There will be two photographerMAMA workshops coming up… the dates and registration information are below.

Thursday and Friday, February 9th-10th

Registration for this workshop will be on Tuesday January, 17th starting at 10am.

Friday and Saturday, March 23rd-24th

Registration for this workshop will be on Tuesday, January 17th starting at 1pm.

You can register by calling the studio at 701.478.9659 and Michelle will get all of your info. If you do not get through, please just keep trying. Michelle does not have time to check messages during the registration and your spot will not be held until she has spoken to you and received payment information. If these dates do not work for you, there will be more workshops coming up in April and May 2012.

For more information about the workshop schedule, camera and lens recommendations, and testimonials, please visit the photographerMAMA page.

Please see the photographerMAMA page for more information on topics discussed, workshop schedule, and camera/lens recommendations.

***Helpful Registration Information***

 You will need to call the studio at 701.478.9659 and talk to our office manager Michelle in order to register. If you do not get through right away, please do not leave a message on the voice mail. Michelle does not have time to check the messages between the phone calls and your spot will not be able to be reserved until she has spoken to you and received your payment information.

I will be deciding on the dates for the fall workshops soon, so if you’d like to be on the e-mail list to be notified when they are scheduled just let us know.

I did a little question and answer with Jami to go along with some of her great photos.

1. What type of camera and lens are you currently using?

I currently have the Canon 50D and use my 50mm 1.4 lens. I absolutely LOVE my camera!

 2.) What made you decide to register for the photographerMAMA workshop?

I decided to sign up for Photographermama for MANY reasons. First, I love your photography, Ria. Second, I was a mommy with a nice camera that I didn’t know how to use and also I read the success story of another mom on your website.

3.) How did attending the workshop change/improve your photography? What was the biggest “take-away” for you or an “ah-hah” moment?

The workshop completely improved my photos because I always loved the natural light photos but never knew how to adjust my camera to utilize it. Also, you recommended the 50mm 1.4 lens which completely changed everything! It’s awesome! My true inspiration from the workshop also came from not having Avery say “Cheese” for every picture. I enjoy getting pictures of her being herself.

4.)Tell us a little bit about your 365 project… where you heard about it, what was your motivation to try it, challenges or things you’ve learned about photography by doing it

Let’s see….I thought of the 365 Days of Avery project kind of on my own. There is another photographer who I enjoy following her blog and she takes a photo of her 4 children every week. So, instead I decided to revamp that and make it a challenge to take a photo of Avery everyday doing childhood moments! So far it has made me notice the joys of everyday and have also learned how to play around with my lighting in my house since many of my photos take place in the evening where I don’t always have great lighting. Also, I haven’t been able to take my own picture everyday because of work so sometimes my mom or husband have taken photos for me.

5.) Any advice you have for other “moms” out there who want to capture their kids in everyday moments?

The advice that I can give for other moms to capture everyday moments is to not have your child say “cheese”. Capture what they are doing at that moment and if they happen to be pouting, crying or have a booger coming out of their nose, just remember those will be the moments you will laugh at someday and it’s everyday life….SO CAPTURE IT!

Thanks so much for sharing your project with us Jami! I’m looking forward to meeting 15 more photographerMAMAs tomorrow night!

Here are a few more shots from the day…

If you have questions about the workshop schedule or camera and lens recommendations, make sure to check out the photographerMAMA page .

See the photographerMAMA page for dates, registration and additional workshop information. Here is a photo of a little guy that was a model at our February workshop… how cute is he? I loved him!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

We also had the BEST group of little models… they were all so cooperative and really seemed to love all the attention from the cameras!

Here is little Pierce making sure that all the women are still looking at him!

I wanted to share a couple of e-mails I received following the workshop… I love hearing from workshop attendees about their progress and how the information they learned is helping them.

Ria and Lindsey,
I just wanted to tell you thank you so much for the opportunity to learn from you both.   Since leaving the workshop I have been taking a ton of photos. I used to shoot on Av mode, but I’ve started shooting all in manual.   I’ve attached a couple photos that I’ve taken since the workshop. My friend tried to get the photos of her kids printed at Sams and they wouldn’t let her without a copyright release. Ha ha ha!   
Thank you so much!    Meredith

Hello Ria!
I wanted to Thank you so much for the great class this past wknd.  Here is a picture that I took of my little girl on her first day of preschool today!
I LOVE IT!!! Before your class I would of never been able to take a picture like that.  I think it turned out pretty good!!!
Thanks again! Miranda

Thanks Meredith and Miranda for taking the time to send me the sweet notes… they really made my day!

and, oh yah, a little of this too. I couldn’t let that indian summer sunset go to waste… more from this session to come soon!

