Well, here it goes, my first post.

Renee Stengel Photography has been a dream in the making for many years.  The love of photography began when I picked up my dad’s “fancy camera” for the first time around the age of 10.  It was love at first click.  I still have that camera – a little dusty, yes, but I can’t give it up.  I think he would like that.

Many people ask where the previous name for my work, Red Door Photography, came from.  It was born from my love of nature photography.  In my college and grad school years I studied and pursued nature photography and began selling some of my prints.  At the time, I thought it was much more fun to use a catchy name over my own name.  I didn’t know of any other studios with that name, grabbed the web domain and ran with it.  As the focus of my photography began to change, I wasn’t thrilled with the name, but decided it was easier to just roll with it.  Well, the time had come to make a change, so, I did.  At first, the change was hard, but as I have worked with the website, the logo, the marketing materials over the last couple months….well, let’s just say change can be very very good.

And not just the change of a name.  As a stay at home mom to two truly amazing little men, I had thought I would hold off on this dream a few more years.  I would always say I was “waiting for all my kids to be in school.”  But as my passion for photographing children has grown, I was having trouble containing myself.  A lot of trouble.  I found myself photographing total strangers in parks and at the zoo, without them knowing.  I would see darling little ones at the store and in my head have a whole conversation with the mom about why she should let me photograph her child.  It was getting a little crazy.  So I convinced my family it was time for a change, that I would still love them just as much, still be there for them, still make cookies and kiss boo boos, but that I needed to pursue this – and not just during naptime.  And so, a studio, a business, a dream is born.

Welcome, to Renee Stengel Photography.

And because you simply can’t introduce a photography studio without a photo…meet the Stengel boys!