At Last Images Blog

A little Swedish girl...

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Here is a cheerful little face! A gal I knew in High School had her little girl about a year ago. Look how happy she is! There are tons more just like this one! I can't wait for 2009 to be in full gear! :) Stay WARM!

New Studio Number!!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Since today's theme seems to be change...here is one for you to be aware of....

My land-line/studio line will no longer be available. Some of you may have already tried to get a hold of me here. I'm sorry if you couldn't get through. However, it just became a hassle when it would ring off the hook with solicitors (ick). I would miss calls when I wasn't home. Forget to check the voice mail. It was just too much. So a simple change is the name of the game. If you would like the new studio number please email me at atlastimages@gmail.com with NEW NUMBER in the subject line. :)

I just don't want to post the number here for the whole blogging world to see! Just for you special clients!

Thanks for your understanding!

Emily

a long awaited change....

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:54:00 +0000

and MANY MANY more to come!!
looking forward to hearing what you all think! i feel like I finally have a "logo" that I LOVE!

Sorry it's been so long....

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:21:00 +0000

But, I would say these images are worth the wait! :) Katy and John are friends of my sister Katelyn. They just got engaged and we did there engagement photos on Saturday. It was actually a pretty nice day. Gotta run so I can't type much but I will post a full update on where I have been soon..... K & J hope you like them!!!!

I know the "dip" photo will be hard for some people to like. But I LOVE it. I don't know why.... I just do. Love their faces, smiles, the brick, the color...Love it.

thank heaven for little girls!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:17:00 +0000

Today I was lucky enough to take photos of Landry Jane. She is the new little sister of Ford. You may remember Ford from another fun photoshoot last year (pictured below). We worked hard today to get these photos but they are so precious and SO worth it! Thanks for having me over! :)

Here is that photo of the cutie Ford - just for a little reminder! :)

A few things...

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:40:00 +0000

I am almost caught up. I know it probably feels like I have been saying that forever. Wait... I have been. I am so blessed to be busy and have awesome (and patient clients)! However, I feel like I can't catch up. I am trying to keep up with the editing and the emails and the yearbook due dates and new shoots. YIKES! I wanted to post a little news and whatnot to keep you in the loop. :)

1. I am only accepting a few more shoots for 2008! What but it's ONLY October you say?? I know... hard to believe but in order to get your photos taken and your gallery up and your photos printed and possibly even your cards we need all the time we can get!
BOOK YOUR SESSION NOW BEFORE IT'S 2009!

2. A new pricing guide will be released on December 1st in order to start booking for 2009. Many, many changes are coming so get excited! It's something you will treasure forever and won't be able to pass up. Trust me - it's worth it. :)

3. I know some of your have asked about Holiday Cards this year... I have a set of cards that will be released next week. Details to follow but here is a sneak peek!

4. I will be out of town/out of the office on the following dates:

Friday October, 24th - Monday, October, 27th
Monday November 3, 2008 - Monday, November 10th

5. I am also in a couple art shows this fall - so be sure to check back for dates or email me your address if you want a postcard and a little surprise!

That's all folks!! (said in the Loony Toons voice -- what's the pigs name??)

so sweet.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:38:00 +0000

This little guy was adorable. 9 months is the most perfect time to photograph a baby! They have their own little personalities and can move around a little - and give some of the best faces. It was a perfect night for photos and I'm loving what we got from the session. This little guy loves his Mom & Dad - LOTS! Thanks for having me to your home!
**(click on the photos to make the collage larger)**

i heart little baby girls <3

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:31:00 +0000

A long overdue update! Here is what I did today.... :)
After lots of rocking and lots of this little girl figuring out her tongue we got these cute photos.

UPDATE & A LITTLE NEWS!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:29:00 +0000

Alright so most of you know that it has been so insanely busy around here - which has been a blast! Thought I would give an update.

Here are when photos will be done:

Edina: done by this Friday the 19th. You will all receive an email with a password to your private online gallery where you can view and order photos.

This year Edina was my biggest rush school ... there are lots of them!! YAY! The downside is that they also have the earliest due date for yearbook photos. After all of those are done - it will be smooth sailing for the rest of the photos! :)

----

Now here is the news. I went to a workshop this past weekend where I learned SO much about photography as an art and as a business. Here are things that will be coming up this fall/winter....

- New pricing guide and packages - things that will make ordering your captured moments a breeze!
- What to wear guide - takes the struggle out of choosing that perfect outfit.
- Mini Sessions/Photo Parties - taking the stress out of photo sessions!
- Holiday Mini Sessions and Cards
- New booking process!
- New products!

