Author Archives: Catherine Smith Photography

About Catherine Smith Photography

Hello there! My name is Catherine Smith. I am a portrait (both humans and animals) and wedding photographer located in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I love to help capture those special moments in a natural setting. I work with natural light and the location is your choice. Photographs can also be done at my studio located in Cottage Grove or a combination of both. Thanks for taking the time to check out my website. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or to set up an appointment.

Meet Jenna Dicks

I recently did some headshots for Jenna so I thought it would be fun to promote her business. Especially since she has been supporting my photography business for many years. As a health and wellness coach, she has spent many years on building her career. She recently started a business/brand, Grit Grace Glow and also a Podcast called “Ramblings of an Addict”. If you are looking for personal growth and self-awareness then I encourage you to check out her Podcast. She is very inspiring. She helped inspire me to quit drinking.

Click here to check out “Ramblings of an Addict”.


Thank you for checking out my blog. Click here if you would like to book a session.


Mike, Jenna, Hayley and Mac

I have had the pleasure of photographing this family for quite a few years. It has been really fun watching them grow.

This year we went to a studio rental in Stillwater, MN called The Hive House. What a fun and cute space. I can’t wait to use the space again and I can’t wait to photograph this family again.








Thank you for checking out my blog. Click here if you would like to book a session.


The Cutest Family: Nate, Megan, Nash, Luey and Lila

I always love when animals are involved in photo sessions. My stress level does tend to go up a few notches especially when I hear the word cat. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats but they are the least cooperative when it comes to pet sessions. Thankfully Luey and Lila are pretty social and they are used to being outside on leashes. These 2 actually cooperated better than Nash, our canine friend.

Location was Silver Lake Park in North St Paul. This was a new location for me and it will be on my top list of favorite places for photo sessions especially in the Fall.



Yes, Nash does look sweet and innocent in his photos. Well he is very sweet just not sure about the innocent part. If I remember correctly, Nash had far more retakes than Luey and Lila especially during the family photos. The issue with him was his puppy energy. He didn’t like to sit still but once we got him to sit, he sat very well…for about 15 seconds.


Family session was a bit more challenging because we had to get 2 cats and a dog to all look at the camera at the same time. The cats actually did better than I had expected. I think being held helped a lot. Nash probably could of benefited from being held but we still managed to get a cute picture after a few retakes. Megan’s mom, Julie, was a great help. I couldn’t have gotten what I did with out her.

Final product and the only head I had to swap out was Nates.

This was an easy one for Nash. All he had to do was walk.


Sitting was a whole other story. We had to try multiple times

to get this


A few of my favorite ones of just the two of them

Thank you for checking out my blog. Click here if you would like to book a session.


Class of 2023 – Skylar

I have two goals for my photo sessions: get great photographs and have fun taking them. I wasn’t too worried about the first goal because I always overshoot. That way I know for sure that there will be some great photographs. I knew that I had accomplished the second goal when Skylar’s mom kept saying how much fun she had. I will say that this vibrant and beautiful, young lady made my job very easy. I ended up taking way too many photos which made it really difficult to choose the best ones. This is when overshooting gets me in trouble.

We ended up going to two different locations. Pine Tree Pond Park was our first location. I have a close connection with this park. My backyard leads right to it and I spent many of my teenage and adult years going to it. It is a beautiful park and has many great spots for backgrounds.

Our second location was at the Cottage Grove Ravine. This state park has lots of fun and interesting backgrounds so I was pretty excited when Skylar and her mom chose this place.

It’s always fun to see how the shot was taken so I love when my clients take pictures while I am shooting. Photo credit goes to Skylar’s mom, Jess.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Click here if you are interested in booking a photo session.


Class of 2023 – Samantha

My 2 biggest challenges for photo sessions are unknown territory and bright, sunny days. Sam’s session was on her parents property in River Falls, WI (a place I had never been) and it was a bright, sunny day. The property was beautiful and we had many options for backgrounds. Sam loves nature. She had me crawling deep into the woods but it was worth it for the photos we were able to get.

Sam also loves animals and I do too. I also love any excuse to incorporate an animal into a photo session. The dog and cat were planned but I don’t think her mom thought I would try and incorporate chickens too. I love chickens and just couldn’t resist. Are they not the cutest?

Thank you for checking out my blog! Click here if you would like to book a session.