MPLS / St Paul Magazine // Holiday Entertaining

So, I'm a little late on this blog post, but the good news is that we're in the prime season for holiday entertaining, so this article is still relevant! For the November issue of MPLS / St Paul Magazine, I photographed the main feature, which is all about dining and entertaining for the holidays! For this shoot, we created four different tablescapes to inspire our readers! We were on location at Parlour, Butcher and the Boar, and some private homes to photograph these sets and it was a blast! Even though the issue is off of newsstands, check out the article online! pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd pg 74-89.indd2

Dessa // A Pound of Steam

Dessa is a badass. She's the lady in town that every dude has a crush on and every girl does too. She's just one of those people that is that cool. In October, Dessa released her first book called  A Pound of Steam, published by the folks at Rain Taxi. We all know that Dessa can write. Her lyrics are some of the most brilliant I've read, so to venture into the world of poetry seems to be a natural transition for her. I was lucky enough to photograph Dessa for MPLS / St Paul Magazine and wanted to share a few more portraits than what ran in the issue. What I learned about Dessa in our short time together is that she is equal parts vulnerable and confident, outspoken and sweet, yet approachable. She is a talented beauty and voice that we are are so lucky to have here in our city.  And yes, she is that cool. Check out A Pound of Steam, Tour Dates and the full article with Dessa here! DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0001 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0002 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0003 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0004 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0005 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_0006 DESSA_EliesaJohnson_00072

The Bloodmark Saga//

I met this woman named Aurora years ago. I first knew her as a graphic designer and she is the brain-power behind all of my branding! I've gotten to know her over the years and just adore her! She is a woman of many talents and she can now add the title of Author to her list! Her first novel, called Bloodmark  just hit the bookshelves and I was honored when she asked me to photograph her head shots, specifically for her new book + promotion. The book is a young-adult-fiction novel and is described as such

"Bloodmark is the classic tale of love and good verses evil with the juxtaposition of an ancient Celtic culture of werewolves and present day. This story features a strong heroine—no damsel in distress—who must fight for the freedom of love. Bloodmark is the first of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy. Readers of young adult and paranormal romance novels, like Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, and The Hunger Games will devour Bloodmark."

To match this vibe for the book, I decided to take Aurora into the woods. A studio just wouldn't fit this description. We needed some movement, some energy and a space that eluded freedom and mystery. Here are a few of my favorites from my time with Aurora. Her book is carried in Barnes and Noble  and available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes.  If you are interested, you can check out the Bloodmark Facebook and  Twitter for more information!

 

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MSP / St Paul Magazine // Satchel B. Moore

With a name like Satchel B. Moore, how can you not be an interesting person in this town? For those of you who aren't familiar with Satchel, he is part of the team at Black Blue, a great shop in St. Paul. More than that, Satchel is crazy passionate about good, quality denim. I had the pleasure of photographing Satchel for MPLS / St Paul Magazine for the current issue and for this portrait, we were invited into Satchel's home. This dude really takes customer service to a whole other level. He cares so much about his clients that he personally hems their jeans in his home for them. I think that is pretty cool. Make sure to check out Satchel's full article in the October issue, which is on newsstands now. This space was soooooo cool that I just had to share a few more portraits that didn't run in print. Enjoy!  

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MPLS/St. Paul Magazine // The Beer Issue

It's October and you know that that means - everyone is in the mood for a good brew. This month's issue of MPLS / St Paul Magazine is on newsstands now and I am SO proud to have been a big part of this issue. There are a few stories that I was invited to photograph, all that I will be sharing, but I wanted to start out with the big story - beer. This story took me to Fulton, 612 Brew, Indeed Brewing, Schells Brewing and even a stop to the Better Beer Society University. I have always loved the beer culture in our city, and it was great to learn even more about it! The story revolved around the sense of community that the tap rooms bring and is full of information!  

