Krysten Halek Photography | Minneapolis Children's Photographer http://www.krystenhalek.com/ en Copyright 2010 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:13:59 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification things that make me happy | ice & the smell of fall What has made you happy the past couple of weeks? Here are a few of mine...

lars and the real girl | this movie is perfection. I watched "lars and the real girl" (again) recently and it gets me every time I see it (and I've seen it a lot). This one definitely makes the "favorite movies" list. Have you see it yet? Go and add it to your Netflix queue right now -- and move it to the top! Here are two of my very favorite scenes:

lars_blog.jpgice | anyone who knows me well, knows that I love ice. Not the kind that you skate (or slip) on. The kind that comes in wonderful little cubes. In water, diet coke, orange juice, etc - I love it! I can never have too much ice. I'll actually order a larger size at the ballpark or movies so that I can have lots of ice (and still have enough diet coke). A simple pleasure. Thankfully I don't have any issues with sensitive teeth. So for now, lots of ice please!

kittens | I'm good with the two I have, but that doesn't stop me from oohing and awing over other's kitties. This past weekend I met my mom's new kitty. He is such a cute, sweet kitty. If I didn't already have a full house, I would have been tempted to sneak him in the car. His name is Niblet. Isn't he cute?!

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niblet_090510_05-Edit.jpgthe smell of fall | you can't describe it, but you know it when you smell it. It makes you want to open the windows and feel the breeze, wear jeans and a sweatshirt (and socks), put a blanket on the bed, and start thinking about all the things you can make (and eat) with pumpkin! :) I'm not ready for winter coats, but I'm definitely ready for fall.

]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/09/things-that-make-me-happy-ice-the-smell-of-fall.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/09/things-that-make-me-happy-ice-the-smell-of-fall.html personal Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:13:59 -0600 the other (furry) family members I don't get to do these types of sessions too often, but I do love them. For you pet people, you get it. These furry beings are a part of the family. We love them. And wow do they love us. It makes me happy when I get to capture some of that love. Here are a few pages from Sarah & Isabel's proof album. :)

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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/09/the-other-furry-family-members.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/09/the-other-furry-family-members.html families Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:15:17 -0600 a perfect evening An amazing night at the State Fair Grandstand with Brandi Carlile. She is truly awesome and I can't imagine growing tired of seeing/hearing her live. With all my Brandi postings, have I not convinced you yet to see her? :)

The lighting on the stage was dark. Really quite dark. And just not well done (lots of dark eyes). When I first looked at these images on the computer I wasn't feeling it. But then I introduced my best friend "black and white" to the images and bam... the feelings I had last night at the concert came rushing back. Feelings I'd like to bottle for those not-so-great evenings. So while these images maybe aren't perfect (most shot at ISO 3200, 2.8, 1/200), I'm kind of digging them.

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Amos Lee was such an added bonus to the evening. He opened and then came on for a song with Brandi. This guy feels his music. Kind of addicted to his song "Careless" right now after hearing it last night.
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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/a-perfect-evening.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/a-perfect-evening.html personal Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:45:08 -0600 kind of how i'm feeling although less cute. and less furry. :)

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* all images copyright krysten halek photography -- please do not save, print or post any images from this site without permission *
]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/cuteness-x-2-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/cuteness-x-2-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html babies kids Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:44:42 -0600 fun in the humidity | minneapolis children's photography Each summer I totally look forward to my session with Leo and Norah. I just adore these two. They are super cute and have the cutest little personalities. So fun. This summer, the morning of their session it was like a billion percent humidity. Seriously. But so worth it to get these images! :)

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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/fun-in-the-humidity-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/fun-in-the-humidity-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html kids Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:04:06 -0600 things that make me happy | michael cera & baby giraffes I'm back for my second installment of "things that make me happy". I think I'm going to try and post this every two weeks. I realize (at least so far) that it makes me pause to think about the past two weeks. It made me remember moments (some included here), that I think I would have forgotten and not appreciated them for what they gave me.

michael cera | my love affair with Michael Cera began years ago with "Arrested Development". My experience has been that you either love or hate this show. (I just have to think about the cornballer and I start laughing.) And then there was Michael Cera in "Juno" (sigh). And most recently "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". I have to say I thought this movie was super funny. But, for me, Michael Cera can pretty much do anything and I think it's funny.

playing puppets with my niece | last week Jocelin and I got someplace early (story of my life!) and so we had some time to pass (in the car). I had my camera bag, which meant I had my finger puppets and she suggested we play puppets. So we selected puppets like team captains and gave them names (Jos: flutter, pancakes (best name ever!) and pancho; me: molly, nugget and cece). What I loved most about this... it was a much needed reminder to use our imagination more. Kids tap into their imagination in a split-second. Granted, as adults, maybe it isn't always appropriate to break out the puppets when we have some extra time to pass. But how often do we use that time to do something practical or maybe even mindless. Next time try tapping into your imagination and see where it takes you.

puppets_blog.jpgice cream | ok, so I wish ice cream didn't make me happy. But the reality is, it makes me happy. Why can't broccoli or peas make me happy?! A couple of weeks ago, Jocelin and I went to Izzy's for some ice cream. Salted Caramel. Midnight Snack. Lemon Custard. Oreo. So many "happy" options. But really, the best part was (again) seeing Jocelin's excitement over the "izzy" - she thinks it's the coolest. Don't know about the "izzy"... well, I've just given you an excuse to get some ice cream. :)

baby giraffes | how can you resist a baby animal. So when I heard there was a new baby giraffe at the Como Zoo, Jocelin and I had to go visit him. It's so little and so cute. I've never really appreciated how grand giraffes are, until you see a baby next to an adult giraffe. And you don't realize how little the baby is until you see it next to it's mom. It's worth a trip to the zoo...

