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Back at it {SE MN Portrait Photographer}

Masks and social distancing during sessions will take a bit to get used to, but it felt great to get behind the camera again last week after just over 2 months. Here are a few sneak peeks of what we did last week….

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Re-Opening {SE MN Portrait Photographer}

As I work on rescheduling postponed sessions today, I wanted to take a moment to layout how our new normal for doing a session will look. We have come up with the following guidelines and safety precautions to keep our clients and ourselves safe and healthy. A lot of it is the same as our normal practice beyond us wearing masks when needed and not being able to give hugs and high fives to the children. Please be patient with us as we try to navigate this new normal. Thank you all so much for your continued support! Stay safe!

Sessions: All sessions will be outdoor for the time being. We will only be accepting groups of no more than 8 people at one time. Only those being photographed and parent/guardian will be allowed during sessions. No bystanders. Extra people means extra risk.

Health Check: We will check in with the client before the session to be sure they or nobody in their family is or has been sick. If you, your children, or anyone in your house feels sick (or has been sick in the last 14 days), PLEASE reschedule your session. Likewise, I will postpone all sessions if I, my assistant or my family don’t feel well. Kari and the assistant will fill out a health check the day of the session as well. Please don’t put myself, my assistants, our families, and my other clients at risk.

Social Distancing: We will follow all guidelines for social distancing by keeping at least 6 feet between us and and our clients. I will be using a telephoto (zoom) lens to accomplish this when taking photos as well, we will still get a variety of closeups and full body shots.

Posing: Photography sessions will be no-contact, which means my assistant and I will guide you from a safe distance on how to pose, adjust clothing and adjust hair. With children, parents may have to move them into place or adjust the pose if needed.

Props: Props will be limited to keep the potential germ threat to a minimum. We will wipe down and sanitize before and after every session.You are welcome to bring any personal props of your own to use! This makes the images more personal and unique, as well as giving you more peace of mind.

Face masks: At all shoots, we will wear a face mask if guidelines from the State of Minnesota or the CDC recommend we do this. We will also ask that anyone not being photographed does so as well, but nobody has to. If we happen to scare children with our masks, we will be sure to remove our mask but maintain more than 6ft away.

Sanitizing gear: I will clean my gear before and after each session . I will use cleaners appropriate and safe for my gear.

Hand washing: We will continue to use the best hand washing practices as recommended by the CDC. We will also have hand sanitizer available.

Ordering: Ordering as normal will be an online gallery and if you need additional help, we will do so by phone or by video calling.

Payment: We prefer payments be made online, but can still take cash or check.

Order pick up: We will continue to have pick up at my house to be able to maintain curbside, no contact pick up. Or you can opt to have your order shipped to you as well.

P.S. I hate posting without photos, so here’s a few photos of Maverick from yesterday. The tulips are so pretty right now.

Black english lab with red collar and yellow tulips behind
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Yard Signs {SE MN Portrait Photographer}

Parents and the seniors in the Class of 2020, as well as those students in spring sports, are feeling the sting of this pandemic in a harsh way. While many people are missing out on major events right now, we decided to come up with a way people can show their support. We created these yard signs as a way to boost our grads and spring athletes!

You can celebrate your senior or spring athlete by purchasing a custom 24″x18″ yard sign with a stake and setting up a time to pick them up with no contact, you let me know when you are coming and I will set it outside on our table at my house for you to grab.

They are customizable to school and sport and can be generic with just school colors and your mascot or you can send a PERSONAL photo to use (can not be a professional photo) or if you’ve had your photos done with Photography by Kari, we can add one of those.

As I was getting this post together, I thought I could also make designs for honor healthcare workers, truckers, grocery workers, teachers, first responders, etc. Just let me know and I can make a design.

Click here to order: https://photographybykari.com/store/index.php…

First sign – $25 plus MN and Fillmore county sales tax. 2 or 3 of the same design – $20 each plus MN and Fillmore county sales tax.. 4 or more of the same design – $15 each plus MN and Fillmore county sales tax.


***Please order by April 15, 2020. Fulfillment of orders is contingent upon the printer continuing to produce signs. If we are unable to fill any orders full refunds will be made immediately.***

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The Front Door Selfie {SE MN Portrait Photographer}

Wow, what a year we are having so far and it’s only March, still!! How is everyone doing?

