On a very warm Saturday afternoon, I donated my time to Freedom Farm, a therapeutic riding program in Watertown MN, by photographing their polo fundraiser. I had never been to a polo match, so I was pretty excited to photograph these athletes, and help out a worthy cause.

I also got the sunburn of the year. It hurt for over a week! I’m kind of dangerous to myself when I’m engaged in photography. I forget about things like re-applying sunscreen.

I couldn’t resist.

The kids in the red, white, and blue shirts ride at Freedom Farm. They got to hand out prizes!

The horses were worked so hard! Riders had 3-4 horses and would swap them out between chuckers.

Used ball – fresh ball.

The ref’s horse.

The action got pretty intense at times!

‘

The horses are pretty bendy…

Storms started to roll in near the end. There was damage in the area from strong winds within an hour of everyone leaving the grounds.

This one might have my job someday! :D

Pretty much my favorite shot from the whole event!

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Right from the start I felt completely comfortable with the Ahl family. They are sweet together and love to laugh. Midway through the session, we took a break to wait for sunset, and I enjoyed listening to dad play Journey’s “Faithfully” on the piano, and ate cherries and talked about photography with mom, who LOVES to take photos. The whole evening felt more like a visit with friends than an appointment with clients. That’s my favorite kind of session. :)

If you are interested in a family session, I have only a few dates left in the next few months, so contact me soon!

Sweet sisters. :)

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

What can I say about Alli that you won’t see in these photos! She is bubbly and fun and this session was a BLAST! I brought a few young photographers along with me when I photographed Alli, and mentored them in how to work with light, location, and a super cute model. :)

Alli would be a senior at Buffalo High School this year, but she’s a smarty pants and is taking post-secondary classes at a college instead!

Photographer’s Notes: My goal with any portrait session is to create a relaxed atmosphere where the person I am photographing can relax and just be themselves. I put people in good light and location, then give some direction as far as posing. This helps them feel confident that I’m working to make them look their best in the photos. Then we just talk, and laugh, and enjoy spending time together.

I’m not above being really silly to get people laughing. How I did it at this point in the session will remain between Alli and I. ;)

I want her boots! Ah!

Thank you Alli, for being such a fun person to photograph and hang out with! :D

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

One of my greatest joys as a photographer is capturing the beautiful bond people have with their horses. When I arrived at this session with Lynette and her arabian gelding, Mijo, I knew that this would be one of those sessions. Mijo is a sweet, attentive, gentle horse…very much like Lynette. They have a strong friendship that was easy to photograph. He is also handsome, and showed off his great looks throughout the session.

When Lynette saw her photos, she had this to say:

Shelley I absolutely love my photos! They are exquisite. I can’t stop looking through the entire gallery, and each time I have another group of favorites. You truly have a gift, thank you for sharing it with me!

Thank you, Lynette and Mijo, for sharing a beautiful evening with me and letting me document the great relationship you have!

The daughter of one of Lynette’s friends was our helper for the evening. She has a special bond with Mijo too.

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Brandon and Rachel were married on July 10th, 2010 at the Carlson Conservatory. This was one of those weddings I felt very close to. In the few times we had been together, I felt a real bond with Brandon and Rachel. I felt so much joy for Rachel, especially. She is a beautiful, kind person. I am sad that they moved to Texas right after the wedding. I would love to have gotten to know her better. When the above moment was happening right after the ceremony ended, I was shooting through tears. I could feel their joy. I love my job.

Photographer’s Notes: I’ve photographing weddings for 6 years now, and what I’m finding is that there’s no one right way to photograph a wedding. My personal approach is to focus on moments (emotions especially), beautiful portraits that are natural and relaxed, and yummy details.

Ah! Rachel see’s Brandon for the first time that day. Feel the excitement!

Who wouldn’t want a photo of his beautiful bride on his iPhone? :)

Outdoor weddings in Minnesota call for lots of bug spray!

Radiant!

Rachel and her son share a sweet moment just after the ceremony.

