Tag Archives: photography

August 5, 2014 · 10:30 am

Lifest 2014

After our busy Fourth of July weekend, we kept right on chugging with our busy schedule.
I actually spent Monday- Wednesday filling in as the receptionist at my physical therapy office- Point Forward Physical Therapy. I made a great office girl!
I even had time for a few runs, including a Green Circle loop with Abbie.

I packed up my gear, my pup, and my husband, and we headed over to shoot Lifest, a music festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
I don’t usually share too many photos from the event, but I take a lot of photos of people hanging out, camping, and generally being awesome. The evening concert crowds are usually around 20,000 people, and lots of people stay and camp for the week. I am a photo team supervisor for an awesome group of 14 photographers and videographers. Our team is called the Ninjagraphers.
The Beirl family and friends were there:

And Kenzie did some incredible spray paint art…

Chris, ~~my twin~~ “our intern” was working, too!

…and Jordy…

…and a goat. Well, a whole petting zoo…

And this. Father of the year? 🙂

John, my physical therapist, brought his oldest boys for Toby Mac.

There were lots of concerts, lots of speakers, lots of signs, and lots of folding chairs. 🙂

…and last, but not least, Wes, from my favorite late night comedy folks, Happy Fun Time.

Lifest hosts a 5K run on Saturday morning, and I ran it with a stranger! I met her during the first mile and we chatted and prayed our way through the run. Pretty awesome.

Jean brought me lots of healthy snacks, and the Fawley family took great care of me (and Brian, too!), as always.
I will leave you with some smiley balsamic vinegar, on the bottom of my salad plate.

We came home from Lifest on Sunday afternoon, exhausted, and left for another adventure on Monday…

Wyoming.

Stay tuned for that story! Thanks for reading, friends.

Miles this year: 347.25

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as concerts, family, friends, Lifest, music, photography, races, running, traveling

August 3, 2014 · 10:45 am

The National Mustard Museum, Madison fun with friends, and Ashley and Erik’s wedding

My dream has finally come true.

I went to the NATIONAL MUSTARD MUSEUM! It is located in Middleton, Wisconsin, and I secured a tour and case of personalized mustard.

I could barely contain my excitement. I love mustard! I watched a video about mustard in history, saw all kinds of antique mustard jars and tins, and learned about mustard use around the world. Mustard fields are a beautiful thing! Did you know that mustard has been used for centuries as medicine? I can’t wait to take a mustard bath after my next long run. 😉

I came home with sixteen jars of mustard, mustard powder, and whole mustard seeds, so I can make my own! Awesome.
We stayed at Amanda and Andy’s new apartment, and had one heck of a sleepover with our Delta Omicron college friends. Curtis, Mo, Josh, and I all went to market on the square on Saturday morning. It’s a big farmer’s market on Madison’s Capitol Square.

We had a lot of fun with our friends celebrating our Delta Omicron sister, Ashley, marrying the man of her dreams, Erik. Brian played in a saxophone quartet for the first time since college! I wasn’t allowed to take pictures during the ceremony, but if her photographer will let me buy one of the quartet and put it online, I will post it for you all to see. They sounded pretty awesome. 🙂

We hung out in the Union until it was time for the reception, and then we partied with our friends all night!

Congratulations, Ashley and Erik! You had a beautiful wedding day. 🙂
As always, thanks for reading, friends. I’ll be back soon!

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as Delta Omicron, friends, Madison, mustard, photography, traveling, weddings

August 2, 2014 · 10:10 am

The Teen Summit and my favorite summer race

The youth programming within Trout Unlimited (the Headwaters program) is pretty much amazing. My coworkers, Frankin and Rochelle, are the coolest people. Kids who have gone through a youth camp in their state are eligible to apply to the Teen Summit. It’s a camp for teens that show leadership potential, and they all happen to be killer anglers. 🙂
The summit is in a different state every year, and this year, it was in our beautiful driftless area at Sugar Creek Bible Camp, so I went down to help. 🙂 Here’s some of my favorite images from those few days…