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Tara LaTour // Juxtapose // 2014 Collection

Every year, I am so grateful to be invited back to photograph the newest collection by bridal designer Tara LaTour. Tara and I have a beautiful working relationship and friendship, and I remember last year when we were at Bridal Market, she was already planning this year's designs. For this past year, she stuck to her vision and her 2014 collection has stayed true to her brand's roots, while pushing the limits in the details. The dresses have elements of fringe, separate pieces, and cropped tops, which is something I just adore for the world of Bridal. A few of her dresses, in my opinion, are also red-carpet-worthy. As usual, Tara included her classic ombre and color dyes to the line. On a personal note, I am totally and completely honored to have a dress named after me!!! This is one of those moments in life where I am completely humbled that she felt a dress was inspired by my personality. That is truly amazing.

For this year's look book, we went into the studio for a more editorial and monotone look to the images. Amber Rose gave her talent to the hair and makeup - and even went so far as to give our model hombre hair, which I absolutely love and think it fits the Tara LaTour brand absolutely perfectly. Each year, Tara and her team put their heart and soul into creating this work, and it is such a wonderful thing to be a part of. I am currently sitting in NYC in the midst of Bridal Fashion Week, where Tara is debuting this collection. I felt it was the most fitting time to share it all with you as well!

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Of course, a shoot like this would not be complete without some fun behind-the-scene images! Thank you so much to our entire team for all of your amazing work!

 

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dschwen//

David Schwen is most definitely the most clever dude I have ever met. I am lucky enough to call this guy a friend, but the more I see his work, the more my jaw drops in that "Why didn't I think of that?" way. David is the mastermind behind his design brand dschwen. He is a bit of an instagram/pinterest hero to many of his followers and mostly because his ideas are both inspiring and fun, yet simple. If you haven't seen his work yet, you must check it out. These are just a few portraits I took of the man-behind-the-talent for Urban Bean Coffee's I ♥ MPLS blog! If you want to learn more about dschwen, head on over and read his interview!  

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Mpls St Paul Magazine // Burger Feature

Sometimes I take an assignment that is totally out of left field, just to challenge myself. As we all know, I mostly concentrate on photographing people. Whether that be environmental portraits, fashion or ad campaigns - people are usually the main focus of the work I create. When MPLS St Paul Magazine approached me about photographing their burger feature for the August issue, I couldn't help but say yes. I'm a GIANT foodie at heart and it was a challenge I was happy to accept. There are overall 20 pages devoted to burgers in this issue and we had the pleasure of photographing 17 different restaurants for this article! I brought along some help for this shoot - our all-star-intern Melissa and our awesome-video-dude, Chris. Chris was our resident burger-eater when we needed someone to really dive in, but he also offered his talents for this sweet behind-the-scenes video! I also learned that I can shoot one mean burger...  

Burger// Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine from Chris Wegner on Vimeo.

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Dogwood Coffee // Stephanie Ratanas

Stephanie Ratanas says it best on her profile for Dogwood Coffee. She is 'concerned with all things coffee'. It's clear after meeting her for just a few moments that the entire process of creating a cup of coffee is her passion. Stephanie is quiet, soft spoken, but a powerhouse behind the scenes of this roaster. For Urban Bean's new blog, called I ♥ MPLS, I was invited to go into the offices of Dogwood, where they roast & package their product, as well as work and train their staff. Dogwood is SUCH a cool company and I've always enjoyed every single person that I've met who's associated with this brand. For this Friday, I thought you might enjoy a little behind-the-scenes imagery of what goes in to making Dogwood so brilliant. You can also check out the full interview with Stephanie on the I ♥ MPLS blog!

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John Kraus // Patisserie 46

The last couple of months, I have been super busy with a lot of different projects. One of my favorite works of collaboration is the new website for Urban Bean Coffee in Minneapolis. This is definitely my favorite coffee spot in town, and I am very excited to be asked to photograph the new content for their new website. In addition, I am SO excited for the new I ♥ MPLS blog, which is part of the new UB site. This has been a great opportunity for me to just do my thing, have some creative freedom and photograph some sweet environmental portraits. For this first shoot, we headed back in the kitchen of Patisserie 46 with chef John Kraus. Here are a few images from our time together, but I encourage you all to check out the full blog post + interview with John over at I ♥ MPLS.

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