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Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Rich! Thank you so much for allowing us to document this day.
LOVEe
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Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Rich! Thank you so much for allowing us to document this day.
LOVEe

For years now, I've wanted to do a fine art show, featuring work from all of the amazing weddings we've photographed over the years! Well, now is the time and this has turned into an even larger affair than I could have ever imagined! Here are all the details:
Join us for a revelatory night of cocktails and celebration as Photogen Inc. and Rivets & Roses present "FOUND // The Art of Wedding," on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 514 Studios in the North Loop district of Minneapolis.
FOUND celebrates local talent working to elevate weddings to an art form and introduces engaged couples and Twin City art lovers alike to their work. The event will be curated by Eliesa Johnson and features fine-art installations by photographers Photogen Inc. and Rivets and Roses, fashion designer Tara LaTour, floral designers Munster Rose, filmmakers Capture Studios and stationer Paperista. MN Bride will be handing out complimentary copies of its latest issue, while Flow DJ spins some tunes, Cocoa & Fig will display and serve their tastiest confections, and the lovely crew at Crispin will pour up tastes of their refreshing cider. So whether you're a newly engaged couple or a fine art enthusiast, FOUND is sure to find you enchanted, inspired, and a little imbibed.
This event is open to the public, and it is a +21 event!
You can find out more information by checking out the official website at FOUNDEVENT.COM and follow us on twitter @FOUNDEvent! Hope to see you all there!
LOVEe
At this time last year, the ELEVATE Workshop was a simple idea in my head I was trying to make come to life. In 2011, we hosted not one, but TWO successful workshops and each one was SO. MUCH. FUN. Hosting these workshops has been just as much a learning and growth experience for me, just as it is for the attendees. It's been a true pleasure to teach and serve every single talented photographer that has signed up. I've also been fortunate enough to collaborate with the most amazing industry talent to make these workshops come to life! You better believe there will be more ELEVATE Workshops! You can look back at recaps from our workshops HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Below are the group shots from both ELEVATE Workshops + a local MINNeSHOP we hosted this past year!


In addition to the workshops, I've been lucky enough to mentor several photographers over the year thru LOVEe Consults, which is the consulting side of the business! These are one-on-one mentor sessions and I love them SO much! Each and every photographer we've worked with has made GIANT strides in their businesses and it's so exciting to see the change!
We partied in Vegas this last year with all of our friends across the country, which was SO much fun!
Several of our lovely weddings were published in both print and on national blogs: Style Me Pretty, Southern Weddings, Grace Ormonde, Munaluchi Bride, Minnesota Bride & Luxe Mountain Weddings.

We moved into our new studio, which we absolutely adore!
I attended my second Engage conference at the Grand Del Mar this past year and, as always, it was an amazing week! I'm so looking forward to going back in 2012!

On a personal note, I had one of the funnest summers of my life! I actually made a point to attend many concerts, street festivals, and even go on a couple of trips, including sailing around the British Virgin Islands and climbing a mountain! One of my goals last year was to spend more time with family and friends and I think I definitely improved on this...at least a little bit :0)


So, here's to 2012! I can already tell this is going to be one-hell-of-a-year! We're spicing things up around here, restructuring, hiring some new talent, launching some new websites and hosting some smashing events! As far as my goals go for the next year, I'm already well on my way. I make my to-do-list on my birthday, and even looking at my goals since October, a lot has already been accomplished!
2012 is also going to be one amazing wedding season! Every single wedding we have booked so far is going to be absolutely incredible and I'm also very excited to work with many very talented vendors this year as well!
Please raise a glass of bubbly wi
th me and cheers to all of the good things that happened in 2011 and to all of the even bigger things that are bound to happen in 2012!
Thank you to my crew, each and every one of you, who help me realize these dreams every day! You are all THE BEST and I couldn't do it without you!
LOVEe
LOVEe
Have a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY!


The holiday season is upon us and I absolutely love this session!
Enjoy!
LOVEe
I love culture and especially when it comes to weddings! It's fascinating for me to document a day that is so rich in tradition and Jenny & Aashish totally tailored their wedding day to made it their own! Their ceremony was a fusion between Christian and Indian beliefs and practices, and to be perfectly honest, it was SO much fun! I mean, SO. MUCH. FUN. I personally love Indian ceremonies, specifically. There's so much color, dancing, bangles, the couple is showered in flowers, and a giant celebration from the entrance to the exit. Jenny and Aashish are a couple who were continually smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves throughout their entire day as well and it was so refreshing to see a couple truly enjoy every single moment of their day!
Congratulations to Jenny & Aashish! The wedding celebrations are only beginning for these two! They will be having receptions in both New York and India in the coming weeks and we wish you THE best and hope you had as much fun as you did on the official big day!
LOVEe

