WELCOME to the new home of Lexia Frank Photography!
If you're returning - we're going through a big re-branding of our business (nothing like a fresh new coat of paint!), from sugarLeaf Photography to Lexia Frank Photography. If you're new ... well then hello :)
I'm a fine art wedding, portrait, and birth photographer that has a love affair with film. Yes... film. you thought it was dead? well... guess again. i shoot medium format film (and sometimes digital), but you can check out what's in my photography bag here
if you're intrigued (or you're just the techy-type that loves to know the specs). If you dont care about the specs, well... i shoot film because it makes me slow down. it forces me to wait for just the right second. it forces me to stop rapid firing and appreciate the quiet beauty of the moment. it is honest, true, and authentic.
i love the process, i love the film grain, i love developing my own prints. i'm a purist, a fine art major from the University of Wisconsin, and i like to treat my weddings and portrait sessions not like the run of the mill photographer, but like it's an assignment for a gallery space. i value physical prints over pixels, and want my own children to be able to riffle through boxes of prints instead of locating folders on harddrives when they want to reminisce about their childhood. we appreciate handmade albums for weddings and family heirlooms, and giclée prints for the walls.
We love traveling all over the country (and often the world) to photograph amazing events and milestones... it fuels my soul to see people fall in love with each other, their babies, their lives. You can also read more about what i do and contact me at my main photography website at www.lexiafrank.com
cheers!
i so loved this session, and photographing families in their home. i love how personal it is, how real it is. mama’s in their robes, babies swaddled up warmly, and light pouring in the windows. this nursery is making me want to redo the boy’s room, annnnndddd have another baby. :-) dont think i’ll get that one by the hubs any time soon though!
just a quick little teaser before we head to bed here. i dont think i need to say anything more- speaks for itself. love this couple :)
this little man is One… time flies by so quickly. what a beautiful family…
just one quick peek at Dylan’s 1 year session. Challen and John are some of my longest clients, and some of my most favorite people. i cant wait to share more of these with you all!
So, i might be just a smidge proud of this wedding- it was the first where i brought along my film camera not as a ‘fun, lets play with film’ camera, but as a bone fide mode of photography. most of the image above are film- i know you film geeks out there will be able to pick out which ones are digital and which ones aren’t! looking forward to the day when film is all i use for weddings.
Mandi and Nathan got married at Sacred Lands, one of my favorite places for weddings. it is a little bit quirky… i mean you get ready and dressed in the owner’s own mid-century home, but the quirkiness is really part of the charm. flocks of peacocks wander the property, which was historically an American Indian burial ground. and, it pretty much has everything- sand beach, rock beach, sailboats, deep rainforest foliage, hidden paths… yet its in downtown st pete (the most random place ever for such an incredible little gold mine of a place).
After the ceremony we headed downtown dunedin for their intimate dinner reception with a handful of friends and family. it was an incredible day, and i just cant tell you how much i adore small weddings (we’re talking, under 13 people…).
ok… and i was doing a really good job resisting the urge to tell my joke about Dunedin, but it looks like i’m losing the battle. here goes.
Me: “wanna know why everyone in Dunedin is full?”
you: “why?”
Me: “because they’re all done eatin’”
get it? dunedin? done eatin? yes, i made that one up when we first moved down here, and it still makes me laugh.
i sincerely apologize. hoping you’ll forgive me. sort of hoping you’ll go out and say that the next time someone says they’re from Dunedin. or maybe at least give a small chuckle to yourself.
welcome to my home. meet Tavish and Pierson, my two little partners in crime. the pond behind our house dried up a few weeks ago, and we saw thousands of tadpoles flopping in the sun. We knew we couldnt just stand by and watch them bake, so we decided to intervene. we filled up the boys plastic swimming pool, armed ourselves with buckets, and scooped up hundreds of tadpoles from the muck and placed them in the water. the remaining tadpoles that we didnt have room for we filled the pond with a little bit of water from our hose. not too much, but just enough that they could be submerged in water. we did this every single day for two weeks, until finally… there were no more tadpoles, and they had turned into frogs :) my favorite part of this was watching my tough, rugby playing husband quietly sneak off to fill the pond up with more water, just too make the tadpoles a bit more comfortable. He wouldnt probably admit it, but he’s such a softie, even when it comes to tadpole lives.
