After a really good game of phone tag, we finally connected to go over the session details and setup a time/place. I KNEW this was my kind of family when he said “Sunday would be perfect for us. We’re all going to wedding and the kids will be clean that day.” Loved that!!

When Chris and I originally spoke we talked about doing individual and group portraits in black and white. As this was what Chris and Patty specifically asked for, I wanted to make sure we started here.

*Complete Aside – This is one of my favorite images from the shoot! I know, I know, doesn’t exactly fall under the kids portrait category, but I love how Chris and Patty where totally game to help out.*

Then it was time for some color and fun! I had eyed up the ice cream truck when we pulled in and so wanted to incorporate it some of the images. Not only did we use the truck as a back drop but the driver also invited the kids in to sit in the window! Completely love how the colors of the girls’ dresses matched up with the colors on the truck.

Now before they were all whisked away to the wedding (and before the kids got dirty!) there was one last setting I wanted to use.  You see, the beach we were shooting on, White Sands, was the same beach I spent all the summers of my childhood.  Very, very little has changed.  The ice cream truck still parks in the same place and the changing rooms have never been updated (except for possibly a new coat of paint). So, for years, I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate the changing rooms into some images. Something about them just says White Sands Beach to me. I’m so very, very happy with the final images!

One week every summer my entire family converges on my parents’ house for a week of beach, lobster and boating. I grew up in a small coastal town in Connecticut, the kind of town whose population doubles in the summer months due to the influx of SPs (Summer People). This year, for the first time, we were pulled together from all over the country (IL, CO and MD), a last minute gathering at that.

There are certain traditions we maintain every year – going out on Dad’s boat, time at the beach and a lobster dinner. This year potty training Sanna, my Dad having surgery on both hands and a leaking A/C unit were thrown in for added fun! Seriously each one of these added events merits their own blog post but I’ll give you the highlights instead:

• Due to sleeping arrangements and the fact I was the last one to arrive I ended up sharing a room with Sanna. Every morning at 5:20 on the dot (I kid you not) I woke to Sanna yelling “Peeing! Peeing! Change! Change!” Yeah that was fun.

• Dad spent the entire week with hands straight up in the air in casts. He couldn’t tie his shoes, drive, etc… I walked downstairs one morning; he looked at me and said, “I think I have an eye infection…” I took him to the Dr’s for the umpteenth that week and sure enough he had an eye infection. The man was falling apart in front of our eyes!

• Now for the kicker. It was our last full day of being together. It was going to be a full day – visit Gram (Great Grandma) in the morning, beach in the afternoon with the kids (minus napping Sanna) and a lobster dinner in the rough to round the day out. The first two events of the day came off mostly without a hitch.

We knew we were pushing the limits of our stay at the beach. A major rainstorm was brewing just north and west but we decided to eek out every last second we could get. The skies opened as we were racing to the cars but the real fun began when we got back to the house. My sister Katie met us at the door with the news of a major leak in one of the bedrooms. You guessed it, mine and Sanna’s. I went racing upstairs to move anything (clothes, cameras, etc…) that might be in the way and encountered a running stream of water pouring out of the ceiling and just missing my bed.

Here’s roughly the timeline of what happened next: Dad in the attic trying to find the source; Mom calling the A/C guy who had been there just last week for the other A/C; Dad enticing Paulie (family friend) with beers to stay and be his muscle guy (remember Dad still has two casts on); kids running up and down the stairs shouting updates and wanting to check out the attic; numerous trips to the garage for the right tool(s); the boys ‘helping’; someone literally sucking on a pipe (sorry no images here!); people staged at various levels of the house playing telephone – “Turned it on!”, “It’s on!”, “On!”; finally being told they ‘think’ they fixed it but the true test would be if I woke up in a puddle of water or not – wonderful…

Needless to say, we didn’t make it out to the restaurant for dinner that night. We did the next best thing and ordered in 7 lobster dinners, 2 steamed clams and 1 order of mussels. Just as we were walking up to the pick up window, my sister Sara and I overheard a guy in the kitchen say, “I really hope this order comes to pickup. This is a lot of lobster…” Ye of little faith!! He obviously had no idea the depth of the Sjursen family obsession with lobster! Not even a damaged, flooded house would get in our way!!

And finally some images of the kids at the beach!

The main players – Dorrie, Kai and Cooper

Chill’n

Mmmm – sand….

Kai making friends.

Sign we may have stayed to long and the mad dash to the car!

Sanna cuddling with her mom just after her nap.

]]> http://lilbludragonfly.com/2010/08/potty-training-lobster-and-leaking-ac-units/feed/ 1 http://lilbludragonfly.com/2010/04/come-out-and-play-with-me/ http://lilbludragonfly.com/2010/04/come-out-and-play-with-me/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:34:57 +0000 Jennie http://lilbludragonfly.com/?p=963

And bring your dollies three!

