St. Paul wedding photographer / January Special - 20% off Wedding Packages

St. Paul Wedding Photographer / March Special

Receive 10% off any Wedding Package if you book your wedding before March 31st.

To see more, visit http://russstoeckelphotography.com/

St. Paul Wedding Photographer / Livin' the Dream, Elisa and Rob

I've known Rob and Elisa for several years.  In fact, I worked with Rob for a few years at a restaurant.  When working with Rob, I would ask "How's it going?"  and he would reply "Livin' the dream."  I know that he wouldn't always mean it, but he always had a great outlook on things.

A few days after their wedding, Rob said, "I can now say "Livin' the Dream" and mean it. I'm with my wife, on the bike, in the mountains."  This time, I know he really meant it.

Elisa and Rob, it was an honor to have spent the day with you both and to photograph your wedding.
To see more, visit http://russstoeckelphotography.com/

The beautiful details...

A proud look...

A special moment....

Elisa and Rob, I know you both will always be "Livin' the Dream" with each other. Congratulations!

Cottage Grove Photographer / Keeping it Simple

One light, one person.  Sometimes using only one light can make for a dramatic photo.  I used one softbox for these photos.  With one light,  bright colors of the uniform and a black background, I felt that was all that was needed to make these portraits stand out. Sometimes the most simple ideas work the best.
to see more, visit http://russstoeckelphotography.com/

Cottage Grove Photographer / Cottage View Drive-In

This is a follow up on a post of a few weeks ago.  This is the photo of the Cottage View Drive-In.  It will be open again this year and many hope for it to stay for many more years.  There has been talk about tearing it down to build a Walmart which would be a shame since this is a great part of American culture.  It is a great place to watch a movie with the kids, so show your support when it opens and enjoy the good ol' times at the Drive-In.

Cottage Grove Photographer / Photographers standing on a bridge

Photographers like to take photos during the "Golden Hour", the time right when the sun is coming up or when it is going down.  Add some clouds for a dramatic sky and some great scenery and hopefully when you get home, you have something to work with.  I had that moment this last week, well, almost.  I drove to Minneapolis to photograph the skyline and was the first to arrive on a bridge where most photographers go to get this shot.  While waiting for the sun to go down a little more, I was joined by another photographer, Joe Krause.  While we were waiting, we talked shop.  Turns out we both enjoy photographing in HDR, watch the same webcasts, and follow the same photographers.  As we stood there watching the sun setting, all the clouds disappeared and the dramatic sky we were hoping for disappeared making it a little disappointing for both of us.  We took our photos anyway and headed out when it started getting dark.  It was great to meet Joe, see some of his photography, and stand on a bridge.
Check out Joe Krause's Photography at http://joekrausedesigns.com/ or his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/joekrausedesigns.

This is my photo of the Minneapolis skyline.

Cottage Grove Photographer / Portraits

If you look through my website, http://www.russstoeckelphotography.smugmug.com/, you will see that I do many different types of photography. Many photographers pick one or two types of photography and stick to it. So far, I haven't picked what is my favorite kind of photography since I enjoy photography so much. Lately, I've been focusing on Portraits. Here are a few of the photos from my website.

Cottage Grove Photographer / Hello...

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog and now have finally decided to start it.  I'm not sure how things will go and I still have to learn about this, but I hope you find some things interesting as we go on this adventure.  I will try to post some photos that I have worked on and let you know of things that may be coming up.