Boy

June 8 2011, Canon EOS 1000D

I thank God that He gave me you!

Heartwarming: Karlsson family

These photos may not fit the winter weather picture when you look outside the window. But I thought I would give you guys something heartwarming. Not only am I sure it will make you long to the spring and summer months ahead of us, I am double as sure these faces won´t leave you cold either.

Love you Karlsson family. You enrich my life!

 I would love to get to know you and capture your family in the same way if you want me to! Let me know: anne.elisabeth.art@me.com 

and I WILL get back to you as soon as possible!

Reflections of a mother

If I could say one word to describe January it would be turbulent! Very silent month concerning photography. Very busy month concerning personal life! We have had a lot of sickness going on this month. My son and I have been recovering from a streptococcus infection which we got during new years. Besides that we´ve been planning our wedding that´s coming up this summer, doing a bid on a house, working as a translator and a bunch of other stuff! 

And in the very end I am also just a little woman.. who happens to be a mom... of a vibrant little boy.. who just started kindergarden.

If no one has ever told you.. than I am truly sorry if I scare you by telling you this. Kids play. Kids run. Kids don´t think to much. Kids bump in to things. Kids fall.. and hurt themselves. 

We were doing great on this area! I have to say.. without being to pride.. my kid has a great balance and is very sportive(he has inherit that from his dad!). It caught myself thinking out loud a lot of the time ¨He almost turns 4 and still has al his teeth.. perfectly white!¨ Two weeks ago I remember telling some one¨My life is one big blessing at the moment. I mean planning a wedding, buying a house, perfectly healthy kid, good work etc.¨

Besides being sick for a few weeks, I really had nothing to complain about! 

Until, he bumped into a table...

Just a table..! Standing at very wrong place, at a very wrong time while he was showing how fast he could run.

After a week his front teeth turned grey. I can determine that his teeth has died, if I should believe was is said on the internet. 

Now.. this whole story is not so much about the teeth. I want to share the first thought that went through my mind when I found out his teeth turned grey. 

His perfectly white teeth won´t be perfectly white when we walk down the aisle this summer.

Wow. Stop! What crazy thought. I pondered on this thought the following days and felt so incredibly ashamed. What a selfish reason to feel sorry for him. 

Thoughts flew through my mind about what other people would think... That they would think I am a bad mom who doesn´t look after her sons teeth hygiene...

Why am I telling this. To tell you that there are worse things than imperfect appearance. Besides his teeth turning grey, he is not in any pain what so ever. So why should I care that his teeth turned grey?? Life isn´t perfect based on how a magazine says your family should look. How your house should look. How your wedding should look. 

Perfect is when you are filled with love which makes you blind for outward appearance and immune to false shame. 

A mother on the internet wanted to whiten her 5 year old sons teeth at a dentist. Somebody response on this was: what kind of a world are we living in when kids can´t be the way they are. It won´t last long until we forbid them to have scratches on their face which they got from having fun while playing football...

Happy 2012!

Hello beautiful mysterious person!

Why beautiful? You have never even seen me, you may think! I know you are unique and that there is no one like you. Crazy enough.. there is nowhere a duplication of you to be find. In history or in the present time! No one laughs exactly like you. No one cries exactly like you. No one thinks exactly like you do. Isn´t that beautiful?

Why mysterious? I know you are unique and that there is no one like you. Yes the same sentence as before, but now  I want to focus on what is ahead. The mysterious happenings of 2012..

No one will laugh, smile, cry, try, act, be mad, think, sing in this year like you.. It is in your hands. 

I took these pictures on a wedding party which i shot in 2011. Hope to be documenting, a lot more smiles in 2012.

Happy New Year!

Wedding: Samuel & Irina

Samuel and Irina, there´s no other way to describe them as: caring, joyful, helpful, beautiful young people! I happen to know them from our local church and for the past months they have always been the first to help out with different projects. Whether it was with the kids, teens.. you name it. They were there.

 They are people with a sense of humor.. a character trait that I can really appreciate. Asking them to walk to the other side of the beach to take some shots, is NOT an easy question when you have your wedding shoes on! After doubting for a quick second, Irina threw her shoes of and decided: ¨What the heck¨! You need to see the fun in things when you do that! As she started running, her faithful friend and husband followed her steps, trying to hold her dress for her... 

