Portraits

Hillary and Matt // Expecting!

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You may remember Hillary and Matt from being on the blog in the years past for their engagement and wedding photos! I have known these two for years now and they are two of the most grateful people you will ever meet. They are currently expecting the first baby (which I feel is the first of many...) and I was honored to be asked to continue to document this time in their life. I don't normally photograph many families - and I especially haven't photographed a lot of maternity sessions. I wanted to do a little something different and Hillary and Matt were up for anything! We decided upon a sunrise session, and took it to another level by getting in the water. Now, it's getting a little chilly here in Minneapolis, so these two were really good sports to go along with all of my crazy ideas! Overall, it was totally worth it. The sunrise on this particular morning was absolutely stunning and the light was golden. OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0001 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0002 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0003 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0004 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0005 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0006 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0007 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0008 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0009 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0010 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0011 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0012 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0013 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0014 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0015 OeltjenbrunsMaternityBlog0016

Congratulations to Hillary and Matt! Thank you so much for continuing to let me be a part of your life!

LOVEe

Winter Boudoir Photography // A Special Gift to You!

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Winter is upon us and it's time to cozy up with the one you love. I've been doing quite a few boudoir photography sessions lately and I'm in love with the winter light in the studio! Maybe it's the time of cheer, but I decided to offer a special on boudoir photography session for the month of January! This might be the perfect holiday gift (if you're a late shopper like me) or a great excuse to surprise him or her with a Valentines day gift! Each session comes with 20 images and a 5x5 mini album, along with some other goodies! Boudoir sessions during January will be $300 (a $650 value!).  If you are interested in purchasing a winter boudoir session for you or someone you know, click here!

  

A Spring Boudoir

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I absolutely looooove doing boudoir photography sessions and this year, I have several on the books that I'm super excited about! These sessions are meant to be soft, sexy, gorgeous and simply beautiful! My subject for this shoot was so much fun - I loved her energy and playfulness, along with one amazing tattoo! For this boudoir photography session, Amber Brenke lent her skills for the hair and makeup and I would also love to thank Lisa of Flora Bella for creating such a beautiful arrangement!

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Have a fabulous weekend everyone! Our wedding season officially kicks off this Saturday, so the weekly blogs will be back!

LOVEe

Anna & Yomi // Expecting! Brooklyn, NYC.

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Anna and Yomi are two of my favorite people. Ever since I met them, I fell in love a little bit. I’ve had the great pleasure of really getting to know these two, since photographing their engagement sessionand I am thrilled to learn that they are expecting a boy!!!I was in NYC this pas week and had the opportunity to photograph Anna and Yomi, on Mothers Day! It felt very appropriate to document a new little family when everyone around us was celebrating their mothers! static_uri=%2Fdarkroom%2Fmt%2Fmt%2Dstatic%2F&data=%2Fdarkroom%2Fblog%2Fblogshow%2F4fb54b4f7b4ec%2Fimage%2Etable%2Edat&slideshow=0&ssr=1&autofit=0&show_width=976&show_height=651
Congratulations to Anna and Yomi! Thank you so much for continuing to ask me to document your life – it’s so beautiful!LOVEe

The Manning Brothers

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Every now and again, you come across a special family. The Manning brothers are like one of those families from the movies, you know - the siblings that get along, hang out, fight hard and love harder. They are more than just brothers, they're friends, and there is a bond between them that is so strong, it's very cool to see. Jake, Charlie and Pete asked me to do a quick little last-minute shoot for them, as a gift for their parents this Christmas! We took 30 minutes and walked one block, it was as simple and easy as that! You can check out a few more of my favorite images from the Manning Brothers over on the ELIESA blog!
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LOVEe

Marie & Nick: Couple's Session!

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I absolutely LOVE it when married couples, or simply couples who have been together for a long time continue to get photos taken together! I honestly think that beyond weddings and babies, getting your photos taken is a priority that has been lost in our world with technology advancing so much! Our lives have never been busier and I think it's SO cool for a couple to slow down and continue to document their life!Marie and Nick are a fabulous couple and one day after yoga class, a woman came up to me and said, "Are you Eliesa? Of Photogen Inc?" We began having a conversation and turns out that Marie has been a big fan of our work for a while and even has a cool print of the Minneapolis Skyline that I took hanging in her home! I was beyond thrilled when she called and said they wanted to book a portrait session! [blogshow id=4ee9287948bc6 player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0]

The holiday season is upon us and I absolutely love this session!

Enjoy!

LOVEe

Photogen Inc Families // The Freeman Family

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[blogshow id=4ecaa57e0bec5 player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0] I love everything about the Freeman Family and I thought they would be the PERFECT ending to this lovely blog feature we have been doing! It's been SO fun to hear all of your feedback and responses on the family work we have been doing and it's encouraging to know that this work connects with all of you as well!

