Photogen Inc

2013 LAVENDER Wedding Issue // Minnesota Marriage Equality

The latest issue of LAVENDER Magazine is officially on newsstands and I am SUPER happy to have been a part of this shoot! This issue is the 2013 Wedding Issue for the magazine, and I was chosen to collaborate with some AMAZING people to really elevate the presence of gay marriage in our city and photograph the fashion editorial. Obviously, same-sex marriage is a hot topic at the moment, and a movement that I really believe in. I was over the moon with the idea of creating imagery to promote marriage equality and I hope you are as pleased with the outcome as I! Below are images from the LAVENDER Online Issue and you can grab a copy in print - literally - all around town! The issue is only on newsstands for a few weeks, so check it out before they are all gone! Of course, no shoot happens without an amazing team behind me. This was a major production, with two days of shooting, in two very different locations. We photographed the women at The Union Depot in downtown St. Paul and then moved the crew back to Minneapolis at The Bachelor Farmer to photograph the men.  Style Architects put together the wardrobe and set styling, which featured some fabulous companies, including: Ignite Models Inc., Gateaux Inc, Martha's Garden, L'atelier Couture, Realia by Jen, On Solid Ground Vintage Rentals, Roe Wolfe, BeThings, Saima Says Design, Heimie's Haberdashery, Martin Patrick 3, Hammermade and more!  In addition to the photographs, Chris Wegner also came along to create two amazing behind-the-scenes videos for you to check out:

LAVENDER Wedding Shoot // Day 1

LAVENDER Wedding Shoot // Day 2

 

 

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Unpredictable

Half of the fun of shooting a wedding is getting to hang out with my crew! We never know what the weather is going to be like here in Minnesota, so a big part of our job - and a quality I pride myself on the most - is doing an amazing job of working-on-the-fly. Not only does it make creating more enjoyable for me, but I simply have SO much fun with my team on the day of a shoot! Honestly, we are really funny and we seriously...do need a reality show! ;0)

A couple weeks ago, we photographed the McCullough's amazing wedding and here are just a handful of the awesome adventures we had:

1) Melissa surprised us with New Moon candy...I've never read any of the Twilight series, but she is a big fan! Regardless, the sugar was quite nice!

2) It was 9 degrees that day, which meant two things...One, I was wearing Under Armour beneath my clothes and two, we killed the brides flowers by being outside for 20 minutes! (Side note...we absolutely LOVE our clients, because they sacrifice a lot to create amazing images...:0)

3) We forgot our stand, so Brandon was the "Human Light Stand"

4) My crew shows tons of passion during the day...and a little bit of camaraderie as well! This collaboration between artists takes our creativity up 10 notches and I looooove it!

5) Since it's so cold here, I decided to have a glamour-shots moment with a heater...I was nice and toasty!

The point of this post is to show you all that crazy things will always happen on a wedding day and encourage photographers not to get stressed while shooting. Remember to have confidence in your craft...the best photographers can make magic out of the most blah of situations, rock it out and create some amazing images!

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Here's to shooting in the Midwest and to my kick-ass-crew!

LOVEe

Buy The [Film] Book, Donate to Haiti!

The images are horrifying, that is for sure. The past couple days, I've sat around thinking, What can I do to help these people? Then it dawned on me....duh, Eliesa. You're selling a book.

From now on, all of the proceeds from The [Film] Camera Book are going to help bring food and water to the people in Haiti!

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To purchase your copy of The [Film] Camera Book and make a donation to The Red Cross to support the people of Haiti....Click Here!

Thank you all for your support!

LOVEe

Books, Books and more Books!

The first round of The [Film] Book has SOLD OUT!

We received a HUGE shipment of books today and we're ready to get them in your hands!

If you are interested in purchasing this oh-SO-cool and inspiring coffee table book,

Click here to buy!

To learn and read more about the book, check out the previous blog post!

P.s...all books come autographed by yours truly!

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Get yours before they are gone! ;0)

 LOVEe

Photogen Inc Featured: To Each Their Own Blog!

"We would  just love to feature you, your work in the MPLS fashionindustry, hear more about your style and inspirations..and just feature the talent that is Eliesa!!!!"

These are the words that came along in an e-mail a few months ago and of course I was more than happy to meet the lovely Kate and Molly of To Each Their Own.  This is a lovely fashion blog, focusing on fashion in the Midwest! Apparently these two sisters fell in LOVE with the November issue of Metro and they flew in from Chicago and Arizona to meet with me!

I'm very honored and humbled to be featured on not only photography, but my outlook on the Minneapolis fashion scene as well! What a treat!

I'm super happy with how the article turned out - CHECK IT OUT HERE!

 

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Special THANKS to Kate and Molly for a fabulous afternoon and great conversation!

Here's to Fashion!

 LOVEe

The Day That Collin Stopped By...

A few months ago, I kept hearing this chatter about a dude named Collin. My awesome friends/fellow photographers/kick-ass videographer kept raving about him and his work! I checked out his website and was blown away! We had dinner, he picked my brain, and the rest is history, we are instant friends! Collin is the perfect example of a person who absolutely loves what they do and is having a TON of fun doing it! He has a passion for photography, not just weddings (though he rocks those out like no ones business), but many other areas as well! I absolutely love meeting new, amazing talent in the MPLS and I couldn't be happier to have this guy around!

Collin stopped by to visit us in the studio today to catch up! We also played with his super-yummy 35mm 1.4 lens, which I am dyyyyyyyyyying to get!

Make sure to check out Collin's Website and Blog!

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Happy Monday Everyone!

 LOVEe