It was a really great time, and I left totally inspired by the future of TU.
I made the drive home (a couple hours) and felt like I could sleep for days, but I worked on photos and other work, trying to get caught up. All this travel makes me so thankful for my home- Brian, my garden, my burr grinder (and my favorite coffee!), my favorite fur baby. I was so thankful for my own bed, and I needed the rest, since I only had one day at home before my favorite summer race- the Heart and Sole race, in Pittsville, Wisconsin. Pittsville is a tiny little town in the exact center of Wisconsin, and this race raises money for the firefighters of this town. It’s a little five mile race, and it’s always on the day before the 4th of July, so the weather is unpredictable. Last year, it was 98 degrees, but the weather was lovely this year, in the 70s. I went with George and his friend, Sara.

It was Sara’s first race, so she ran the two mile option, and we had an awesome race. It started with bagpipes playing (America, The Beautiful instead of the national anthem)…

This race is well known for their post-race treats, including the homemade granola. I love that stuff, and apparently, so does this girl. 🙂

We all survived and thrived during this race, and George and I crossed the line together at 46:12.

We hopped in George’s car and carpooled home, where I slept soundly Thursday night, in anticipation for my big weekend ahead: a mustard museum tour and Ashley’s wedding! More of that to come in my next post 😉
Thanks for reading, friends!
Miles this year: 347.25

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as photography, race recap, races, running, traveling, Trout Unlimited

August 1, 2014 · 10:25 am

Cara and Kyle, and my SUP!

Cara and Kyle are an absolutely adorable couple. They have been in several weddings that we’ve been lucky enough to shoot, so we’ve worked with them before, and their love for each other just shines through in the photos from their wedding. They had a warm, Appleton, WI wedding, and we stopped over on Lawrence’s campus for some of the photos.
True love + a summer day + a classic car? Timeless.

Congratulations, friends! 🙂 We had a wonderful time shooting and dancing at your wedding all night long.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but this is the summer of the reel mower. I’ve been mowing our lawn this whole summer with our reel mower, and I love using it. It has taught me a lot of lessons, including that it’s important to slow down and pay attention to the little things… Like this guy!

I am gearing up for a new Heidi adventure- stand up paddleboarding (SUP). I took a SUP yoga class last summer, and I just loved it. This year, I said that if TU renewed my contract, I wanted to buy a paddleboard. Of course, I married an Oberstadt, so if something can be built, I can’t just buy it. Thus, a kit to build a wooden SUP arrived on my porch.

I’m a really lucky girl, I know it! Brian has been hard at work on the board.

I even got to help, I got to mix the wood flour with the epoxy and apply it using a pastry bag type device. You tell me: is this wood flour, or whole wheat? 😉

I’m off to find another adventure. Thanks for reading, friends! 🙂
Miles this year: 341.75

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as friends, photography, reel mower, SUP, wedding photography

July 31, 2014 · 11:00 am

California Rainbows

…and my flight went to California. 🙂
I spent two days fishing the only place in our country where rainbow trout are native.
I was obviously miserable.

I spent the first day on a float trip on the Upper Sac, with the guys from The Fly Shop, and my TU coworker, Mike.

I spent the night in the coolest room ever…

…with an awesome view.

The second day, we fished on several awesome streams, including the McCloud, Hat Creek, and the little Truckee. The McCloud felt like I was fishing in Jurassic Park.

I caught some fish.

I even had a chance to stop in at Burney Falls and dip my toes.

…and of course, I logged a few miles…

…and ate frozen yogurt…

…and consumed a local IPA…

…and visited a couple fly shops…

…and generally sought out some adventure. 🙂

Thanks for the awesome two days of fishing and exploring, Mike!

I hopped on my plane, flew into the sky, and saw a sign of good faith… From rainbow trout to rainbows in the clouds.

My flight home was uneventful, and Brian picked me up in Milwaukee. We checked in to our hotel and headed straight to Summerfest to see Bruno Mars!

