Here’s a link to “The Doctors” video that featured the maternity photography that I created for them.

Congratulations to the Dahm Triplets and your husbands for your little girls and the new lives you’ll be leading. The only thing that tops being pregnant is holding your little one in your arms.

You know, most times that people are new to a studio experience they are nervous. I understand that. You are in the center stage with someone staring at you, what a self-conscious feeling! Having been a model many years ago I worked through that feeling. I have been there so I get that and I help my clients through that awkward feeling.

At this point, photographing the Wu’s felt like just hanging out. There is a magic that happens when we get to that familiar place. . . art. . .personality. . .connection. It all happens and it was meant to happen. I can’t wait to sign their wall portraits.

These are the things that get me so jazzed.

I chose to submit a fine art nude series of three art pieces which feature a woman posing nude on a dance pole. In the images, I captured her in a sophisticated way performing erotic “pole dancing” moves which she does regularly as part of her fitness regimen. The fitness phenomenon which incorporates yoga, Pilates and other strength building moves helps women build their self-confidence by giving them the freedom to be their naturally sexy and erotic selves without social restraints. The series of images captures the beauty, joy and strength of a woman empowered by her own sexuality, and I love that she exhibits grace and strength through what has historically been perceived as a demeaning and degrading activity.

Art Gallery Show dates are from March 1st – April 17th, 2009

Come join me at the

Special reception:
Thursday, March 5th from 5pm-10pm during San Pedro’s first Thursday art walk.

and Formal reception:
Saturday, March 21, 2008, 5pm-10pm
Light hors d’ouvres, wine and music by DJ CEE-BO.

at Gallery Azul
731 S. Pacific Ave.
San Pedro, CA 90731
310-831-2116

See more nude photography which has a elegant, sophisticated edge on my website www.LinneaLenkus.com or my new nude website at www.FineArtNudePortraits.com

I have so much to be grateful for and so I want to say thank you to all of my wonderful clients and to the people who are on my team. Being a photographer means I get to be a part of so many families and I love knowing that I can create something that reminds you of your love for them. Each moment is priceless and we all need to stop once in a while to capture those moments for posterity to remind us what adds true meaning to our lives.

I recently received the sweetest Thank You card from one of my favorite people, Brooke Burke. She sure warmed my heart by writing in her note: “The Photography Book you made for my family is Incredibly Beautiful! And Priceless! It has become a Ritual during story time. The Kids call it our Family Book. What a generous gift that we all enjoy!”

Thank you Brooke. Thank you to all of the wonderful people in my life. Here’s to a new year and a new era. Here’s to creating beauty and love everywhere.

I’m a photographer and my photography website is at LinneaLenkus.com

And I still can’t get over what an incredibly fit body she has. I’m looking forward to having Brooke back into my Pasadena studio to photograph her whole family, especially her son who is growing so fast! I can’t wait to congratulate her. My whole staff is so excited because we all love her so much.

This is Brooke Burke just 8 months ago and look at her today!

It’s been such a joy doing pregnancy and newborn photography for Brooke and David, and I can’t wait to see her perform tonight! And remember if you want to see how Brooke got that beautiful figure after four children go to her website BabooshBaby.com where she shows you how to get a tight tummy after pregnancy.

For more Brooke Burke photos that I created of her family, go to Los Angeles Photographers.

This family portrait titled “Serving Double Duty” features a husband and wife who are both on active duty in the U.S. Navy. In the portrait the father is cradling his 9-day old daughter, while his wife gently kisses her on top of her head. This artwork is one of 12 from the “Images From the Homefront” collection, a project I proudly worked on with “Operation Homefront,” a non-profit organization that provides emergency assistance and morale-boosting programs to military members, their families and our nation’s wounded warriors.

“Serving Double Duty”
Both serving in Navy combat teams, this dynamic duo has been on several deployments – each at least 6 months in duration as a result of the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the last four years they’ve been physically apart for more than two years. Their daughter was just nine days old when this portrait was taken.

The mother in this portrait wrote:
“The strains on dual military marriages are tremendous because we’re apart so often. We keep our marriage strong through constant communication whether it’s through e-mail or letters – as long as we have each other’s words. It’ll be very difficult when it comes time to say ‘goodbye’ to our little baby girl, but we proudly wear this uniform because we know we’re an important part of what it takes to keep our nation free.”

