Since it’s so cold today in Minnesota we thought we’d take a look at a wedding that’s sure to warm you from the inside out. Rob’s and Felicia’s rustic nuptials at the Red Barn Farm of Northfield (www.redbarnfarmofnorthfield.com) were special for so many reasons.

We love the way the bride and groom made family the focus for the entire day, right down to couple’s children rounding out the roster for the bridal party, and providing readings during the ceremony. A portrait gallery of the kids was also installed inside the main barn.

The country and harvest theme was tastefully applied throughout the site without the treatment becoming too romanticized or corny. And the vintage details were a real treat.

Best of all, the day truly celebrated what the event was all about — bringing together two families. Sure, the wood-fired pizzas made with ingredients grown on the farm, and perfectly sweetened lemonade with fresh mint were fantastic, but the love Rob and Felicia have for each other and their children took center stage.

To view more wedding pictures from this event, visit our Facebook gallery.

I first met Lori while she was being set up for a proposal and I was in on the scheme put in motion by her then-soon-to-be fiancé Matt. (See more photos from the event HERE). With Lori being such a good sport about the surprise, I knew working with the couple on engagement photos was going to be a breeze.

However, when Matt and Lori first suggested we use the Montgomery Orchard (www.montgomeryorchard.com) as the location for their engagement photos I was a bit taken aback. After all, they don’t have too many ties to the area. But I figured we’d have some great opportunities to photograph in the groves of trees ripe for the picking, and that it would make for an easy theme for the fall photo session.

What I completely forgot was that the orchard’s six-acre, Be-A-Mazed Corn Maze was also groomed and available to challenge all those who enter — including engagement photographers! Always up for adventure, Matt and Lori suggested we go for it. The eight-to-12-foot stalks would make for a good wind break and hopefully warm them up a bit from the chilly autumn air.

I’m used to working on the spot, and having to make do with whatever conditions are thrown my way, but I have to admit, I was a bit worried about photographing a couple in such difficult surroundings. There’s not much space for me to distance myself from the couple, the corn made tough lighting conditions, and honestly, it seemed as though there weren’t too many options for compositions to make when you’re surrounded by wall-to-wall corn!

Thank goodness for happy accidents, because I ended up being quite pleased with the results. Oh, and the maze is by no means simple. Be sure to stop by fall 2012 if you’re up for the challenge.

When the Christopher family first contacted me they had a dilemma: with triplets, they were often approached by photographers seeking to photograph their adorable toddlers, but they were never too pleased with the “cutesy,” posed shots. They had seen my work and wanted me to try a different approach, one that wasn’t so contrived.

I knew the perfect alternative was to call upon my background as a photojournalist and simply capture the entire family playing together. And, rather than focus on the triplets as a unit, observe and photograph their individual personalities.

For the Christopher family photo session, we simply used the family’s Eagan, MN property as the setting, allowing the children to feel more comfortable than working in front of foreign backdrops and unsettling studio lighting. At home, the children were able to romp in the leaves, start some new family traditions and even get some chores done in the process. Oh, and we were able to create some beautiful family pictures, too!

Thank you so much, Christopher family, for allowing me to document this wonderful fall memory for you!

Reserve your “Let it Snow” mini photo session today!

Your stomach is full from Thanksgiving dinner and your patience is wearing thin after tangling with competitive buyers over the weekend – sit back, relax and let the simple shopping begin.

Anthologie announces a special event to cure your retail woes. Our annual “Let It Snow” photo collection now comes in a smaller package. And on top of avoiding the massive department store lines this holiday season, our “Let It Snow” mini session provides professional and creative photography with valuable extras the big box stores simply can’t match.

All of our photography collections include an image disc of all of the best pictures created during your session (not just a handful), and you can actually make high-quality prints from the files (not low-resolution, web-ready files). We work on location for a truly unique photo session and provide custom edits of your pictures. In addition, we work with you to create a fun and memorable experience catered to your family’s specific needs. Best of all, for the insanely busy holiday shoppers, you can order reprints directly from Anthologie via your online proofing gallery, and have us send your cherished pictures to the front door of your family and friends!

Included in the “Let It Snow” Mini Photo Session:

• 30 minutes of custom photography at an outdoor location of your choosing

• edits and enhancements of your best pictures (typically about 50 total images)

• online proofing gallery posted for 30 days

• image disc with copyrights to reproduce your photos up to 4×6 inches

• web-ready image files with studio watermarks removed for convenient online sharing

Total Collection: $100

* CYBER MONDAY ONLY! Reserve your session by 11:59 p.m. today and receive a bonus file of your favorite (1) image as a high-resolution file capable of making prints up to 8×10 inches when you want, wherever you want!

Mini sessions must be completed by Friday, Dec. 16, 2011

It’s our favorite time of year at Anthologie! It’s time to don your favorite hoodie, grab a hot cup of apple cider and bask in the brisk autumn air. Fall is the perfect time to celebrate family traditions (or start some new ones), like picking pumpkins, navigating corn mazes and collecting beautiful foliage. And now is the time to have us preserve those memories for a lifetime.

While you’re out enjoying the fall festivities with your family, let Anthologie do the work of capturing all the emotions of the day. Reserve your one-hour, on-location photography session by Oct. 7, 2011, for $150 and receive an image disc with copyrights to reproduce your images up to 5×7 inches (a $275 value). You’ll also receive the edits and enhancements of your best images — a mix of black-and-white and color processing — plus an online proofing gallery with no purchase requirements. All sessions must be completed by Oct. 31, 2011, and promotional pricing is valid for groups of up to 5 individuals. Please request a quote if you have a larger group.

Contact us to reserve your place today!

