‘A humble flower’
By Kevin O’Brien
About a year ago, photographer Elizabeth Ann Weiland decided she needed to change the name of her business after realizing that her first and middle name were just too common to stick out among all of the other photographers with the same name.
At first, she tried to use an online business name generator to come up with something unique and catchy. It didn’t take long, though, before she realized that her business required a name that truly represented who she is as a person and what she seeks to capture with her photography.
That’s when Dandelion Soul Studio sprouted. “What kept coming back to me is that I really, really love dandelions,” she said. “They’re a humble flower.”
Because they’re considered a weed, she knows that many people don’t like dandelions, but for her, they’re bright yellow “spots of cheerfulness” that pop up after a long winter, providing some of the first food for pollinators. She also appreciates how they transition later in the summer into something people use to make wishes by blowing on the seedlings.
“The seed heads, when they’re puffy and white, I think that’s really pretty,” she said. “It kind of symbolizes resilience and hope.”
Her oldest son, Elijah Lemanski, serves as her unofficial technical assistant and didn’t take to the new name like she did, but he agreed to design a website prominently featuring a little girl blowing seeds off a dandelion head in the middle of a majestic field. It took some convincing, but he also agreed to put the new company name in all lowercase letters.
“I really like the lowercase,” she said. “It kind of goes with the dandelion; it’s humble.”
Growing up on a farm near Marathon as the oldest of five children, Weiland had plenty of subjects to work with as she developed an early interest in photography.
“I was just kind of drawn to taking pictures,” she said. “I would pose my youngest siblings next to the flowers in the garden and take pictures of them with disposable film cameras.”
Noticing her talent, her parents bought her a digital Kodak camera. Later, when Eljiah was born, she started taking pictures of him, which caught the attention of friends and relatives who started asking her to take pictures of their children. She upgraded to a better camera and eventually established her studio business in 2012 after she and her family moved to their farm on CTH E, just south of STH 29 in the town of Frankfort.
Weiland struggled to come up a with a business name before settling on Elizabeth Ann Photography, which quickly developed a devoted customer base. Some of her clients have stuck with her from the beginning, including one family that travels all the way from their home in Stevens Point to have their photos taken by Weiland.
When she first started taking pictures of this family, their daughters were six months and two years old, and they’ve kept coming back as they’ve grown into a family of six with four daughters.
“It’s just really nice having the same people come back,” she said. “They tell me they love my work and when my work improves.”
Weiland said she really gets to know her longtime clients,
DANDELION/
FLOWER CHILD - Elizabeth Weiland loves photographing newborns, and dressing up the photos with flowers and other accessories.
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH WEILAND Dandelion
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photographing them at different stages of their lives and learning which kids may be shy versus those who are more outgoing.
“If they come to me once a year to update their family portraits, their kids grow so much in one year,” she said. “The dynamic between siblings, even, it’s neat to see that.”
An old shed on the Weiland family’s farmstead serves as her studio, which is filled with various backdrops, decorative floor mats, outfits, and hats and headbands she knit herself. One of the backdrops is built out of old barn wood from the farm she grew up on. Her husband, Patrick, is a dairy farmer with a small herd of cows.
When a client books a session with her, she’ll ask them ahead of time what direction they want to go in and what they like and don’t like. If they don’t have a clear preference, she’ll try to coordinate with their outfits or suggest ideas. She likes adding various colors and textures to her photographs, so she’s always experimenting with various accessories, such as strips of burlap and squares of assorted cloth.
Her studio is equipped with professional lighting equipment, but she also likes to use natural light by photographing outdoors on her farm or at the nearby Cherokee Park, which is especially well-suited for displaying fall colors. Her farm features areas with tall grass, trails lined with wildflowers and a classic barn.
Weiland’s photography skills are self-taught, though she did learn how to use Photoshop to edit photos during a class at Marathon High School.
Those interested in booking a session with Weiland can do so going to her website, dandelionsoul.studio, which includes examples of her work, personal stories about working with her clients and options for everything from maternity photos to high school senior portraits. She uses an online booking program that allows her clients to select a day and time for their sessions, and she also has them fill out a questionnaire so she can get a better idea of their interests and preferences.
Weiland said she’s more than willing to work with children who have special needs or behavioral issues, but she likes to know from the parents ahead of time so she can accommodate them.
“If they can kind of let you know what’s the best way to work with their children, then there’s no problem,” she said. “I’d rather just have that open communication.”
As the mother of three children – including Elijah, 18; her younger son, Jonah, 16, and daughter, Maggie 10 – Weiland is naturally drawn to capturing images of kids, especially at younger ages.
“I really love photographing newborns,” she said. “It’s my favorite.”
Weiland likes to take her time with her younger clients. Newborn sessions can last up to four hours so there’s time for feeding and changing breaks. With full family portraits, she’ll usually work with her clients for about an hour or so, depending on what they want.
People can also contact Weiland through Facebook, Instagram or X.
FAMILY PORTRAIT -
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH WEILAND