This portrait photography features one of the nine military families I took portraits of for “Operation Homefront” which has become a traveling photography exhibit to increase awareness about the issues facing our country’s military families and to help raise money for the organization. Other images in the exhibit include a maternity portrait, newborn photography, family portraits and pair of desert combat boots which serves to represent our nation’s fallen.

On Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 I will also be Click here to see more of this unique family photography.

I took a trip down memory lane this weekend. Buried deep in my garage was a dusty box of old tearsheets, prints, slides and negatives of me when I was a model. My husband fought the dust and spiderwebs to retrieve this box of memories for me. I have a project I’m working on that required those images. Plus, many, many people and especially my employees and friends, have begged me to see these images, I guess to prove that, yes, I could actually model (I know they can’t imagine it now). It was another life ago for me.

Linnea as a model.

I have faint memories of modeling in Paris, Munich, Milan and L.A when I was 20. I do know that my first job was for Elle magazine and the highly-respected photographer Toscani who created all those colorful Benetton ads. Also at that session I was accompanied by Carrie Lowell and Paulina Porzikova. I thought that was a good start.

I was, back then, a bit on the old side to start modeling, which stuns me especially since I was so naive and innocent then. If my children ever feel the need to model, I will discourage it or make sure to chaperone them because it can be a harsh world, the modeling world.

I learned my craft there on my “tests” and “shoots”. Hanging out with photographers was the best part of my job then. I didn’t know then that I would actually be a professional photographer one day, but I knew that I respected photographers and was very curious about their lives. While the other models were hanging out with each other I was trying to talk to the photographers and gather any tiny morsels of information from them.

A photo of Linnea Lenkus from a French magazine.

What did I learn in that other life? I learned that I was too sensitive to be a model. I learned that it was an incredible jolt to be in a studio and on a set. I learned that worrying about my weight, my nails, my looks or my skin makes me crazy. I learned over many many attempts the skill I use today to help my clients – - the art of acting natural in front of the camera. I learned that the 80’s was a funky style period. I learned that with all the effort in the world a perfect image can’t be created unless you let go, which is what I work hard to do for my clients in their portrait sessions.

My portrait photography can be seen at LinneaLenkus.com

Look who’s in Pregnancy and Newborn magazine this month! It’s me!!

Since I specialize in creating artistic and personal wall art I was asked by Pregnancy and Newborn for my take on wall art of babies and new families and how to present large portraits. I’ve been a professional photographer for 18 years now. My art consultants and I all know how life affirming it is to have incredible, artistic portraits of your family around with impact. I have many larger than life size portraits of my family and my babies around my home and everyone who enters is awestruck. “Wow,” they say, “I really like that.” It gets them thinking. It creates a positive energy.

An excerpt from the article:
“Wall art 101
Don’t know what to do with that beautiful oversized portrait of your newly expanded family? Linnea lenkus, owner of Linnea Lenkus Fine Art Portrait Studios in Los Angeles, simplifies the art of displaying portraits in your home. ‘”When determining where to display your pregnancy and newborn portraits as wall art, it’s important to think in terms of drawing in the viewer. I always ask people to take a look at their home and identify the wall that their eyes trail towards in a straight line from the entrance into that room. That is the wall that will likely have the most impact and therefore, should display the largest portrait. The “tunnel” or walkway to that wall should have slightly smaller portraits, depending on the viewer’s distance to the print, leading to the Mecca of portraits.’”

Linnea Lenkus specializes in creating wall art for families, babies, nudes and pregnancy.

For centuries artists such as sculptors and painters have defined their craft by capturing the beauty and essence of the artistic nude female body. And most recently photographers, such as myself, have added fine art nude portrait photography to our portfolios. As a woman, I know that there are those fleeting moments when a female sees her nude body in the mirror and her mind actually registers and acknowledges the true beauty of her female form.

It may be a glimpse of the smoothness of her shoulders, the line of her chin, the depth of her collarbone or the curve running down her back. And for that moment, despite society’s definition and perceptions of beauty, she is present and she realizes she is beautiful. It’s those kinds moments that I long to capture and bring to life and make real for her forever.

One of my most favorite parts of the nude art portrait session is when I show my subject the image of her nude body in the window of my camera seconds after I’ve taken the shot. Inevitably she will say something like, “Wow, I didn’t know I looked like that,” or “I’m a lot prettier than I thought,” or “Is that really me?” And once she sees that first image, she feels safe with me, and she lets go of her negative thoughts, and relishes in the opportunity to celebrate her body and she is free.

It’s at this moment that the artist in me feels the ultimate connection.

Artistic nudes can be seen at LinneaLenkus.com.