Help me with my Generations project.

As some of you know, my 95 year old ("95 and a half" as she would have said) grandma Frieda passed away two weeks ago. I know I will (and already do) miss her immensely and am so appreciative of the time I was able to spend with her. She was a phenomenal woman who touched many lives.

As a testament to my relationship with her, her love for her family and my appreciation for history, I'm starting a new project with the a working title of "Generations" and am in need of subjects. Please help!

I'm looking for families able to gather at least THREE generations on one side of the family (grandparent, parent, child) in one place for a portrait created in their home (even more generations is great too!). Portraits will be relaxed: no backdrops or lighting. I simply want to document the generations of one family interacting with each other. I will be conducting short recorded interviews of the family members in addition to creating the portrait.

I am interested in creating portraits of all different types of families: adoptive families, LGBT families, all different races, economic backgrounds, abilities, etc.

You will receive a free portrait session and all final images on a CD (with a letter from me giving you full permission to print the images at a photo lab of your choice) in exchange for your time and written permission to use the photo(s) and recordings in my project (I will ask you to sign a model release). You will also have the option of purchasing prints directly from me if you'd like.

I plan to produce the project as a coffee table book, an interactive website and whatever else pops in my head.

I will create portraits wherever I can, whether in San Diego County, southeastern Wisconsin, etc. Even if you're not in San Diego or Wisconsin, contact me since there's a chance I'm traveling out your way in the upcoming months.

I will be working on this project for awhile, meaning long enough until I have a sufficient group of photos for publishing, so even if you won't be getting the whole family together for another 6 months, contact me anyway.

If you are interested, please contact me at info@vantagephotography.com.

GO VOTE.

That's it, there's not much more to say: VOTE.

Marita and Eric

Marita and Eric were wed on October 18th surrounded by one of the most warm and welcoming groups of family and friends I've had the pleasure of working with. And Marita and Eric were so warm and welcoming themselves--which I already knew, having had such a great time with them during their engagement session! I had been excited about this wedding for a long time and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Congratulations to both of you, Marita and Eric. I'm so positive that there are many years of happiness awaiting you in your future.

Michelle and Joe's E-Session

Two posts in one day--aren't you all so lucky! :) The day after Kourtney and Mike's wedding, I did an engagement shoot with Michelle and Joe. These two were great to work with--they were up for anything I suggested, including climbing a tree and having a leaf fight (which they engaged in wholeheartedly, I should add!). I loved that Michelle couldn't stop laughing the whole time and Joe kept looking at her as if to say "You're a goofball...and I love it." I can't wait for the wedding!

Kourtney and Mike

Kourtney and Mike were married on October 11th in the quintessential Madison, Wisconsin wedding--pictures at the capitol and Mendota Terrace, a stroll through the Farmer's Market to sample Wisconsin cheeses and a round of applause from Badgers fans enjoying beer on the Union Terrace as Kourtney and Mike walked to their reception at Tripp Commons at the Memorial Union. They were blessed with a beautiful fall day and family and friends that flew in from all over the country just to be with them--can't get much better than that...

MC Flow Music Video

My toes are gonna be famous!! Yes, that's right, my tootsies got their 15 minutes, er, 15 seconds of fame yesterday as they got "in frame" for a music video being shot by the talented Rebecca Joelson and her husband Kevin for MC Flow, a San Diego based hip hop group. I won't tell you *how* they got in frame, you'll just have to watch the video to find out. Hint: the shot involves a kiddie pool and a scuba mask. Hee hee. :) How did that happen, you ask? Michael and I stopped by the shoot yesterday morning to check out the goings-ons (I think I just invented a word), joining the already gathered onlookers. When Rebecca turned to the "crowd" and asked for a volunteer for one of the shots, well, I just couldn't resist. What can I say, I'm vain. :)

Rebecca and I met for coffee about a month ago under the guise of "Hi, I'm new to the area and want to meet other cool photographers here" and we clicked as fellow photographers right away. I'm looking forward to working with her in the upcoming months--we've already got a collaborative photo shoot planned for sometime in November. Stay tuned for pics from that!

Winter Wedding Specials

Is your wedding scheduled between November 1st and April 1st of '08/'09 or '09/'10? If so, book Vantage for your photography and take $1000 off your total package price. Contact me today to set up your complimentary in-person meeting to get to know me and see more samples of my work!

Ann Marie and Jared

What do you get when you cross a beautiful Wisconsin fall day with an amazingly fun wedding party and two of the nicest people in the world? Ann Marie and Jared's wedding, of course. It wasn't hard to see the love that existed between these two, not to mention between their families and friends. I ended up sticking around beyond my scheduled time at no charge just because I was having so much fun photographing this crew! Enjoy the sneak peek from Vantage!

Lots'o headshots

Right before I left for the land of cheese, I was busy building up Vantage's headshots portfolio with some models in the San Diego area. I really like doing headshots--it's a good way for me to change things up from my wedding work, interact with other fun and creative people and, I find, it helps me to create even better portraits during my weddings. Here are some of my favs from those recent sessions:

Helloooooo Wisco!

I'm back in Wisconsin to shoot three weddings for Vantage (check back regularly for those beloved sneak peeks!) until October 20th. I was greeted by my native state last Thursday with chilly temperatures and on and off drizzle/all-out rain. Gotta love Wisconsin weather! But to Wisconsin's credit, the leaves are just starting to turn and hopefully I'll be here to see the fall colors in all their glory--and it really is my favorite time of year here. I was just saying to Michael the other day "The thing about living in San Diego is you don't get those chilly rainy Sunday afternoons that give you the best excuse to just hole up under a blanket and watch old movies all day". I think I'll get my fix (and then some) over these next couple of weeks. :)

It's been great to be able to go to the final Brewers game with dad (Brew Crew, we love you, even if you didn't make it as far as we had hoped....), play gin rummy with mom, see old friends. And ooo, those fish fries and Brandy Old Fashioneds! To top it all off, my baby sis Sara is even going to be in town from New York City next week! But of course I miss Michael and my puppy, Chloe.

So I'm a cheesehead again until the end of October....and I'll enjoy every minute of it. :)