So now you're probably thinking, "What the heck happened??" Well, let me tell you!

Technology errors are the digital photographer's nightmare.

• We need our cameras to not just die in the middle of a session (yes, this has happened to me, thank goodness I had a second camera)
• We need our SD cards to not just decide they no longer work. Sometimes SD cards will say there is no space on the card, even if there is nothing actually on the card. And then it doesn't let you take pictures. This is why I carry three SD cards now.
• We need our camera batteries to not short out. You know how when your phone gets old it doesn't hold has much charge? Same thing can happen to camera batteries. Always carry a spare.
• We need our computers and all of the programs to continue working so we can edit the images.

This last bullet point is what failed me with Macie's Session. We had taken the photos below, and they were BEAUTIFUL, high resolution images, and then my computer just fried. My external hard drive had fried about a month prior, and then my laptop fried before I had replaced my external, so everything I had saved just went... poof. Bye. Gone. I was devastated.

I had already post-processed these images, and had uploaded them to Facebook, which is how I have the ones below. However, as anyone who has downloaded an image back to their computer from Facebook knows, the quality just isn't there. I did my best to save them, but it was clear - we would have to take a new picture. That's how the one at the beginning of this post came to be!

So let's talk these photos! 

The first photo that we took in our secondary session was shot on a piece of railroad track that is no longer being used which sits off to the side of the active tracks in Alma, Wisconsin.

The rest of these images were shot in Winona, Minnesota during her first session. The left two images were shot alongside an antique store in downtown Winona, and the right two images were shot in the Lake Park. We had a lot of fun during the session, and I really enjoyed editing the images. I'm still sad I don't have the originals anymore.

I learned my lesson the hard way. ALWAYS back up your files!

The one thing my mom really wanted to tackle on this day trip to San Francisco was to see Ghirardelli. Since it was not tourist season, we were actually able to park in the parking garage underneath Ghirardelli Square, which is only a few blocks away from the wharf!

Doesn't my mama look so pretty?

We went into Ghirardelli, of course. It was still pretty early in the day, so we didn't get anything, but we all agreed we would stop by again before getting in the car to go home... after all we were parked right there anyway!

We wandered onto Hyde St. Pier, which houses a few historical ships and acts as a museum of sorts on your way out to the ticket booth. You can pay to actually tour the boats, but we decided that seeing them from the pier was good enough.

​PS - I don't think that seagull paid the admission fee ;)

The boat below is called C.A. Thayer, and I pulled the following from Google:

Here is the link to the National Park Service web page on the ship if you would like to read more: ​https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/c-a-thayer.htm

We continued our way down to Pier 39 (which was the end goal for our trip to the wharf). We stopped at these crab stations to check out the menus, but I have to say - everything is so overpriced! When Jeremy and I visited Oregon and Washington, we could get fresh seafood for much better prices. San Francisco really price gouges you if you want anything but clam chowder and bread. Tsk tsk!

At last, we made it to Pier 39. The pier where all of the touristy fun hoopla is. Stores, museums, the aquarium, rides... it's all there! They even have a carousel towards the end of the pier. However, if you're planning on visiting, don't stop there! Go beyond it to get a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and sea lions!

There were only a few active ones. Apparently it was nap time for the sea lions, as many of them slept on the docks below. However, there were two that were very much active, doing somersaults around each other, giving each other kisses, some playful nips, and were just really entertaining to watch.

There are SO many things to do in San Francisco, that I have a feeling Jeremy and I could visit the city every time we visit my parents and sister in California and find something new to do every single time.

Jeremy already declared that next time we are in California that he wants to go to a Giants game. My mom added that we should go to Treasure Island too, so that's already two things to do in San Francisco for our next visit!

Looking forward to it!

Back when I lived in Wisconsin, I shot this senior portrait session around Alma, Wisconsin.

Locations: Tim Neitzel's property on County Road N in Alma, Buena Vista, and the town of Alma.

Train tracks do run alongside the town. Train tracks run along the Mississippi for quite a length, you could almost follow them to tour riverside towns in Wisconsin.... or you can just take the River Road. Whatever floats your boat! Ha. Okay, I'm done.

