Our family holiday of 2009

This was Aubrey's second Christmas, and kind of the first where she starts to understand what all goes into it. She LOVED having her grandparents visit. Even though the last relative left on Saturday, she still calls out for 'papa' and 'popi' (her grandfathers). Aubs also had a good time hanging out with her cousins Riley and Allana at the extended family get-together. Nicole and I want to thank our families for coming to visit and helping make this Christmas really special!

So without further delay, let me share a few of the many family photos we took this past week...

Aubrey (and Molly the dog) finding delicious chocolate and candy in her stocking

The grandparents and dogs have the best seats in the house for Aubrey to show off her paper ripping skills.

Aubrey figuring out there are fun surprises underneath all of the colorful and festive paper.

Aubrey loved all her gifts, even the clothes! She attempted to try on each one after opening it.

Oliver enjoyed the boxes and paper when Aubrey was done with them.

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This next set is from Nicole's extended side of the family. Her grandparents in the middle had 7 children resulting in some with families of their own.

Here is 4 generations of a family:

Nicole, Aubrey and Aubrey's Great Grandfather:

Aubs getting a close up in her Christmas dress after having a tasty treat.

Aubrey's cousin Riley getting a real Red Ryder BB Gun - Classic!

Happy Happy Holidays & Safe Travels

It is that time of year again when everyone gets ready for the holidays. Nicole, Aubrey and myself would like to wish you and yours a Happy Silly and Fun Holiday!

Movies on TV we'll be watching this holiday (cause they're on all the time : )

-A Christmas Story

-The Santa Clause

-Christmas with the Kranks

-The Santa Clause 2

-National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

Our Christmas wish list:

-Mike: hot cocoa with marshmallows, to see all my family, a super-successful 2010

-Nicole: 5d2, trip to Ireland, more secure economy

-Aubrey: cuddles with mom & dad, presents, wow wow wubzy marathon

Travel safely, stay warm, and remember to find the enjoyment in what life has to offer this holiday season...

Wedding Photography Giveaway for 2010!

Do you or someone you know is engaged and down on their luck? Have one or both of them lost their jobs? Had health issues with them or a loved one? If so, now is your/their chance to receive something positive in return!

5th Street Photography is holding a Wedding Photography giveaway for a more than deserving couple in 2010. All you have to do is send us your story on why you (or someone you know) deserve to have their wedding photography for free with a picture of the couple. We must receive all stories with pictures by January 31, 2010! The winning couple will be featured on our blog on February 5th, 2010!

FANTASTIC GIVE AWAY WILL INCLUDE:

• an engagement session.

• 6 hours of photography with 2 photographers at your wedding.
  

• DVD of edited images with a copyright license to have prints.

HOW TO SIGN UP:

• E-mail us (photography@5th-street.net) your story with a picture on why you or someone you know should receive this fabulous gift!

RULES:

• Couple must be aware they are signed up for a giveaway.

• 5th Street Photography must have the date available.

• Wedding and engagement session must take place in southern Wisconsin in 2010.

• Deadline to receive stories with pictures by January 31, 2010.

• Winning couple must sign our normal photography contract.

• Couples already booked are ineligible for giveaway.

Portraits of Love - Final Post

Welcome to our final Portraits of Love session, where we would like to introduce the Platt family.

SSgt Katie, who is currently serving in Iraq, heard about what we were doing and contacted us to see if we could take photos of her husband and two children. Our reply was "Abso-freakin-loutly"! She passed our information onto her husband Alek to contact us with a time that worked best for him.

Unfortunately we didn't hear from Alek until the day the Portraits of Love program ended. But we couldn't do nothing for them. So we told Alek we would still donate our time and head up to Wausau to take photos where we would provide them photos, which he would be able to send Katie. Here are some sneak peeks from my time spent with Alek, Liam and Elizabeth:

Liam told me the crumpled wrapper in his ear was a radio that he could talk to his mom with. So Cute!

WIN-ter?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in these pictures you will see thousands of snow particles falling from the sky. "Welcome to winter!" I heard a local meteorologist babble. Winter it sure is! In this past week, Wisconsin has seen it's fair share of snow.