i can NOT remember what film stock i used here… was it Tmax 400? ilford 3200? i’ll find out when Indie sends my film back. regardless, shot with contax 645.
i know… so many videos posted lately. it just seems that i post one good one, and people send me links to other good ones, and well…. it’s just a snowball effect.
but seriously…. how do they keep a straight face through that whole thing?!?! if i could pick a talent,… it might be this one. or possibly being able to play the crystal glasses with water in them. you know what i’m talking about, right? or maybe the accordian. i hope my kids pick up obscure talents along their lives…
i must see this film. i have to.
I think mainly because (although i love artful films) THIS is how i feel i go through life. inside dancing the whole thing. and i dont mean in a metaphorical way, i mean literally. We’ll be shopping for groceries and in my own mind it is a whole ballet of movement. the restraint that i use to hold back turns and balances down the aisles is incredible. jeté to the oranges, intricate choreography to the deli meats. when i drive i like to stop and accelerate and turn to the beat of whatever music is on. My body walks down the sidewalk, but inside my head i am dancing the whole way instead.
what if… what if… i just did what was inside my head instead? do i sound crazy to you just admitting all of this? have any of you ever experienced the UNFATHOMABLE urge to at least skip down the sidewalk? have you just suppressed it all these years and it has gone away? would you want that desire to come back if you could? would you ever actually act on it? for me it seems exceptionally strong in the grocery store. i dont know why grocery stores have that effect on me, but i just cant walk or stand normally in them. i MUST dance. i must at least get one good turn in on that slippery floor. just a quick triple coupé turn. quick, before anyone walks by and sees a mother of two spinning in the middle of aisle 3.
Meet Hannah and Max.
and, their mom Angie.
We got together at Ellas Deli in Madison Wisconsin for a fun day of carousels and icecream…
and then we popped over to the Arboretum to have a little picnic and let the kids wear off some of the sugar high they accumulated at the deli.
Angie is an incredible mom. you can see it just in the way she looks at her two little babies. she is also an incredible person- working with special needs kids while she battles some serious cancer. she’s been fighting for two years, literally the entire life of her youngest child. I’ve followed her fight for these two years because she and I both danced for the University of Wisconsin Dance Team, and felt such a connection to her since our kids are roughly the same age. I cant imagine raising two kids on your own and fighting this disease. Angie is a very unique case, they originally found cancer in her lymph nodes in her neck and head, and then subsequently in her cervix. it was so all over the place they weren’t sure of the actual point of origin.
“Had this cancer started in your head and neck, then spread to your pelvic area, you would have already outlived your prognosis. Had this cancer started in your pelvic area, then spread to your head and neck, you would have already outlived your prognosis. You’re special…” - Dr. Buttin
She IS special. and although i dont know much about cancer lingo, and only know what Angie has posted on her facebook page, i know that although this cancer seems to be back with a vengeance, Angie also responds really well to aggressive treatment. and who are we kidding? just LOOK at her!
and her littles…. oh man. i just love them. :) little Hannah is a tae kwon do super hero (she just broke the block at her most recent test) and Max is a little firecracker. i think he could have done ring around the rosy all evening long if we would have let him.
I also just want to say thank you to Amy Johnson of One Fine Day Productions who is making a little ‘home video’ of our time at ellas deli and at the arboretum! her work is spectacular, and while she was filming little hannah asked “are WE going to be on TV?!?!” ha! so adorable! and also a big thanks to Lindsay McCarthy who assisted and loaded all my film for me while i concentrated on capturing the moments (and not loading my film). AND a big (big!) thanks to Indie Film Lab who rushed the development/scans without an additional charge and did a great job :) and….also a big thanks to Sophia from Rising Sky Productions, belinda perkins (captured by belinda), and iris acevedo (acevedo photography) who all donated to help cover the costs! your donations are genuinely appreciated! if there is one thing hard times can produce, it is community and appreciation.
Much love to you Angie, your sweet children, and your mother. you are in my thoughts constantly :)
