Studio Noveau Blog

First it was going to rain.

Then it was going to thunderstorm.

Then it was *maybe* going to rain.

SO… we ultimately decided we’d just keep Tricia and Dustin’s engagement session scheduled, rather than try to reschedule.  And, of course, the weather was AWESOME!  I love when things work out.  :)  And here are just a few of the photos from their session in Viroqua!  (Let me point out, dear readers… I am trying desperately to keep up on blogging in a timely fashion.  It’s one of my 2010 goals!)

Tricia and Dustin, I’m looking forward to your wedding in La Crosse soon!  I had a blast working with you guys!

Happy 2010, Everyone!  If you’ve been a loyal blog or Facebook follower of Studio Noveau for any amount of time, you may have learned a few things about me.

1. My husband just got back from Iraq on December 23.  (Yay for fun surprise Christmas presents!) The photo below is my hubby during his 2005 deployment.



2. I’m actually a U.S. Navy veteran myself, as I mentioned a few posts ago.  (I get seasick.  Blech.) The photo below is me and some of my Navy buddies almost 8 years ago.  Can you pick me out?



3. One of my volunteer activities is working for Operation Love Reunited as a volunteer photographer for deploying or returning military and their families. You can view a sample session by clicking here.

So… this leads me to the purpose of this post.  :)  Several of my clients have been or are currently in the military, and I pride myself on trying to be as military-friendly as possible.  So because of that, I’ve decided to make one very important change, starting in 2010.  Studio Noveau now offers a military discount!  After speaking with a new client a few days ago and learning that many photographers don’t offer military discounts, I’ve decided to make my discount public!  :)  After all, I truly believe that our military and their families are truly sacrificing themselves and years of their lives for us, the American public.

Here are the details:

• This discount is good for 10% off any session.  Yes, this even applies to wedding packages!  And to go a step further, you may qualify for a FREE Op:Love portrait session.  (Please contact me for more details to see if you qualify for the free session.)
• There are NO blackout dates.  The only restrictions on dates are if I am already booked or simply cannot fit your session into my schedule.  Typically, I book weddings and portrait sessions on a first-come, first-served basis.
• This discount doesn’t apply to prints, albums, or canvases.

I hope you are as excited as I am about this.  It’s nice to be able to show appreciation for something so important!  Have a great day!

Let me tell you something you may not know about me.  I’m a veteran.  Yup, I spent 5 years in the good ol’ US Navy and it was a fantastic time of my life.  I met some wonderful people and saw a lot of the world.  During that time, I spent months and years at a time away from family and friends,  so I relied on pictures to help get me through those lonely stretches of time.

Some of you know that my husband is currently in Iraq and has been there since May.  When I met him, he was home on leave from his first Iraq deployment.  We kept in touch with emails, phone calls, letters, and photos.  It’s safe to say that we fell in love during that deployment.

So, long story short, when I first heard of a volunteer organization called OpLove, or Operation Love Reunited, I knew I had to take part with this group as a veteran, a military wife, and someone who feels that family is such an important part of anyone’s life, especially those service members that  sacrifice so much.  What is OpLove, you ask?  Basically, volunteer photographers donate their time to give a deploying or deployed service member a free photo session.  It can be taken of the entire family prior to departure, of the family while their service member is deployed (and a copy of the photos are sent to the deployed person right away), or the photographer can capture the highly emotional homecoming when the family sees their soldier for the first time in months or even years.

When Stephanie contacted me, I instantly knew I wanted to work with her and Brian.  Their story was so much like mine and Ben’s.  They had been married a year (exactly) by the time our session rolled around, and they’d been apart for most of that year.  It’s safe to say this was a very emotional session for me: I got a little weepy just taking their pictures.  When I started editing them, I definitely had tears in my eyes!  Part of the reason this affected me so much is that Brian’s leave coincided very closely with Ben’s first visit home in months, so we knew we had to make this session happen in our one day window or it wouldn’t happen.  One thing she said that I absolutely relate to is “Our vacation is most peoples’ every day life”.  That is such a profound statement as most of us take so many things for granted.  Stephanie and Brian have both made so many sacrifices in their short married life.

Stephanie and Brian, I hope these last few months fly by for you!  Thank you for letting me share such a precious time during your vacation together.

Once upon a time lived a girl named Amanda. And she fell in love with a boy named Ross. They got married. I was lucky enough to be able to be there and take pictures of their day. It was wonderful.

Ceremony: St. Mary’s in Viroqua
Reception: Pedretti’s Party Barn, Viroqua

I started out the day with the girls as they got ready at the church. My awesome second shooter, Jen, joined me and started out with the guys. While the girls were doing this:

The boys were doing this:

(Two above photos taken by the amazing Jen.)

We did some separate group shots. While we did some at the altar of the church, I just really liked these ones with the stained glass window:

I love this one of Amanda and her parents, and of Father Cook at the altar. (Next two taken by Jen, the rest by me.)