As I sit here looking at my camera… I am a bit sad. It has been 9 days since we had to put our businesses on hold with any sessions for the safety of our clients, me and Andrea and for everyone to do our part in flattening the curve. I would never forgive myself if any of our clients ended up contracting this virus, or God forbid lose a loved one because we allowed transmission. Furthermore, Andrea is also at a higher risk as she is pregnant. Lastly, I’m also high risk as I have a lower lung function and also no diaphragm muscles to cough well.

We’ve never gone more than a week in these last 15 years without working with my wonderful clients. We miss you!
I want to be able to do something to help and I have seen many photographers doing family portraits on the family’s front steps(#thefrontstepsproject) and doing them with no contact and at a safe distance, Such a fun idea. However, since I’m higher risk as well as Andrea, I decided to not do these. Then this morning I saw a great idea from Always Happy Life Photography…. The Front Door Selfie.

You stay home with your family, take a selfie for now, then make a donation to a charity that is serving your community in this time of need. Then when it’s safe, I’ll schedule a time to come do a quick five minute family portrait session of you and your family with your front door. We will do these in a 25 mile radius of Spring Valley.


In Becky’s words, “you see, we really all need to just stay home right now to flatten the curve for Covid-19. There really isn’t any denying it and I want to do my part. But I also love the idea of capturing families, since that is my favorite type of session! We are all home with family right now, so it’s easy to get everyone in for a quick selfie and everyone has a front door. We also need to see our friend’s and family’s faces on social media, because the connection helps. Thus “The Front Door Selfie” #thefrontdoorselfie was born!”

Here’s how you participate:
1) Send a selfie of you and your family to me in front of your front door to kari@photographybykari.com with Covid-19 in the subject line and let me know you’re in! It can be from inside your front door or outside…or any door in your home or it could be a photo of what you are doing to keep your self busy! Also include a receipt from a donation to your charity of choice with a note that says #thefrontdoorselfie
2) Let me know if I have permission to share your selfie and I will!
3) When Covid-19 is not a worry any longer for any of us, I’ll reach out and set up a quick session (five minutes!) with you to photograph your family in front of your front door. You’ll receive a digital file of your family in front of your front door for taking part in this community movement.
4) Everyone who participates will also be entered into a drawing to win a Standard Session, which includes a $50 print credit. Drawing date will be determined at a later date once everything has settled down.

Lastly, we are still taking orders for sessions already completed. We are drop shipping straight to your house, at no cost to you. And if you’re needing graduation invitations, we can get them designed now and add the date later. Currently, the 2-sided and 4-sided are on sale BOGO ( buy a pack of 25, get a pack of 25) until May 1, 2020
I appreciate your patience, understanding and most importantly your support during this difficult time. We are all in this together!! Sending everyone prayers and positive thoughts!! Stay safe. May we all get back to our normal lives soon.


Here are our selfies to start us off.
P.S. Don’t laugh too hard at my selfies. Tried with Maverick, but it was a fail. So I did one by myself and shared my fails. 😉 Yes, Maverick is on my lap(crazy puppy), but would not cooperate with me nor were my arms long enough to take a selfie.

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15 Years of Business {SE MN Portrait Photographer}

To all of our past and current clients, thank you for 15 years. It has been quite the adventure from taking photos all outdoors to using studio lights in our living room or in our shed to having our current studio in Spring Valley, MN for the last 10 years.

We’ve had the pleasure and honor to capture so many memories for so many people and many multiple times. The last 15 years has been such a blessing. Thank you to everyone for trusting us to capture your precious memories!

To celebrate and say thank you, we will be having some specials this month, so be sure to check out our stories or Facebook page to see them. We will also be launching a new blog design we’ve been working on since June this month.

Thanks to everyone who continues to follow us and having us capture your memories!

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Photography by Kari specializes in custom portraiture of newborn, family, children sports team banners, dog, and high school seniors in Spring Valley, MN, and surrounding Southeast Minnesota areas.

Areas, including, but not limited to, Rochester, Preston, Chatfield, Stewartville, Grand Meadow, LeRoy, Ostrander, Kasson, Hayfield, Plainview, St. Charles and Pine Island.

Southeast Minnesota based photographer.

specializing in newborn, family, children, and senior photography.

located in sPRING vALLEY, mn

TELEPHONE :: 507.951.0640

E-MAil :: kari@photographybykari.com