With todays snow fall, we thought it would be fun to venture outside with the dogs and photograph the impending doom, I mean beautiful snow fall ;o) So sit back, grab your blanket, and a weapon of choice (coffee, hot chocolate, or Starbucks warm caramel apple cider (hmmmm!)) and take a moment to check out a bit of what mother nature has brought upon us!

Aubs getting ready for a sled ride to the back! Can you find a 5th Street Day Care kid in this pic?

Like a scene from Planet of the Apes when she see's her play equipment buried. "Darn you snow!"

Molly, a snow dog who earlier stuck her tongue out trying to catch snow flakes.

Jake another snow dog who tried eating yellow snow.

Snow

Ahh snow. Wouldn't you know that the first real snowfall of a Wisconsin winter would bring 12+ inches! Earlier this week we were hit with the major snow storm that apparently struck most states from Nevada up to Wisconsin.

After the last flake fell and the sidewalk and driveway were shoveled, we bundled up aubrey for her second winter snow. Of course last year she could only crawl about this time, so her only experience in snow was in a sled with mom or dad pulling her around the yard. Now she was able to climb up and walk around in the frozen tundra that came up to her waist.


In photography news, I have finally completed editing our last photo session. We have one more family session next week where I will be traveling to Wausau, WI. Then we will be quiet for the holidays until an engagement session in Febraury down in Chicago. It will be nice to have a break, but I'd still be thrilled if anyone is interested in a winter photo session - or you live somewhere in a place down south and want to fly us down, that would even be better! : )

Before & After Tuesday #5

Welcome to a happy holidays version of Before & After Tuesday!

We spent 20 minutes the other night setting up for our Christmas picture in front of the tree. We set the camera on a tripod with a 10 second timer and used some off camera lighting. After getting our santa hats on and Aubs in her new holiday dress, we plopped down and started saying 'Cheese'. Aubrey has perfected her 'cheese' and loves to have her photo taken, even if no one is behind the camera! : )

Here is the straight out of camera shot:

I imported the image into Lightroom, lowered the exposure slightly, added some fill light, and boosted the contrast. After that I tossed the picture into Photoshop and touched up our skin slightly, then adjusted the saturation and color to warm it up slightly.

The final result is going to be our Christmas card for this year:

It's Potty Time!

I am dedicating todays post to my daughter and her growing victories on using the potty! At only 19 months old she is starting to get 'it'. So far today we are 2 for 2, which is awesome! This means diapers will be going away soon!

We got Aubrey a potty chair when she turned one and started getting her used to sitting on it right away. This past Monday we have started working with her more by removing the diapers during the day and putting her in training pants. At times it has been stressful and frustrating cleaning up accidents, but when there is a success, it makes it all worth it! And we are starting to get more in the potty than out as each day has gone by. Not to mention she is waking up with dry diapers, which is another sign that she is getting 'it'!

As every post needs a pic, here is one from this past summer taken with our point'n'shoot. It is aubs and her proud daddy at the Sun Prairie Corn Fest...

Portraits of Love - Double Post!

First up on today's double blog post for Portraits of Love is the Hutter family! Alice is the mom whose son is currently serving over in Iraq. It was nice to see the whole family come together for a portrait session that will get sent overseas! Even Norman the dog did a great job getting in on the action!

I always get this reaction from couples who have been together for many years when I ask if they still kiss and bring the romance! : )

Santa Norman!

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Next up on the Portraits of Love double blog post is the Nelson family! Meet Wendi whose husband Lucas is currently serving his second tour in Iraq. Hopefully these fun shots we took out at dusk time and indoors with their furry family will help bring a smile to his face.

Full Moon was as bright as the sun.

Wendi with Cooper & Kitty

And now for some candid shots I took which I love.

Here Wendi is getting ready to pose as Cooper sits in front of her wondering what she is doing...

Another favorite because of Kitty's face. Can you tell she likes scratches on her belly? : )

Before & After Tuesday #4 || Aubs 2nd Thanksgiving

Happy Tuesday everyone! Are you ready for another installment of Before & After? Well here goes...