We headed to the park and local jail for pictures. No, it wasn’t a currently functioning jail… it was the historic (very cool looking) jail building that is currently used as offices. But I still liked it.



Here’s that jail! Notice the bars on the windows…

After a quick stop at Chaser’s for a celebratory cocktail, we all headed out to Pedretti Party Barn. I love this place… cool old barn, vineyards, and good times for all.

I love cool ring shots, and every wedding I try to get something fun and different. What do you think?

Does this shot look familiar? It’s the color version of the image that won third place in the recent “Best of Wedding Day” contest.

Several weeks ago, I entered this photo in the Modern Photographers “Best of Wedding Day” contest.

A little background on Modern Photographers: to become a member, a photographer must apply and be judged by a panel of peers. They must uphold high standards, shoot with professional quality equipment, have full backup equipment, and more. The photographer’s style must all be considered “modern”. Earlier this year, I applied for membership and was accepted! That acceptance made me the second photographer in the state of Wisconsin to be considered a “Modern Photographer” so I was pretty excited.

Well, a few weeks ago, Modern Photographers announced a photo contest. Those of you who are Facebook fans of Studio Noveau may remember me posting about this. As I mentioned above, I submitted the photo of Ross and Amanda from their wedding in Viroqua at Pedretti Party Barn (and vineyards). Today I received an email… not only did this photo place in the top 10 of all submissions, it actually took THIRD place! Hooray!

Thanks to all my fans, family, friends, and clients who voted for me, and special thanks to Ross and Amanda for being so wonderful to work with on their wedding day!  I’m honored to have your support, and so excited to have placed third in this national contest!

Continuing the series… here is another video, this time from last weekend’s engagement session with Ashley and Joe. They drove down from Minneapolis / St. Paul and we met up in Viroqua for their totally awesome session. We were able to hit up Main Street and some super secret locations: alleys, graffiti walls, hidden courtyards, and even a local vineyard! I’m really looking forward to their wedding next summer.

Thanks to Ron for acting as videographer and second photographer. I love when we are able to capture some video footage plus the pictures from the session in one of these fun little videos!

Make sure to leave a comment! Let me know what you think of the video or leave some well wishes for Ashley and Joe!

Don’t forget- for firsthand sneak peaks, make sure to become a fan of Studio Noveau Photography on Facebook!

This post is part 2 in a couple ways:

1) I already posted a preview of a preview

AND

2) I’m going to start their official preview with their reception.  Mostly because I love their venue and they were so much fun, but also because it was hard to narrow down favorites!

So I give you: Heather, Brandon, and families… at The Pedretti Party Barn in Viroqua.  Seriously, how wonderful is this place?  It has a vineyard, a cool old barn, beautiful scenery, and even an old stone church across the road.  Photography heaven.  

 And one last final shot… just because I love this one!

First of all, Happy Birthday Heather!  

Heather and Brandon were married yesterday and had the most fabulous country wedding!  I loved their reception venue, the quaint Pedretti’s Party Barn in Viroqua.  Not only was it charming and rustic, it had a vineyard and some great details!

I’m not quite ready to post a preview BUT I couldn’t let this birthday girl/bride have her first day of wedding bliss without seeing a picture of their special day.  Well, maybe two pictures…  more to come soon!  

AND their 22 person wedding party.  That is an all-time record for me for the largest wedding party… but they were a blast to work with!

Don’t forget to check back in the next few days for more images!

What a great wedding!  Yesterday I headed to Coon Valley for Kathleen and Gregg’s wedding ceremony and then to La Crosse for the reception.  Today I’m off to Elkader, Iowa for Megan and Curtis’ wedding but I first wanted to post one fun photo montage from Kathleen and Gregg’s day.  The details were amazing!  So I created an ode to K & G… the real preview will follow in the next few days.  Enjoy, and check back soon for more photos!

Occasionally I get requests from a couple that is already married but would like some “engagement-style” photos.  So what would you call those?  I’ve heard the term “Connection Session”, so I’m going to start using that term.  

Anyway, my good friend Mandie (fellow photographer and owner of Red Gecko Studio in Madison) and her husband drove out to Gays Mills last night for some fun portraits.  It was a blast!  They brought their two dogs, a pug and a French bulldog, and a willingness to try anything.  The really great thing was we did a portrait swap.  It’s not often that photographers get pictures taken of themselves, so I took advantage of Mandie’s amazing talent to get some shots of my husband and I. So here are Mandie, Eric, Panda, and Fifi:

I loooooooove off-camera lighting, and it was so much fun to use it at night!  (And of course, sparklers are always fun.)

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes shot for you!  We got into a shoot-out! 

I just love this one I grabbed of my husband while we were between shots with Mandie and Eric (but don’t tell him I posted it here!)

That’s all for now!