Maternity Session: Jody and Mark

I've had a lot of maternity sessions in the last couple of weeks, and I'm loving it.  They are so much fun to shoot!  Jody and Mark are good friends of my oldest brother Christian and his wife Amber.  I met Jody and Mark at the arboretum in Newton, and it was the perfect backdrop for our session.

I was LOVED Jody's shoes, and was super impressed with her ability to walk in them while 8 months pregnant.  Whenever I try wearing heels I usually end up tripping all over myself - total klutz!

I love this picture, Jody and Mark are such a fun loving couple there was a lot of laughter during our session.

Mark is a big sports fan and LOVES reading his stats book.  The joke in the family is that Mark will be reading his stats books to his new son or daughter...

...but if Jody has anything to say about they'll be reading Dr. Seus instead. :)

Congratulations Jody and Mark, I can't wait to meet your son or daughter when he/she arrives in August.

Minda

Homemade Bread

I attempted to make bread from scratch this weekend.  I've always wanted to try and make bread, and found a easy no knead recipe for breakfast granola bread.  I'm happy to report that my breakfast granola bread turned out great and is delicious!  Maybe I've found a new calling.  Next I want to try making brioche.

We Built This City

There is a new addition to the Davison family! Noah was born on Saturday, and is the cutest thing ever!

It is so much fun to watch my brothers become fathers and start their families.  Noah and Jace are 17 months apart (just like their fathers), and are going to have so much fun playing together, driving their parents crazy and I'm sure they'll find a way to get into trouble now and then.  It seems like just yesterday that my brothers and I were the ones playing together and being mischievious.  I would like to say that is was my brothers who always caused the trouble, and I was NEVER the instigator. :)  There are SO many stories I could tell.  Like about the time that Brandon burnt the bushes in front of the church down, or how inevitably ever Christmas I would break on of the pieces from the Nativity.  One of my favorite memories is sitting in the living room with my brothers and mom and dad and listening to records on our record player.  The Beatles was played quite frequently on that record player.  I also loved listening to Jefferson Starship's "We Built This City on Rock 'n Roll" while dancing around the living room.  I know this song has been listed as the all time worst song ever, but I love it!  You can check out this classic song and fantastically cheesy music video on YouTube.

Minda

Ice Cream Goodness

I may have a slight addiction to ice cream, and even more specifically soft serve ice cream.  I don't know what it is about soft serve ice cream, but I LOVE IT!  A popular summer time activity for my friends and I was to walk the 6 blocks to the Tastee Freeze for a Freezie, their version of a blizzard, I always got mine with peanut buttercups.  It was such a glorious day when the Tastee Freeze reopened for the season.  Now that I'm living in Iowa City, I anxiously await the reopening of my favorite ice cream shop Dane's Dairy.  If you haven't checked it out, you must!  They have the most delicious coffee flavored soft serve.  It is quite excellent with chocolate chip cookie dough.  In honor of the warmer weather and the ice cream eating season finally arriving, I stopped and took some pictures of one of the many Dairy Queens I find myself visiting in the summer time.

I can't decide which photo I like better...I'm leaning toward the black and white.

Happy ice cream eating to you all! I'm going to eat some right now. :)

Minnesota Love

A couple weekends ago I made the 4.5 hour trek from Iowa City to Minneapolis to see some good friends and to have my first of three mentor sessions with Alison from Alison Lea Photography.  It was a much needed weekend away, and it had been way too long since I had paid a visit to the city I called home for nearly three years.  My first session with Ali was just what I needed to get me pumped up and excited for wedding season, which begins for me at the beginning of May.  I love talking to other photographers; hearing their thoughts and opinions, how they work with clients, hearing their tips and tricks on getting the perfect picture.  I've never been to photography school, I'm completely self taught and I eagerly snatch up every chance I get to learn from other photographers.  After my session with Ali I spent the rest of my weekend with my good friend Kim.  We had one of our traditional family dinners, played cards and made a trip to what quite possibly could be my favorite place in all of the Twin Cities....Isles Bun and Coffee...the home of the puppy tail.  What is a puppy tail you ask.  A puppy tail is a cinnamony, gooey, frosting coated pastry that is pure deliciousness.  Don't believe me?  Just check out the pictures below and your mind will be changed.

Here they are in all their glory!

 And you have to get extra frosting, because they don't have enough on them already! So much sugar!

Kim enjoying her puppy tail.

I'll be heading back to the Cities in May to shoot a wedding with Alison, and you better believe that puppy tails will be consumed again.  I wonder if they freeze well.... :)

Minda

Blue Skies and Fluffy Clouds

I'm no stranger to highway 218.  I've driven it many times between Iowa City and Mason City to visit my good friend Lisa.  Just outside of Charles City there is a spot along 218 where there is a field full of wind turbines.  Every time I drive along this stretch of highway I stare in awe of the giant turbines.  On Sunday afternoon as I was driving back from a weekend trip to Minnesota I decided to stop and take some pictures.  It was a perfect afternoon, the sky was blue and there were lots of white fluffy clouds in the sky.  How could I not stop!?

