Happy Anniversary

My parents celebrated 40 years of marriage last weekend. Wow! They went to New Zealand and Australia to celebrate and just got home. Last night we got together for a family dinner and to see the photos from their trip. We decided to do a family portrait as the last one didn't have our newest addition - my nephew Cohen! We got back to my brother's place as the sun was setting so we had to move fast but managed to get a couple quick snaps before it got too dark. Here is my family and my parents. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Aaron & Kathryn

My "little" cousin Kathryn and her boyfriend have been visiting from the big town of Emo, Ontario this week. I use to live with Kathryn's family for the summer and babysit her and her siblings. And now she's done a year of College and all grown up. Wow. We love having them visit - and when they asked if I would do some photos for them, I was more than happy to! (You may notice they were also some of our models for Chick Clicks - they had flown in that morning and I put them straight to modeling!)

Anyhow, here's a few pics of two of my kids favourite people...

Chick Clicks #1

When in Vegas at WPPI, our last seminar we attended was by one of my photography heroes - Bambi Cantrell. She spoke about taking photos to keep your creativity alive - just for the sheer joy of it! They could be crazy or over the top and stuff you'd never use - but they keep the juices flowing.

The four of us who were there decided to start "Chick Clicks". A group where we meet every 6 weeks, a different one of us hosting each time and coming up with the theme and ideas. We wish we could open up to everyone we know - but it's hard to coordinate the schedules of 4 people never mind 20 people! Please, if this is something that you're interested in - start a group! Gather a few friends and start snapping!!

Back to my story...

Today was my turn to host our first get together and I decided to do "trash the dress" with an urban feel to it. Problem was that I didn't have any wedding dresses to trash! Well, I found a great thrift store in Hamilton (Revolving Closet on Ottawa St. - check them out and tell Eva I sent you!) that lent us all the dresses, shoes, accessories, veils, etc. we wanted for $20!! Sweet. (Although because we were renting meant I couldn't completely trash the dresses! I really wanted to have someone swim in a dress..)

Anyhow, without further ado - here's a few photos from today...

Learning Together

One thing I love to do is share what I have learned and to teach. I still have heaps to learn - but I am eager to share what I do know so we can all grow together!

I have been playing with the idea of offering some workshops at different levels - for the beginner who doesn't know how to work a digital camera, and then one for parents who want to take better photos of their kids, and also one for people in general who love photography and want to improve.

I'm thinking of a hands-on format - I'll share a bit, and we'll learn some tips, tricks & techniques and then we'll go and actually take photos together using what we have just learned.

Just trying to get a feel for if people are interested in something like this. If you would be interested - please leave a comment here or pop me an e-mail! Or if you have another idea you'd like me to explore - please share it with me! Thanks!

Aaron & Sandra

I met Aaron & Sandra yesterday for the first time - after a lot of e-mails it was nice to finally meet face to face! They are such a great couple and I really enjoyed getting to know them both as we did their engagement photos yesterday. Looking forward to doing their wedding in Cuba in a couple of weeks!

Charles & Mary Ann

Friday I had the absolute delight of being a part of Charles and Mary Ann's wedding. It was my first Filipino wedding and some of their traditions during the ceremony were just beautiful - loved the symbolism. The ceremony of the coins, and the veil & cord for example. But the real beauty of the day (besides the weather!!) was definitely the couple. They were just radiant! It was a joy-filled day and a lot of fun to be a part of. Thank you Charles & Mary Ann!

Kids

One of the main reasons I got into photography was kids. I adore kids and at any wedding I'm naturally drawn to them and get lots of candids of the little munchkins. At Friday's wedding there were a group of boys involved in the wedding and a gorgeous flower girl that my camera couldn't help but be drawn to over and over again. I just loved watching them interact - daring each other to touch the wedding cake - and how they experienced the day. Here's some of the photos of the wee ones...

(it goes pretty quick thru some of the pics - but you can always select the gallery option at the bottom to see them close up!)

Baby Ayla

Last night I had the joy of meeting baby Ayla. What a sweetheart! Trevor and Leanne are just completely smitten with their new addition - and they should be. Enjoy her! I know I did last night! Here's a look at a few of the images...

