Hope for Kasia

Welcome to February and my goal of writing a blog post every M-F from now until October!

To start things off, I wanted to talk about the Hope for Kasia event Nicole, Aubrey and I attended this last weekend. One of the families we took photos for back in 2009 were putting together this event to help raise money for a baby girl they were adopting. When we found out about it, we jumped at the chance to donate our talent to help capture this all the love they received. Krysia and Guy had a wonderful turn out of many friends and family who came, bowled, had caracutures done and won fabulous raffle prizes. We were glad to be a part of it and wish the Strattons all the best as their family grows!

New job & Winter Landscapes

I have not been updating the blog as of late. You can say I'm getting ready to save all our material for when I start my goal of blogging every M-F starting February until the end of October. That means I will be

Another reason I haven't been updating the blog lately is due to my new 9-5 job I started last week. When we started 5th Street Photography, I was working in IT for 11 years at the same company. Then early 2009 my position was eliminated along with some others; so I pursued photography full time and helped Nicole out with 5th Street Child Care. Well, with the economy not being the greatest and me wanting to meet our goal to provide decent package prices, I decided to get back into the work force. So I accepted a position with a bank where I will be doing operational and IT duties.

What does this mean for 5th Street Photography? It means we will still be able to provide our competitive prices which people have liked about us, and that I will be able to do more photography than when I was at my last IT job. The bank is a strict M-F job with no on-call support; therefor all my weekends are free for weddings, family or children portraiture. If you have questions about this new change, feel free to email us or comment on the blog or on our 5th Street Photography facebook page!


Today's blog pics are some landscape pictures I took last weekend. Landscape photography was the original hobby that got me to pick up my first camera. So here are some early morning shots near the Wisconsin River after the prior days fog frosted onto the tree's making them a pearly white.

Sauk-Prairie is known for it's Bald Eagle watching days. This is the time of year when eagles flock everywhere looking for food.
Frosty
A very calm Wisconsin River.
How many Bald Eagles do you see in this shot?


If you are interested in seeing more of my scenic landscape shots from last weekend, check out our 5th Street Photography facebook page!

Retro post

Time to fire up the flux capacitor and take a trip in the way back machine!

Nicole does a fantastic job of updating our 5th Street Photography Facebook page. One of the comments that came across from our friends was to post our baby pics. So Nicole and I did some digging and found a bunch of our old photos. We haven't done any touch ups to these, they are shown as the actual photo looks. I figure so many photographers these days add textures, so why not leave the original scratches and dirt on there : )

And now, here is Baby Nicole:

Here is Nicole blowing whistles with her little brother Josh.
She is so adorable! I think Aubrey gets her good looks from her mom.
Halloween with her little brother Josh beneath the cookie monster mask.
One of Nicole's favorite photos. Doesn't she look like Walter Matheau in this picture?

And now here are some shots of baby Mike:

Check out the plaid! : )

I hated having my fingernails clipped.
Nicole swears I look like Aubrey in this shot.
Yup, pretty proud of my slide.

If you are on Facebook and haven't become a fan of 5th Street Photography, look us up! We usually post more photos on our facebook pages than what we put on the blog.

Randomness of Aubreyness with point'n'shoot

Greetings and happy 2010 blog readers!

The holiday season is typically slow for photographers. It is usually the time we spend with our families and think about the upcoming year. Our forthcoming year is shaping up to be fantastic! We already have several weddings and family sessions booked; and so far we will be participating in at least a couple more benefits and charities in 2010. As always, we are committed to helping others in the community and providing the best possible friendly and professional service to you. If you are interested in our photography and want to know more, feel free to give us a call or send us an email!

And as every post needs a pic, here are a few of our daughter we took with our point'n'shoot during the holiday. Don't underestimate the point'n'shoot - the ability to bring it wherever you go makes it a great tool for documenting the small things in life - like trips to the store, going on walks, or wherever life takes you...

Chillin at Culvers getting some frozen custard after seeing the holiday lights at Olin Park in Madison.

Retail stores can be super fun if there are hats to try on..

Aubs sayin "I make this look good!".

On our way home Aubs fell asleep, clutching her cup in her arms.

I'll be updating the blog more frequently starting in February. My goal this year is to do a blog post every M-F starting Feb into Nov! So expect some pretty interesting posts when I'm not talking about photography, sharing our knowledge and experiences, or talking about our family happenings.

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.

-----------------------------------------------------

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! : )