2014 ~Year in Review~ {Southern Minnesota Family & Wedding Photographer}

I am at a loss for words. I never, NEVER expected 2014 to be what it was. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who allowed me to capture moments for you last year. I don't even know where to start to describe the year I had! 

My year started out in Lamberton and I wasn't too terribly busy, but getting my name out there slowly. I was THRILLED to learn that we were moving to Tracy in May. We bought a little house and were ready to settle down. I was determined to let people know I was in the area. Facebook was a big help for me in the beginning and it continues to help me get word out. 

The busy season for me started with calls in July for August sessions. Boudoir, family and seniors! It was like over night everyone knew I was here! I was busy every week for three months straight and it was GREAT! In my entire career I have never been that busy and at first I didn't know what to do with myself. I am very proud of the way I can deliver galleries to clients so quickly, and my normal turnaround time was gone. I am still very quick and I am pretty good about keeping it below two weeks. 

With the addition of a part time job at the newspaper starting in September my time just slipped away from me. I will be honest, I felt very overwhelmed in September trying to keep up with my business and my articles. However, I have found my healthy balance now. 

I am seriously so grateful for each and every one of you. The love and support I have felt since moving to Tracy is huge and I don't even know how to express my gratitude. Seriously, you are all AMAZING!! 

So, without further ado, let's look back at 2014. These images are not in any particular order. 

Senior class of 2015

I am so happy for all of my seniors! I LOVE taking senior photos and these young men and women made my job SO easy!! 

I am currently looking for 2016 Models!! Visit the "Senior Model" tab to fill out the application!

Stunning ~A~ TMB

Oh the light!! ~I~ TMB

Had so much fun with this young lady as my rep for Slayton! Savannah Slayton

I love silhouettes! ~A~ TMB

Miss Tracy 2014! Love her! ~A~ TMB

This young lady has a special place in my heart! Love you Riss! Marissa TMB rep 

This young lady came all the way from Sleepy Eye to see me, love this shot! ~C~ Sleepy Eye

Love the hunting shots! ~H~ RRC 

I got to visit the Butterfield Threshing Show for this shoot, AWESOME! ~M~ Lakefield

I was honored to be asked by fellow photographers to capture family photos, and it was seriously one of the most nerve racking thing! I had a blast, though, and I hope to do it again!!

Could this family be any more beautiful?! Love them! Rebecca is so talented, check out her work at Rock Hill Studio

This family is so cute! I loved working with them! Check out Heidi's work at Heidi Swanson Photography

This family made my job easy, Heather knew what she wanted and just did it. Love that! Check out her work at Red Barn Photography

I have had the pleasure to capture so many families and children in 2014. Some were last minute with visiting family members, some were scheduled weeks in advance, either way I had a blast with each and every one of you!! 

~F&K~ Family fall 

~S~ Family fall 

~J~ Family summer

~L~ Family summer

~F~ Family fall 

~K~ Family summer 

~K~ Family fall 

~M~ 6 months winter

~D~ Family Michigan summer

~B~ One year summer 

~E~ Family fall 

One of my favorite shoots (ok, I have a lot of favorites) but this little man was so tough with the chilly fall weather and we got some super fun shots for his momma! 

Super hero ~T~ fall 

This shoot was out of my norm, but I LOVE these shots!! ~M~ Generation shoot summer 

I did my first model call and this young lady ROCKED it!! Hope to work with you again! 

~B~ Wedding June

I had the pleasure of traveling back to Nebraska to capture a beautiful wedding and an engagement of some friends~ had a BLAST~

~J&L~ Engagement NE summer

~A~ Wedding June 

~B~ Wedding October

Last wedding of the year! ~G~ Wedding December 

I have learned SO much about myself and my business in the last year. I also have made some amazing relationships and I hope to continue to capture moments for all of you and more!! 

Here is a little Happy New Year Special~ Every one who comments on this post and let me know their favorite photo from this post AND their favorite moment from 2014 gets put into a drawing for a discounted session! The photo with the most comments gets a special surprise too! 

Can't wait to meet some more new people and hopefully see some returning faces in 2015!!! 

2013 Another Year in the books! {Southern Minnesota Wedding and Portrait Photographer}

I had another whirl wind of a year this year. We moved...again. This time back to Minnesota near my husband's hometown. I was very sad to leave Nebraska (shed a lot tears on moving day!). However, we now have two little ones and it means the world to me to be closer to our families.

