minneapolis photographer | jennifer witt photography

I love photographing newborns. This one is super special because Kyler is my very first nephew. We did a mini-session with Kyler. A mini-session is about half the time and half the photos of a regular session. It worked well for all involved because we only had about an hour and a half smashed between two family Christmas celebrations. I prefer to photograph newborns before 10 days old when they are still all curly and sleepy. Kyler was 20 days old so we got some great awake shots, and a couple sleepy photos. He wasn’t nearly as excited to be all curled up as he would have been a week before but he was so patient and so alert. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

I had never been to Bandana Square before but this family heads there often. Their boys love the train museum. It was an awesome location with loads of character. We ended up getting shots in and around the outside of the building. Grayson wasn’t so sure of me at first, but my super duper preschool teacher powers won him over and he told me all about his ball themed birthday party. Xander was down for anything and pretty much stayed put wherever we decided to put him. Thanks for a fun morning D Family! It was great to work with you.

I love this family. The girls and I are intertwined through the friendship that our parents share. I started off with the plan of just doing one of the family’s photos and then I got an e-mail that they wanted pictures of all the kids and grandkids. I was so excited to be able to get images of ALL of them! A family tree session typically consists of mini sessions (10-15 photos instead of the usual 20-30) for all the families plus a mini session for the large group shots. In the middle of the shoot John and Julie let me know that we were at the same location that they got married! They then went on to say that their photographer didn’t get any photos of just the two of them on that day. I felt honored to go back to the spot where the wedding family photos were taken and to give them some photos of just the two of them. I found out later they both cried as they looked through the slideshow. I know it is not always fun to get photos taken but what an amazing gift to give your family! It was an awesome experience and it was a beautiful day so the kids had a blast. Thanks for letting me capture your connections R family!

I had the pleasure of photographing 3 sweet girls and their parents this past weekend. I traveled to my hometown of Algona, IA to do this shoot as well as a large “family tree” type session (stay tuned for that blog!). These girls were fantastic. They were totally diva-licious. Not in an I-only-want-red-m&m’s-in-my-dressing-room way but in an I’m-gonna-rock-this-shoot sorta way! I had to QUICK take shots of anything that could even be considered a posed shot because one or two shots in the arms would start flaring out and the hands went on the hips and these girls totally rocked the camera. It made for a fabulously fun session. I LOVE the first photo below, B was snuggling her sisters. ADORABLE! Even though Baby P wasn’t so thrilled about her sisters holding her today (diva in-training?), she held her own when she saw the camera coming. Thanks R Family for letting me photograph your beautiful and vivacious family!

My first newborn shoot! Meet Gabriella. 1 week old. I went to college with her mom and dad and they are some of my closest friends. I was so excited to photograph them and their expanding family. Big brother Evan was very anti-photos for a while, but I convinced him they would be “surprise” photos for Mommy since she was out of the room at the time. Worked like a charm. I guess having a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teaching background comes in handy in the world of photography after all! Gabby was perfect and slept most of the time. She was so fun to photograph and I can’t wait to watch her grow! It was hard to choose just a couple of photos but here are some I love.

I  have been playing around with photography my whole life. Like many photographers, when my children were born, I realized how precious every moment had become and wanted to capture every little thing. For the past year, I have been experimenting on friends, family, and strangers at public events. I enjoy capturing moments and emotions. After all, when I look at photos of myself and my family, I want them to tell a story and show the connections between people and the world around them. I want to remember my husband’s horrible college haircut, the craziness of our engagement, the way I dropped the dove at our wedding, and my children’s sleepy newborn smiles and toddler antics.

I was so lucky to attend Cheryl Muhr’s The Secret Workshop when she came to Minneapolis in May.  Photos from the workshop are  shown below. It was the push I needed to start sharing my gift of capturing moments with others. When I show up, camera in tow, and ready to start snapping, I want you to answer me this question: What do you want to remember about these moments?