Photos of great people and their pets

Anchorage Alaska Family Kids Portrait Photography – First Birthday

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  • Anchorage Alaska Family Kids Portrait Photography

I recently photographed the Anchorage Alaska Kids Portrait Photography of Eric and Brandy’s family celebration.

With all the couples and family portraits I’ve been making this Spring, I got a break. I took the opportunity to spend a week with my family up in Anchorage, Alaska.

Their official Anchorage Alaska Family Kids Portrait Photographer was back for more.

It is so much fun being an uncle!

We were celebrating the one-year-old birthday of my nephew Paul. I wanted to see the look on his face as he bit into his first chocolate birthday cake.

Not having any kids of my own, it’s been such a fun experience for me to watch my younger brother Eric as a father and as a caring partner to his wife Brandy. Household laughter sums up the experience every time I visit. Eric and Brandy are so good at playing and engaging with their children. It doesn’t take much for them to get their kids to giggle.

There is a lot of love in this Alaska home.

I feel grateful that the flexibility of my work schedule allows me to travel up to see them a couple of times a year and be a part of these kids’ lives.

As a photographer uncle, I want my niece and nephews to be able to look back at their candid childhood selves in pictures years from now and see all the love that was and is all around them.

Photographing my family has become a fun, personal project for me. I get to observe how these little lovable humans process their world and continue developing their different and unique personalities.

It means something to be there on that lazy morning to capture the pure joy in the face of Molly, my niece, as she cruises down the hallway on her scooter with “Jones”, the family Labrador chasing in stride.

Laughing and watching smiling Paul, who is just months away from taking his first steps, currently opting to carry all sorts of items in his mouth and utilizing his new crawling habit.

The kid can move.

For me, the best gifts from these experiences are being present for the little things.

Watching them helps me receive the world in a whole new way. A glimpse into the perspective of all things a new.

Here are some favorite moments from my time making Anchorage Alaska Family Kids Portrait Photography of my Alaska tribe. I can’t wait to return. -M

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Missouri Headwaters State Park Family Portrait Session of Eliza and Drew

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The other day I was out at the Missouri Headwaters State Park for a Family Portrait Session of Eliza and Drew. For this Three Forks, Montana family, there is no better way to spend a day outside than when they are trail riding with their young daughter Evelyn, horses, and dogs. We decided to incorporate all of their loves into one photography session timed perfectly with the Montana Fall colors.

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Middle Cottonwood Canyon Engagement Portraits of Lisa and Noah

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Bozeman Engagement Photographer Middle Cottonwood Canyon couple
  • Bozeman Engagement Photographer Middle Cottonwood Canyon couple

The other day I photographed the Middle Cottonwood Canyon Engagement Portraits of my wedding clients Lisa and Noah in Bozeman Montana.

Lisa and Noah wanted to feature a special place as the setting for their engagement session.

It was here that Noah brought Lisa on their second date for a hike up Middle Cottonwood Canyon.

These two have been living in their new home in Washington for the past year. Lisa works as a software engineer and is Noah working away on his pursuit of a science graduate degree. They were home visiting family and wanted to have their Middle Cottonwood Canyon Engagement photos to remind them of their Montana roots.

When it came time to plan their wedding day, choosing their Montana home as the backdrop was a no-brainer for them. These two will be tying the knot tomorrow up Kelly Canyon! I’m so excited for these guys! Stay tuned for their wedding photo preview! -M

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Hyalite Canyon Engagement Photography Experience of Allison and Matt

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Bozeman Engagement Photographer Hyalite Canyon couple portrait
  • Bozeman Engagement Photographer Hyalite Canyon couple portrait

Capitalizing on a recent break in the rainy weather, I met up with my wedding clients Allison and Matt for their Hyalite Canyon Engagement Photography Experience.

Over these last few months, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these two.

