Form submitted successfully, thank you.

Error submitting form, please try again.

Bella Vita Studio bio picture

Welcome to my Blog!

Thanks so much for visiting a little piece of my world! This blog will have updates on recent photo shoots that I have done, as well as photos from my personal life.  

A little about me.....I was born and raised on a farm in South Dakota but now I currently live in the Minneapolis area. Growing up on a farm with a dad who loved to take pictures was definitely my inspiration to go into photography. I have always been a people person and I love watching relationships between people, whether it be a mom and dad with their family or two couples in love, it all makes me giddy inside :-)  I love to have fun and have always been a happy go lucky kinda girl. Some of the things that make me happy are....my son, the smell of the rain, fresh mountain air, a trickling stream, the sound of a belly laugh, fresh baked cookies, planting flowers and watching them grow, skittles, a good board game with some competition, coffee, warm sand on my feet, and the peace that God gives me. 

I hope that you enjoy looking at the pictures on my blog. They are what make my day brighter and my life truly blessed.  Thank you for visiting!

Amy

"Find something in every day that makes your heart SMILE!!"


Nolan & Sarah: Married

Last weekends wedding couldn’t have gotten any more amazing. Nolan and Sarah, you two are so perfect for each other and it was such a joy to be at your wedding.  Your laid back personalities and love for nature fit right in with mine, so maybe that is why everything just seemed to flow so well.  Thanks so much for asking us to be a part of your day,  it was amazing!! PS….this is a long post, I got a little carried away with the pictures :-)

I love first looks :-)

Sarah....you are stunning!!!!

She wore a gorgeous Monique Lhuillier gown and Sarah made that head piece, isn't that awesome.

My assistant Justin got the image on the left while I was I getting the image on the right

This image ranks right up there with one of my all time favorite weddding images. Nolan and Sarah....you guys ROCK!

the light was gorgeous!!

Nolan looking fierce!!

Justin captured this one through the weeds, LOVE it!

LOVED their choice for dresses and suits. The guys ties look so sharp!

Look how happy they are? Love it, oh and how cute is the birdy at the feeder.

They made all their flowers. The farmers market sure hooked them up, love the colors!!

Just a couple details :-) The wedding was at Sarah's parents house and seriously, it was gorgeous!

Special thanks to Justin from Justin Mark Photography for assisting me!

Hoese Family

Loved this session with one of my favorite families! She always knows how to dress the kids really funky, I love it!! Even though I got a $45 parking ticket (really Minneapolis, what happened to the days of $10 parking tickets), it was totally worth every penny!

At the end of the session they whipped out the sidewalk chalk and went to town on one of the buildings. Love the sisterly love shown here. If you can read one of them says Ellie rocks more than Izzy :-)

They are such posers, it was so much fun!!

Gorgeous! Dad watch out!

Probably one of my favorites from the session!

Can't even stand how cute she is!!

Farm Family Love

My cousins family is beautiful, not much else to say…

Meet Lola :-) She pretty much has ownership over the whole farm...love her!

can these two get any cuter??

beautiful!

so adorable!!

Jordan & Steph: Engaged

I met Jordan and Steph for the first time last week and wow, they are so perfect for each other.   They seem to know each other so well and everything just seems so right, just like two peas in a pod.  Once again….I had a great time capturing the love between the two of them and I can’t wait to photograph their fun winter wedding!!

can you even stand how cute they are together!!

whoa hotness!

I couldn't decide which one to put on this post, so I put both up, love them!!

can you two get any more cuter together?? Seriously

Love how these turned out, I got lucky with the light :-)

Their love, miss Macy got to join us for the fun too :-)

look how they look at each other....soooooo adorable!!

Dan + Lacey: Married

I always love it when someone from my hometown asks me to photograph their wedding. South Dakota weddings hold a special place in my heart.  Jamie and I had such a fun time, and Dan and Lacey were pretty much down for everyone of our silly ideas.  I love it when the bride and groom are laid back on their wedding day and willing to just roll with it.  Thanks so much for letting us photograph your special day, I wish you both nothing but love and happiness!!  PS  I might have gotten carried away, there are a lot of images in this post.  ENJOY

LOVE this series!

A little Mitchell main street love!

Jamie's view

my view

one of my favorite locations to photograph at in Mitchell!! Love how they are rockin' it out

Jamie got this awesome shot of the girls, love it!

this image cracks me up!! dan is so serious and everyone else is outta control

another one of my favorite spots in Mitchell

check out the cake, lacey's mom is an amazing cake maker. This might be the coolest wedding cake I have ever seen.

pregnancy love…

What can I say….these two were a joy to photograph and so sooooo in LOVE!! They are going to be such great parents and I can’t wait to meet their baby boy!

I just love how her belly fits into his....so adorable!!

so so sweet!!

have I mentioned that I love old barns….

Maybe it is my upbringing but I can’t get enough of barns out in the country and the character they bring to photos. I think I am going to make a book on old barns. I am sure someone already has done that, but that would be a fun project :-) I wonder if I will ever get yelled at for trespassing.  I guess all the good photographers always say it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission :-)  Thought you all would like to see this fun family and how the barn adds so much to the photos. Even though it was 100 degrees out with 200% humidity, we got some awesome shots!

probably one of my top 10 photos of all time! LOVE it!!

Paul & Carla : Married

Even though the day was a little rainy, we still managed to get some great pictures. Paul and Carla, you were such a fun couple to work with, thanks for having us photograph your big day! I wish you nothing but the best in the years to come!

workin' it!!

 

carla, you are stunning!!!

 

whoa paul!! love this pic!

 

Baby Miles

This little guy was a charm to photograph. He was such a trooper and I ended up getting some really fun shots of him.  His parents ran their first marathons last year and after they got done running the marathon, she found out she was pregnant so they ended up naming him miles since he is already a marathon baby :-)  How cute is that?? I stopped by TCRC before the photo shoot to grab the little shoes you see in the photos below. My friend Adam owns the store and I knew he had little baby running shoes from when he was a kid, so he let me borrow them for the day.  I am sure Miles will be a standout runner someday, can’t wait to see what his little future holds.

I LOVE baby smiles :-)

soooooooo cute!!

a little sister lovin :-)

the proud older sister, miss Greta

so so cute!!

happy and safe in mommy's arms

Bret & Angie : Married

Their day started out with a pretty wicked thunderstorm and right as we were starting their first look, the sun decided to come out and the rest of the day was perfect. They got married at the Nazareth Chapel on the campus of Northwestern and it was gorgeous! Such a great location with super cool architecture.  Bret and Angie were such a fun couple to work with, super laid back and totally in love!! They are going to have a fun and exciting life together! Thanks so much for letting me be part of your special day! Oh and thank you to Tasha from Red Bird Hills for assisting me.

my view

my view

tasha's view

love this image that Tasha captured while I was getting a formal pose.


this flower girl was such a CUTIE!! Love this image!

Angie, you are stunning!!

check out her gorgeous eyes and her total mad face, LOVE IT!

love that the bark forms a heart :-) that was a total random find, but I love it!!

the stairs had all the books of the Bible on them so what better than to get them standing by one of the books that their bible passage came from :-)

Their reception was at the Minnesota History Museum and it was such a great location!

This made me laugh :-)

Their first dance was so gorgeous!! The capitol was all illuminated in the background, so awesome!!