Ria and I will be co-teaching the next photographerMAMA workshop. It is scheduled for September 10-11th, 2010. Registration will begin on Tuesday, June 1st at 10am. You can call Michelle at the studio to reserve your spot! Ria also wanted to me to let you know that she has scheduled another business basics workshop for August 19-20th, and registration for that one will also begin on Tuesday morning.

~Linds

Rialee Photography Studio Tour

Rialee Photography Home Tour

While I was taking photos of my home for this article, I decided to snap some of my favorite things around my house as well…

                   cue Julie Andrews “These are a few of my favorite things”

First… a photo of our living room. Probably my ‘favorite-est’ thing in my house because it is the only room that always stays clean!

1. My collection of vintage green glass bottles… collected from everywhere.

2. A bulletin/inspiration board hanging in our family room… given to me by my BFF!

3.  An old stained-glass style window. A find from The Moorhead Antique Mall.

4. My dining room light fixture from Restoration Hardware.

5. Paperwhites growing in my dining room… haven’t killed ‘em yet!

6. The vintage wall phone hanging in our kitchen from Sturbridge Yankee.

7. A ‘faux’ cake that sits on our kitchen table… can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if it’s real. My reply? Of course!

1. Family sign… a find from Patina White.

2. Sweet little Mary Charity sits on my kitchen window sill reminding me to pray for her daily. She is our sponsor child from Children’s HopeChest.

3.  The retro 1934 cafe chairs in my dining room from Sundance.

4.  The lamp in our bathroom… a find from an antique store down by the cities.

5.  A flower frog holding a vintage flashcard.

6. The light fixture over my kitchen sink from Rejuvenation.

7. A custom painted wood sign hanging in our foyer… trying to make it our life’s motto.

1. Our “Daily System” from Pottery Barn.

2. The sign hanging in our back hallway from Retro Planet.

3. Vintage letters found at Patina White… yes a little crazy I know but even our garage has a little style!

4. The wire storage system in my laundry room. I got mine from Patina White, but they are also available at Sundance.

5. Vintage egg baskets store pucks, baseballs and golf balls in our garage.

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Don’t forget that registration for the spring PhotographerMAMA workshops begins today at 10am! Click the link for dates, times and details!

~Ria

Here are a couple snaps of our booth… come check it out!

A few other tidbits to share with you… rialee photography is featured on the Moms With Cameras blog today! Very cool… thanks Emily for the interview! Make sure you click the link to visit her blog.

For all of you that have been e-mailing and calling wanting to know when the next photographerMAMA workshops will be scheduled, I have some good news for you! I had decided to take a break from doing workshops for awhile, but Lindsey has agreed to teach two this spring! They will be held April 9th-10th, and May 14th-15th. Registration will open on Monday February 22nd @ 10am. You will need to call the studio at 701.478.9659 to reserve your spot.

My very first business basics workshop starts today…. wish me luck!

~Ria

My daughter Kennedy and her friend Kenzie modeled for us at the workshop. People who bring their kids in to model always ask me what they should wear, and I always respond by saying it doesn’t really matter… they are just there for learning purposes and don’t have to be dressed like they are going to be in a magazine. Well, it turns out when it is YOUR kid, it kinda does matter. And I WAS worrying about what she was going to wear. All of these items were things we already had… a skirt from the GAP that I got last summer on clearance for $6, a shirt from big sister’s closet, t-shirt from Target (also last summer) and flats from Walmart. Tah-Dah!

I love that girl…

All of the models were unbelievably adorable and cooperative…

And my new bff blogger, Amanda was in attendance and made my weekend by bringing these fabulous (and perfectly coordinating I might add!) cupcakes!

She also posted a exceptionally glowing review of the workshop on her blog… click here to check it out and see some more great photos from the weekend!

To get all the details visit my workshop page.

We had some adorable little models for our photoshoots too.  The mom of this little girl wins my prize for “traveling the farthest”… they came all the way from ALABAMA for the workshop. Seriously.

And little “O” braved the cold for us so we could practice with outdoor settings… what a girl!

I love the proud look on the faces of this mom and dad… watching their little doll modeling for all of us.

Thanks everyone for a great workshop… More to come in 2010!

