Portrait Ten & Eleven

I am always doing some sort of catch up but at least I'm getting these accomplished at some point. They were taken weeks or months ago. These are part of my 32 Things Before 32 List where I set a goal of taking one self-portrait per month. I haven't been very good at it and really don't enjoy taking my own photo but I made this as part of my list because of that. I need to be stretched. I need to be able to capture where I am at in in a certain season of my life. 

The first image feels very veiled to me. In this moment in time I am debating making even more changes in our lives, even more changes than I have already brought about in this past year. Something has been stirring inside of me greatly since I left my job at the church. Something has not stayed quiet and I feel like we have found a new home and community. I realize this is all very vague but I took this photo sitting on our steps in our house after we had just been at church and realizing mid service that we might not be there much longer, at least in the capacity that we have been. That is a big deal and a very big change. It has been hanging on me for months and I feel like we are finally getting to the point of being on the other side. Soon, very soon. 

This second photo was taken in an average hotel room in Montrose, CO on the day of my grandfather's funeral. I was tired, missing our kids, and ready to return back to our lives after traveling Thursday through Saturday, two weeks in a row. But, the fact that Ryan and I were both able to travel to Montrose for the funeral and see our family was a great gift, one I don't take lightly. I was thinking a lot about family and life, as one does when celebrating the life of another. Life really is short and I have no desire to waste my moments that I have with our children, friends, and family. Those things are what really matters. My job won't matter. Our house and cars won't matter. The number in our bank account won't matter or the number on the scale won't really matter. People matter. I need to be reminded of that a lot lately and I am grateful for the reminder. 

Good Things

It's been forever. I have only written in this little space a few times this year...the least amount of time in all of my years of blogging. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. Life has moved so fast this year and I cannot believe it is nearly 2017. 2017! 

I am hoping to do more blogging in this little space come the new year. The truth is...I miss it. It's nice to be able to look back on the past few years and all of the things that have happened in our lives. 

2017 is gearing up to be a crazy year. I hope to keep track of it way better than I did for 2016. I have no idea what this space will look like but I'm willing to give it a lot more time than I have been. It will be good to pick up my camera more often and document our lives. Good things are happening and good things are coming. 

Hollen Photography | Little Natalie

Katie and I have been in each other's lives for a very long time. We met at a youth group event many years ago and have been in each other's lives in some capacity ever since. We ended living together in Washington and experienced some of the best and hardest moments of our lives. I photographed much of that journey. I photographed her engagement. I photographed her wedding. We worked together in healthcare. Now, I was able to photograph their baby. I was getting super emotional as I edited these photos the other day. We have all come so far. We have been through so many things in the past 15 years of our lives together. They hoped for little Natalie for so long and now she is here. We may not see each other nearly as often as we once did because life has gotten in the way, but I count myself blessed to know these good people. 

We are now at the point in our lives where our friends are getting married and having kids. It's been a quick shift to that season in our lives and I have enjoyed being able to capture it along the way. I haven't done a ton of newborn photography so this was a fun adventure. Little Natalie is so adorable and makes me have baby fever big time. Someday heart, someday sooner rather than later. 

We also, of course, took some adorable little naked baby bum photos but I decided not to post her adorable little tush all over the internet. 

I would like more shoots like this one. 

Hollen Photography | The Holt Family

I had the opportunity to photograph the Holt family last weekend. Kristin was one of our doulas and taught portions of our birthing classes for Marin. Her family was so wonderful to photograph. Their backyard is full of chickens, bunnies, ducks, trees, swings. It is a childhood dream.

Need family photos taken? We would love to hang out with you and your family for a photoshoot. 

For more information, please check out our website. 

The Everyday: Week Two

Our lives were filled with the welcoming of new life this week. We consumed cupcakes with mustaches on them. 

I was awake far too early, way too many times this week. Coffee is my companion. 

I've never felt the need to work on "Plan B" so much in my entire life. How's that for vague? 

(Stewie. Soon to be a big brother.) 

(Don't mess with my kid. She's tough) 

(Celebrating new life. A baby shower for my sister.) 

(Slowly but surely, I am working through this.) 

(Sometimes you just have to have toast with almond butter and apricot jam.) 

(Early Morning Fuel) 

The Everyday

I want to make a point to capture moments throughout our week, however mundane or extraordinary. This also forces me to take my camera with me more often instead of using my iPhone to take pictures all of the time. These are little moments. I want to remember each and every one for what they are and what we felt during that small sliver of time. Time is fleeting. 

(Sweet potato tots can cure all things.) 

(A new experience. Solid-ish foods.) 

(The sun on my face, the grass underneath my feet.) 

(How I've been beginning every morning.)

(unclear vision) 

(A promise and declaration. No turning back now.) 

(Early morning storms.) 

Hollen Photography: OUR NEW WEBSITE!

This has been a long, long time coming, but we have been working very hard to launch a website for our business. We can't wait to share it with you! We also can't wait to be able to take photographs for you!

