win·try/ˈwintrē/

Adjective:  Characteristic of winter, esp. in feeling or looking very cold and bleek:  ”a wintry landscape”.

This fabulous playroom by Captured Simplicity showcases beautifully framed large child and family portraits in an unexpected mix of bright happy colors.  What impact!

Decorating a playroom with photos can be as easy and affordable as installing a few picture ledges and artfully arranging mounted portraits in both black & white and color upon them.  The grouping can be updated and rearranged easily.  I also love the chalkboard black magnetic board in this room by Styleberry Photo.

These doodle frames by Design Aglow are perfect for creating a canvas wall display in a child’s room or playroom.  Modern and whimsical, clean and fresh.  I love it!

This tidy children’s library flanked by two toy chests is beautifully decorated with colorful lampshades which complement both the large color and black & white children’s wall portraits.  The bright green wall also helps give this space punch!

Finally, how amazing is this shared kids room?  With a space this large, there is room for two of everything as well as a large play table where the kids can play games or do art projects together.  And, did you notice?…two entire walls are dedicated to photos of the kids laughing and having fun both at home and on vacation!  What a great way to keep family memories and happy times alive.

If you’re lucky enough to have the space to create a playroom for your child or are thinking of redecorating your child’s play space as he/she grows, I hope these images and ideas have inspired you!  Happy Wall HeART Wednesday!

The Savvy Photographer Blog, launched August 1, 2009, by photographer Marsha Misfud as a blog that would inspire other photographers, had over five hundred thousand people visit in the first year.  Today, the Savvy blog is the talk of the town for photographers all over the world.  So you can imagine the thrill of it when Leslie Kerrigan, writer for the Savvy blog recently contacted me wanting to feature the boutique studio and interview me for their tour of five different studios this week.  I honestly had to pinch myself this morning when I saw our Livingston, Montana studio on the blog here.

Thank you Leslie, for the great write up and to Marsha at The Savvy Photographer for this opportunity.  You’ve been a great source of inspiration for me over the years and will continue to be…:)

And check out Laila Ali’s nursery for her daughter.  (Nursery design by Little Crown Interiors).  The image hanging above the crib appears to be one of her own father, Muhammed, lovingly admiring his newborn daughter (Laila).

This twins room mixes large canvases (one of each baby) with a series of “expression” shots in fun, but classic circle frames.  Images via photographer Nancy Ferrell Belden.

These nurseries go all out with large prints in colorful whimsical frames hung in fabulously painted rooms.  Love the series on the left of the new baby with mom and dad!  Photos via Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo.

And last but not least, this crib and bedding is absolutely gorgeous, but what I love most is that the framed images of baby really take center stage when you walk into this nursery due their size and bold framing which compliment the crib.  Image by Brenda Horan Photography.

Well, if this isn’t enough inspiration to want you to have another baby (or grandbaby), I don’t know what is!  Hope you enjoyed today’s Wall HeART Wednesday ~ in the nursery!

Love this grouping of family photos (new & vintage) along with landscapes from the family’s travels.

Family photos through the years can be displayed as a cohesive collection when photos are printed in black & white or sepia tone and framed in black or cream-colored frames.

I love this gallery of sepia-toned images displayed in various shapes & sizes of black frames with a few wall quotations and stitchings mixed in adding meaning, depth and dimension.

An interesting mix of black & white photos framed in various black & white frames styles, shapes & sizes hang alongside a canvas print and family initials making for a meaningful and interesting staircase display.

photo courtesy of Tracie Rossie

How over-the-top this is!  Perfect for a clutter free modern house with simple clean lines.  Let’s go crazy on the staircase!  Slade Architecture created this magnetic wall specifically for their clients to hang family photos upon.  As you travel up the stairs, you travel the family timeline.  Read all about the design concept here.

Photo courtesy of Slade Architecture

And finally…OK, I know…no photos along these walls, but I just had to share this design by Holly Mathis Interiors of Texas.  Love how the steps up to the kids rooms and playrooms are numbered.

Photo courtesy of Holly Mathis Interiors

With the upcoming holiday season, this is the perfect time to spruce up your staircase and create a meaningful display your family will enjoy in all the years to come!

I photograph quite a few family reunions each summer anywhere from Bozeman to Big Sky, from Livingston to Yellowstone.  I always start out with group shots, and then I like to break it down into individual family shots, shots of siblings and finally individual shots of each child or grandchild.  When my clients later see the number of images in their proof galleries that they love, they often tell me they wish they could display them all, and I am happy to let them know that they CAN!  There are so many options now for wall groupings and displays, but one of my favorites for family reunion photographs is this collage canvas I call “Mr. Big”.  Imagine, 46 images in one!  I love the impact this canvas makes in this living room.  Not only is it a great piece of art, but a constant source of joy…hours can be spent standing before it, viewing the images…remembering…

Here is a close-up of the piece from a 60th wedding anniversary-family reunion photographed last summer in Yellowstone.

I also love the idea of going large with one great group shot as was done in this beautiful kitchen space below.

These are but one option I offer for family reunion photo displays.  There are so many more which I will share in future posts.  Wishing you a Happy Wall HeART Wednesday!

I love beautiful spaces, interior design and of course photography…both portraiture and fine art, and have been meaning for quite some time now to share inspirational ideas for decorating with photography.  So, I am pleased to officially introduce “Wall HeART Wednesdays” which I plan to post weekly.  Be glad to know your thoughts so feel free to “like this” or leave some comment love.

