Welcome to the blog of Mary Hanson Photography-Behind my Lens...

If you are looking for beautiful, high quality, fine art portraits of your children or family, and want attention to detail and personal service, you have found your new photographer! I serve clients in all areas of the metro area of Mpls and St. Paul and surrounding suburbs.
Mary Hanson Photography was born out of my ease and comfortability with children and my passion for photography, coupled with the desire of many area parents looking for a higher quality, more personal photo experience than is available at the "photo chains" in the metro. Your baby or child will be photographed in your home, an environment in which they are already comfortable, and you will get beautiful, natural photographs, that really show who your child is. Your child will be happy, you will be relaxed, and in fact, you will probably be surprised how much fun we will have!
You can view select photos from some of my recent sessions here on my blog, and then get more info about sessions by visiting my main site, by clicking here.
You can contact Mary at 612-991-8113 or by email at Mary@MaryHansonPhotography.com
I look forward to working with you!
~Mary

Holiday deadline approaching…

November 5, 2008 – 11:52 pm

I know it is hard to think about holiday gifts as we just head into November, but prints needed for holiday delivery need to be ordered by Friday November 14th, which is just a week and a half away. Holiday cards need to be ordered as soon as possible, to allow time for Mary to design them, email proofs and place orders, while still getting them to you in time to be addressed and mailed. Please email or call with questions. There are two types of cards that can be ordered, traditional “photo paper” cards in 5×7 size, custom designed with photos from your session, and our new upscale press printed 5×7 pearl cards which come in either flat (2 sides to design) or folded (4 sides to design) versions. These cards are lovely and every client who has seen or ordered them has been thrilled! Pricing is on the shopping cart portion of our website which you can access by clicking here.  Email or call (612-991-8113) with questions.

Mary

ps, I’m sorry to all the families who didn’t get sneak peeks before your galleries were posted. No offense to your adorable children, I’m just swamped! :) Thanks for your understanding.

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sneak peek…

October 15, 2008 – 10:28 pm

Isn’t this little 2 year old adorable? He was such fun to photograph, and so absolutely adored by his parents. Beautiful family on a beautiful fall Minnesota day…what could be better? :)
Here are a few for you to peek at until I have your gallery up next week. As a reminder, I will be out of town Th-Su and will be delivering orders and finishing up galleries all next week. Thanks everyone!

Mary

By admin | Posted in children, family, general info, outdoors, toddlers | 1 comments         Add a Comment
  1. Hadley   -  

    Mary, I’m loving your work! Every photo is wonderful, but the family ones are my favorite.

What a difference two years makes…

October 14, 2008 – 9:59 am

I last saw this absolutely adorable and charming boy when he was just about 7 months old:

Now he is two, and even more adorable, if that is possible.

This little guy is incredibly smart, energetic and sweet. And, now he is a big brother too!

His little brother is just beautiful, same blue eyes too! :)

 

A few more for you to peek at, I will have your gallery finished up next week. I’ll be out of town Thursday-Sunday (MEA) so will return emails, and put up many many galleries {for those of you patiently waiting} next week. 

Thanks!

Mary

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catch up on sneak peeks

October 13, 2008 – 12:46 pm

Here is the first of many sneak peeks I am behind on. I’m hoping to play catch up today and tomorrow!

This was a lovely family-really enjoyed meeting you all. I’ll let you know when the gallery is ready, but in the mean time, here are a few to hold you over until then.
Mary

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one year…

October 3, 2008 – 9:43 am

Its always absolutely stunning to me the transformation that takes place in the first year of a babies life. Some of you may remember Addie from her newborn photos a year ago:

And here she is a few months ago, crawling, laughing and adorable: And at her 1st Birthday party last weekend walking and dancing:

Isn’t that the best Robot cake EVER? :)

Yummmyy….that cupcake looks good! Here with her two grandmas…

She is such a fun, sweet and happy little girl. Just amazing how they change so much in a year! So, to one of my favorite one year olds, Happy Birthday! :)

Mary

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  1. Grandpa Heinz   -  

    Cutie! What a great kid. She’ll be taking her first flight to Denver, CO. in 2 weeks to visit me. Can’t wait!!

    I LOVE that little Heinz girl.

sneak peek of a beautiful day and family…

October 2, 2008 – 12:15 pm

I photographed this charming family on one of those beautiful days right between summer and fall. They are relatives of a great family I have been photographing for several years, I’m always so grateful for referrals to friends and family, so thanks J&B!