I will be out of the studio the rest of this week to hang out with my kids who are home from school on EM break. Have a great weekend everyone!

So last night I was reading a blog that I stumbled upon because it had linked to my blog. It turns out the writer is coming to one of my PhotographerMAMA workshops next year! Anyway, you really should check out her blog because she is SUPER funny… I read her blog for atleast an hour (and after leaving two comments started to feel a little stalker-ish) and will be visiting it regularly. I’m going to steal one of her blog posts because as I was reading it last night I had one of those laughs that makes your sides hurt (and apparently makes your kids crawl out of their beds after being tucked in to see what in the world is wrong with their mother.)

**Just a hint: This may be funnier if you read it late at night after a long day, and you really REALLY need a good laugh. But maybe not. Who knows.

~More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

~Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

~I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

~Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

~Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

~I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

~Was learning cursive really necessary?

~Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

~I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

~Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

~How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

~MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

~Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

~I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

~I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

~Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

~Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from; this shouldn’t be a problem….

~You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

~Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

~There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

~I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

~When I meet a new person, I’m terrified of mentioning something they haven’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

~I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

~Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

~It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

~My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?

~I wonder if cops ever get annoyed at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

You see, when he was just ONE week old, his daddy had to leave him to go to Iraq. He missed his daddy very much, and even got to travel to Italy to visit him when he was six months old. But, of course for a little boy [and a new daddy too] one visit during your entire first year of life is no where near enough. But now, his daddy is home and little “C” couldn’t be happier. Can you tell?

Thank you Kenny for serving our country.  Although we are all glad you arrived home safely, I don’t think anyone is happier about it than your son!

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Just a few scheduling notes for all of my readers…

We are now scheduling sessions for January – May 2010. Send us an e-mail or call the studio at 701-478-9659, and Michelle will get you all set up.

I have also scheduled my PhotographerMAMA workshops for January February and March. The dates are as follows…

Jan. 8-9, Jan 20-21 (this is a weekday workshop and will be held during the day),Feb 5-6, and Mar 5-6. Registration opens on Monday October 5th. You will need to call the studio and pay the registration fee in full to reserve your spot! All the details are under the workshop section at the top of the blog.

Have a great weekend!

I also need to thank the 15 ladies who took part in my 4th PhotographerMAMA workshop this weekend. I had so much fun getting to know each of you and look forward to seeing all of your progress! For those of you wanting to register for future workshops, I do have an contact list started, so just send us a quick e-mail and we can add you to the list to let you know when I schedule workshops for 2010.

Here are just a couple of my images from the photoshoots on Saturday…

I spent the weekend in San Diego CA learning from none other than the super fun, and super cool Baby As Art team, Carrie Sandoval and Brittany Woodall. I have admired their newborn work for quite sometime and was so honored to be able to attend their workshop. They keep their numbers very small and only allow 6 people to attend which ends up being an awesome, hands-on learning experience. Carrie was generous enough to invite us all to stay at her home while we were there… so literally the workshop did not end for two straight days. Thanks Carrie and Brit for the unforgettable weekend!

Here is Brit working with our little models… she literally IS the baby whisperer….

And me… getting a chance to rock one of the newborns to sleep! Sorry about the disheveled appearance… we kept it VERY warm in the studio for all the naked babies, so we were all a sweaty mess!

And here are some of my images from the weekend!

And finally, I would like to let you all know about a program that is being kicked off TODAY, June 1, 2009 called “Feed the Forgotten”. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who’s bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness.  YOU CAN DO SOMETHING…

For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (Posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein).

Take this in for a moment. . .

$0.14 a meal

$2.86 for 20 days

$1 per FAMILY

$20 feeds a family for 20 days.

Now is YOUR chance to make a difference.

Children are starving… THESE VERY CHILDREN that I photographed in the Teso Region of Uganda are the some of the children that will be receiving these meals.

Join us and Children’s HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!!

(CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)

Thank you to all of you who keep coming back and reading my blog, leaving wonderful, encouraging comments, and for caring about all of these things that are so important to me!

Don’t forget to send me your favorite images… here are some of mine!

I had SUCH a good time getting to know all of these wonderful women… and I think they had a good time too! I am so PROUD of the amount of information they were able to digest, {especially the VERY scientific and technical terms I used … please note the sarcasism … it’s hard to detect through typed words}. You should have seen some of the photos these mamas were capturing during our photo shoot! Very impressive. I will post some on the blog when they send me their favorites. Here are more photos of our weekend…

Even the caterer knew what a picky eater I am!

