Cass Lake, Minnesota Wedding + Lifestyle Portrait Photographer
If you know me or my kids, you know that we spend an exuberant amount of time out of doors. In our homeschool life, we get outside every day. We play, explore, work… It’s a vivid part of our routine. And we are so grateful! Sometimes I bring my camera along and capture the mundane and ordinary moments. #documentordinary
In September, I fulfilled a lifetime dream of mine and traveled to Iceland!
My sister led me on a great 3-day adventure North from Reykjavik to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. We stayed at a modern and beautifully scenic Airbnb at Stóri Kambur, where we rode Icelandic Horses. On the beach. At Sunset. With rainbows. And dogs. And Sun rays. And the glacier. And mountains. and… and… did I mention I rode horse (named Elvis) in the ocean!? Such an exhilarating experience.
We toured the most western part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, driving around the Snæfellsjökull glacier. The glacier lies within the national park, and the park is the only Icelandic national park that stretches to the sea. Along with getting a few times to view the otherwise hidden-in-the-clouds snow, we enjoyed seeing such sights as waterfalls, basalt column cliff sides, mountains, and lava. Lava, formed into vast fields of rugged moss-covered boulders was colorful and added more texture to the already rugged terrain. The fish soup we ate at a quaint library/cafe/musuem in a small fishing village was incredible. The city was called Grundarfjörður. And, if we had to move there, it would not be a disappointment.
I’m going to share pictures from the first day here in this post. Below are pictures of Reykjavik, and then the sights of the drive to Stóri Kambur will be in my next post.
Z + A had an absolutely beautiful day for their wedding. With a quick passing thunderstorm, the showers brought a beautiful rainbow out to encourage them to wait out the sprinkles and say their I Do’s just they way they had planned them! They were married under the pergola at Ruttger’s as the sun glistened around them. Then we all rode across Lake Bemidji on the pontoon, for a fabulous bridal party excursion before the reception. They arrived in the sunset glow to their reception at Bemidji Town & Country Club. It was decorated splendidly and everything tied together so lovingly with their themes of love and togetherness. DQ Dilly bars topped the dinner off and the dance (led by Jamie with Extreme DJ and Karaoke Bemidji) rocked away all night!
Here is a sneak peek at this super fun day for the Carlsons!
#OhHappyDayZandA was the tag for the new Mr. & Mrs. <3
CONGRATULATIONS, to this dear couple!
I am so grateful I was able to be there for such a sweet wedding day.
Mr. & Mrs. chose some terribly precious decorations for their wedding day, special to them. Books! What a lovely theme to set up with. From the “petals” the flower girls tossed down being heart-shaped cutouts from Harry Potter, the hollowed out book to the cake being a stack of novels… This was a Literature-filled occasion. Being one who makes friends with the librarian before anyone else, I can relate. Here are a few of the detailed photographs of the books throughout the day. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I hope you don’t start crying as much as I do every time I look at these two, privately sharing their personal vows with each other before the ceremony. GaaaahhH!!!! Thankfully, the bride found some His & Her Vows books, so they wrote them out and they can now be cherished forever. 
Congratulations to the ravishing Trevor & Liz! These two charmers held a lovely ceremony at St Philips Catholic Church in Bemidji, and then received their guests at the Sanford Event Center in a gorgeous Ballroom, as well as entertaining their guests in the lobby and out on the patio (which overlooks Lake Bemidji)! These two love doves are a perfect match, and I was glad to get to photograph their wedding day with them.
The colors of Autumn are in full swing here in Northern MN. So, we had this family over to Grace Lake, near Cass Lake, MN to take some family photos near the lake. We got some pops of red, orange, yellow, green, and brown. They meandered from the hill with pines down to the narrow sandy beach on Grace Lake. It was the perfect setting for an afternoon photo session.
Here’s one quick one from this good day!
Since I loved these so much, and I am dying to share them with Linnea, here is a sneak peek at our lovely session for this new Senior. We took the photos at her favorite place: camp! Sjölunden (Swedish: sjö: lake, lund: grove) is the Swedish camp site associated with Concordia Language Villages and is located at the Concordia site at Turtle River Lake, near Bemidji, Minnesota. {puhlease consider sending your kids to camp, and even more: consider a Concordia Language Village!}
