Starbuck, Morris, Child, Family Photographer: A sunny day on the lake

“I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore. . . .

I hear it in the deep heart's core.”

~ William Butler Yeats

Last week I got to spend some time in the afternoon with Lindsey and her little girl Emma on Lake Minnewaska. It was a gorgeous day on the lake, and Emma and her Mom had such a good time playing and exploring. It was Emma's first time to the lake and the beach, and judging by the smiles and laughs she had a blast. We were taking the session for a surprise Father's Day gift for Emma's Dad.

Thank you Lindsey and little miss Emma! I had so much fun capturing your afternoon. I hope your hubby loved the pictures.

Summer Light

"Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne."

~Barry Cornwall

There is nothing like summer light, especially in those golden hours near sunset.

Some more recent favorites..

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million".
~ Walt Streightiff

A summer night on the farm

Michelle is a good friend I met at work shortly after moving to Starbuck. When it was hard to adjust, I always looked forward to seeing her at work and talking about everything and anything. Over the last couple years we have become even better friends, and I had promised her a photo session with her hubby before I move back to Michigan next month.

It was a wonderful evening with magical summer light spent with two of the nicest people I know. I think the love is evident in the pictures. These two were meant for each other.










Oh, and Lucy too :)

Do what you love; and do it often.

I recently watched a small video from a workshop on CreativeLive(awesome site), run by a renown food photography, Penny De Los Santos. The question she was asking her students as she finished the last day of her workshop was,


"If you're not doing what you love, why not?"





Sometimes the only things standing between our goals and aspirations are ourselves. Instead of looking at something and asking "why", I now try to ask "why not". Fear of failure was something that held me back from putting my photography out there to be seen by the masses. What if it wasn't good enough? What if everyone hated it? But not once did I ask myself, so what if they hate it? Or better yet, what if I actually succeed and my clients love the results?

Moving forward with my photography business has been a huge leap of faith for me, forcing me to push past my comfort zone, believe in my creative eye, and trusting that I can capture moments that my clients will absolutely love. It has been so much more exciting and rewarding than I ever imagined, and I am loving the process, mistakes and all. Each new session I feel stronger in my skills, my confidence grows, and I feel content that I am doing what I love, and not for anyone but myself.

Loving the entire process, good and bad is what it is all about.

Shannon Tucker and Family, Morris Minnesota Family Photography, Morris Minnesota Child Photography

I got to spend yesterday evening with Shannon and her little family. We had fun playing at the UMM Gardens and I think we tired them out by the end of the shoot. Thank you Shannon!

Portfolio-Building Sessions Through June 2011

I will be continuing the portfolio building session for just one more month, so ...please contact me if you are interested! You get a 30-60 minute session, a disk of 10-15 fully-edited images to keep, in exchange for a model release so I can use your awesome shots in my portfolio.

This is good through the last week of June 2011.

Contact me if you are interested in setting up a session.

Email: sgough83@yahoo.com