Following them around their whole wedding day, freezing moments with my camera, I can truly say that the wedding was a reflection of who they are in my eyes. A lovely day with a lot of love and laughter.

Mr and Mrs. Olsson, you are only at the beginning of a whole life together.. and I wish you so much love and happiness in the years ahead! :)

Home is where the heart is

Welcome. That´s a word I´ve heard (and seen) a lot of times in my life. If there is one thing our mother taught us it is this. Invite people, make an effort, make people feel special when they enter your home. Light candles, put on music on the background.. Little things, details that make a house a home. Not only my mother rocks in decorating, also both of my sisters take home decoration to another level. Their houses feel like my second and third home! My camera eye just couldn´t resist, on a sunday afternoon, to take advantage of this gift in decorating.. 

I am dying to make my own house a home.. in less than a year!

Wedding: Niklas & Karuna

Okay this is like a dream come true for me.. Photographing a tall handsome man with a beautiful dark beauty.. Somebody pinch me! And when I found out they have two cute boys, my happiness was complete.

I bet you will be really surprised when I tell you it was so cold that my hands were freezing and I was wearing a coat! Can you imagine how cold it was wearing a dress? I can´t believe how they manage to look so natural. They didn´t complain at all and just said ¨We trust you, you are the photographer¨. Thank you for that!

The kids did a good job too, considering the weather! The whole family deserves some respect. Being a model is not easy! I wish you the best of luck :)

Cuties: Theo & Hugo! (You wouldn´t think they were freezing ha?)

A little extra credit to Karuna´s sister Violeta, who made sure her sister looked at her best.

Smile because life is good!

Look at these girls! Ahh so full of life.. Love it! Could not resist to share this with you all..

As I wrote the title of this entry ¨Smile, life is good!¨, eye migraine overwhelmed me once again. I have been having this for the past 2,5 years every now and then. Often when there is a lot of work to do, like now! It starts with dots before the eyes to a degree that I almost don´t see anything for about an half hour-to an hour, following with sometimes a day full of headache. Cause: stress. Sometimes it can really frustrate me because it feels like such an attack. Especially because it has to do with my eyes.. Without my sight I would´t be able to photograph let alone live my life the way I do!

When I was born they diagnosed me with an eye disease called Cataract. It comes in different forms but most of the time it is diagnosed with elderly people. This caused me to be near-sighted. A surgery would be the best treatment. The cataracts lens is removed and replaced with a plastic lens. The surgeon who operated me had not done this kind of surgery before. I can´t imagine what my parents went through. I really am thankful for all their care and prayers in that time. With the surgeries turning out well I could see almost like ¨everyone¨ else. I had to wear glasses the whole day. Which I didn´t always did like I maybe should have.. Anyway I had my check ups the years after and I was supposed to have another surgery when I was 16 to replace the plastic lenses for new ones. Because your body rejects fake objects. 

When I was about that age I had a check up. And miraculously my body had accepted the fake lenses as if they were real. So I don´t need a new surgery. Thank you God! Today, being a photographer.. You can´t imagine how much that means to me. Such a big contrast between then and now. And also returning to the title of my blogpost. Smile.. because life is good. It is! All the jobs I am getting, all the joy that comes with it.

Wow this blogpost became long, once again.. Sorry!

Down below I just wanted to show that I have been having a totally different kind of job offer the last 2 months. Photographing flowers at a funeral. I have to be honest that when I got the offer to ¨to photograph at a funeral' I had to swallow before I could speak again. I mean this was something totally different then families, weddings, children etc. But luckily for me I was asked to photograph the flowers and details that would honor the person that passed away. Following up with editing photo albums for the people left behind. 

I have to admit that I am amazed that I am enjoying this so much. Even though it maybe sounds so wrong! It is such a different aspect of life. Death. But contributing to helping people get over their loss by making an ever lasting memory of the day they honored their lost one. Just beautiful.

One more thing!
I took this picture a few weeks ago when my AWESOME sisters helped me with a wedding! After assisting me at the portrait session they dropped me of the party location. While shooting the wedding couples entrance, I noticed they hand´t left yet but stood aside.. I took a quick shot and am so happy I did that! Look at their faces shining.. How lucky am I to have them as my sisters!

I promise. Next time more photos and less talking!