Erin and Charlie grew up just miles apart, and even went to the same high school. However, it wouldn’t be until after the two left their hometowns that they would come together. To honor their roots, we chose the downtown and surrounding rural areas of Dundas, MN for the couple’s engagement photos.

What’s always fun is discovering what’s hidden in plain sight. Though Erin had grown up mere blocks from where the bulk of the engagement pictures were made, she and Charlie had never explored some of the locations where we held our session.

Erin and Charlie might want to switch careers to become models. Throughout our time together it seemed as though the couple does this sort of thing on a daily basis! They were so at ease and had such wonderful expressions. That being said, capturing the emotion of their wedding day will be even more exciting and is sure to lend itself to creating even better photos. I can’t wait!

Amy and Corey are seasoned travelers despite their young age. The couple has enjoyed many vacations abroad, but their relationship has also traveled great distances since it began when the two were in high school.

After graduating from college, Corey was offered an opportunity to help expand his company’s presence in Latin America, and the two were off to their new home in Mexico City. The couple then had the duty of planning a Minnesota wedding from South of the Border!

On a return visit home to Minnesota, I was able to photograph Amy and Corey at Excelsior Bay, a place where the couple would spend time when they were dating in high school. It was great to see how much love the couple shares for one another, and I think that really shows in the images.

The wedding was over. My wife and I had returned from our blissful honeymoon. And yet, we were left with a dilemma: what to do with all of this wedding stuff?

You know – the flowers, the centerpieces, all the little personal touches we worked so hard to make special. Well, now that the wedding’s done, we can’t just throw them away, right?

If you’re like me, you held on to the stuff knowing someday you’d think of something to do with them — anything but putting them in a glass shadow box (it makes me think of funerals).

Sometimes you have to wait a long time for inspiration to come along. For me, it was seven years! That’s when I met jewelry designer Heather Lawrenz of Lawrenz Jewelry. She makes amazing beads, charms and intricate pieces of art all out of stuff most people would throw away. You wouldn’t believe how beautiful she can make a discarded bottle cap or a spent A1 steak sauce bottle look.

After seeing her work and getting to know Heather, she mentioned to me that she can make a piece of jewelry out of old photographs — the wheels started turning. If she could take a three-dimensional object and turn it into a charm the possibilities were endless.

Finally, I knew what to do with all those boxes of wedding dodads taking up valuable shelf space in my basement.

With Heather’s talents, I could have her preserve those memories in an exciting new way. I turned my box of “stuff” over to her and let Heather work her magic. (Of course, I photographed everything first, just in case I wanted to look at it later). Within minutes, Heather was taking pieces of the materials and constructing tiny compositions.

It was great to see the way Heather thinks and not to give her too much direction. I knew I could trust her to do her thing and the results would be spectacular. What I didn’t expect were some of the happy accidents along the way, like when Heather realized the newspapers stuffed around the dried wedding bouquets to protect the delicate flowers were from the newspaper I worked at during the time of our wedding. In fact, the newspapers had some photos that stick out in my mind since they were from meaningful assignments.

“I’m going to use that as a background for one of these charms,” Heather said.

I couldn’t believe it — fishwrap to some, colorful interest to Heather, a significant memory for me — and now it would all be preserved on this hip piece of jewelry for my wife to wear every day.

And the best part, my wife and I could finally part with all that wedding clutter. Meaningful, yes, but clutter still the same.

If you want to have one of these ah-ha moments, definitely visit Lawrenz Jewelry.

Katie sounded genuinely excited when I relayed to her the news that she was the winner of Anthologie’s “No Foolin’ Spring Photography” promotion. Truth be told, I was just as enthusiastic to make for her some great family pictures. That’s because Katie is just the sort of person I love to work for — she’s a  photographer.

Does that mean I relish the idea of a fellow shutterbug critiquing my creative work with a fine-tooth comb? Not exactly, though it does help to get constructive criticism. No, the reason I enjoy having photographers as the subject of my pictures is because, like me, they’re never in any of their photos!

Katie and I go way back, probably 15 years or more. She was actually a classmate of mine in high school, a photo classmate to be specific, as was her husband, Stephan. I hadn’t talked with the couple regularly in some time, and hadn’t even seen them face to face in about a year, so it was a welcome surprise when their names were selected at random to win an Anthologie custom photo session.

We chose the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden as the backdrop to their lifestyle portrait session. There, the couple’s three children would be free to explore the grounds while physical space provided some meaningful context to the pictures, since the Stombergs live in the neighborhood.

It was a challenge to balance catching up with old friends while at the same time doing my best to be a fly on the wall for the kids as they did what they did best — play. What impressed me most was just how close all the siblings were despite their separation in age. When I’m working, posing for pictures is kept to an absolute minimum. All the images of the kids walking together, holding hands and enjoying each other’s company was all real! And despite the ever-plummeting temperatures and bitter wind, everyone had a picture-perfect disposition.

Thank you, Stomberg family, for being such great models. This photography session was a win-win for all of us!

Even grandmas can share lighthearted "foolin' moments" with their grandchildren.

Just like spring, this deal won’t last forever. The No Foolin’ spring photography collection absolutely ends this Friday, so be sure to contact us today and reserve your time at a special price. You then have until May 31 to complete your session.

Our No Foolin sessions are the perfect opportunity to get out and have fun with your family while we make the pictures. Planting flowerbeds, playing frisbee, or simply teaching the newest member of the family how mow the lawn are just some of the many ways to celebrate this time of year through photos.

Anthologie specializes in capturing your family interacting with one another without staged portraits. So sit back, relax, and let us do the work for you.

Learn more about this promotion HERE.