ABOUT US......

We are a husband and wife photography duo that specialize in capturing the special events in your life, your home, and out in your community.

Our roots are in Fort Collins, CO. As of this year, we have begun to add to our family with the welcoming of a little girl. We have a feisty cat named Geoff. 

Capturing memories is our thing. We want you to be able to look back years from now and remember the little details of your wedding that you so meticulously planned out. Every toast. Every first dance. Every moment. 

We want to give you the photographs that will help aid in the selling of your home. We believe that good real estate photography can make or break a listing. 

We want to be there for the senior photos. We want to be there on your big day. We want to capture your band doing what they love.  We want to help portray the essence of your home. We want to photograph the details that you don't want to forget. 

Thank you for viewing our portfolio. If you would like to contact us about working with you, please email us at hollenphotography@gmail.com. For more information on the services we offer, click on the Services & Prices tab. 

CLICK HERE

to check out the new site. Let us know if you have questions at all! We can't wait to work with you. 

Currently Clicking #20

Pardon the language, but this is perfect. 

Each and every week, I gather links of all of the places I have been perusing in the great, grand internet. There are plenty of people out there doing big things and small things. Some of these are practical, some are inspiring. This week I am delving into the world of Paleo, realizing how important good real estate photography is, wanting to not sleep as much as do, hoping that I am a good mother that feels good about who I am, daydreaming about another garage sale, and drooling over the new IKEA catalog. 

1. I am slowly trying to remove dairy/grains/legumes from my diet in an attempt to get my skin to calm down after pregnancy and to fit back into my old jeans again. I have been experimenting with Paleo meals and approaches. I want to try these breakfast muffins and these apple cinnamon muffins. I love these Paleo Lunchbox ideas. I want to make cauliflower rice. Also, if anyone needs another birthday idea....I could use one of these.
2. I am a real estate photographer on the side. I am always amazed at the photographs some people place on the internet of their home in order to sell it or not sell it. Here are some absolutely terrible real estate photos.  So many wrongs. 
3. Back in my college days, which are further away from me than I realize at times, I didn't sleep very much. Now I try to sleep as much as possible with a 5 month old baby in the room next to us. Did you know though that intelligent people have one thing in common? They sleep less than the rest of us. Interesting read. It makes me want to stay up later and get stuff done like I used to. 
4. Nowadays, the simple thought of getting into a bathing suit is pretty terrifying after having a baby. Everything has shifted. Everything. Sometimes we lose sight of what really matters. A Mom's Kids Exposed What She 'Really' Looks Like, And Her Reaction Is PERFECT.
5. I've been on a kick lately again of getting rid of a lot of our stuff. We just accumulate so much stuff. Here are some tips of getting the most out a garage sale, not annoying your neighbors in the process, and getting rid of your stuff. 
6. IKEA just released their 2015 catalog. Per usual, I could buy the whole store. But on the other side of things, anything you buy from IKEA usually needs to be assembled. Here are the (humorous, yet truthful) emotional stages of IKEA furniture assembly. 

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Three

This week has presented many ups and downs. We go from having wonderful afternoons to nights where we can seem to get Marin to calm down to sleep. Sunday night was one of those nights. The day was perfect. Marin was a little angel and even napped long enough for me to make some good headway on a wedding I'm currently editing. As we were going through our normal bedtime routine she just decided that the routine wasn't what she needed that evening and the tears flowed. The only thing that finally got her to sleep, aside from probably pure exhaustion, was pacing the room in dad's arms. I think it's the beard. It calms all things.

Still no little teeth yet but I know we are in the midst of breaking through tiny gums. We tried some banana the other day and she wasn't too thrilled with that quite yet. It's all so new and unknown, for both her and us.

I pray for many good naps today and the next. She is growing faster than I think even she can keep up with.

Week Twenty Three.

(PS. Nobody freak out. Dad was holding her and keeping her safe while she was getting her picture taken by the mirror before and after bath time.)

Intentions for July

I desire to have good intentions for this new month that we find ourselves in. The summer is flying by. Once the 4th of July hits, I feel like school starts again and then Christmas hits. Here we go.

+ No Spend July (more information coming soon)

+ No TV binge watching until later at night with my man. Read a book.

+ Walks and exercising with Marin. I so enjoy this and need to do it much more often than I do. Now if I could only get my hands on one of these....

+ Edit the Wedding. We photographed a wedding and I need to edit like crazy.

+ Eat as clean as possible with one cheat meal a week. One. One. One. One. (my high school reunion is at the beginning of August. Oh my!) I am currently in the middle of a Facebook competition where winner takes all if your lose the most percentage of weight & inches. The winnings would not be bad at all.

+ Start introducing solid foods to Marin. (research, research, research.) Right when we have breastfeeding down, we have another thing to throw into the mix.

+ Work through BLOG LIFE. I haven't hardly touched it yet.

+ Teach a few Doterra classes. 

+ Revisit my 28 Things Before 28 List. August will be here before I know it.