Brandon and his sisters. What a fun family! :)

Don’t you just love her???

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I really like blogging sessions in the order I shot them. The problem is, if you fall behind (like I have) it takes awhile to get to recent work. For example, this lovely couple got married last weekend! I figure if I blog every weekday, I should get caught up in a few more weeks. :)

We did this session in downtown Wayzata, a cute little upscale town on Lake Minnetonka. The weather was perfect and we shared a beautiful evening together. The only bad part was at the end, when we realized we’d left all our cell phones and keys in their locked car! Had to use a bookstore phone to call a locksmith. Crazy!

Check out how they used these photos in a signing album.

Brandon and Nikki run marathons together. I thought this would be kind of a cute way to photograph her engagement ring. :)

The locksmith, breaking into their car for us. :)

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I can hear you all now, “I thought you titled this {engagement}!” Well, yes, you’re right. But Serena and Adam asked if they could bring their daughter for a few “family” photos and I was happy to oblige. Especially with a cute punkin’ like theirs!

The session took place at Minnehaha Falls. If you’re from Minnesota, you’ve likely been there a time or two (especially if you’re a photographer), but if you’re from out of state, it’s a park, right in Minneapolis, with a GORGEOUS waterfall! Even though I’ve shot here before, it seems that the water and the light are different each time. And, of course, the people are different. And for me, portraiture is about people. :)

Oh man, I love it when they crinkle their noses. :)

They always want to touch the camera. Ha ha!

A friend took the sweet baby, and we got into the meat of the session. Adam and Serena are truly a delightful couple, so tanglibly in love with each other.

Adam used a rock to scratch their initials in a larger rock. So cute!

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Alyssa and I have been friends for well over 10 years now. Because we live 1 1/2 hours apart, we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like, but whenever we do, we just pick right up where we left off.

I adore this girl! She has always been able to make me laugh and has such a joy about her. At the same time, we can talk about deeper things, like our faith and the difficult struggles of life. The weather wasn’t terribly cooperative, but the main goal of the evening was to spend time together, catching up and just enjoying each other’s presence. The photography was a side-effect. A really fun side-effect. :)

Photographer’s Notes: I asked Alyssa if I could photograph her. I have had a revelation recently about one of my primary motivations for photographing people, and the reason why I like to photograph my friends. For me, photography is how I love show love to people. This idea occurred to me one day when I saw a friend’s status on Facebook (not Alyssa, a different friend). She was down and my first inclination was that I wanted to photograph her. I was a little surprised at my response, but it led me to understand that when I have my camera pointed at someone, I am not just taking their photo, but rather speaking a language of love to them. I am telling them that they are valued and I am honoring them with my time, my passion, and with the care I take to photograph them in a way that shows them back to themselves as truly beautiful. I will probably write more about this in the future, once I feel I have more of the pieces assembled into a larger picture.

I’ve long envied Alyssa’s great head of curls! I insisted she leave it curly for the session. :)

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

During the workshop, we had the opportunity to photograph some of the exquisite horses that make Kentucky a horse lover’s paradise. I also was blessed to go out a few evenings after the workshop with my wonderful friend Shirley, and spend some time hanging out with herds of mares and foals. They are all so friendly and inquisitive, it was a treat to spend time with them!

Do you just love the fuzzy ears of the one above?

Photographers Notes: On my evening photo outings with Shirley, I experimented a lot with using my 85mm L lens at f1.2. It’s not a standard focal length for horses, but I like the results, and really love the almost 3D effect that f1.2 creates in a photo.

Kelsey, one of the workshop participants, making fast friends with funny foals. ;)

We visited one of the barns during naptime. There’s was lots of lounging, and even some snoring going on. :)

Rocks? Nope…

Lounging foals. :)

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.

On the second evening of the workshop, we visited Sunrise Stables and had the pleasure of photographing two beautiful young women and their fantastic, spirited saddlebred horses!

To me, Kentucky is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Driving the countryside is a pure feast for the eyes!

©2010 Shelley Paulson Photography Blog. All Rights Reserved.