Leaving on a Jet Plane

I will be out of the office ♫'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane I don't know when I'll be back again♫ (well I do actually) November 28th. I will be returning all voice mail and emails that week. Thank you for your patience.  Looking forward to shooting Lynda and Scott's wedding! Yippeeeeeeee.

Trash it. Get it dirty. Get it wet. Roll around in the mud.

 Trash it. Get it dirty. Get it wet. Roll around in the mud. Drench it in the ocean. Totally trash it (an excerpt from trashthedress.com.

On my way to Mount Albert yesterday, the sun was shining the air was warm and it was so refreshing. I was looking forward to photographing my two dear "track friends" and couldn't wait to get there. Along the way, I thought maybe I should ask Tanya to do a trash the dress session. The light is perfect, she loves mud, and what girl doesn't want to feel like a model for a day.  So, right away I sprung it on her, and her immediate response was "YES!".  So, off we went, (after family sessions) and headed off into the sunset. Here are my favourite shots from the day, from start to finish. Now, this girl, she knows how to TRASH THE DRESS! A special thanks to Shannon for all her help carrying the muddy dress, boosting up the muddy model and pouring hot water over her head :)
Such fun T. Had a blast and can't wait to see you again.

America's Next Top What? Week 5

Wow, I have some catching up to do!
So this week on the show the models headed to Rodeo Drive for a photo shoot with fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Here is my interpretation. Clearly I have no fashion sense so clearly I am sitting here laughing at myself once again. Oh well, if nothing else, I continue to get a good chuckle.
If you're wondering why I have a portrait of myself on my blog click here.

Chris and Daina are Engaged!

What can I possibly say about Chris and Daina?   Daina, not to be mistaken for Diana is a sweet, bubbly, very organized woman. I realized this within minutes of meeting her.  She is totally with it when it comes to what she wants on her wedding day and I am honoured to have been chosen to be the one to capture the memories of her and her fiance. Now Chris. Not many people get me and my sense of humour. Sometimes, I think I'm funny and then there is silence, all I hear are crickets chirping and my own laughter.
Chris is the kind of guy that would laugh with me, not at me and I like that. Chris and Daina have such a fun, outgoing, witty relationship that I can't help but feel like we've been friends for a very long time.
The day was fantastic, our time together well spent, and we got some fantastic shots. Can't wait for your big day!

Oh Dear!

Sometimes I get a little excitable. Maybe a little too excitable, which is possibly why I am such a klutz, I get so into the "moment" that I don't see what's going on around me. (if you're laughing right now, you know me really well). I will discuss my combine accident in a later post, because this post is saved for this family. Today's light was delish. Yes, I said delish. I don't care how corny. Nor did I care how lame I sounded when I kept telling this little beauty how gorgeous she was today. LOOK AT HER.  I'm not sure if my fetish with her beauty is because she looks so much like Ella (my daughter) or if it's because she is sooooo cute!. Either way, I could have continued to photograph these two darlings, the ENTIRE day.

The Wight Family

The Wight family came to me on one very cold September day. But, luckily for them they were heading south a few days after so they easily fought through the pain. I couldn't for the life of me figure out who this sweet little girl reminded me of, and it just came to me. The Olsen Twins!!!

Mr. and Mrs. McCormick

It was a chilly day, but totally worth every goosebump. Here's your sneak peek Gilli and Sean. Your day was beautiful.

My Little Man

Well my little man came home excited to show me what they are learning in class. They are learning about blogs, and how to express yourself. So, without further ado (I had to check the spelling on that one), I plug my oldest child's new official blog. "D Awesomest Blog" here.

He is going to write mainly about his race season (May-Oct) and I really have no idea what else, I'm almost afraid to read it! He's getting to be that age.......... So please, if you have a minute, read this poor boy's blog. I just love him to bits! (they read my blog in class today, I'm hoping they read it tomorrow so I can embarrass him) Love you hunny, soooooooo much. Muah!

Stole this one from Angie's facebook. LOVE IT! This feels like yesterday to me....*sigh*

Chris and Amy are Engaged!

