As a person who deals with visuals every day, I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of the images of the September 11th tragedies that are replaying today on television, Internet and any other media device out there.  These photos and videos are still a shocking sight, even all of these years later.  They are so striking, that it is easy to find yourself trapped in them once again, as we all were on that day, and in the many days after. 

However, I would like to encourage you all, to look, to remember and honor, but to not get bogged down in the sadness, fear and morbid curiosity that can come from seeing something so horrible painted in front of you.  I do not think that those that lost their lives, or those that lost loved ones would want us to live in that fear and have those images running through our minds as we lay our heads down to sleep tonight.

So balance out the sadness by looking at photos of your children when they were tiny, look at images of this Great Land that everyone came together to protect and preserve 9 years ago today, and honor those lost and those left behind with your appreciation of what we still have.

While this session took place back in the beginning of the summer, I am nly just now getting around to blogging about it.  Sometimes I wish that I could just magically have things posted here and to my Facebook Fan Page and I could simply concentrate on the actual photography and skip the "bragging," but unfortunately I cannot afford a personal assistant at this phase in the game. 

My dear husband and I are originally from Michigan, and while we love our home here in the Twin Cities, one of the things that we miss is the nearness of Lake Michigan and the small towns located along the western coast of our state.  So, when my parents offered to meet us on Madeline Island in northern Wisconsin, we couldn't pass up the chance to explore more of the shoreline of Lake Superior from Duluth over to the Apostle Islands of Wisconsin. 

We fell in love with the small communities, and especially Madeline Island, the largest of the islands, which is reachable only by small plane, ferry or other boat-- as well as across the ice in winter.  These are just a few of the many photographs that I have brought back as momentos of our wonderful, and much needed respite from the hectic nature of  everyday life.  And while I love the opportunity to photoraph all of you and commemorate the important milestones in your lives, it was wonderful to have the chance to photograph something as different as towering cliff faces, and the Reindeer Moss growing along the ground.

There are currently 90,098 pieces of children's clothing available on Esty.  And most of them do not have photographs that differentiate them from the crowd of other knitters, embroiderers, sewers and such.  For my client, Irish Woolen, I knew that her woolen sweaters and hats were gorgeous, but nevertheless needed something more to help them stand out from the crowd.

These are some samples of the concept I think we will be going with after a final okay from the client. (Please note that these images have not been edited as I normally would and the location-- a nearby bike path-- is not typically one I will be choosing for the real images.)  When I work with someone, even an Etsy client, whose photos size, number and basic color scheme are all dictated by the site, I try to keep in mind the feel and look of that shop and create images that fit that client.  I also look at typical listings of like items and think of what I can do that will showcase the unique selling points fo my clients products and how to showcase those selling points.