So, there is the lowdown on what is happening on the brainstorming notepad of At Last Images!
Thanks for bearing with me this summer!

Until Next time...
Emily

day two. more secrets.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:13:00 +0000

SERIOUSLY?? DID I TAKE THESE PHOTOS??

I am not one to be like, "Hey...yeah I rock. And I know it." I am constantly feeling like I am not as good as the photographers I admire everyday and aspire to be like. But the things I have learned today - "workshopped" from 8am - 7pm -- have changed my viewpoint, my business frame of mind and my future goals. I am not going to go into a lot of detail now beacause I need to go to sleep, like 2 hours ago. But I couldn't go to bed without playing with these a little bit. I really miss shooting kids photos! So, today I got to shoot some kids they brought in...these are my faves on a quick run through of proofs. :)

LOVED IT. LOVED IT. CAN'T WAIT TO LEARN MORE! Tomorrow morning - back at the studio from 8-3 for major photoshopping lessons and demos. Then my flight it at 5ish. It's gonna be a crazy day!

Sorry for the crazy post. My mind is fried and is steaming from all the info! Let's just look at these ADORABLE kids!!

One not so great photo (my fault - bad settings on camera) of Cheryl at "work". In her white pants. ;) More on that later. She is an amazing person. :)

I probably won't blog tomorrow. :( I will on Monday night. I know I won't be able to stay away! See you all soon!

it's not a secret anymore...

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:12:00 +0000

HELLO!
I am in my hotel room in Boston - so excited, nervous, anxious and homesick (ok just a little), I just can't sleep! My mind is just flipping out with ideas, my to-do list and thoughts of what I will learn tomorrow!

I have told many of you that I am here in Boston for a workshop called "The Secret Workshop". The AMAZING Cheryl Muhr is the photographer that started this workshop. She is actually a Minnesota native! I knew she sounded "familiar" when she was introducing herself tonight!! I can't even begin to tell you how cool tomorrow is going to be! The reason that this workshop is called The Secret Workshop is that Cheryl literally shows and spills everything she does! To get "that" kind of photo! People that have attended this workshop in the past are here as staff/helpers. They said that once they got home their business went from 0-60 in a matter of months. YIKES! :) So, I am SUPER excited to get moving and to learn! I will post again tomorrow night! Until then - peruse the websites of Cheryl & The Secret Workshop and learn lots!

Here is a run down of what I did today...

Slept in - the beds in the hotel are amazingly comfy! I was exhausted from travel and staying up late last night working.

Walked to the mall in Natick. It had the most unbelievable Anthropologie. The people that worked there were even nice - which is a change from the Edina Anthro. Although the guy that checked me out couldn't believe we had an Anthro at home - where does he think MN is? Did he not watch TV during the RNC? We are not some country-bumpkin town! haha!

Anyway- then a car picked me up and took me to the Boston Common Gardens where I was walking around for a while and then met up with a fellow workshop attendee and her family for a quick shoot! You can visit her website at Sweet Pea Photography : click here!!! "A" has been a blast to hang with and her family is so nice and very cute! She reminds me a lot of my friend Sisa!

Before my walk into the Gardens I had lunch at the Cheers Bar!! No one knew my name though... :(

Here are some photos from my walk into the Gardens:

And then some photos from the family session in the park:

a little bit about me. outside my job.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:15:00 +0000

I saw this on Heather Cole's blog and thought I would post it here for you all to get a peek inside my life (other than photography). :)

I AM … lucky.
I WANT… be settled.
I HAVE … a wonderful best friend.
I KEEP … the faith.
I WISH I COULD …travel the world.
I HATE … being worried.
I FEAR … being alone.
I HEAR …only the fridge buzzing - nice to have it almost quiet.
I DON’T THINK … that life should be so complicated.
I REGRET … speaking before thinking.
I LOVE …being with people that I love.
I AM NOT … someone that will be bad. I would feel too guilty.
I DANCE …when given a glass or two of wine. ;)
I SING … in the car.
I NEVER …go a day without a diet coke. seriously
I RARELY … get up early. but I do stay up late.
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … a good chick flick. lately i've been crying at everything. ugg.
I AM NOT ALWAYS …on time. But I don't do it on purpose I am a horrible time estimator.
I HATE THAT … I don't make enough money to hire a full time assistant and that makes things move slower with my job.
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … how to make things better.
I NEED … a happy moment to bring me out of this blah feeling.
I SHOULD … be better at creating my own happiness.

Feel free to borrow and post somewhere else! It made me think about where I am right now and why I feel the way I do.

