smart for pictures and they say “ok” without questioning your sanity, you know they are cool people. And with the most lovely light in a very unorthodox location and cars zooming right behind me, we had our portrait session…and it was awesome.

With such an age range in the kiddos, we had a mix of dancing around and getting a toddler laughing along with running all over the field playing tag with the older two. It was a gorgeous autumn evening and I had a great time watching this happy family play.

I loved when the whole family was cuddling and Ben totally nuzzled into his sisters, such affection and love!

Enjoy your sneak peek!!!

Sunday Outing

October 14, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

I met a fabulous family Sunday morning for portraits. It was a glorious day and I just loved getting to know them!

These two sisters were full of energy and goofiness!

When I work with older kids, I love letting them pick how they want me to photograph them so I can really see who they are. These two girls loved the bridge and wanted to pose on the beams. And I so enjoy the images we created together. They were good little art directors.

After a few more pictures, I told the family we should create a portrait that represents their energy…and it worked out really well!

Enjoy your sneak peek! It was a blast working with you!

Autumn Love

October 13, 2014 By katrina Leave a Comment

This weekend I photographed a wonderful family. Gabe and Tyler sure have their hands full with this spirited bunch! We discovered a lovely patch of forest that showed off the autumn leaves and let the siblings play. Little T was shy until I was photographing one of her brothers, then she’d come right over and sit in their laps.