Today's subject is one of those old time visual trickery boxes (not really sure the name). Essentially you look into it while holding down a button that spins these clown statues around while a strobe light goes off making it seem like they are juggling. I always thought these were neat until I saw the remake movie of The House on Haunted Hill and now they are just spooky. : )

Anyway, here is the Straight Out of Camera (SOC) shot.

In Lightroom2 I boosted the contrast and upped the Fill light; and that was pretty much it. Next I exported it to Photoshop and darkened the image using a multiply layer, then added a layer mask to un-multiply the center of the image where the clowns are. I did this to help bring draw the eye to the clowns in the middle. Finally I adjusted some colors and desaturated slightly using actions.

Here is the final image:

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This year was Aubrey's 2nd Thanksgiving. Of course we busted out the camera when she decided she wanted to play dress up with a silly oversized hat (for her) and sunglasses... Let the cuteness... begin!

August 1yr - Sneak Peeks

You may remember August from a few months ago when Nicole and I put on the Benefit for Rocco event for families and children to help the Meriter NICU. Well, August is back with his big blue eyes for his 1 year photographs! August turns 1 in December and he was as smiley and cheerful as I remember him. This time I went to his place to take photos around the yard. Big thanks goes out to his mom for helping reflect light and setting up awesome little staged props for August to interact with! Now, onto the sneak peeks...

Bond, James Bond...

I absolutely LOVED this little classic race car that went with his outfit perfectly!

On a side note: I would like to thank my lovely wife for filling in and throwing up some posts on the blog last week. I have been busy with editing and making some thanksgiving goodness. Thanks Nicole - Love you!

A day to be thankful

Throughout my life I've gone through the holidays and they've never really meant a whole lot to me. We go to someone's house and I see my parents, my brother and his family, my grandparents and other relatives. I always just felt you go through the motions. You sit, chat a bit, eat turkey and then pie. Soon after the pie is eaten everyone leaves to go their separate ways and go on with their lives. That has always been my holiday.

This year was different. Yes I got together with family, ate turkey and pie, and chatted a bit. Sure most people left after the pie was served. But this holiday has meant more to me than any other holiday to date. This was the year I truly felt the word FAMILY. With everything that has happened this year {good & the bad} it's always a blessing to see your friends and family by your side. They cheer for you when your up and put out a hand when you've been knocked down.

I looked up the definition thankful and it says: feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative. And THIS has been the year to be thankful. I would just like to express my gratitude this Thanksgiving to all of our family, friends, and clients. I appreciate everything you have done and for all that you will/may do in the future. You make what we do possible every day and we couldn't be more thankful!

Mike, Nicole & Aubrey would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! We wish you safe travels and more love then you think you need.

Santa's coming!.... I know him! I know him!

Yes folks, the holiday season is approaching fast! And 5th Street Photography has made your holiday shopping even easier for you --- we are now offering gift cards. Purchase a $25.00 gift card for only $20.00!! (This offer expires Dec. 24th) The gift cards can be used for photo sessions or print products.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone and a safe Black Friday!

Portraits of Love Session: Carter Family

I would like to introduce you to Samantha and her son Alexander. They gave us a call asking about photos after seeing us in the media for Portraits of Love. Samantha told me her husband Richard is currently deployed in Iraq for his first time and would love to send him a photo from home. He is expected to return this coming February, just a month shy of when his second child is to be born.

So I jumped in the car yesterday and drove out to Pardeeville, WI. When I got there I took the camera out and started taking shots as Alexander showed me his elmo, firetrucks, and v-tec toys. Then a noise would sound from the kitchen and Alexander would run into the kitchen excitedly, only to hear his mom say "No honey, that isn't daddy on the phone."

Uh, it broke my heart and made me happy all at the same time. I'm happy because Alexander is so excited whenever he gets to talk to his dad. But sad because it has to be rough being away from your family. That is the main reason Nicole and I wanted to help by joining up with Portraits of Love and offering this awesome gift!

Here are some sneak peeks of the Carter Family from Portraits of Love:

I LOVED how Alexander was so focused on Elmo!

Tickle Fight! : )
Samantha, Alexander and a little bun in the oven.
Alexanders dad is also a firefighter. You can tell he looks up to his dad by playing with firetrucks.