“Dear Marlene,

You did it!!  When I stepped into your studio and saw the family portrait I couldn’t help but gasp and then of course the tears started. You captured what is a very precious and momentous time in the life of this family. Each of my children’s personalities came through in their expressions. YOU NAILED IT!! This photo will be treasured by all of us not only now but in the years to come. Thank you again for the time you took in making it happen.  And by the way, you were right, we wouldn’t have wanted it to be any smaller!!”

Marlene & Allan Siemens, Amy, Mark, Chad & Amy  Morris, Manitoba

On December 6, 1987 I photographed the wedding of  Marlene Penner & Allan Siemens. (I felt an immediate affinity with her – since we shared the same name – ‘Marlene Penner’!) Since then I’ve had the opportunity to photograph them on several occasions:  their extended family session as well as a portrait of Amy & Heidi and then each of the kids’ grads!  I love clients that come back to me again and again – it always makes it so much easier as I get to know them and they get to know me.

This is the portrait that made Marlene tear up when she first saw it yesterday…   (her kids are scattering across the world in a few months and she said she is so happy to have this wonderful portrait to look at every day).

Amy and Heidi 2005…

The grad portraits…

Of course, the reason for this portrait session was Heidi’s grad… (I love her red dress!)

Heidi has a passion for reading and brought in a ‘few’ books…

We did some photos of mom and the girls and dad and the boys.

Such a beautiful portrait of three beautiful women - but what makes this so poignant is the fact of their entwined hands.

Allen is one of the hardest men I've had the pleasure to photograph! What finally made him burst out laughing was when I told him to imagine his wife going shopping with his Visa card!

I love this one of Amy and Heidi!

Next year Marlene and Allen are celebrating their 25th anniversary – she is already talking about having me come out to their home and photograph just the two of them in their back yard with the setting sun…

Yesterday, the day (and night) after her grad, Chloe and Mom came in to view the photographs.   I used Enya’s ‘Only Time‘ song to show the portraits in a slide show.

“Viewing the photos brought tears to my eyes.  Marlene brought out such beauty in Chloe that only a mother knows is there!  So hard to choose.  Thanks Marlene!” Sandra Kihn, Steinbach, Manitoba

 

“It didn’t take very long to take the pictures for my grad.  But it took us so long to choose which ones we wanted.  We said:  keep, keep, keep, over and over again!  It took us a very long time.  We’ve finally chosen some and are still trying to figure out how we can get more!  Marlene makes the session very enjoyable and gets the best out of what you’ve got! Chloe Kihn

And here they are – my favorites from the session…

Mom brought some lovely daisies from a garden and we used them – I think this is my favorite of them all!

Thanks Chloe and have a great summer at the lake!

“I had seen my friends get their photos done at Marlene’s Designer Portraits and I loved them.  It knew it would be professional and FUN!  :)

Marlene was so friendly and seemed honestly excited to take my portraits.  She made me feel special and not in a forced put-on type of way.  I loved posing and feeling like a super model for an hour.

I love my portraits because Marlene KNEW exactly what she was doing!  She captured my essence and my body shape perfectly.  I loved so many of the photos!  There was so much variety and I felt like Marlene put her heart into these photos.   What one word would I use to describe the portrait experience?    ”Exciting”   I will recommend Marlene to my friends and family because of the 100% money back guarantee; of the time spent with us before the session to plan and co-ordinate everything; Marlene made it a fun experience and because I believe my portraits are absolutely priceless and shows exactly what I wanted it to!” Michelle Koop, Steinbach, Manitoba

Can you see why I titled this blog post ‘Breathtaking’?    I couldn’t choose just a few photos, so sit back and scroll down and enjoy these photos.

I loved Michelle’s enthusiasm when she came in for her initial consult.  I knew at that time that I would have a great time photographing her and when she booked I was very excited.   When she came in for the portrait session – she was wearing these 5 inch heels and she had a smile on her face in anticipation.  Then she put on her grad dress and I caught my breath – she was stunning.   Here are more of my favorites from her session…

And this is probably my favorite portrait of Michelle I took that day!

Sigh – okay, I’ll say it again.  I LOVE my job!

A change of shoes … and more photos…

And … my favorite from the entire session….

The high school senior girls that came in this year had so many fabulous looking grad dresses – they were all unique and fun and classy and pretty and suited each high school senior to a ‘T’.   I get a chance to see (and photograph) these dresses before anyone else!   I love my job!

“I chose Marlene’s Designer Portraits to photograph my grad photos because my sisters had gone there for their grad portraits.  I had a great time during the session because Marlene had lots of pose ideas and fun props.  I love my portraits because the colors look great and if I could use just one word to describe this experience, it would be:  imaginative !” Lindsay Friesen, Grunthal, Manitoba

Lindsay came in recently for her grad portrait and I was immediately captivated by her gorgeous dress!    It suited her perfectly and I was immediately excited to photograph her!

It was a fun session and she was open to all kinds of ideas I had – and here are my favorites from that session.

I was excited to use my new ‘string ribbons and beads’ to create some portraits – they worked perfectly with her dress!

Her sisters, Ashton and Chelsea where here in 2006 (Ashton) and 2009 (Chelsea).  Here are some photos from their sessions.

Ashton

Chelsea

Beautiful girls – all of them!