Ring Shots

So a few things are really good for my creativity during the winter; wine and time! I mean wine probably isn't the best thing to have around my expensive gear, but I'm a professional.

Anyways, while I am impatiently patiently waiting for the wedding pictures to be posted by our amazing photographer, I decided to bust out my own gear! So I took pictures with my skirt, bouquet and this wonderful blue bench that lives in my living room between sessions. 

Don't mind this not having a watermark.. whoops! 

So I don't have a macro lens so I make due with the gear I do have for detail shots. Someday I'll get all the lenses I want, and lighting gear.. pretty much I'll own some sweet gear instead of a house, I'll live in a tunnel. 

So here's some shots to tide you over until I get pictures back from my photographer and can make you all tear up with sweetness, or laugh because we are incredibly awkward. 

PS: this is my first post as an MRS, woohoo!!! 

Details: 

Canon 70D

18-55mm lens | ISO 800 | 1/60-1/125 | F 5.6

-Acacia 

February Goals

So I'm not giving up on monthly goals, if anything I learned that I shouldn't make goals to workout.. I'm bad at it. I think that making steps toward a healthier me is probably a better step, Rome wasn't built in a day and all that other motivational poster stuff. 

February Goals

- Go to church every Sunday and try to make at least one friend.

- Keep reading my devotionals, heck yes.

- Organize office area(s)

- Sew something

-Get outside and photograph more of myself, surroundings and life. I really want to get a polaroid, this would be a fun activity!

-Plan a date night. 

-------
I think working toward getting organized is going to be my big "to-do" because the house is starting to annoy me! What are your goals for the month? 

January Goals - So Far

Hi, remember me, the girl who decided on monthly goals? 

Check in time... 

January Goals:

- Unplug during social times 

I gotta say that this has been a lot easier without Facebook on my phone. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I've made a bigger effort to be present with friends and family.. I also get annoyed at people on their phones now. 

- Workout at least 2-3 days a week

Can I skip this one?! I went to the gym maybe once.. it's the 21st and I can say that the biggest reason I haven't been working out is that I have an inconsistent schedule and an ovary that's been being a jerk. Aside from that, I have made healthier choices by trying to cut down on caffeine. 

- Read 30 days of my Savor devotional 

Shauna Niequist, you are an amazing lady! I can't tell you how thankful I am that I broke down and bought this devotional! I am spending some time with Jesus before I get ready for work, it's been amazing for me and my relationship with God. 

- Accomplish two goals I've set for photography

Done, son. I got logos, pricing, website AND I almost didn't work the entire month. I can't turn down a cute library themed engagement session. 

- Wake up early everyday 

I wake up at 06:35 everyday, I plan to wakeup at 6 next month and then eventually go to 5/515. I don't want to wake up much earlier than that because I'm sometimes not getting to bed till 10/1130 at night. Thankfully I'm not too hard on myself with this goal, things happen and with an inconsistent schedule (hopefully will be changing soon) it's been a lot harder than I thought. 

So here it is, I have 10 more days to keep at this and February is gonna bring some FUN stuff so stay tuned! 

Hello Snow | Engagement Session

A few months ago I met with Brandon + Maggie for a pre-wedding consultation and during our meeting I could tell that Maggie and myself were kindred spirits. Not only are we both bubbly, outgoing and totally hilarious (uh duh) but she's also from Arizona and we could relate on so many levels!

We talked for a few months about what kind of engagement session she was looking for and when we sat down to sign the contract she said "I WANT SNOW!" and, as luck would have it, it snowed the day before her session AND it wasn't windy. This is absolute insanity because ND is known for 2 things:

1. Cold

2. Wind

So to have perfect conditions for her dream engagement session was pretty much written in the stars! We had originally planned to shoot out in Hatton by an old red barn, but Maggie was able to talk to a local shop owner and had permission to use their cattle farm! I don't think anyone besides Eric and people who've been in the car with me knows how much I love cows. I moo at them, no matter how many times we've passed the same cow and when I got to pet one? OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Eric said I looked like a 2 year old with a kitten. So to be able to shoot on a farm with cows, tractors, horses, trees and a mini pony? Oh my little kid heart was ecstatic! 

Plus Brandon had this genius idea below:

How funny, right? I'm glad that they wanted snowy engagement pictures! 

Please feel free to pin, share and of course follow my work on Facebook! 

Photography services available in: Grand Forks, Fargo and East Grand Forks areas. Available for travel. 

Currently | July

Hooray for a linkup! I've been fairly absent from link ups recently, and blogging. The last week my bosses were in Amsterdam without the kids and I've been, you guessed it! With the kids. For starters, kudos to all moms everywhere and second.. I think I can be a mom now. This experience has been challenging and amazing, but more on that later. 

Currently I'm...

CRAVING | Sleeping in and a nice dinner out. These kids get up between 5 and 630 in the morning and I am the kind of person who gets to bed around 12am. A nice dinner to my favorite Mexican place would suffice as nice, and grownup time.. I miss grownups. 

GRILLING | So we don't have a grill, but I would love Sunday breakfast on our cast iron skillet if it's over a campfire ;) 

LISTENING | I've been rocking to late 90's early 2000's music, bring on the Britney! But also turning on Rend Collective and Bethel music for the kids and myself during breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

PLANNING | A maternity session and engagement session. I have a session for a lovely girl that's having twins on Wednesday and Monday is an engagement/pre-deployment session for a couple referred to me. I'll be bringing the bug spray this time, since my last session I was eaten alive! 