Robyn is one of the yoga instructors over at my all-time-favorite yoga studio, Sigh Yoga in south Minneapolis! She's a lovely woman, and my favorite thing about their latest session was coming into their (amazing) home and truly documenting their life. When I started this feature on the Families of Photogen Inc, it was all because of a challenge I gave myself at the Elevate Workshop and also to continue the trend of creating and showing honest imagery through our portrait and wedding work.

Mission accomplished with this session, I just adore it!

Thanks for tuning in everyone - we have a STELLAR engagement session hitting the blog next week, so stay tuned!

LOVEe

Photogen Inc Families // The Weber Family

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[blogshow id=4eca9c03aff8e player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0] Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I felt like the Weber family was THE perfect choice to share with you all on this day, simply because of how we met! This past year, I had donated a portrait session to the Children's Defense Fund silent auction to raise money for their amazing charity! The winners were this incredible family called the Webers - complete with adorable children and British accents! :0)

It's my goal to give back, in some way, at least one organization each year and shooting for such a good cause always puts a grand perspective on things!

Enjoy - and I hope you are all loving this day!

LOVEe

Photogen Inc Families // The Gaskins Family

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Jennie Gaskins is a great photographer and friend and when I photographed her family, it was unlike any other shoot I've done before! For everyone who knows me, the thought of children makes me entirely squeemish, so when it came to photographing a birth, I had to put my fears aside and document this big day! In my mind, I totally approached this like war photography, I was going into battle, and in the end it was an absolutely amazing experience!

I thought this might be kind of fun to show, since it's an entirely different kind of family photography, and I was very happy with the way the images turned out! Talk about telling a story...

LOVEe

Photogen Inc Families // The Reiter Family

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This is our last week of the Photogen Inc. Family blog series and I had to kick things off with the Reiter Family! Kelley and I go way back to the hometown days and it's been SO much fun to document her life as it grows! We've been lucky enough to be along the ride with this family through weddings, giant family get-togethers and even the arrival of the twins - Lilly and Liam!Happy Monday everyone!

LOVEe

Photogen Inc. Families // The Woods Family

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So, for years now, I've always said, "I'm not a family photographer and I don't shoot kids, except...." Truth is, I really do love shooting families, especially for previous wedding clients. It's so fun to continue photographing their lives even after the big day, and to document how they grow, change and evolve into families.During the ELEVATE Workshop, a common theme that we were talking about was the concept of Honest Imagery and truly capturing photos that are both beautiful and real. For me, I've really been getting back to a more documentary style, overall in my work, and it's been so much fun. Moments are also a key word that was mentioned, and after the workshop, I came home and stumbled upon many of the family sessions I have photographed in the last year and I REALLY enjoy them!

When I photograph a family, we simply hang out. Maybe we go on a walk in a park, maybe we play, throw leaves, laugh, cuddle and even come into their homes. I have decided in the past not to show families too much on the blog, because I'm really not marketing towards being a 'family photographer', but I really have a great connection to both these images and the people in them...and I would love to share that with you all!

So, over the next couple weeks, I will be doing a blog series on all of the families of Photogen Inc.! First up on the roster is the Woods family!

Enjoy!

 

LOVEe

Collin & Dee : NYC

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My big new thing when stepping behind the camera is to create images that are honest for my clients. I feel like there has been a lot of props and stylized moments (which aren't necessarily bad, but it's just a bit over done now) in the photography industry and I really want to get back to the roots of what it means to create a timeless image. I got the perfect opportunity to practice this little creative-shift-of-mine a couple of weeks ago on my dear friends Collin and Dee. These two met me in NYC and it was an absolutely perfect location to follow them around with my camera - and simple, document them as a couple, during this time of their lives and in this moment of their relationship! I adore these two so, so, so much!

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To Collin and Dee, you two mean more to me than you know, thank you for your friendship!

LOVEe

Cadence Cornelius // Portraits

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Many of you might recognize the subject of my blog post today! It's the one-and-only Cadence of Cadence and Eli, who is a former member of our Photogen Inc crew! She is a fabulous photographer who has gone off on her own to pursue her dreams and I couldn't be more proud! It is SO rewarding for me to see our assistants grow and come into their own as artists and photographers! I was thrilled when Cadence asked me to take these photos for her website - so much fun! Now, not that this job was particularly hard at all - CC is a genuine beauty who's also a knockout on the camera!static_uri=%2Fdarkroom%2Fmt%2Fmt%2Dstatic%2F&data=%2Fdarkroom%2Fblog%2Fblogshow%2F4d78f8091a2cb%2Fimage%2Etable%2Edat&slideshow=0&ssr=1&autofit=0&show_width=976&show_height=651

Congratulations to Cadence! We are so proud of you!

LOVEe