I hope you enjoy viewing images from this lovely family's photo shoot! If you are interested in purchasing prints or other photo products, I've attached the following pricing information. You can contact me with your order at (414) 324-0597 or ckphototog@gmail.com. PLEASE NOTE: In order to process your photo order, I will need the file number of each photograph (found in the UPPER LEFT hand corner of the photo once you click on it), which type of photo product you'd like (e.g. print, canvas), and the size you are interested in. Please note that some sizes will change the original cropping of the photo. If you have any questions about how a file looks in a particular size/cropping, please don't hesitate to contact me! Thanks!! Chris Photo Products and Pricing Canvas Pricing Professional Albums ">

MY FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY CONSISTS OF IMAGES FROM AROUND THE MIDWEST (WISCONSIN, NEBRASKA, ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, AND MINNESOTA) AS WELL AS ITALY, NORWAY AND CENTRAL AMERICA. ">

Portrait Gallery for Christina Klausen Photography Thank you for coming to see my portrait gallery!  Taking photos is a passion of mine, and I hope you enjoy browsing through some of my work! If you are interested in finding out more about my various sessions and prices, you can click here: [button link="http://christinaklausenphotography.com/christina-klausen-photography-investment/" text="grey"]Investment[/button] If you would like to contact me with any questions about my photography services or to book a photo session, you can do so here: [button link="http://christinaklausenphotography.com/fond-du-lac-photographer-contact/" size="small" text="grey"]Contact[/button]

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Conquering Fondant - A Star Wars Birthday Cake

I had never used fondant before, and I was really nervous to try, but I just hadn't found pictures/ideas of any cakes that I thought I could/would want to replicate with frosting.  I decided to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did!  My daughter was super happy with the cake, and so was I. Along the way, I found some helpful tools in making this cake SO much easier.  First, I looked around on Amazon.com quite a bit to find the right fondant.  Never having worked with it before, I decided I'd better do a little research.  I know fondant is notorious for being difficult to use, drying out quickly, and usually tastes pretty yucky, so I was super excited to find this Fondarific fondant.  I thought it tasted pretty good, and my daughter wanted to eat it by itself!It was super soft and easy to work with.  I colored it myself with some food coloring and kneading.  I wish I would have had a rolling pad and rolling pin for fondant, but I didn't - just worked with my good old kitchen island, flour, and an old skool rolling pin.  The rolling pin was a little frustrating because eventually the fondant was larger than my rolling pin size, which meant that the fondant started to show the edges of my pin.  Next time, I'll be buying this baby to make my cake making much easier. I did use a smoother, which really helped. This size of fondant covered two 9 in rounds on top of each other plus some extra.  I had wanted to do a tiered cake, but I didn't know ahead of time that I should have bought two containers of fondant.  Oh well.... One thing I did notice, however, is that this Fondarific fondant did not work as well for the cut outs.  It got too soft when I worked with it.  Great for rolling over a cake-not so great for cutouts.  Although, I'm sure if I put it in the fridge for awhile, that probably would have helped. After finding out I was low on fondant, purchased some Wilton fondant, and the Wilton worked GREAT for cutouts.  It is much stiffer, tastes much more blah, and I would not have liked having to color and roll it out for a whole cake.  But, it served it's purpose for the cutouts and cake decorations very well!

Decorating the Cake

As for the cake decorations, I found these two sets of cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma, which were fantastic! I colored my Wilton fondant, rolled it into small balls, and pressed down on the cookie cutters.  (Add a little flour to the cutters-it makes it really easy to remove the fondant).  I was really happy with the way they turned out! As for the stars, I used nesting stars like these and layered them for a cool effect. I had a clothes steamer, and I had seen Buddy from the Cake Boss steam his fondant cakes, so I thought I'd try too. LOL.  Well, it worked really well in adding a shine to the cake and removing any left over bits of flour.  Make sure you don't get the steamer too close to the cake, though...you don't want it melting! I hoped this post helped you and will save you some time in your cake making adventure!  Good luck! *By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I get a small percentage from Amazon if you order any of these products by clicking on one of my item pictures and then purchasing them on Amazon.  I wouldn't recommend a product that I don't have or wouldn't use myself, and hopefully it makes your cake making process a little easier too to have the links all in one place!  Thanks!*        ">

Enjoying the View of St. Peter's Basilica[/caption]

For The Love of Rome

Almost a year ago now, (yes, I've been VERY remiss in my job as a 'blogger') we took a family side trip to Rome on the way to my husband's home country of Norway.  One thing that I've learned about myself over the years is that I LOVE to travel.  Ok, I don't love all the details involved in getting ready for a big trip, but I really enjoy seeing different parts of this world and exploring new places, eating local foods, learning local history, and -this is where the photographer in me comes out- walking down EVERY nook and cranny to find awesome photo opportunities.  Exploring our country and world is one of the goals that my husband and I have made for our family, and I'm so thankful that we've had the opportunity to travel to some nifty places over the years.