WOO HOO!!!!
I'm SUPER excited to finally share this great news with you all!
As many of you know, and for those of you who don't, I own another wedding photography company, called Rivets and Roses. This is our sister company, and has been around for a few years, with our own crew members growing into the roles of lead photographers under this brand! We have had amazing success with Rivets and Roses, and it's time to, for the first time ever, hire new lead photographers to shoot for the company and join our team! I'm SO proud of the work that our current photographer, Louisa, has been producing and we want to continue that trend by hiring only the best of the best!
I started this brand with the intention of having it support 3-4 photographers, and I am looking for THE most AMAZING people to be a part of this!
I am looking for photographers who:
Are Experienced Love to photograph weddings Have a great sense of style Give the absolute BEST in customer service Have inspiring personalities Love to connect with people Outgoing Organized Detail Oriented Confident Have an amazing work ethic Passionate Work well in a team Love to have fun!
This opportunity is perfect for photographers who want to photograph weddings and create an amazing client base without the necessity of running their own business. This will be an independently contracted position and photographers will be responsible for supplying their own professional gear. We also require a 2 season commitment for this position. Compensation will be a contracted rate per booking to be discussed upon hire. Other job responsibilities include:
Blogging/Social Media (under company's website) Creating and updating online portfolios (under company's website) E-mail correspondence with potential clients Client Meetings Vendor Relations Prep for actual Wedding Day Photographing Engagement Sessions and Wedding Day coverage File Management with the studio Client Follow Up
If you are interested in being a part of Rivets & Roses and joining our team, please e-mail your resume and samples of your work to: eliesa@photogen-inc.com
Congratulations to Clare and Ryan on your engagement! You are an AMAZING couple and I can not wait for the big day!
LOVEe
[blogshow id=4ecaa57e0bec5 player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0] I love everything about the Freeman Family and I thought they would be the PERFECT ending to this lovely blog feature we have been doing! It's been SO fun to hear all of your feedback and responses on the family work we have been doing and it's encouraging to know that this work connects with all of you as well!
Robyn is one of the yoga instructors over at my all-time-favorite yoga studio, Sigh Yoga in south Minneapolis! She's a lovely woman, and my favorite thing about their latest session was coming into their (amazing) home and truly documenting their life. When I started this feature on the Families of Photogen Inc, it was all because of a challenge I gave myself at the Elevate Workshop and also to continue the trend of creating and showing honest imagery through our portrait and wedding work.
Mission accomplished with this session, I just adore it!
Thanks for tuning in everyone - we have a STELLAR engagement session hitting the blog next week, so stay tuned!
LOVEe
[blogshow id=4eca9c03aff8e player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0] Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
I felt like the Weber family was THE perfect choice to share with you all on this day, simply because of how we met! This past year, I had donated a portrait session to the Children's Defense Fund silent auction to raise money for their amazing charity! The winners were this incredible family called the Webers - complete with adorable children and British accents! :0)
It's my goal to give back, in some way, at least one organization each year and shooting for such a good cause always puts a grand perspective on things!
Enjoy - and I hope you are all loving this day!
LOVEe
[blogshow id=4ecaa4c09afdd player=0 autoplay=0 toolbar=0] It's Wednesday, and the Wednesday before a very long, lovely weekend!
Eat up, drink much and enjoy the Pitts family who's session just screams fall!
LOVEe
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Jennie Gaskins is a great photographer and friend and when I photographed her family, it was unlike any other shoot I've done before! For everyone who knows me, the thought of children makes me entirely squeemish, so when it came to photographing a birth, I had to put my fears aside and document this big day! In my mind, I totally approached this like war photography, I was going into battle, and in the end it was an absolutely amazing experience!
I thought this might be kind of fun to show, since it's an entirely different kind of family photography, and I was very happy with the way the images turned out! Talk about telling a story...
LOVEe
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This is our last week of the Photogen Inc. Family blog series and I had to kick things off with the Reiter Family! Kelley and I go way back to the hometown days and it's been SO much fun to document her life as it grows! We've been lucky enough to be along the ride with this family through weddings, giant family get-togethers and even the arrival of the twins - Lilly and Liam!Happy Monday everyone!
LOVEe
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Cheers to the weekend!
LOVEe
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I hope you are all having a lovely, lovely, week!
Cheers!
LOVEe
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Happy Monday blog readers!!!! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and are enjoying our series on the families of Photogen Inc.! Little Josie has the perfect smile for a Monday morning...
Enjoy and have a great week!
LOVEe
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Have a very happy weekend, everyone!
LOVEe
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Sometimes we're outside, sometimes we're in the studio! I absolutely love these images. So clean, refreshing and freaking adorable!
Happy Wednesday!
LOVEe
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Have an awesome week everyone!
Cheers!
eliesa