News coming in the next post....something very exciting! :)

Emily

Little Big Blue Eyes!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:46:00 +0000

I photographed this fun little guy last August and they called again this summer ... he has grown so much!
More to come later. :)

beware: longest post EVER!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

Well, I can't believe it but I am almost done with my BIGGEST rush ever! Since August 1st. I have 24 shoots (not including the 2 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, and 2 on Friday! YIKES!

So - I know I have been updating you on the progress of editing and I am going to continue to do that now. I am getting through them slowly but surely. I am doing them in the order I did the shoots (to be fair). I am guessing the week of the 8th I will be having viewing sessions. They will each be 30 minutes at the studio in Uptown. There is a chance I will have a Saturday for viewings all day. I haven't decided yet. For those of you that need photos by Oct. 1st.- have no fear it will happen. :)

Here are some recent ladies! All of them fabulous in their own way! Soooo excited for them all to be starting their senior year!

In no particular order - let's start with Ali...she had the cutest dresses!

Next...Brianna...she was so cute and giggly. Can you tell?? :)

Then there was...Kristina...it was pretty windy and hot but we had a blast! :) I actually liked her black dress so much I went to look at it but they didn't have my size. boo. haha!

And another Christina...she was such a sweet girl! She also has the most beautiful skin - so jealous! We even stopped for ice cream at Sebastion Joe's (my favorite) in the middle! YUMMY! :)

And last but not least... Caitlin - from today! :) First off the FABULOUS Christina came to do Caitlin's make up! Caitlin had some great clothes and a beautiful smile! She even goes to Minnetonka - my alma matter of course! :) It was a beautiful day and we got some super shots! Her Mom and little brother came along and I snuck a photo of him too! Hope that you like them Caitlin & gang! :) You were all a blast!

I can't believe how long this post was! :) I actually feel like I have been productive enough now to go to bed! Until next time....

new band! :)

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 05:49:00 +0000

Here is a little look at a new band in the Minneapolis area. They are called Silverness and will be playing somewhere near you soon! This is one of their promo shots we took the other day! LOVE the shadows in the water! This group was HILARIOUS! So much fun to work with - hope I get to again sometime soon!! :) More to come later...

my laptop is burning up!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:32:00 +0000

My "lap" is ON FIRE from working all night! YIKES! I have a brand spanking new iMac and I am working on my laptop! What is wrong with me?? Well - here is my reason - most of my stuff is still on my laptop. I can edit and work faster on it as well and with the amount of stuff I have piled up - speed is important!! So, anyway... this is why my lap is burning up - I have been working on it since 7pm and it is now about 12:30 am!!

Ok - to the point of this post!

Sally had her senior photo shoot a couple weeks ago and I put her images on a disc right away. However, I kept of leaving the discs at the studio! Every time i would sit down to edit I would be frustrated that they were sitting on my "other desk". UGG.
Finally today I put them in my bag right away!!

This shoot was lots of fun! We were in St. Paul at the boat house on the river and it was a beautiful day! Even though I had a tough time getting there - I got kinda lost - it was a blast once I got there and I love finding new places to shoot!

She is so darn cute - hope she likes 'em - cause I know I do! :)

There are no words....

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:55:00 +0000

....to describe the last two weeks! I am struggling each day to find the right way to describe to people how busy things are but, yet how totally, ridiculously cool it is that I am actually this busy! Just this last week I had 5 shoots!!!! One shoot everyday, except Wednesday (got rained out) so I had 2 on Thursday. YIKES! I work most of the day or do things around my house, run errands or whatever. Then I normally shoot starting around 3pm til 6ish. Finally make it home from the studio around 7pm. Then I relax for a bit - have dinner or go out for a little while to do something for me. Then....it's back to the grind. I break out the computers again and get to editing normally until 1 or 2 am. RIght now I have at least 10 shoots to edit. But it's not just editing... here is the basic run down of an average shoot:

photo shoot - 1-3 hours (depending on person and session type)

back up to external drive
burn disc of photos
go through 300+ photos, narrow down to 40-50(varies)
photoshop (this process can take a day or 2 weeks...)
back up edited photos
burn disc of edited photos
upload online gallery
put together 2 slideshows (can take a few hours)
burn slideshow disc
schedule viewing session
viewing session 30 mins
place client order
deliver order

However, you have to multiply this by 10 (and counting) plus scheduling new clients, marketing, blog updates, website updates (which definitely needs to happen), book keeping, taxes and maintaining relationships with vendors and clients.

I should mention to you I am not complaining - AT ALL. :) I am just explaining how there is MUCH, MUCH more involved in one single photoshoot - besides taking the photos. Plus, this is just work - I still have my personal life! haha!!