DECORATING | There isn't a lot to decorate, but I recently acquired a night stand that needs to be refinished so that will be my project next week. I'm thinking of going with grey or mint color, but not completely sold. 

Thank you to Jenna and Anne for an awesome linkup! 

Wild + Free | Photography

Since getting into nannying I have had a lot more time to do sessions that are more for me and my business style and less for getting in that one or two sessions to make ends meet. About a week ago I went out to East Grand Forks with my friend Laura to do a mini-styled session with the flower head wreaths I made. This session made me incredibly excited because it turned out fantastically! I can only hope the other sessions I have planned will be just as wonderful. 

Pembina Gorge | ND Adventures

This last winter when Eric and I first started dating I was incredibly home sick. My heart was dying from the amount of flat ground I'd seen in the last year and a half that it was hard to not dream of packing up and leaving all together. 

Thankfully, I have an amazing boyfriend who knows this, just by looking at me, and takes charge into getting me what I need; rolling hills and a change in scenery. After he took me to the Pembina Gorge, I made him promise to bring me back each season so that I can do a time lapse series.

So this weekend was the perfect time since we were already up that way for the Tetrault Woods hike and this time we were extra lucky because his mom and Wanda were with us! As you can see, the spring vs. winter is vastly different, but so beautiful in it's own way. 

Of course, how could I get away from such a wonderful place without conning that handsome man into a selfie with me? I also got him to take a picture of me at the edge, you know my dad's favorite place I go when hiking? Yeaaaaah!

Also, check out this gorgeous picture of a wild lilac. It's amazing to see these bushes that were so huge and barren a few months ago blooming with life. Again, if interested in a print, please don't hesitate to contact me! bellehiverphotography@gmail.com

Tetrault Woods | Walhalla, ND

A few weeks ago Diane, Eric's mom, invited us along on a nature hike in the Tetrault Woods  which I was extremely excited for because it's been about 2 years since I went on an actual hike!

First off, we had a really awesome hike/nature guide Helen -in the picture above- who knew so much about the area, more than both Diane and Eric combined, that she made it fun and interesting. Plus the fact is that she's out here doing this because she likes to and is retired made it that much more fun! 

I have a few nature images below, these have been scaled down and if you'd like a full size print, let me know!

Wild ginger root, I'm glad that I now know how to identify and can make myself ginger tea! 

I had a great time learning, exploring and being shown a prettier part of North Dakota than I'd ever thought possible. Seriously, I'll be writing about that later. If you ever get the chance to come to ND, do it! There are some pretty amazing things that the Northern Plains offer and you'll be bummed to not see it all. 

Arizona | The Grand Canyon Part Deux!

As I said, lots and lots of pictures to share so I decided to split them up. I will preface this post by saying the following; I am used to being behind the camera, so much that it was a very strange feeling to have people so adamant about taking my picture. They call me the queen of selfies, but to be honest.. those were some of the only pictures ever taken of me.. I don't want to sound like a narcissist, but if I hadn't selfie'd at points in my life there wouldn't be any "proof" that I'd been there. 

 

We drove around the rim of the canyon and I actually took the time to ask here and there to have my picture taken, but Eric's mom took the initiative to get some really awesome shots of myself and Eric which have made me an extremely mushy person, I love them! 

Eric's mom captured some shots of me taking pictures. I plan to use some of these as my head shots.. maybe. 

 

And I pretty much love this shot and the one below. I've never been able to be as loving toward my significant other in front of parents, but it was so nice to have Diane and Hans be totally fine with us hugging, kissing and having our own moments. I see now that Diane and I have a very similar view on photography/moments. These are the things we are left with, and I will cherish every singe one. 

Now remember when I said I didn't have an "ah-ha" moment until the end? Well see we were driving all around because Eric wanted to find this particular rock that meant a lot to him and he wanted to get a picture on said rock together. We weren't able to find it, but we found a new rock! 

It was this rock that I just sat and was really just struck with the fact that this, this is what people drive all the way here for! 

Now just some back story, my dad had told me not to go the edge of the canyon.. so I did what any child would do, I went to the edge. But the next day at dinner when I showed him this picture I told him that going to the edge is the only way to get some pretty snazzy shots. 

 

 

How can you not be taken by the beauty of the Lords creation when looking at this?! I am just humbled by being such a small creation in comparison to the entirety of the world. 

 

This would be known as an "Acacia face" because I'm well known in my family to not actually smile. 

And again, another matching picture of Eric's parents and us! I'm glad that Diane and Hans took their day to take us up to the canyon and to spend a day hiking and just enjoying each others company. I am so glad to have this family in my life. I have one more post about our trip to Arizona and I hope you stay tuned! 

Dearest Love a Fresh 48 | Grand Forks, ND

This last week (1/22/15) my best friend Tresa gave birth to an amazing little peanut named Steevi Lynn who I love so very, very much! As a lot of you know, I do photography part time and I've been working on getting into more lifestyle sessions. I do a lot of posed work, but I like to be in the moment with people and capturing the moments that are so beautiful to families. I've added a few pictures below, but to see more you can always follow me on Facebook or over at Belle Hiver Photography 

These two pictures are a couple of my favorites. I love seeing new parents with their babes and just how much they fall in love with someone so new and fresh into the world. 

I hope that you all enjoy this post and the amazingness that is a new family and keep an eye out for Steevi's upcoming newborn session.