They recently moved to Bozeman from Davis, Montana where they attended school as Ecology grad students. Back during my time working in California newspapers, I too lived in the city of Davis. As we got to know each other, we quickly realized we had many overlapping UC Davis friends and shared outdoor leisure activities. We quickly hit it off and had a blast exploring the scenic local landscape during our Hyalite Canyon Engagement Photography session.

These two are wonderful humans.

And their big wedding day is quickly approaching. I’m looking forward to documenting and celebrating them at their Springhill Pavilion wedding day in a few weeks! -M

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Alaska Family Portrait Photographic Experience of Brandy and Eric

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Last week I was able to travel up to Anchorage, Alaska for an Alaska Family Portrait Photographic Experience of Brandy and Eric.

I love photographing Alaska family portraits of my brother and his little family. My new nephew Paul is a little over a month old and the trip was my first time meeting him. The new Greener heir has been born! It was fun to embed into the world of a young Alaska family’s experience raising two kiddos. Despite the occasional fuss from my stinking cute two-year-old niece Molly, the majority of the time giggles and laughter could be heard throughout the house.

These two are natural parents and it was fun for me to help out where I could while documenting their Alaska family portrait experience. It’s a cool new thing for me in my role as an uncle. It’s the ultimate long-term photo project. A lifetime of photographing all of the fun with my niece and nephew.

I’m just thrilled!

We had a great time and my arms are tired from holding and bouncing babies! Someday I’ll get dad arms.

Here are some favorite photos I made of my family during my stay. I can’t wait until the next time I can head back up. -M

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Best of 2017 Portrait Photographs from Greener Visuals

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Best of Portrait Photos 2017 Greener Visuals Photography Title page
  • Rocky Creek Farm Family Portrait Farmers Kids

I love this time of year. It’s a chance to reflect back on my Best of 2017 Portrait photos. To remember all of the fun I had with my clients over this past year. 2017 was a blast!

I feel blessed for all the new relationships I made throughout the year. It’s a gift for me to be able to tell candid, creative stories through photographs in southwest Montana and beyond!

During this recent trip around the sun, here are some of my favorite Best of 2017 Portrait photographs that I made. I look forward to what adventures await in 2018.

If you are in need of new family, business headshots, engagement photos, or an epic wedding photographer, Greener Visuals Photography is available for all your professional photographic needs in 2018!

Happy New Year everyone! -M

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Introducing my New Photography Studio Labrador Puppy “Tippet”

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Introducing my New Photography Studio Labrador Puppy “Tippet”.

My new best friend has arrived!

My family grew up raising labrador retriever puppies and every Spring, during my junior and high school years, we would have a litter of labrador puppies in our house.

It was so much fun to come home from school and yell “Hey kids!” from the front door and suddenly a wave of wagging labrador would welcome me at the door. Having labs growing up was such a wonderful part of my childhood.

My folks have since moved from my childhood Chicago suburb home and have settled into their new life in Missoula, Montana. As I grow older, those familiar childhood memories and nostalgia grow more distant and seem harder to hold onto. I don’t get to go home to my old room or old stomping grounds which makes tapping into those old childhood memories a little harder.

Besides having the new companionship, I felt getting my own labrador companion would be one way to have some of those positive childhood experiences enter back into my life. And it would also just be a ton of fun.

Since leaving home to pursue a degree in Photojournalism at the University of Montana seventeen years ago, not having a dog has been a hole in my life that I’ve been waiting patiently to fill. So, two years ago when I made the decision that I would get my first pet and put a deposit down with Lori’s Labradors in Whitehall, Montana, my excitement could barely be contained. It turned out to be almost a two-year wait to get a black female labrador. Turns out it was worth it. Last Monday, I finally got to go pick her up.

It seems I’ve suddenly leveled up in adulthood. Now, my days are filled with puppy training, praising and dodging those puppy needle teeth.

