Oliver and his family solidified my love for thee red door. Last year around this same time Karen asked me to take family photos for their Christmas cards. I must have done something right cause they came back for more this year! Except this year we stayed inside.
I don’t do a lot of studio work anymore. I can, however, really enjoy having complete control over my environment and my weather! It’s the subject that remain ‘uncontrolled’ 
Luckily for me I got a great, fun and willing-to-do-anything-I-said family. How could it not be a good day!
Oliver was such a shy guy last year who barely said a word. This year he was all smiles, talked about starting kindergarden and made a new friend in my son Liam. The other exciting news in Oliver’s family was this past April his mom, Karen, and Andrew (aka. Ra) were married in Florida. They asked me to tag along (with my camera of course) but I was otherwise disposed in Australia. I heard it was a beautiful wedding!
Without further adieu, here are the photos. And I will take this opportunity to say my very first one of the year: Merry Christmas!
A possible Christmas card cover?
Possibly my favorite of the day:
PS. Don’t look at Andrew’s toes. According to him they are gross. Haha, just joking of course Andrew!
Dwayne contacted me last spring about purchasing an session for the love of his life. She was graduating from University and he knew she would love to also celebrate their engagement with a photo session. With both of them traveling for work, my busy wedding season and RDF (Rain, drizzle and fog) we just got around to doing the shoot last weekend. But it could not have been more perfect!
I think that evening was made for Andrea and Dwayne!
Congrats guys, I wish I could be with you in Cuba in April (I’ll be in Mexico but I will be looking forward to seeing your images! Enjoy these!
Reminescent of an another image of mine, this one is done with natural sunlight.
I’m thinking this last one is my favorite of the day! These colors all came natural in the image, beautiful!
Before I announce the slideshow I have some really exciting news! Craig’s brother and his fiance (Joey + Jennifer) have asked me to shoot their wedding in the Mayan Riviera in May 2010! I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Mexico before! It’s going to be a beautiful adventure and I’m really looking forward to seeing the whole family again! So stay tuned. Spring ‘10 is going to bring many exciting happenings around this here blog!
Now back to Neala and Craig! Here is their slideshow debut!
Enjoy!
Three years ago my husband and I packed up our new family of four and moved clear across the country. I was moving home. You might already know that my husband is from Zimbabwe and my kids were both born in Calgary. Me? I was born in Newfoundland. Coming home was pretty exciting. What I wasn’t prepared for was that all my old friends had moved away so returning home meant living in the city where I knew nobody. That also meant three year olds, I didn’t know any three year olds. So being the responsible mother I knew one day I had to become I decided to put my baby in pre-school. He needed friends, he needed to socialize and grow and learn to love his new home too.
That’s where Liam met Liam. For two years they played together at school and grew some kind of pre-school bond that I did not know was possible. Liam and Liam were separated this past September as they started kindergarten in different schools. My Liam is not jaded, he states just about every other day that “Liam is still his best friend’.
And that’s how I met this family. Whenever I move to a new city I’m reminded how much heartbreak, unrest and loneliness can follow you. With a little hard work it doesn’t long to be reminded that the best part about moving is new friends; new people are waiting in each place to be a part of your new life.
This past weekend I spent a beautiful mild Saturday morning with Liam’s best friends family.
They love to take their kids to the Fort Amherst area. We shot at 9:30am to catch a softer morning light. And I say it again, “I must have the best job!”
This is the other Liam.
And this is his ‘little’ brother! He stops for nobody or nothing and yet makes a great subject for my camera!
I love this next image. Come on mom and dad, you’re suppose to be looking at the camera!
How do I shoot into the sun successfully? A lot of you have been noticing that I shoot into the sun a lot. Most of the these images were indeed taken that way. The first thing you have to do is start shooting in manual. Surprisingly a lot of point and shoots can shoot manual but it’s not always easy to access those settings. In order to succeed at getting what you want from your camera YOU have to be in control. So, my first piece of advice is start shooting in manual mode. You’re camera manual is a great place to start if you have no idea what ‘manual’ even means. When you’re comfortable with that I’ll tell you what to do next.
And so that mom and dad don’t get a bad rep I had to share this one where they are happily smiling for me and the kids are doing what kids do best!
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‘The Other Liam’ has made an appearance on my blog before. He was the kid crashing mid air with my Liam at his #5 birthday last spring. Check them out here.
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Why is being a Wedding Photography one of the best jobs in the world? Because I get to hang out with beautiful people on the best days of their lives. Jana and Steven were no exception. Jana and Steven, it’s been a great year getting to know the two of you and meeting Taylor was the cherry on the cake! It’s my honor to bring you the wedding day of Jana and Steven in a slideshow!
For their wedding post click here and on their way to parenthood click here.
Enjoy!