Little Miss Ella says…”you want me to do WHAT?”

She was so good though… she literally sat for nearly an hour while everyone photographed her! Thanks sweet Ella!

Here are some of the other photos I got of our oh-so-cute models.

So thank you, thank you, thank you to Erin, Heather, Andrea G., Lynae, Tana, Kim, Amber, Andrea B., Amy, Paula, Toni, Wendy, Mindy, Kris, and Melissa for making my very first workshop such a great experience! Keep me updated on the status of our new facebook group!

If you would like a spot in the upcoming workshop scheduled for April 17th and 18th please e-mail us! I have a few spots left. The May 29th-30th workshop is sold out.

This workshop is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 29-30. Registration will open at 10:00am on Monday, March 23rd.

Please call the studio at 701.478.9659 to register. The entire registration fee of $250 will need to be paid in order to reserve your spot. Please do not leave a message… we will answer calls as they come in and your spot will not be reserved until we have spoken to you and received your payment information.

For more information on my workshops, click here.

Dad was teasing him about having a “girlfriend” in this one…

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PS… have you noticed the new link at the top called “look here too”? Check it out! You’ll find info about workshops, my policies, and a cute little Glam Session slideshow.

 I just wanted to let you know that the March 27-28th photographer-mama workshop sold out right away yesterday morning. I have scheduled another workshop for April 3rd-4th. The times and topics will be the same! There are only six spots remaining at this time. E-mail me if you would like to reserve a spot for this workshop!

The dates for my very-first-ever workshop will be Friday and Saturday, March 27-28. The “photographer mama” workshop is intended for moms who are interested in learning how to take better photos of their kids. My goal will be to help you stop being intimidated by your camera so that you can have the freedom to be creative! If you are an aspiring photographer and have the basics down but want a more advanced workshop covering business and creative topics, you will want to wait for my business workshop coming in May. Cost for the two-day workshop is $250 and includes workshop materials, fun giveaways and door prizes, a catered meal on Saturday, and hands-on training with a photo shoot at the loft. Registration will be done over the phone starting at 10am on Monday January 12th. [701.478.9659] The workshop is limited to 15 participants, and the registration fee will need to be paid in full in order to reserve a spot. The fee is non-refundable but may be sold if you are unable to attend. If this workshop fills right away, I will be opening a second workshop in April. Thanks again to everyone for your interest… it has been so overwhelming. I’m so excited to meet all of you that have been e-mailing me. There are so many moms out there with a passion for photography that it will be fun for us all to get together and share our ideas and inspiration with each other. If you would like more information about the topics and itinerary for the workshop, please e-mail me at info@rialeephotography.com.

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I need to send a quick shout-out to my office assistant Karina whose family is leaving for a trip to Disneyworld TODAY! In my best Napoleon Dynamite voice…. “Luck-eeey”. I hope you have safe travels and that you all have an amazing time!

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Also….. one more thing. My kids all watched the 2008 slideshow on my blog last night before bed. They all wanted to know why there was not ONE photo of any of them included. So…. this is for you guys… love you more than anything! The photo we used on our Christmas card this year~~~

Other notes….
We are officially back at the studio starting today! I am finishing up editing sessions from my OTMOM shoots and am looking forward to a whole new year… meeting new faces as well as seeing how familiar faces have grown and changed!

For those of you still holding out for my photography workshop…. GOOD news! I have set the dates and will be e-mailing the details out to all of those who are on the e-mail list. I will be posting all of the info and when I will open the registration on the blog by the end of the week!

This little girl was pretty darn cute as well…she had the “no smile” look mastered!

Which brings me to the subject of offering workshops at rialee photography. It would cover both business and creative topics. By no means is this a for sure thing, but I would like to assess the amount of interest there may be for something like this. Another idea I’m playing with is to offer a workshop/class for moms who just want to learn to take better photos of their children. So, if you are interested in either of these options, would you shoot me an e-mail at info@rialeephotography.com and let me know?

Since I have had so many requests for holiday cards…[and I told them all I wasn't offering them this year], I have had a change of heart and decided to look into some designs. So…for all of you who wanted them, and for those who are gonna want them…I am excited to unveil my 2007 selections. There is not an option to order these online, so you will have to email or call me to place your order. For those of you who have already placed your orders, but would like to still order cards…you still can! Prices are $30.00 for each set of 25 cards.

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The last two cards have text that can be customized with the phrase and text color of your choice.