Traveling with a Kid

I was a little skeptical about taking our then almost 6 year old on a 5 day tour of Rome.  Although she's a good traveler and focuses well - she's 5 - unpredictably comes with the territory and I didn't want to take this once in a lifetime opportunity and then it become a disaster!  Thankfully, she LOVED it.  Before we left, I downloaded some Rick Steves mp3s on some of the sights we were going to see  while there, and she DRANK THAT UP!  I think she knew more about the Colosseum than we did after that trip!  Thank you Rick Steves! Rome was great to get around if you didn't mind walking or taking public transit, which we didn't.  We were literally able to either walk or take public transportation around the entire city, and we could get to almost all of the major attractions on foot.  Although our daughter was almost 6, we took a stroller along, which was a LIFESAVER!  My mom had one that wasn't as bulky as a jogging stroller, but its wheels were better than your average umbrella stroller.  It literally saved us and made our vacation a breeze!  No "I can't walk anymore...I'm TOOOOoooooo tired."  Nope.  We just strolled along on our merry way into ruins that were thousands of years old.  This is MY kind of vacation!

Photographing Rome

[caption id="attachment_3183" align="alignright" width="300"] A cafe that has fans that spray cool mist during a hot Roman day - I'm IN![/caption] If anyone out there wants to do a photo shoot in Rome and take me with, I'LL SHOOT FOR FREE!  TAKE ME WITH YOU! LOL!  Seriously, though, Rome was FABULOUS to photograph.  I'd go back there in a heartbeat!  I love cobblestones, little cafes and bakeries, and architecture that hasn't been built in the last 600 years.  I loved photographing my family in Rome.  There were so many fun places for my daughter to explore, and sweet, natural moments that I wanted to capture forever were abundant.  I also enjoyed the opportunities Rome afforded my Fine Art Photography.  I enjoy urban photography, and this was city life at a slower pace with a romantic backdrop. Fabulous. Here are a few of my favorite images from the trip.  Many of my Fine Art photos can be purchased in my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/shop/cklausen Thanks for reading!  ">

Enjoying the View of St. Peter's Basilica[/caption]

For The Love of Rome

Almost a year ago now, (yes, I've been VERY remiss in my job as a 'blogger') we took a family side trip to Rome on the way to my husband's home country of Norway.  One thing that I've learned about myself over the years is that I LOVE to travel.  Ok, I don't love all the details involved in getting ready for a big trip, but I really enjoy seeing different parts of this world and exploring new places, eating local foods, learning local history, and -this is where the photographer in me comes out- walking down EVERY nook and cranny to find awesome photo opportunities.  Exploring our country and world is one of the goals that my husband and I have made for our family, and I'm so thankful that we've had the opportunity to travel to some nifty places over the years.

Traveling with a Kid

I was a little skeptical about taking our then almost 6 year old on a 5 day tour of Rome.  Although she's a good traveler and focuses well - she's 5 - unpredictably comes with the territory and I didn't want to take this once in a lifetime opportunity and then it become a disaster!  Thankfully, she LOVED it.  Before we left, I downloaded some Rick Steves mp3s on some of the sights we were going to see  while there, and she DRANK THAT UP!  I think she knew more about the Colosseum than we did after that trip!  Thank you Rick Steves! Rome was great to get around if you didn't mind walking or taking public transit, which we didn't.  We were literally able to either walk or take public transportation around the entire city, and we could get to almost all of the major attractions on foot.  Although our daughter was almost 6, we took a stroller along, which was a LIFESAVER!  My mom had one that wasn't as bulky as a jogging stroller, but its wheels were better than your average umbrella stroller.  It literally saved us and made our vacation a breeze!  No "I can't walk anymore...I'm TOOOOoooooo tired."  Nope.  We just strolled along on our merry way into ruins that were thousands of years old.  This is MY kind of vacation!

Photographing Rome

[caption id="attachment_3183" align="alignright" width="300"] A cafe that has fans that spray cool mist during a hot Roman day - I'm IN![/caption] If anyone out there wants to do a photo shoot in Rome and take me with, I'LL SHOOT FOR FREE!  TAKE ME WITH YOU! LOL!  Seriously, though, Rome was FABULOUS to photograph.  I'd go back there in a heartbeat!  I love cobblestones, little cafes and bakeries, and architecture that hasn't been built in the last 600 years.  I loved photographing my family in Rome.  There were so many fun places for my daughter to explore, and sweet, natural moments that I wanted to capture forever were abundant.  I also enjoyed the opportunities Rome afforded my Fine Art Photography.  I enjoy urban photography, and this was city life at a slower pace with a romantic backdrop. Fabulous. Here are a few of my favorite images from the trip.  Many of my Fine Art photos can be purchased in my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/shop/cklausen Thanks for reading!  ">