The best part of being a photographer is preserving special moments in people’s lives. But there doesn’t need to be a special occasion to have your portrait taken. Sometimes it is simply the love that you feel for your family, or that your little ones are growing up so fast and you want to capture that moment in time.
As the oldest of 5 kids and a mother of 3 beautiful daughters and now a son too, I have always loved spending time with children. My love for photography started as a little girl too but didn't actually grow until our daughters were born. I watched my best friend Amy (Sickel) Bowman take pictures of my daughters while she was in school for graphic design, it was that moment I knew I wanted to learn more. I started to take pictures of our girls for all Holiday and Birthday pictures. Slowly I started doing more for family and friends.
In April of 2012 after 12 years working full-time at Humana, my Sales position was eliminated due to a structure change internally. I knew I needed to find a back-up plan and I decided then to transform the addition on our house into my own studio. I was fortunate enough that my small business took off instantly and doubly blessed because Humana found me another amazing position at the very last minute as an Account Implementation Manager. Not knowing where our future would go, we decided to continue with both working full-time and doing pictures some early evenings and weekends. I am very fortunate that this busy work schedule was something my family could balance together. My husband also owns "The Eggs n' Bacon Wagon" you may see him serving breakfast at the Green Bay Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings out of his Airstream Trailer.
In 2014 we sold our home in De Pere and built a new home in Arizona. We didn't want to miss our Wisconsin summers so we come back for 6 months each year. We are in Wisconsin from May - October and back in Arizona from November - April. I was able to continue to work at home for Humana in both states and continue photography in Wisconsin with my long time clients and friends. My husband also took up his dream of homeschooling our kids so we could continue with our mobile lifestyle. So far the memories and adventures have been amazing while we have done this the last 4 years. We enjoy being snowbirds in our 30's (almost 40's now!).
My sister-in-law Tianna Gries also has a studio and an amazing Photography business. Since I no longer have a studio and I am not here year round, I no longer take newborn sessions. Tianna has been able to continue to offer her talent to any clients still needing those sessions or any session for that matter while I am back in Arizona.
When I am not behind the camera you will find me with my husband Ben and our daughters Madeline (11), Mikayla (9) and Marlow (7) and our son Benjamin II (2). We are a family that absolutely loves to travel and spend time exploring together.
Blessings,
Elizabeth (Gries) Michiels