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Holding hands, it is an act that is sweet, quiet and unassuming.  A way for two people to show their feelings for one another.  I love the butterflies you get in your stomach when that guy/girl you have a crush on reaches down and grabs your hand.  The nervous anticipation you feel wondering if the person you like will reach over across the arm rest in the movie theatre and hold your hand.  If you haven't figured it out yet I'm a hopeless romantic.  One of my favorite commercials is for a jewelry company, I can't remember which one right now, but the commercial shows a young newly engaged/married couple taking a walk and holding hands, and they pass an elderly couple who is also out taking a walk and holding hands.  That description doesn't do the commercial justice, but I love it!  Sweet and unassuming romantic gestures, like holding hands, are the most meaningful to me.  The moments I have shared with someone that have meant the most to me were not moments that were grand or showy, but instead were simple and sweet.  They were moments meant to be shared by the two of us and no one else.  In the words of the Beatles, "Yeah you, got that something I think you'll understand...I wanna hold your hand."

Minda

Natalie

As promised here are some more pictures from my shoot this weekend with Natalie.  I was kind of nervous when I woke up on Saturday and saw how windy it was, but lucky for me the wind worked in my favor.  It was a great morning of shooting and even included an incident involving Erin's car, a mud hole, cows and a farmer with his truck.  In all the craziness and laughter I didn't think to take pictures to document the incident, but maybe that is a good thing. :)

One of my favorites...beautiful!

Thanks Natalie for being such a trooper and a fantastic model.  I promise that next time it will be warmer!

Minda

It has been a great weekend filled with picture taking, cooking, cleaning and movie watching; what more could a girl ask for.  There was the most beautiful sunset on Friday, I feel like it has been FOREVER since I've seen a good sunset.  It provided a pretty fantastic view while I was out for a run.  Can you believe these colors!?

My friend Erin and I spent the morning taking pictures of my friend Natalie.  Thanks Natalie for enduring the cold and the wind so Erin and I could try out some new ideas and lenses.  Here is just a peak at two pictures from Saturday's session.  There are definitely more to come.

Minda

My love of lip products

If I were on a deserted island and could only take three things with me one of those things would most definitely be lip balm.  Chapstick, lip gloss, lip balm...I love it all!  I have at least two forms of lip product with me at all times.  At this very moment I have three in my purse, two on my desk at work and who knows how many around my house.  I'm feel lost without it.  As you can see from the picture I have no loyalty to a particular kind or brand.  One of my favorite lip glosses right now is CO Bigelow's Lemon Pomegranate....yum!  I figure there are a lot worse things I could be addicted to, and I know I'm not the only one out there with the same love for lip products.

I hope everyone is having a great week.
Minda

Food and Family

Food and family, this was the theme of my weekend.  My family likes to eat, and we do it very well.  My mom and my oldest brother are pretty amazing in the kitchen.  They make the most amazing and delicious meals.  One of my favorite things to do is sit around the dinner table with my family and share a meal.  There is always stories being told and lots of laughter as a result of something my brother Brandon has said.  This Saturday was no exception.  We had homemade macaroni and cheese, brisket, salad and of course dessert....chocolate mint chip cookies and cupcakes with chocolate mousse in the middle.  My nephew Jace was in fine form and loving all the attention he was getting; it was a perfect afternoon.

Jace spent the entire afternoon trying to figure out how the zipper on his vest worked.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.
Minda

Growing Collection

I have found myself with quite the collection of parking tickets.  It reminds me of back in college when my roommate Erin had quite a large collection of parking tickets from campus security.  Erin never registered her car and collected an impressive number of parking tickets, which we proceeded us hang-up all over our living room.  Hopefully my collection ends here.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already.
Minda

Candy Jackpot!

One of my favorite things to do is raid the candy shelves the day after a holiday.  It brings together two of my favorite things - finding a bargain and chocolate.  It is like hitting the candy jackpot!  If only there were slot machines that paid out candy and chocolate instead of money....Hmmm maybe I'm on to something. :)

Minda

Snowflakes

The snow this morning was beautiful.  It was the light and fluffy and looked like perfect little cut out snowflakes.  I tried to take some pictures of the snowflakes on my car, but without a macro lens it was pretty hard.  Man I wish I would of had a macro lens with me!

Have a great weekend!
Minda

A very good Saturday night

I've been taking pictures but I haven't been very good at posting them.  This is from my lovely Saturday night doing two of my favorite things, going to the movies and drinking coffee with some pie and ice cream at Hamburg Inn.  It was a great evening with my dear friends Nancy, Andrew and Jess.  Nothing is better than having conversation with friends over coffee and pie. :)  I'm a lucky girl to have such good friends.

I hope everyone is staying warm!
Minda

Happy Valentine's Day??

I was getting coffee at the Bread Market Garden in Iowa City and saw this cookie in their display.  I busted out laughing and just had to take a picture of it.  I hope I don't get a cookie with "buzz off" on it this Valentine's Day.  What happened to Be Mine?

Have a great weekend!
Minda

Snow!

In honor of the blizzard of 2011...

I hope everyone stays safe and warm and is able to enjoy the snow...at least once the blowing stops! :)
Minda

Valentine's Mini Sessions : Iowa City, Photographer

Sorry for the lack of blog posts the last couple of days.  The last five days have been hectic.  My nephew was finally able to go home from the hospital today, which is a huge relief I have been so stressed and distracted worrying about him.  Sunday was a jam packed day of shooting mini sessions with my good friend and fellow photographer, Erin Kirchhoff from The Locket Photography.  I was exhausted after shooting from 10-5pm and I thought my fingers might fall off from being outside, but it was totally worth it.  I have never done anything like this before.  It was a great challenge to do seven different sessions with a new couple or family every hour.  Erin and I had to work quickly and come up with fun, creative and different pictures for each session.  Here are a few from our day of mini sessions.  I'm sure I'll be posting more later in the week.

I hope everyone had a great Monday.
Minda