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!

Freezing. Kelly and Cody’s engagement session was bitterly cold! We met in the historic downtown La Crosse and wandered around for a bit shooting pictures. I loved the early morning light, and even all the fog that was floating around. After a brief warm-up at Jules Coffee Shop, we finished up at the blue bridge across the Mississippi River. Anyway, enough talking- I know you are here for pictures!

I instantly knew how much I liked them when Cody suggested shooting in the parking garage. That is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while! (Yes, I’m sure you are rolling your eyes. Um, don’t ask… maybe it’s just one of my quirks.)

Kelly and Cody, I can’t wait for your wedding day!

Aileen and Mike had an absolutely beautiful wedding in downtown La Crosse. Gorgeous venues, gorgeous couple, and lots of fun details! I’ll let their photos speak for themselves.

Little kids with bubbles make me smile.


Okay, maybe it’s not just kids. Bubbles make me smile.

We headed over to Pettibone Park with the wedding party for some fun shots. This next one was completely posed, but it completely cracks me up!

The reception was at The Waterfront in downtown La Crosse. Love that place!

The End!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I’m pleased to announce a fun and exciting event….

A Sassy Boudoir Marathon Event!

If you aren’t familiar with boudoir photography, imagine tasteful, artistic portraiture that shows off the beauty of your body.  You can view examples on my boudoir website, a join venture with friend and fellow wedding photographer, Mandie.  Our website can be found at www.sassyboudoir.com, or by clicking here.  A boudoir photo session makes a great gift for your groom on your wedding day, celebrating an anniversary or milestone, or just because.

Choose from TWO great dates/locations.

1. Join Mandie on January 16th at her new studio near Madison or
2. Join Rebecca on January 23 in downtown La Crosse.

Your mini session includes 30 minutes of shooting, a private online gallery to view your images, and a 5×7 folio with your two favorite images to give that special guy.  This Valentine’s special is all yours for only $100!  A very limited number of sessions will be booked, so book now!

SPECIAL: refer a friend for the La Crosse date and you’ll both save $20 on your session fee!

For only $75, upgrade your two-image folio to a 10-page mini album! Show off up to 20 of your lovely images in this portable little album that he can carry in a suitcase or stash in his nightstand drawer.

To confirm your session or get more details, contact Rebecca (rebecca@studionoveau.com)!

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!

I adore this engagement session. It took a while to schedule it and pick out a location (Viroqua vs Madison), but we made it happen! After starting out at The Union, we walked all the way up State Street, and ended at The Capitol building. Love love love these photos!

This one is one of my favorite engagement photos of the entire year!

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.

Wow.  When I announced the photo session giveaway contest, I didn’t expect that choosing a winner would be so difficult!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  There were 22 comments entered, and it was difficult narrow it down to even the top five entries!  But… I did it.  Drumroll, please!

The winner is… Angela and Ben!  Here is Angela’s entry:

• I think it could be awesome to do a high fashion photo shoot at a Christmas tree farm.  Ben in a full Tuxedo (along with bow tie) carrying an axe and chopping down a tree. I would be in a formal evening gown… I’m thinking black satin and lots of sparkles! I’d wear a lot of over the top accessories and jewelry, a faux fur coat, and faux fur boots. We’d bring our dogs, and we’d stomp around in such a juxtaposition that I think the pictures could be awesome! I keep thinking this could be great for our Christmas card this year! And we’d probably get some really awkward looks romping around in formal attire, followed by a photographer, and chopping down a tree.

As I was reading her entry, I kept thinking how fun this particular session sounded, and getting all these great visuals in my mind of what the pictures would look like.  Congratulations, guys!

Because there were so many great entries, I decided I couldn’t give away just one session.  Though it was hard, I narrowed down the list to four additional sessions that really showed some creativity.  This is where you all enter the picture.  Please vote on the “People’s Choice” award by leaving a comment below.  The entry with the most comments below will win a free session as well!

So?  What do YOU all think?  Please comment below with the name of the girl you think should win the People’s Choice session!

Thanks again to everyone who entered. This was an extremely difficult decision and so many of you had wonderful ideas!

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!