 

That was another big thing to happen to us this year. We welcomed our little girl into the world in September. It made sessions a bit more challenging, but that much more fun!

 

Starting from scratch again was not easy, but I am making it work. I was so blessed to have the sessions I did this year. Trusting someone you don't know to capture special moments is not easy and people did, and for that I thank you.

 

Probably my biggest change is my name and branding! Those of you who have been here since the beginning know I started out as KH Imaging. When I started I knew nothing about branding and making a name for yourself. I just took my initials and ran with it. Oh if I knew then what I know now ;-) I loved the learning process that I had to take though. I love my new name and branding, I hope you do too!

 

Thank you to all of my friends both far and wide. I appreciate all the kind word of encouragement to keep me going. I had days where I wanted to just be done, but you pulled me through and made me realize "this too shall pass". It means so much to me for people to ask ME to help them with their photos, or which camera they should purchase. I just never thought I would be on that end of it. I am so happy to be where I am and can't wait to continue seeing new people through my lens and to keep "capturing smiles one person at a time".

 

 

Let's begin THE BEST OF 2013

 

Starting with:

 

 

Families

 

 

These three were such a joy!

 

 

One of my last Nebraska sessions, I couldn't pick just one favorite!

 

 

 

 

I love this family and hope to capture them more in the future!

 

Family portraits is where I started this journey. When I started this business 3 years ago, I just wanted to shoot. I had no idea where to start. Families seemed to be a good place. I believe family portraits are extremely important to capture. Time goes by so quickly! I plan on having my own family portraits done for the first time by someone else this year! Exciting!!

 

Next up:

 

Children

 

 

 Oh the laughs!

 

 Sweet cheeks!

 

 

The innocence

 

Children was a genre I feel like I am good at seeing as I have my own. I get down on their level and just follow them. Let them do their thing. I get a kick out of the things they do and say. And it is so true, they do grow SO fast!!

 

My new passion:

 

Seniors

 

 

My first senior session in a long time...instantly hooked! Of course Mariah made my job easy!

 

 

I was so glad Morgan was willing to get in the water!! One of my all time favorites!

 

 

~H~ rocked it!!

 

 

Who knew a fallen brick wall would be the BEST prop?! I am still trying to figure out how to keep it...

 

 

I was nervous about ~A~'s session. But he was so much fun!

 

I really didn't think I would like senior portraits, as I have said before. But, wow, there are a blast! It takes me back to my time in High School and how I would have done my senior portraits. I get to bring out their personalities and beauty. Can't wait for 2015 seniors!!! Thank you to the seniors that took a chance with me and let me capture their senior year, I truly enjoyed myself!

(keep your eyes open, will be recruiting 2015 reps starting in January) 

 

Oh Love:

 

Engagements

 

 

 

 

This image has gotten around and I love that!! This couple is my first 2014 wedding and I am so excited to head back to Nebraska to shoot it!!

 

 

Horses and a sunset? Yes please!! Swoon!

 

I include engagement sessions with all my wedding packages. It helps me get to know the couple and capture their love story. I am looking forward to meeting more couples in 2014!

 

Last but certainly not least:

 

Weddings

 

 

The last minute Winter wedding. Oh the adventures we had that day! It was so worth it!

 

 

 

 

Cool Nebraska Summer day. The sun came out just in time for pictures! Oh and I ran in a church...oops! :-)

 

 

 

♥

I traveled back to NE from MN for this wedding. I knew afterward that it was going to be my last for the year. It wasn't the easiest getting around big and pregnant. But they worked it and it was a beautiful, HOT, day!

 



I had three weddings this year. All in Nebraska. Again, I was a new kid on the block there and was so grateful for those couples that chose me to capture their big days. It's not easy to choose someone to do that, and you chose me. Thank you. A huge thank you to my assistants this year as well. They put up with a pregnant photographer that couldn't run and get things as quickly as they could, so they did a lot of running for me :-) I hope they learned something from their experience. I know one of them did, I have seen her work, she is going places! 

As I mentioned in my price post, I do plan on trying to specialize in Weddings and Seniors in 2014. This is genuinely where my heart lies. However, I will not turn away a session if I can make it work.

Oh 2013 you have been quite a year! I am looking forward to meeting so many new people in 2014! Bridal shows, senior reps, boudoir marathons, oh my!

Here's to 2014 and a bright future for Kyleen Olson Photography!!