This sweet little one year has about the nicest big brother I’ve seen…so careful and concerned about his little sister, and she in turn is just obviously crazy about him, crawling all over him, laughing, trying to stick her fingers in his mouth, and he put up with it all-what a nice guy!

I will have the rest of your gallery up soon-wonderful to meet you all!

Mary

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Lovely family and very fun little guy….

September 27, 2008 – 4:28 pm

Mom was a little worried about our session, wondering how her son, who “doesn’t like his photo taken” would react. I assured her it would work great, and just like I thought, Michael and I hit it off right away. He was so energetic, charming and fun, obviously just an adored boy who is so smart and friendly!

 

Really enjoyed meeting you all– I will have the rest of your gallery up as soon as possible. Thanks again!

Mary

By admin | Posted in children, family, jump, outdoors | 1 comments         Add a Comment
  1. Barbara   -  

    Mary,
    You have captured our sons spirit and personality like no other. Thank you so much for sharing your extraordinary gift of photography with our family.

…trying to catch up…

September 27, 2008 – 1:13 pm

Its been a busy fall! Lots of sessions filled with beautiful families, adorable children and precious babies. Here are a few for a sneak peek for a family I have been blessed with photographing for several years now. The parents feel like old friends to me now, and I adore these kids, it is just so fun to see them getting so grown up! Some of my clients may recognize them from when I was featured on KARE-11 a few years back. You can search the blog to view the clip if you missed it, it was lots of fun!

I’m working on lots of other sessions, and might have one to two more sneak peeks up soon. 

thanks

Mary

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  1. Kate   -  

    Aren’t these two just the cutest little girls? I think I know where they get their amazingly, gorgeous looks (ahem–me!).

    But seriously, Viv. These are adorable. Send me some so I can put them up at school!

    -Kate

braces…

September 23, 2008 – 5:38 am

My daughter got braces on Thursday. She is only 8 years old, which is younger than usual for braces, so she didn’t have a lot of friends to compare experiences with, just older kids at school. I had expected it to go pretty well, with a few days of mild soreness like the orthodontist had warned me about. Not our experience.

A few short hours after getting them on, several of them had popped off, and we had to go back again, and pretty much start over. They think it was a bad batch of adhesive, but it was painful for her, and tough for me to watch her hurting. I have found as a parent, I would ten times over rather have pain for myself than for my kids, but of course, we don’t get that choice. My heart goes out to parents of kids who have really tough medical stuff-I don’t know how they do it. I was a wreck over braces.

She has had quite a bit of trouble eating, and is just now saying they don’t hurt all the time. She will have them for 1.5-2 years, then again a few years later- “two stage orthodontics” they call it. Anyway, being me, you know I have to share a couple photos. I think they make her look even older-not what she needed at all! She is growing up too fast as it is, in my opinion. :)

And of course, one of my three favorite kids in the world, all together.

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  1. Emily   -  

    Oh… This post is like looking into the future for me. My daughter (who will be 7 in December) is getting braces in three months…. She is currently wearing head gear at night. She is very tall and I know braces will make her look older. Your little girl is beautiful and looks like she is taking it all in stride. It is hard to be the mommy sometimes.

A brilliant group you should check out…

September 22, 2008 – 10:42 am

Just wanted to post quickly about Parents for Ethical Marketing (PEM-click here for link) for my blog readers who may have never heard of it. Here is a snip from their website to explain their focus much better than I could:

Why Parents for Ethical Marketing?

Consumer marketing is everywhere. On television. In magazines and newspapers. On the Internet and on school buses. On billboards and on bus shelters. On milk cartons and cereal boxes.

In our public schools.

And it’s almost impossible to buy anything for a child without a “brand identity.” Barbie, for example, can be found on everything from band-aids to board games to backpacks.

As parents, we know there’s a problem. We argue with our kids about what to buy, what to wear, what to watch and what to play. We know what is best for our kids, yet sometimes we give in when we know we shouldn’t.

Of course, parents are ultimately responsible for raising healthy children. But corporate marketers would have us believe that combating their damaging commercial messages is exclusively our problem

Parents for Ethical Marketing thinks it’s about time that corporations take some of the responsibility.

Through parental awareness, public pressure, and legislative initiatives, Parents for Ethical Marketing encourages corporations to adopt responsible marketing standards and practices that sustain the health of children and families.

If this is a topic that is interesting and important to you, as it is to me, you can join PEM’s mailing list for updates and action information. Thanks for reading!

Mary

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