Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Family Ties

I've known Tanya and Jayne for several years - both through Minnesota State, Mankato, and because we live in the same small town. Tanya and Jayne own Tucker's Tavern in Elysian. A few years ago, Tanya put me in touch with her nephew, Jared, who needed a wedding photographer. I had the privilege of photographing Jared and Sandi's wedding. Although they live in Illinois, they're visiting the area for a family reunion, and Tanya asked me to take pictures.

There's nothing more gratifying to a photographer than having repeat customers. Talk about an ego booster! And this reunion was special - it was Tanya's parents 50th anniversary! It was an honor to be chosen to capture images of this family!

Back to Sandi and Jared - In addition to their sweetheart of a son, Cam, they welcomed adorable twin girls, Taryn and Tiegen eight months ago.

Here in southern MN, we've experienced a fair amount of severe weather recently, some of it much too close to home (my son's home was damaged - he's lived there just  3 weeks). Friday night was no exception. Shortly after I got set up to shoot, the clouds thickened, and skies became darker - then noisier as thunder rumbled all around us. We wrapped up the shoot quickly, which is a good thing because tornado sirens sounded a short time later.

Because they were fussy, and we were in a hurry, I offered to retake pictures of Cam and the twins, and we had that session tonight. What a difference a few days makes - low humidity, beautiful clear skies, mild temps...Minnesota perfect! We were able to relax more with the babies as well, and the results are great! Here are a few from "round 2."

When I delivered the preview CD tonight, Sandi and Jared asked me if I'd photograph their twins on their first birthday - they'll be back in Minnesota about that time for a wedding. Absolutely!!