One great portrait as a large canvas print can make such an impact…

Composite Image. Portrait by Susann Saarel.

Love these framed wall and tabletop groupings by Pottery Barn.  So easy and affordable to do!  What a great family project this would be!

And isn’t this room amazing?  Photo wallpaper!  I am dying to create this for someone!  Any takers?

Image credit: Laura Novak / Design Aglow

Well now…that wasn’t so hard!  I have no idea why I put it off so long!  We all have family photos at home, in boxes or worse, images on our computers, unprinted (and yes, even I am guilty of this).  Our images should be printed, framed, hung up on the walls of our homes for our families to enjoy everyday!  Your family is your heart…thus Wall HeART!

Not too long ago, a man named John Jenson from Minnesota commented on one of my blogposts.  He’d been going through old photos and found one of his maternal grandmother and two other people who he assumed to be her brother and sister dating back to the 1890′s.  He searched for “Finn” and “Livingston, MT” on the internet (the name and location of the studio on the bottom of the photo) and found ME here!  Not at all what he was expecting to find, but he was kind enough to leave a comment which led to an email conversation.  This is the beautiful image he was researching:

As John wrote to me, “The woman on the left, black gloves, is my maternal grandmother, Hanna Peterson (some documents say Johanna).  She married John Hedlund in about 1897.  I have the list of all the things the bought to start their house in Little Falls, MN and this is dated 12.29.1887 so I assume that this is about when they were married.  A note from my mother’s cousin would estimate it to have been a couple of years earlier.  Looking at the Livingston photo and others taken in Little Falls, I would estimate that the Livingston photo was taken about 1894-6.  I am not sure who the other two people are.  Something I should have found out many years ago.”  John also sent me a wedding photo (of Hanna Peterson to John Hedlund) which was done by Solem Brothers in Little Falls, MN here:

Oddly, I had been wondering about Livingston’s first professional portrait photographer since moving into my new space on East Lewis in October and I discovered that it was C.E. Finn who is credited with taking a photo of not only Calamity Jane but a few others I found on the internet such as this one of Thomas Orr and his new bride:

I emailed this image to John Jenson who was quick to observe that the Orrs are posed on the same carpet as his grandparents, the Hedlunds.  John further noted, that “some things such as backdrops and movable props do not seem to have changed in concept over the years…though granted, much of your [Susann Saarel's] work seems to be outside without backdrops and a much less formal pose.”  Through family photos dating to more than 100 years, John has traced his family back to Sweden and Denmark.

Finally, John says this, “If I knew when I was younger what I know now, I would have gotten more family history recorded.”  John and his wife are from the Twin Cities area and have lived everywhere from Denver, CO to Rochester, NY.  It is most interesting to note that John worked for Eastman Kodak for 35 years.

Putting the bits and pieces together can be challenging if not impossible.  Research photos, take photos, archive photos.  Always record who’s  in them, places and dates (even estimated dates).  Learn how to preserve your vintage photos {here}.  And for goodness sake, please print out your snapshots, make albums and share with your children and family the story of their lives.

Many of you are still so young,  having babies and raising children… but keep this in mind…when you get on in age, when you begin to realize your mortality, it becomes ever more important to share your history, your life, your legacy and to have it documented for the generations to come.   It is a basic human desire to know where it is we came from.  Our existence is temporary.  Memories, stories and photos…these treasures of our lives live on.

I first photographed newborn Luke (see photos here) in my prop-overtaken home office at Sky Ranch, so mom Amy appreciated the loft-feel of my new Livingston studio space as well as the amenities.  Seven month-old Luke is one of the happiest and most beautiful babies I have ever seen and I’m sure you will agree.  I had asked Amy to bring a floor length gown to wear for the session, inspired by an image I saw in In-Style Magazine of Julianne Moore with her daughter, Liv.  Julianne wore a voluminous Alexander McQueen gown while her baby Liv wore nothing. Amy looked stunning in her beautiful Vera Wang gown and I loved Luke’s matching GroVia diaper shell (available for purchase at The Natural Baby Co. in Bozeman).  Here are some of my favorite images from the session:

And here was the inspiration:

Image from In-Style Magazine (Aug 2010)

Miss Larissa has been my kindred spirit since the day she came into this world, kicking her way out of the womb (during a C-section emergency birth)..with an “I want to be born…I want to be born NOW!”  sort of attitude.  A baby with the eyes of an old soul who saw deep into my core.  My mini me in so many ways and so much more.  She is the mirror into my past and the light into my future.  She is for so many reasons, my favorite girl in the whole world…and always will be.  And I continue to tell her so every night.  Because you can never really tell them enough how much you love them and how much they mean to you…

And despite our crazy short summer that goes by in the blink of an eye, we somehow manage every year, to squeeze in a special summer photo session…just she and I.  These images are from Phase 2 of our photo shoot taking place just days before the twins’ departure to California to spend a few weeks with their Oma & Opa on the beaches of Santa Monica.  Larissa raided my closet for this one,  choosing  to wear one of  my  Monah Li dresses and matching hat.  Our session took place near Sky Ranch, in a open field and cattle chute at high noon.  I love you, Miss Larissa Sage…you are my favorite girl in the whole world!  xoxo…Love, Mom