And when it was all said and done this awesome session will turn into this awesome wall gallery. I can’t wait to install it for them next week. Wahoo!   

Truly:

-I woke up to a nice breakfast (well, a bowl of oatmeal, because I am allergic to Gluten, Egg and Dairy, so poor Brian had a limited menu to choose from)

-Went to a sweet little event in Lydia’s Sunday school class.

-Listened to Miss Alayneous sing a sweet song to mothers in church.

-Came home to Brian’s sweet lunch of gluten free, egg free, dairy free muffins that were a little more like muffin crumble (it’s the thought that counts).

-Went as a family to the Milwaukee County Zoo, which I love and had a wonderful time together, the monkey house was everyone’s favorite (me, the elephants).

-At the zoo, I asked my husband to take a few photos of me with the kids. It’s so rare, me in front of the camera. All mom’s should be there more often!

-Came home and took a nice nap,  wow!

-Had a bon fire with hot dogs (delicious and awful) and s’mores and time together.

I almost felt like a queen. Queen for a day! Thank you, Brian, Ty, Z, Layn and Bug. I love you so much. -Mom

Here’s where you all come in: Nominate one mother who you think deserves a mother-and-child (or children) session with me by writing a short essay or even just a paragraph in the comments on this post explaining why you think this woman is a beautiful mother who needs her love captured forever.

While I was working on this project I started thinking about all the mothers I know. In my line of work, that is a whole lot of women! They are as diverse and beautiful as the flowers that decorate America . . .

Some have one treasured child, some have five.

Some are crunchy granola, some have a van filled with Happy Meal toys.

Some work at home as mothers and wives, some work as CEO’s or doctors or teachers.

Some live in mansions, some, apartments.

Some have partners to help them along, some go it alone.

Some are thin and perfect, most worry they’re not.

Some yell at their kids now and then, some never have (yet).

Some are strict and some are lenient.

Some are sick with cancer or heart disease, some are healthy, for today.

Some have lost children, most are lucky and don’t know the heartache.

Some moms are no longer with their children, some are lucky to be.

All are beautiful, brilliant and unique.

All are important in the life of her child.

All matter, especially to her children.

All will one day wish she had taken just a few more photos with her children.

Even if she doesn’t feel thin or beautiful or perfect.

Even if she thinks her smile is too big or too small or too crooked.

Even if next year she plans to be thinner or prettier or ready.

Because every single mom I know is beautiful, wonderful and important.

Because every single mom you know should stop fretting about her self image.

Your kids don’t care what you look like, you’re just Mom.

Your kids will only remember how much you loved them when they look at the photos.

And you will better remember this precious time, this precious gift, of being a mom.

Happy Mother’s Day!

*There is only one stipulation. The winner must be willing to sign a full model release, allowing us to use the photos to complete our promotion and share with all of our readers!

Do you have a special occasion to celebrate; a new baby, a new home, or maybe leaving the home you love, the start of preschool or kindergarten, the first gap-toothed smile? Really, anything is worth celebrating. Even the simple things, especially  the simple things, are worth capturing. Let me assure you, as the mother of an about-to-graduate-from-high-school son and three others that are growing up too fast, it’s the simple things you love. It’s the small moments you truly treasure forever. Book your session now and don’t miss the moment forever.

**SOLD**

Cleaning out my gear closet and getting ready for a Canon 5D Mark III . So, it’s your lucky day. I am letting my 5D Mark II go for a steal of a price. It does have a fair number of clicks, but fear not, it has many good years left! Plus, the used camera body alone goes for $1700 on eBay. I am also including a very nice Canon 85mm 1.8 lens that is a beautiful prime lens that creates truly sharp and beautiful images. This lens goes for approximately $350 used and is worth every penny. You won’t regret upgrading to this awesome setup. Asking just $1,699 for all of it. If you are local to San Jose or Milwaukee you can save on shipping!

Comes with original box, software, manuals, battery, charger, strap. Eye cup is missing, but costs about $1.00 to replace. This camera was just serviced by Canon and deemed in great working order. It does have 110,000 actuations (shutter clicks), but has many miles left to go. Great great camera. Takes BEAUTIFUL images and video. Check out this video/image slideshow all taken with this camera.

This lens takes truly wonderful, sharp images. You can shoot in extremely low-light, particularly when paired with the Mark II that shoots in a dark room beautifully.