He was every bit as awesome as I’d hoped he would be.

After that day of travel, I fell asleep as soon as I sat down in the car, and Brian waited patiently in traffic to get to our hotel.
I still managed to rally the next morning to snag a run in Milwaukee. Our hotel was only a half mile from the Oak Leaf trail, so I jumped on there and had a great time 🙂

I took a quick shower, then we headed out for a Bloody Mary at Wicked Hop. We love that place.

We stopped over to visit my uncle Mike, aunt Bonnie, and super cute cousin Alexa for dinner on the way home.

We made it home with two whole days to catch up on sleep, work, and cuddles with Abbie, before we left for our next adventure.
See you soon, friends… Thanks for reading!
Miles this year: 341.75

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as beer, concerts, fly fishing, flying, friends, photography, running, traveling, trout, waterfalls

July 29, 2014 · 10:00 am

Jill and Breck, Father’s Day, and a night in Marinette county

Love. I love love.

Those of you who have met me know that I cry at every wedding I shoot. My friends usually make fun of me!
I cry harder at weddings when I know the couple, as with Jill and Breck. There was a several month period a couple years ago when Breck and Brian worked together, and they looked like twins, and even I mistook Breck for Brian from behind. 🙂 These two had a dream wedding in their hometown, Waupaca, Wisconsin. Take a peek!

Congratulations, Coopers! Thank you so much for choosing us to capture your wedding day. We had a blast with you!
PS the homebrew was awesome, Breck! Best. Wedding. Favors. Ever.
We love Waupaca, especially the cute little downtown area. We stopped over there and Brian finally got me the book I’ve been dreaming of…

We also took my father-in-law, Greg, to Freckled Frogg for a Father’s Day lunch. Happy Father’s Day, Greg… Thank you for raising three incredible men.

Brian and I had a free Saturday, which rarely happens, so we went camping! I love water, as I’m sure you’ve noticed with all my fly fishing and kayaking, so I was excited to visit some of the waterfalls up in Marinette County. We only spent one night, but it was a great time.

We found Waldo!

The waterfalls were beautiful. These are from Dave’s Falls.

We headed home, and stopped in at Central Waters for a beer with our friends, Aaron and Staush. They were in Point for a Wisconsin Conservation Congress meeting, so we met them for a cold one.

We were totally exhausted when we arrived home on Saturday night, but I had enough time to wash my laundry and pack for my next adventure… Details to come. 🙂

Miles this year: 332.5

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as beer, camping, friends, photography, traveling, wedding photography

July 28, 2014 · 10:00 am

NFAC photos, Talia and JJ, and summer favorites

I hopped over to the UWSP Fine Arts Center to do a photo shoot with the Music Department for their 2015 promotions. It was a humid day, and the bugs were crazy, but we had a great time!

We had a little relaxation to recover from some of these trips and we spent a little time on the water.

I swapped out Brian as my paddling partner for an afternoon and went out with a professor of mine from UWSP- Susan 🙂 We had a great time- it’s fun to teach something to my teachers.

As always, I was playing outside. Running, skating, riding my bike, and taking Abbie as often as possible.

This is the middle of wedding season, so I’ve been surrounded with love, and beautiful girls in dresses, and delicious wedding cake. 🙂 for example: take Talia and JJ- a beautifully rainy wedding day filled with friends and family.

And last, but certainly not least… I’ve waited for the conditions to be right for this image for years. As soon as I saw the sunset and the rain, I snagged Talia and JJ and we escaped the reception for a few minutes outside. What a stunning couple.