I think Tippet is going to be a fun addition to my life. Keeping me company in my photo studio, accompanying me on my adventures and bringing lots of laughter daily. I’m excited to share our future adventures with you all on here. -M

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Triple Tree Trail Engagement Session of Bobbi Jean and Chris

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  • couple-embrace-under-juniper-tree-during-Triple-Tree-Trail-Engagement
    I recently photographed Bobbijean and Chris' engagement photo session at the Triple Tree trailhead in Bozeman Montana.

I recently photographed the Triple Tree Trail Engagement Session of Bobbi Jean and Chris in Bozeman, Montana.

Wedding season is upon us here in the Big Sky state and I’ve been having a lot of engagement photo sessions lately. Last week I met up with Bobbi Jean and Chris at the Triple Tree trailhead in Bozeman Montana to photograph their engagement photo session.

Engagement photo sessions come complimentary with all of my wedding photography collections. I like it because it gives me and my clients a chance to get to know one another before their wedding day and make some fun photos in the process.

Bobbi Jean and Chris brought along their dogs as we hiked and explored the popular Bozeman trail system during their Triple Tree Trail Engagement session. Knowing Chris worked as a logger and Bobbi Jean as an employee of Yellowstone National Park, I wanted to photograph them in their outdoor element. Afterward, we ventured over to the wood shop of Montana Wildwoods artist and friend Tom Benedict where we played amongst his large juniper tree sculptures.

These two were great and I’m looking forward to photographing their wedding at the Old Faithful Inn later this summer. A fun day. -M

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Gallatin Valley Botanical Labrador Puppy Family Portrait Session – Bozeman, Montana

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I recently photographed the Gallatin Valley Botanical Labrador Puppy Family Portrait of Matt and Jacy!

For the past 7 weeks, I’ve been making a weekly trek to the outskirts of Bozeman to the Gallatin Valley Botanical farm with my girlfriend Lora to scope out her new puppy and best friend. Ten labrador puppies equal awesome. Our Wednesday visits quickly became the best day of the week for us to play with the kids.

Matt and Jacy, the owners of the local Bozeman farm, had a litter of ten puppies and one of which would soon come bouncing into my life. During my youth growing up in Illinois, my family bred labs on our five-acre wooded property. I have some good family memories growing up around Labradors. Now by association, I would get to be around once again. Awesome indeed.

Before the puppies all went to new homes, I ventured one evening over to the Bozeman organic farm with my camera and made some fun Gallatin Valley Botanical Labrador Puppy Family Portrait photos of Matt and Jacy along with their kids and an army of labrador puppies. After all, it’s not often an opportunity like this happens. We had a great time. In the end, Lora got a yellow male and is calling him “Timber”. This will be fun. The dog adventure begins. -M

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Bozeman Montana Winter Engagement Photos on the Gallatin River of Rachel & James

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of hanging out with Rachel & James and their excited young labrador puppy Deacon to make some fun engagement photos for them. These two lovebirds got engaged this past December and were planning their California Wine Country wedding later this summer from their home in Bozeman, Montana. While their wedding photos would be in the California sunshine, the two wanted to contrast their engagement photos with the beautiful snowy backdrop of Southwest Montana and hired me to help.  Montana is no stranger to the cold. This winter has been an exceptionally chilly one here around Bozeman often times dropping into the negative double digits. A good thing if you are a skier, (I am) but it can be a difficult task when you are trying to make pictures of people out in the elements and not have them look like they are freezing. Our photo shoot was scheduled a couple weeks ahead of time and I found myself the day before the shoot looking at a thermometer hover around -10 F and thinking my clients will turn into popsicles. Alas, the weather gods were on our side and as we drove out to the Gallatin River Sunday morning, the sun popped out from behind the clouds to give us a balmy 20 F degrees. Rachel and James, unphased and all smiles, bundled up and were ready to go. I love it when couples embrace the unexpected. I think their enthusiasm shined through in their images. We had a great morning adventure exploring the snow covered landscape and making photos. Such a fun day. Wish these guys all the best! -M

Go here to view their entire wedding engagement photos

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