Josh & Amber

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Josh & Amber's wedding. It was beautiful - and despite all the nasty cold we've had lately - it turned out to be a beautiful day. (now they say we're getting snow tonight - yikes!) Here are a few snapshots from today.

Red Shield

I was fortunate yesterday to donate some time and photography to help out the Salvation Army. I went around documenting some of their local services - food bank, men's shelter, Grace Haven (home and school for teen moms) and so forth. It was a wonderful experience for me to see first hand all that they are involved in. Here is a snapshot of what the Salvation Army is doing in the Hamilton-Burlington area....

Grand Trip

People have been asking to see some more photos from my recent trip to the Grand Canyon, Valley of Fire, etc. while in Nevada for a conference. Here you go...

Isabelle

We are up at my in-laws farm right now - my husband is one of 11 siblings... you never know who is going to be here! I was thrilled to find my newest niece Isabelle here. So at my first chance I could get I grabbed her and snapped a couple pics. I just love babies. And photographing them is such a joy - a moment in life that is so fleeting. I look at my girls and it seems like it was just yesterday they were the ones I could hold in one hand - not the two munchkins putting on plays and fighting over dinosaurs.

Anyhow, here's wee Isabelle...

Proud Mama

Today I am one proud mama and my heart swelled at least three sizes.

A couple months ago we sponsored a child through World Vision. Madi has been trying to save any money she can since then to help give clean water. Today she decided she wants a "water sale" for our World Vision child - so the only way I could come up with to do this is for her to sell bottles of water.

I did up a quick blog so she can have her own spot to talk about this. It's HERE

Spring is in the Air

After a loooong winter - signs of Spring are all around! Last night we went for a walk after supper and saw the flowers starting to show! Hooray! My girls have been begging to run through the sprinkler, go swimming and camping every day for a month. Well, still too cold to do that - we did head down to the beach today and enjoy the weather (before it hits zero again later this week. Brrrr...).

Let me introduce you to my two munchkins.

First there is Madison who is four. Madison means "gift from God" and she is exactly that to us! Madi's imagination is wild - she went by the name "Arnold" for an entire year and most days thinks she's a zebra. Madi is just getting over the chicken pox right now.






Then little Eden, who is two. Eden means "Delightful" and she could not live up to her name and better! She is very easy going and loves to sing and dance. She mimics his sister's every move and word.




The girls get along pretty well for the most part. Although Eden does have a tendency to casually grab the top of Madi's hair as she strolls past and yank it really hard. They both love dinosaurs and bugs. Eden loves to colour - Madi is more interested in making up names for her crayons and playing with them. Eden loves to dress up like a princess - Madi loves to wear her "team" shirt (a football style shirt) and play baseball. When Madi gets scared, she calls her little sister to protect her. They are a constant source of laughter and joy.

Cowboy Carl

I posted a photo of Carl below already, but tonight I was looking through the photos from last week and found a couple of Carl and his grandson I really liked. When the four of us girls drove out to the Grand Canyon, we stopped on the side of the road to do a mini photo shoot. There was a dirt road there that we liked and of course, being girls we had to do multiple wardrobe changes and left all our gear and clothing options strewn along this dirt road. So, when Carl and his wife and grandson wanted to drive down their road - imagine their surprise to see 4 women and a bunch of stuff all over their road. One toothless grin from Carl and I could feel my camera itching to photograph him! I asked (and got his permission to share his image) and I snapped a few pics of him and his grandson - and got his address to send him some images. He told us about working with the mules at the Grand Canyon and going to the Calgary Stampede once and was a really fun guy! Here's to you, Carl!

Genereux

This morning I got to photograph one of my favourite families! Since I first photographed the Genereux family in 2005, I've enjoyed photographing them about every 6 months. It's especially fun for me since our kids are the same age and I love watching how Tyler and Ella have grown since the last time I visited with them. Now they are expecting baby#3 in the next couple weeks - so today I got to photograph Lisa and Mike and their family as they await the arrival of their baby. We're booked already for their baby's 2 week portraits - can't wait to meet the little one!! Thanks for letting me into your family once again.