Congratulations, Talia and JJ!
I’m off to keep trucking on photo editing and play in my garden. Garden updates to come! Thanks for reading, friends. 🙂
Miles this year: 332.5

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as friends, music, photography, pups, running, wedding photography

July 27, 2014 · 10:40 am

Heidi and the Very Busy Weekend

I started my crazy weekend by heading down to the driftless area of Wisconsin- specifically Viroqua, for a Wisconsin TU State Council meeting. All of these meetings are scheduled in a way that makes fishing in fabulous places a reality. I was able to get a few casts in on the Kickapoo with Doug on Friday evening…

I participated in an exciting meeting with my favorite WITU guys…

Bill Heart spoiled me with some maple syrup…

And Aaron and I went out to Camp Creek and fished after the meeting. Yes, I out fished him 😉

This fishing trip was actually the first time that I ever lost track of time out on the stream. I’ve surely come a long way. 🙂 I sped out of the driftless and popped in at Ashley’s bachelorette party in the Wisconsin Dells. I couldn’t stay long, since I had to run home and make pasta salad for 60 people for my sister-in-law, Megan, as we were hosting a big baby shower for her the next day. I came home, and Brian had already cooked all my pasta, so I only needed to assemble.
Oh… and pack for the Green Bay half marathon that I foolishly signed up for Sunday morning between that meeting and the baby shower.
I slept a few hours, and Brian loaded me in the car with all my race gear and baby shower stuff, plus shower accessories and a change of clothes. I met up with Carmel, and we ran the race together.

It was perfect weather- we were a little chilly at the start, but we warmed up once we got moving.
This is what you missed for 12.5 miles…

My favorite part of this race is the end, when we run through Lambeau Field. I always cry happy tears during that lap.

It was an awesome race with fantastic company, and I cruised across the finish line at 2:11:47. Brian was waiting very near the finish line with the car running, and we sped off to New London, so I could shower at my mother-in-love’s house. I went from sweaty to ready in no time, and we headed off to the party. It was beautifully planned by the sisters and mothers and aunts of the momma-to-be, and Megan was just glowing.

We tried to take it easy the following week, with a few photo shoots. More fun to come! 🙂
As always, thanks for reading, friends.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as baby shower, fly fishing, friends, meeting, photography, race recap, races, running, traveling, Trout Unlimited

July 26, 2014 · 10:00 am

Relax? What’s that?

I got home from Pennsylvania just in time to celebrate Mother’s Day. Brian and I invited our moms over for a brunch- we had a waffle bar!
My mom is truly an amazing woman. She was a single mom for most of my life, and made some amazing sacrifices so I had every opportunity to develop into the woman than I am. I love you, Mom!

The flowing week was packed with some of my favorite things: running the Green Circle Trail with Lydia and Carmel…

Cuddling with my favorite Halle girl…

Making chive vinegar…

…and feeding watermelon to Abbie on hot days.

I ran over to Green Bay to host an event sponsored by Green Bay TU that we called Women, Water, and Wine. It was an event for women to come and learn about the things that TU does in their community and hook them up with the local chapter. Tim Landwehr over at Tight Lines graciously donated his shop space for us. We had wine and cheese and it was a great time!

That same week, B and I went down to Milwaukee to catch a Brewer game.
I feel like the only person who tailgates with a salad, but it was delicious!

We made a couple stops for some tasty eats- gourmet cupcakes and Bloody Marys from Wicked Hop.

More trips to come- the driftless area for a meeting, the Green Bay half marathon, a baby shower… You know me. Always on the go!
Thanks for reading, friends. 🙂

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as Brewers, food, friends, Milwaukee, photography, pups, running, traveling, wedding photography, weddings

June 11, 2014 · 2:53 pm

So much summer fun.

Hi, friends! Thanks for sticking with me on my adventures..
I’ve been having a lot of fun doing the things I love- taking photos, running, traveling, and paddling, among so many other things! Here’s a few of my recent trips…
The Freckled Frogg is an adorable little restaurant in Waupaca, Wisconsin. A lake town dominated by water sports and relaxation, I love to drive over there, paddle on the chain of lakes, then dance all night to live music with our friends. Here’s a few captured shots from the Frogg.

I also had the chance to meet (and adore!) Nancy, the fly fishing extraordinaire! She invited me over to her home and barn along the Tomorrow/Waupaca River, and we drank coffee, giggled over “designer” fly rods, and tried to lure out some big fish!