Steve & Kristina: Engagement Session

^When a Lion loves a Zebra... the proposal.

Nicole and I couldn't be more excited for Steve and Kristina's wedding next year! We met these two lovebirds at the Bishops Bay Country Club in Middleton for their engagement session - the same place they will be having their reception in 2011. Kristina is a personal trainer and Steve coaches football in IL. You may notice a Lion and Zebra in some of their shots - That is because Steve is known as the lion and they are going to be having some zebra prints with some awesome colors for their wedding. It will definitely remind me of Disneyworld!

Here are some sneaks from this past weekends shoot... enjoy!

Double Family session: Thao & Xiong

Double Whammy!

This past weekend I had the privilege of shooting not just one family, but two! Both families were a blast! We spent the early afternoon walking around Devil's Lake State Park finding just the right spots.

The Thao family drove down from Wausau, WI. Chao actually works with Nicole's mom which is how they discovered us.

The Xiong family came from Milwaukee, WI. The young man is in 6th grade middle school and was a huge help in being my temporary lighting assistant. Thank you everyone, I had fun!

Work and Play

^We are lurking out there in the shadows... Nicole during this weekend engagement shoot.

If you know us or at least follow us on Facebook or the Blog, then you are aware we have been low-key for the month of September due to the recent addition to our family. I say low-key because we are still hard at work behind the scenes - plugging away at changes for the upcoming web site and also trying to play catch up on all the wonderful weddings we were a part of earlier this summer.

But you will start to notice some new work coming out soon. This past weekend was a whirlwind of family sessions and an engagement session (sneak peeks coming later this week). You will also get to see some of our play time shots of Aubrey and Ella. Gotta keep the grandparents happy : )

^Self-portrait at a family session showing how to give a proper goofy face.

^Aubs rocking the pig tails as we met with clients to talk about their big day next week!

^Car seats = sleep time. Too bad they don't make an adult version.

No Sleep Till....

^Welcome to life at home in front of the camera Ella.

If you check the blog out on a weekly basis, you may have realized we haven't been updating it as much as usual. That is because our newest addition to the family - Ella - is still thinking night time is wakey wake time. So even though we are physically awake more hours of the day, our brains are not.

But the tide is starting to turn. Ella is starting to sleep a good 3 - 4 hours at a time which means we are feeling more refreshed! So what have we been doing other than spending some family time together? Mostly editing photos and working on getting the new site coded out (yes I program web sites in what little spare time I have : ). So stay tune for changes that are a coming. We start back up with engagement sessions, family sessions, and a few more weddings starting in October.

In the meantime, please enjoy what we do with our daughters dressed in tutu's, a sombrero, and our living room ottoman in the backyard...

^I think aubs eye's are even more blue than dads.

Welcome and Happy Birthday Ella!

^The newest member of our 5th Street Photography family - Ella!

Weighing in at 6lbs 13oz and at a length of 19 1/2 inches, Ella is born! It is so hard to believe it is actually here. But sure enough when we heard the first little cry of her entering the new world, mom and dad had teary eye's of joy as the doctor started to sing happy birthday. We are so incredibly happy and thankful to be so blessed with another healthy baby girl.

As I am still a bit sleepy, I will keep the rest of the wordy portion of the blog short. So onto the first pics. Ladies & Gentlemen, Nicole, Mike & Aubrey would like to introduce you to Ella!

^First family photo took place only minutes from Ella being born.

^First there is footprints, next is the mug shots : )

^6lbs 13oz, 19 1/2 inches long

^Dad and sister checking out baby Ella

^Grandma giving Ella some lovin

^Grand-'poppi' even turned his hat around, a rarity.

^Grandpa Dave getting a turn to say hi.

^yes, there will be much sleep for the first 24 hours, then cat naps.

^Aubrey showing everyone how to take pictures. Can you tell she is our daughter? : )

^And if photography doesn't work for Aubs, then it looks like she would like a career as a doctor.

Thank you everyone for the well wishes!

Love,

Mike, Nicole, Aubrey & Ella