Chris and Amy came to me as a gift from a special cousin.  These two were so comfortable with each other and so comfortable with me that it made for a fun, relaxed photoshoot. I see it's a very fitting day to post these pics as they are getting married 7 months today!
Thanks for driving down this way, it was so much fun to meet you. And Chris, I could listen to you play for hours, you are fantastic!  Check him out for yourself here.

Preik Kids

Well since I can't do a whole lot of moving, I figured I could at least catch up on my blog posts.
The Preik boys,  are busy boys. Earlier on in the day I had taken my kids to the Cobourg Beach, where we ran into the Preik Boys. Hours later, a sunburn or two and no nap looking eyes, they arrived for their family pictures. Luckily for them, they are so cute with their beautiful blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes,  that they totally pulled it off. Trains are an obsession the youngest boy has so that's where we started our journey, and we ended our journey, back at the beach.

Poor Poor Pitiful Me

Well as some of you may know, I have injured my back. At hockey on Monday night, I felt something very sharp on the lower left hand side of my back (after I got the first goal of the game.....yep, I'm proud). I tried to skate off to no avail, so I pulled myself with my stick to the door, where the referee let me out. None of my players had any idea what was going on at this point. I got out, and fell face first on the concrete *safely though, with all of my equipment to protect me*.  There I lay with 4 minutes left to play in the game. Crying. Hard. On the concrete. On my belly. After the game, people came to see why this strange woman was laying face first on the floor and helped me to my side. Unfortunately for me, the arena's protocol is that if you can't get up unaided they have to call an ambulance. So, to my dismay, I took my first ride in an ambulance in 30 years. Off to emerg I go, begging the paramedics to cover my face with the sheet so nobody would know it was me. *they didn't think I was funny by the way*. At the hospital I was told that it was likely a pulled muscle, they gave me a shot of something in my upper arm muscle and said hold off for a bit, then try to get up and you can head home.
After about 3 hours of trying to get up, and not making it more than a couple of inches, I gave it my all, and VOILA, pass out on the bed. I totally told her I'd pass out. Yep, score one for me. So, at this point they reassessed the situation and decided that I needed to be hooked up to IV to fill me up with morphine.  Morphine, Tylenol 3's, Cyclo something, and Keto something, and I STILL was in pain. Next up MRI. This is where they found that it was not actually a pulled muscle, it was however, a disc protrusion in my lower back. So, here I lay, in my bed, with my laptop, and my dogs, and my kids, writing this blog post.
I truly can't thank you enough to those of you that I've had to cancel or re-schedule this week. Believe me when I say I'd much rather be shooting, then laying here, on my back, in my bed.........

So with that, I thought I'd leave you with a picture, cause what's a photography blog without a picture right?....... Now many of you would look at this and think it's blurry, out of focus and not worth keeping. I on the other hand, feel that it captures my dog's energy more than I would ever be able to describe in words.

Beauty

You know how every single mom looks at their child and thinks they are absolutely beautiful? Is it weird that I look at someone else's child and think the same thing? This little girl is stunning, Simply gorgeous.
This day is by far the coldest that I have shot in this fall. But this little girl is a trooper, and you'd never know that it felt like it was going to snow like "any second!"
This shoot was for an upcoming birthday present, What a great gift to receive from your sister.  Here is your sneak peek Auntie, thanks for driving down and standing in the blistery wind for this, it was fun.

Baby Breckin

Oh Breckin, what can I say about sweet little Breckin?? Breckin is a feisty little one, she loves her mama and wants to suckle ALL the time. Can you blame her really?

Look at this sweet little face.

America's Next Top What? Week 4

UGH!!!!!!!! Seriously people. This was not a good idea. I have struggled with this one for the past 6 days. My goal was to always have the previous weeks shoot done and posted by the next weeks show. I have put this off, and put this off. I really struggled with this one. I don't have a wrestler, and I don't wear those kinds of clothes. I'm a big girl. Seriously, any person that can eat KFC for 14 years, then quit, stop eating it, and gain weight, has issues. Yep, that's me, I'll just be the Subway Jarod of KFC..... okay, rant over. Here is my interpretation of last weeks America's Next Top Model. I did not use a funky chicken wrestler, nor did I use a wrestling ring. Let's just say that Photoshop has been my friend this time.