Stacy Haase has been photographing weddings for the past eight years. She also takes other photos as part of her business, Stacy Haase Photography.

Sometimes something you love to do is a fun hobby. And, sometimes that fun hobby turns into a business.

Stacy Haase, of Blue Earth, says she has always loved to take photographs.

“I have always been intrigued with cameras and taking pictures,” she says. “I remember long ago when I first got a point and shoot camera and started taking lots of photos.”

Then, about 11 years ago she got her first “big girl camera,” a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera and she really started taking photos and teaching herself how to do it better and better.

“My son and a friend’s daughter were my practice subjects,” she says. “I took a lot of pictures of both of them.”

Ten years ago it was a booming hobby, but it was soon going to start turning into a business. She calls it Stacy Haase Photography.

“It was about eight years ago that I shot my first wedding,” Haase recalls. “And I discovered I love doing it.”

She says now she tries to stay with doing from four to six weddings per year.

“I try and work it in with my job, family life, and getting the photos completed,” she says. “And weddings are not the only thing I shoot. I do everything from newborns and high school seniors, to regular family photos and extended families.”

Haase has her own style for taking wedding photos, she says. “When I first meet with a bride in person or on the phone I?explain that I am a full service photographer,” she says. “It is just me, and I will shoot photos for a full day and not worry about the hours. I shoot from getting ready to the time for the first dance at the reception.”

She says she usually personally knows either the bride or the groom, and occasionally both. But she has also shot a wedding where she did not know either one.

“I like to take some time to get to know them, let them get comfortable with me, and I can learn how they feel about things, what they like and what they dislike,” she says. “My style is a little different than most. I?like to get more creative. I?give the bride a lot of options.”

Haase says she takes the traditional posed wedding photos, of course, but she also likes the behind the scenes shots.

“I also really concentrate on the bride and groom,” Haase explains. “I spend more time with them than I?do the whole wedding party. I like a good half hour of just them, getting them to relax and get some natural photos, not just posed.”

She often “steals” the bride and groom before the dance and takes them outside for 20 minutes or so for some shots, maybe with the sunset in the background.

“I try for that personal moment, let them just breathe for a little bit, and get that relaxed photo of them as a newly married couple,” she explains. “It is almost always my favorite photo of the day, theirs, too.”

Haase often knows her clients because she is a Blue Earth native, born and raised here. Both she and her husband, Ben, are Blue Earth Area grads. They have a seventh grade son, Devin.

Ben Haase works at Bevcomm and Stacy Haase now works at Blue Earth Area Schools, and is the new media director, taking the position long-held by Nancy Steinke, who recently retired.

“Before that I was a teacher at Presentation College in Fairmont for 10 years,” Haase says. “In the radiology technology department. My last group graduated this past May and then they closed the Fairmont campus. So I moved on. I just started at BEA in August.”

One of her jobs as the media director at BEA elementary and middle schools is taking pictures for the website and other uses.

“Of course, I love doing that,” she says. “Anytime I can have my camera in my hand and take photos, I am happy.”

She says her plans are to continue to grow her photography business and to keep taking photographs as much as she can.

“I just really enjoy it,” she says. “It is fun to do.”