As I don’t have a studio (all of my work is purposely done on location) traditionally my portrait season here in Connecticut kicks off mid to end of May.  We usually don’t have the type of Spring to write home about around here.  It’s cold and damp, with a few beautiful sunny days thrown in to trick us into thinking this year we’ll finally have a real Spring!!

I’ve always heard Spring just a few 100 miles south is a beautiful thing – cherry blossoms and flowering gardens.  After shooting still lifes and The Extraordinary Funky Chicken this winter I’m itching for squishy faces and sticky fingers!  I so want to go out and play that I’m beside myself with the thought of waiting 3-4 weeks to have some fun!  This got me to brainstorming on how to make the time go faster.

As many of you know I now split my time between Baltimore and Connecticut.  I’ll be in the Baltimore area the week of April 18th and experiencing my first “Southern” Spring (so excited to spend some quality outdoor time!).  Contact me (443-353-9211) between now and April 16th, book a session the week of the 18th and I will reduce my sitting fee to $225.  I’m booked solid the following two weeks on commercial shoots and can only make this offer for the week of April 18th.  Won’t you come out and play with me??

I’m doing a little spring cleaning and getting ready for the 2010 portrait season.  In the next week I’ll be clearing all 2009 portrait sessions off of my computer.

Immediately after a session, I archive all images onto two sets of DVD’s (one in house, one out) and an external hard drive.  I also keep a working set on my computer.  As always, you can order at any time, but once the working sessions are cleared off the computer there may be a longer completion time to delivery as I will have to search and re-upload the files from your session.

It always seems Murphy’s Law rears it’s head around these decisions.  The minute I clear all the images you know I’ll get a call for an order!! Happens every time…  In an effort to stop Murphy in his tracks I decided to run a spring sale BEFORE I touched anything!! Order any albums, prints, storyboards or canvases between now – April 2, 2010, and next friday – April 9, 2010 and I’ll take 25% off of your entire order!

Happy Spring Everyone!!

I’ve also posted a few more images to the Lil Blu Dragonfly Facebook Fan Page in the album Gators Hockey.   Gator Girls – take a look, become a fan and tag yourself to share with friends and family!

*Parents* – if for any reason you’d like me to take down an image – either here or on Facebook – let me know and I will take it down immediately!

This January I went to a photo seminar in Mystic, CT – Mystic 5 – where I heard the fabulous David Williams speak.  He asked a question of the audience – “Think of a loved one.  Do you have every photograph you could ever want of them?”  This question reminded me again of my Grandmother.

You see my Grandmother was the champion of all my dreams.  I was able to be an exchange student to NZ because of her and go to photography school.  She bought me a brand new 501c Hasselblad to take with me – a film camera I will never part with!  She loved art and film and we would make dates to go see the latest art/foreign film release.  David’s presentation helped me remember these wonderful things about her and reconnect with some of the reasons why I became a photographer.

Two of the first images I ever took with the 501c were of my Grandmother sitting in my parents living room.  Portraits were very important to her.  She dressed up, put makeup on and donned earrings for this sitting.  Interestingly enough it’s one of the few times she’s not wearing the ring.  I love these two images.  Of all the images I’ve taken they rank amongst my most favorite.  To me they are the complete essence of my Grandmother and how in my mind she still lives.  So with this post I honer her – the woman who was always the champion of all my dreams.

]]> http://lilbludragonfly.com/2009/11/lifestyle-family-portraits-of-the-b-family/feed/ 0 http://lilbludragonfly.com/2009/07/will-and-stephen/ http://lilbludragonfly.com/2009/07/will-and-stephen/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:40:25 +0000 Jennie http://lilbludragonfly.com/?p=257 Now for something different from me – senior (high school senior that is) work.  I had the opportunity to photograph 2 brothers.  Their mom wanted a classic portrait of them individually to mark this time in their life.  I started talking to Dave (co-owner of Strawberry Road) about not only doing the traditional portraits but creating some images that the guys would totally be into.  When I called to confirm our shoot date I asked Will to think about what type of image he wanted and would totally rock his world and to have Stephen do the same.  I’m very very happy with what we all created!! First up the traditional head shots.

Will

Stephen

Will has a collection of Japanese swords and is going on an exchange to Japan in the near future.  Combine that with his love of Kill Bill movies we were inspired to create these images!

Stephen is really into music and playing trombone which inspired us with an old jazz type feel.

After the shoot Dave and I talked about doing something really fun and unexpected for the guys and what we came up with was poster for Will and an old time album cover for Stephen.

Thanks so much Will and Stephen for going along with us!!

What a silly, happy face – love it!

I love this image – she looks like she is having all sorts of happy thoughts!

Seems I tired her out!  She had no interest in sleeping until the very end.

I absolutely love this image!!