You can see that there is a slight bit of normal wear on the body of the camera. This is normal and doesn’t affect the camera’s function at all.

Again, small amounts of normal wear. The awesome, large viewfinder is unaffected by the minor scratches.

Years ago, when I first picked up a “real” camera and started to really document our family life and the lives of the people around me, I knew I had found my calling. Having always been an artist, first in drawing, then in watercolors and oils, I knew I had found the perfect medium to share my vision. Fueling my passion was the knowledge that I came from a family of talented photographers. My oldefar (great-grandfather) and oldemor (great-grandmother) Carlson owned a studio that they later passed down to my bestefar (grandfather) and bestemor (grandmother). They were all very talented. I just love to look at the beautiful images of those years passed. On my father’s side, my grandpa Bill was a hobbyist photographer with wheels upon wheels of slides from my father’s childhood. My own dad loved to take photos as well, dragging the “good equipment” up chairlifts and on camping trips and in tippy canoes on rushing rivers to capture our childhood memories on film. There’s no doubt; it’s in my blood. What’s more, growing up surrounded by these “memory keepers” and their beautiful photos where surly a part of my own development and gave me an “eye” for good photography. More importantly, gave me a heart for it.

The early years of my journey were spent in the photography section of Barnes and Noble where I read every tutorial, every morsel of information I could find on how to make my camera do what I wanted it to do. I spent thousands of hours and just as many dollars developing roll after roll of film to learn my craft. I put my heart and soul into my new venture and the payoff was amazing. Not that I made some crazy amount of money. Let’s get real. Even in the heyday, how many rich photographers did you know? But emotionally, I had found my identity. I was a photographer. Those words were beautiful to me. “My name is Anna and I am a photographer.” Beautiful . . . back then.

Fast forward nearly ten years. Fast forward on the camera industry, the photography industry. I have no idea how it happened or when exactly it happened, but one day I woke up and saying “I am a  photographer”  lost it’s sweet ring. Instead of, “Wow, that’s so cool.” I would hear “Oh, my sister, cousin, aunt, neighbor and grandma are photographers!” Neat. Not. Of course, there is no test you must take, or level of skill you must show in order to call yourself a photographer.  It seems these days all you need is a website, a new Canon Rebel a la Christmas gift and the little green square (auto) mode and by January, you’re in business! Sometimes I want to say “I am a real photographer.” but that sounds a little arrogant. Sigh.

I have no idea why I let this bother me. I know that saying you are a photographer doesn’t mean you are. It doesn’t mean you know how to capture the soul of a child or the spirit of a family. Though sometimes it does. I also know that it’s really a good thing that cameras are smarter, better and easier. Not everyone can afford the best photographer. Even if you do hire the best, she doesn’t follow you around 24/7, capturing your daily life for you.

Better cameras and a flood of stay-at-home moms with websites doesn’t change what I do. It doesn’t change who I am or what I capture for my clients. There is only one me and there is only one way to capture life through my lens. Maybe if I keep repeating that to myself I’ll believe it.

It is all really silly. I have a really big and really exciting publication of my work, coming soon (can’t say what just yet). I was just in the April issue of Professional Photographer Magazine, our industry’s number one trade publication. Sometime in the next few months I will have a full feature in that same magazine because someone there thought my work was worthy of sharing with the photography world. Yet here I sit, wondering if there’s anything special about my work.

Maybe what I need is a new name for what I do. A soulographer? An artist? A memory keeper?

Or maybe I just need to look at my photos of my children, my family, your family, sweet kids, new lives, and stop thinking so hard.

Just feel it. Maybe ?

I mean . . . look at that. Awww . . . my baby, my husband and some sweet music between them.

Anna Mayer is a children’s photographer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she lives with her husband and four children and San Jose, California where she used to live and now just gets to visit once a month to see the sunshine and capture the great families there. Book your own session with Anna soon! You’ll never regret it.

New Short & Sweet for Milwaukee!

We’ll also be doing our first Milwaukee Short & Sweet Session on June 30th near the Public Market. Get the details here.

And this one just makes me so happy. My now twelve year old, then ten, riding along. I am sad to say that he doesn’t want to go along on our walks anymore; exactly why I treasure this photo so much.

Now, keep riding the carousel and check out what Chicago child photographer, Marianne Drenthe of  Marmalade Photography has to share!