If you are waiting for your photos, waiting for me to call you back or schedule a shoot or a viewing session... please bear with me. I am working on getting things more organized so I can possibly hire someone to help me out. I'll keep you posted of course. But, for now I promise to get to you all soon! There are some days that I only have time to call at 11pm!

Apparently I found the words to describe how busy I am!! :) Wouldn't trade it though!

On a less "wordy" note - tonight I went through the last couple weeks of shoots (minus a couple that are on discs at the studio, those will come monday). Here the MAJOR photopalooza!!

More to come on Monday!!

It's OFFICIAL....

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000

My head is SPINNING! There are SO many seniors to post and edit I can't figure out which comes first.

So... here is one from last week. Jenny was so cute and pretty much willing to do anything (which is super fun for me) :) Even grabbing a chair out of a trash pile to use as a prop. Ended up lugging it back to the studio for future use! :) WOO HOO for FREE stuff! More seniors to come tonight..... keep checking the blog!!

This last photo is by no means perfect...there is a sun flare right in the middle of her face....but for some reason I really like it. I liked it right when I saw it in the camera. She has a really natural state about her in this photo and love the sunlight shining around her. Comments?? I really like to hear from you readers!! (HINT HINT)!!

Giggle Frenzy!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

Sophie was a FABULOUS trooper while trying to be "natural" in front of the camera! hehe. Right Sophie?! These turned out super cute and I can't wait for her to see them! We had so much talking about photography and were being totally silly and kinda loud in the alley. Oops. Then we found a super secret new spot to take photos... shh... don't tell! :)
Here is your sneak peek!

p.s. Your hair looks PERFECT Sophie! :)

I'm still here....

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:33:00 +0000

Hello! I am alive! :) I just have been SOOOO busy I can't even begin to tell you! Being busy is great - I mean all those days I was hoping that someone would call. Now I have so many people to call back I can't even get them all done in one work day! YIKES! I love having a shoot everyday but my creativity is being challenged. It has been really difficult but at the same time really fun. Here are a couple from last week.... more to come... and I mean LOTS more!

Oh yeah AND..... I got a new iMac so the transfer of all the photos, templates, actions and programs has been a HUGE hassle and has significantly slowed me down. So...for all of those waiting - THANK YOU! I want to get you your photos as soon as possible and trust me I am working and working on them! I haven't forgotten! If you are waiting on your images and had your shoot anytime before this past week (August 1-8+) you will hear from me early next week to set up a viewing session! YAY!

Em and Luke are twins! They were fun to hang with. Our shoot was an adventure...I got a parking ticket, the people from the bar near where I parked my car were giving me advice on how to not get a ticket and I ran into a guy I know from a SUPER great local band. Might not sound as chaotic as I type but it was a little crazy!

Christine you have the most beautiful eyes! Check out that sparkle!!

click-happy.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:04:00 +0000

I know "E" will be excited to see these! She was so excited to be having her senior pictures done! We had a lot of laughs and took a TON of photos!! I filled a whole cf card when I was out with her. I was in a "click happy" mood! :)

thank you.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:44:00 +0000

First off I have to thank Ally for the best blog comment! I love that she is so excited about her photos! So - just for that I will post a few more. I would have to say I am very proud of this shoot. Each time I learn something new - and I'm not sure what it was this tme...but it was something good!! :) So...here are some more! Oh yeah and I posted her comment below too! Thanks Ally!!

just another day... I have the BEST job!!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:18:00 +0000

SERIOUSLY!??? Another fabulous shoot today! I get so pumped about these photos that I can't help but share them right away! This sweet gal is from Wisconsin and her awesome Aunt fixed up the shoot! She is a beautiful senior and was so fun to work with!
She was up for anything and had a great smile! And.... I finally figured out what celeb she looks like!! A combo of Rachel Weisz and Mariska Hartigay - two amazing actresses! :) So..you may think I'm crazy and think "No way - this girl is way cuter (and way younger)!" but, seriously - there were moments where I thought I was photographing a celebrity! Just teasing...kind of. ;)

So...without further ado... Here she is...

hey dude.

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:31:00 +0000

This shoot was supposed to be on Saturday but it got rained out so we did a re-shoot on Sunday afternoon in Uptown. It was really HOT but thankfully there was a nice breeze. This was the first guy of the season and I think they turned out really really good!! I like the vest. :)

Photo Booth Inspired!

noreply@blogger.com (at last images) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:31:00 +0000

Love these sisters! :) This was towards the end of the shoot and they sure do know how to get goofy!