Anyway, the town has a bridge that goes over the tracks, so we headed there next.She was just tall enough that when she sat down on the bridge, her face was above the shadow lines. Just so you all know, I said before this girl was a trooper, and I mean it! The walkway part of the bridge is the rigid metal, with the little points that stick up at you. While you never notice it with your shoes on, it really hurt my knees when I was kneeling to take this image, and so I can only imagine how it felt when she sat on it!

For the image below, I normally greatly dislike taking images on train tracks, but since Kaylee's mom was with us and could keep an eye for oncoming trains. I highly recommend NOT taking photographs on train tracks for the following reasons:

1. It's hard to hear a train when you are on the tracks. Obviously, I could see beyond Kaylee, and she could see beyond me, but we could have been distracted until it was too late (PS, that's the back of a train you see behind Kaylee).
2. It's trespassing! If we had gotten caught, the railroad company has the right to sue you for trespassing.

So what are my alternatives? If you can, find a piece of track that is no longer being used. You can find them on the sides of active railroad tracks and older towns, like Alma. Use that instead!

Since I normally don't like taking images on train tracks, I had her sit down, shot photos in a quick succession, and then had her get off the tracks. We were probably only physically on the tracks for two minutes!

Do you want to have an Imbeccable senior portrait session? Book your free consultation today, or email/text me questions at photography@imbeccableimages.com / 608-304-5427.

We went shopping in downtown Willow Glen while waiting for the schools to get out, and we picked up a few toys in the stores that were there.

My dad went to go get Giovanna from school, while Mom, Jeremy, and I went to go pick up Little O from daycare. Mom was a bit worried that he may be cranky upon seeing Jeremy and I, as she said he doesn't do well with people he doesn't know (he's going to be three, so we've seen him when he was a baby). However, I walked into the daycare with my mom, and little O came directly up to us with no issues.

When I lifted him into his car seat to get buckled in, instead of being crabby that bearded man was in the back seat with him, he pointed to Jeremy and asked me "Who's that?" and then proceeded to share his dinosaur stickers and toys he received in daycare that day with Jeremy.

After we got back to the house, Dad and G were still not home, so we entertained the tiny human. Jeremy was playing with his yo-yo, and O really wanted to try it, so Jeremy started to teach him how to play with one. 

We searched and searched for the yo-yo. Mom searched their toy box, I searched the kids' desks and crafting area, Jeremy entertained O in the meantime, and we had zero luck.

However, this auntie came up with an alternative solution to the height problem.

While we were outside blowing bubbles, Dad and G came home. She wanted to join in on the bubble festivities.

O's hand-eye coordination is pretty good for an almost three year old! I love the look of concentration on his face as he focuses on the bubble between his hands.

G made several attempts to catch a bubble on the bubble wand, and eventually succeeded, and as you can see, she was pretty excited about it. That was a good sized bubble to catch, too!

Giovanna did ask me to photograph the short palm tree in my parents back yard, so I went over to the plant. I was totally expecting the leaves to be soft, but they aren't! They are extremely stiff and pokey! However, it still made for a pretty picture.

I will be writing of our day trips to San Francisco, Sequoia National Forest, Yosemite National Park, and coastal towns soon, complete with images and perhaps a few videos! Stay tuned!

One of my very first official sessions was doing a photo shoot for a local equine therapy business - Equimotion. I ventured out into the farmlands of Wisconsin and found myself on a beautiful farm with the picturesque red barn.

There were chickens roaming freely, which slightly freaked me out because I hate how they look at you. Don't ask. There was a loud dog who barked at just about everything despite the peaceful atmosphere the ranch had, and several horses.

The business partners wanted portraits done individually with their horses, and then some of people working with the horses themselves.

This shoot, which took place in 2013, was done using my Nikon D50. It's amazing how quickly technology changes in the photography world. Also, you can tell I was a bit new to Photoshop from my color correcting skills, and the fact I didn't straighten that darn door. Ah, well! We live and we learn.

The business partners were very satisfied with the imagery that was provided, and we had actually scheduled follow up shoots. Sadly, the business partners ran into some disagreements on how the business should be run, and those shoots never came to fruition.

Below are images of volunteer clients working with the horses. They all agreed to be photographed prior to the shoot.