Video Project Gag Reel

Leap Year Day seems like the perfect day for posting a gag reel of out takes, doesn't it?! Click anywhere in the video window to begin the silliness...


Anne Ruthman-Spotlight- "The Gag Reel" from Northernlight Filmworks on Vimeo.

Thanks to Jennifer & John of Northernlight Filmworks for sharing this!
Visit their blog to read more about our video day together...
"Fun with Anne Ruthmann"

Cuicchi Family

Another beautiful fall day portrait session, only this time we lucked out with no rain and the perfect sweater weather! We decided that St. Mary of the Woods in Terre Haute, IN was the perfect place for the family to spend some time exploring the trees and freshly fallen leaves.




I love the simple things that fascinate children and hold their amazement. Something as simple as a leaf, being a source of pure discovery and joy...





One of his favorite things was to play hide & seek between his father's legs...

I often like to see what happens when kids are allowed to roam on their own (with the parent's permission and observation, of course).  In this case, I had a theory that upon seeing the big red tree, the boy would run toward it... and he did until about half way there, when he realized his parents weren't following.  So, he turned around and went back to them. ;-)

Big fingers, little fingers...

I just love the joy in this moment!  One of my favorites!  To the Cuicchi family, thank you so much for letting me capture a beautiful fall day with your family!!

Michael's Senior Portraits

Before there's any confusion... Michael is not a high school senior... he's a college senior at Indiana State University. I never really thought about taking "senior pictures" for college students until Michael asked, but now that I've done it, I kinda wish I had done some for myself!! I looked really different as a senior in college than I did as a senior in high school! Michael's reason for doing portraits was so that he could send a head-shot out on his resumes and applications for grad school, which is such a great idea. Of course, you could also use them for those online personal sites, because you end up looking like a model... but, we'll talk about that another time! Back to Michael... ;-)







I looove this next picture... the dichotomy of his button down shirt and tie with his jeans and chucks (converse)... and his one foot pointed slightly inward... it shows his shy nature along with his ambitious confidence, his ability to be professional along with his individual sense of style. It just says so many different things at once... and I love complexity like that.












Ever since I moved to Terre Haute, IN I had a vision of creating this next image with someone... on Ohio Blvd... in the fall. This is by far my FAVORITE image from our session... probably more for the artistic concept and execution than for any other reason.


I also love this shot... it's just fun, whimsical, unexpected, and a great way to end this blog post...


Michael - good luck in all of your future endeavors!! It was so interesting to meet you and hang out with you!! I see big things in your future!!! ;-)

The Long Family

When we planned this shoot, we were hoping for a beautiful fall day with plenty of time to relax together.... but life loves to throw curve balls (which is also why this is getting blogged in February!)




The weather had been threatening rain, but with this being the family's only weekday off together, we had to make it happen, no matter what the weather had in store. When we arrived it looked as if we could escape unscathed, but before we knew it, we were dodging rain drops and seeking shelter. Then, the sky would clear up, we would run back out to play in the leaves and on the playground for as long as possible until the rain would taunt us again. Despite the weather, Demming Park in Terre Haute, IN provided a great background with plenty of things to keep the kids busy. ;-)




At first mom was really worried about the holiday dresses getting ruined and the kids looking disheveled in the rain, but all I could see was utter cuteness, curiosities and excitement!













We ended up with some really great moments in the short 30 minutes we had together despite dodging rain bullets the entire time! It was so fun capturing children at these ages- and it was really eye opening to see the twin girls with their COMPLETELY different personalities! Thank you so much Long Family!! I hope we get another chance to work together when it's NOT raining! ;-)

Lady Needs a Home

This super cute miniature dog named "Lady" was found by my friends Julie & Tom, on the side of the road around Terre Haute, IN in really poor condition. They took Lady into the vet for a check-up and found that she was in good health other than being underweight and very frightened. They've since nursed her back to health and are hoping to find a good home for her (they already have two dogs of their own.) She's a miniature breed and probably doesn't weigh any more than 8 lbs. (which is less than some cats I know!) If you know of someone who has been looking for a loving pet, I think Lady would be a great companion and she seems to do really well around small children. Leave a comment with a way to contact you if you'd like more info.

Flourish Workshop Vol. 3

My favorite thing about workshops is the ability to bounce ideas off of other photographers and learn not just from the presenters, but from the attendees as well! I'm a firm believer that everyone has something special and valuable to offer if you simply take the time to find out what it is. Sometimes it is the questions of others that cause me to think about different things for myself, and sometimes I learn a new and creative way to solve a problem I've been struggling with... in any case, I'm always excited about workshops for the people I get to meet while I'm there! ;-) Here are some of the wonderful people I met while I was at the Flourish Workshop (which, by the way, is now taking registrations for the next installment)...

First I have to start with my roommate Karen Mikols... I think we were paired together because of how outgoing and crazy we both can be... she's a total ham, just like I am... yes, sam I am




Jaci Clark..





Erich Camping..




Amy Campbell..

Rob Carr...



Susan Solo...


Cindy Wagner...

Alyssa Maloof...


Lauren Cohn-Frankel..

Carmen Salazar...

Eileen Broderick...

Lyndsay Undseth...

Meredith Cope...

Thanks for the wonderful memories!! I hope you all stay in touch until we meet again!!