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What made you happy recently?

]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/things-that-make-me-happy-michael-cera-baby-giraffes.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/things-that-make-me-happy-michael-cera-baby-giraffes.html personal Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:43:10 -0600 a sneak peek | twin cities children's photography I'm editing this session and wanted to share a quick sneak peek. As I look through the images from this session some make me laugh (really laugh), some make me smile (smile big), and some sneak up and cause a heart reaction (for lack of a better way to describe it). I love that feeling when your head is completely not involved and your heart (or body or spirit or whatever you want to call it) just somehow knows it's special. Often the feeling just sneaks up on you when you might least expect it - I think those are the times to really pay attention. This image, for whatever reason, my heart liked. A lot. Many more coming from this session. Until then, Happy Friday! :)

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minneapolis_children's_photography_f001_158.jpg... and look at them now! In some ways 3 years doesn't sound that long, but looking at these images... well, look at the changes. We've had other sessions between these, but when we met a few weeks ago the kids seemed to have grown so much. One of the reasons I'm in love with photography is because it gives me this amazing opportunity to preserve those moments that inevitably change because time inevitably keeps moving forward. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, here they are now, in 2010. :)

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* all images copyright krysten halek photography -- please do not save, print or post any images from this site without permission *

]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/charlie-anna-jack-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/charlie-anna-jack-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html kids Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:48:51 -0600 happy birthday mom I was thinking the other day how when my mom was the age I am right now, that she had a 15-year-old (me), plus my younger brother and sister. I cannot quite imagine being responsible for (and dealing with all the ups and down of) a 15-year-old right now. Then add to that a 13- and 8-year-old. Lucky for her I was such a good kid. ;) Mom, I hope you have a perfectly wonderful birthday. I'll call you later this morning... :)

mom_blog.jpg]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/happy-birthday-mom.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/happy-birthday-mom.html personal Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:21:28 -0600 a mini | minneapolis children's photography A mini session was a perfect chance for Katelyn's parents to get some images of her at one-and-a half. It was another hot and humid morning (and little did I know that the next round of mini sessions, a week later, would be even steamier! More on those later). But we waded through the steaminess and it was totally worth it. I hope to see you again in February (when we'll be complaining about it being too cold to go outside). :)

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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/a-mini-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/a-mini-minneapolis-childrens-photography.html kids Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:57:49 -0600 things that make me happy | sleeping with the polar bears I thought it might be fun to (attempt to regularly) share some things that make me happy. Maybe you'll take a moment to think about some things that made you happy today... or last week. Maybe this will get me to pay attention more to when I'm happy. Maybe I'll share something that you didn't know about and then it can make you happy too. Or maybe this idea will end up being lame. Or maybe it won't. ;) Here it goes...

polar bears | a few weeks ago my niece and I participated in a really fun class at the como zoo called "Polar Nights and Northern Lights". It was an overnight class -- so yes, we slept at the zoo, but the polar bears were securely tucked away for the night. ;)

elvis radio | I recently discovered Elvis Radio on my satellite radio. All Elvis, all the time! I also discovered that if I'm crabby when I'm driving, I just need to turn on Elvis Radio and within minutes I'm car-dancing to Elvis. You truly can't help but feel happy.

lawn mowers that start | I learned that running out of oil (my fear, so I keep adding oil), can be as bad as putting in too much oil. Opps. So this week I learned all about draining oil, spark plugs and air filters. And I successfully fixed the mower. And I won't make that oil mistake again!

canoeing | this past friday I took my annual canoe trip with my friend Jandeen. (Well, we call it a trip even if it's just from Taylors Falls to Osceola.) :) I love that this has become a tradition for us! And this year we had perfect weather. Everything about the day was perfect.

air conditioning | I think this one speaks for itself.

I didn't take very many photos on our zoo adventure, but here are a few. It was so cool to be at the zoo without crowds of people. It was almost like the animals were happy to see us. Oh, and that's Jocelin pretending to be a polar bear -- she was kind of a bear at bedtime. ;)

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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/one-year-later-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/08/one-year-later-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html kids Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:42:22 -0600 a surprise for grandma | minneapolis children's photographer Maybe I'm biased, but I think surprise photographs are possibly the best gift (to give and to receive). I've been holding off sharing these images until the surprise was revealed. The grandma of this group of cousins got a special surprise on her birthday. Such a great, thoughtful idea. Plus, bonus for me that I got to hang out with this awesome family. :)

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]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/07/a-surprise-for-grandma-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/07/a-surprise-for-grandma-minneapolis-childrens-photographer.html kids Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:47:14 -0600 fortunate | minneapolis family photography A few weeks ago, on a very humid early morning, I got to meet a new family. A happy family. A connected family. A sweet family. A family who I feel fortunate to have spent a very humid early morning with just a few weeks ago. :)

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* all images copyright krysten halek photography -- please do not save, print or post any images from this site without permission *
]]> http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/07/fortunate-minneapolis-family-photography.html http://www.krystenhalek.com/2010/07/fortunate-minneapolis-family-photography.html families kids Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:49:49 -0600