Little Man L. Sneak Peaks

Project 52

After a slow start I have jumped into Project 52, although instead of following a group and doing theme photos each week I am doing 52 Things About Me. I hope I don't get to July and realize there's nothing left to tell. But maybe this will help me discover more about myself and the world around me.

Week 1) I like shoes! and sparkles! Too bad these don't come in my size, I'd be ALL over them. But they will work great for a 5yr old tootling around the most Magical Place on Earth!

Week 2) I love my girlies! Here is my beautiful 5 yr old with some amazing face paint from Disneyland. I love this kid! She has that "look" in her eyes....I think they call it sassy. :D

Week 3) I ALWAYS have my toe nails painted, and I love this color so much I have a back up for when one runs out.

Week 4) I love Chai Lattes. Especially in a fancy new mug. This one is from my Secret Sister and proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research, which makes me even happier!

Check back again for more installments!

Getting to know ME

TEN things about me:

#1. I LOVE the color pink, especially pink, green, and white together. It makes my heart happy. (funny coincidence - I have that pink and black box with the heels on it, it's one of my favorite boxes)

I also love pink, green, and white antique tea cups and saucers.

#2 I am obsessed with decorating magazines and websites, and home plan books. I am constantly planning my dream home and thinking of new ideas.

#3 I hate my smile, but I love to smile. I also love making people laugh.

#4 Sometimes I think I am still a teenager and can’t believe I have 2 kids and own my own home. And wonder if I am crazy for doing it.....
#5 I want to race fast cars but my doctor says no way - bad neck!

#6 Growing up I wanted to be an F-18 fighter pilot or a marine biologist.

#7 I never have un-painted toenails, like ever……

#8 I would love to own a restaurant, I love cooking but hate cleaning up.

#9 I am a crier, big time! Telephone commercials, movies, weddings, sappy emails, and watching my daughter’s grade 1 end of year celebration….

#10 My Meyers Briggs personality type indicator is INFP, and one of the “ideal” career choices is photography! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFP

photos found on: Decoratingideakidrooms.com , Teacupgallery.com , singlemindedwomen.com , beaut.ie , and Janeheller.mlblogs.com

Orchard Photos Osoyoos BC

I came across a post on another photographer friend's Facebook page of someone looking for a photographer to get some pictures done before the weekend. She wasn't able to do the pictures so I quickly piped in with "PICK ME, PICK ME!" and within 12 hrs I was editing the pictures from our hilarious evening!

Seradaye and Garth manage an orchard in Osoyoos that sells their fruit at a higher end market in Abbotsford http://www.leppfarmmarket.com/ and cherry season is fast approaching. The Market is doing some advertising, showing their customers who the growers are. So Sera, Garth, and Hana needed some photos!

I have to say that this was honestly the most fun I have had taking someone else's pictures. The whole family has a wonderful relaxed attitude. I knew right away that they weren't interested in the cheesy "walmart' style posed photos. This family knows how to have fun, and boy - who knew wandering around an orchard could be a comedy act. Following us around the orchard were their bulldogs Maggie and Jackson - it sounded like a couple little pigs grunting around behind us. They were so cute, but for some reason only wanted pictures of their butts.

Sera is a horticulturalist so as we were taking pictures I was picking her brilliant brain about problems we've had with out trees. I learned a few new things!

So in between laughs and giggles we snapped some great pictures, I love how their life and joy shows through in the pictures. It makes my job really easy to just capture the fun. As most people know I have a certain style that I like for my images and as I was taking the pictures that night I was imagining them in this style. "Walmart" style photos just don't work well with my style so this worked out great. The relaxed, fun nature of these images is enhanced with the "fun" look of my style.

Sera's beauty comes shining through in this one:

Maggie, Jackson, and Hana in the old farm truck.

Hana is going to be a beauty like her mom!

I was honoured to work this family.

LOVE this one!

At one point is was highlighted that their life is sometimes known as "The Garth Show" (Which I completely understand as our life is The Grace Show!) So in honour of Garth here's one for him!

Thank you guys for a fun filled evening in such a beautiful orchard. (I should have got a shot of the view they have! Probably the best in the whole Okanagan Valley)

Let's Smash Some Cake!

After a few rain delays we finally had a chance to do Miss Harlow's cake smash session at Linden Gardens (http://www.lindengardens.ca/) It's a good thing one year olds don't understand when their real birthday is!

I thought for sure she was going to dive right into the cake.... boy was I wrong. I had to shove her hand into the cake, and when I plopped a little bit of icing on her nose she FREAKED out. Poor girl traumatized by buttercream. Her mom thought if she gave her a taste she'd get into it, no, she just gagged. So it's amazing that I got so many good pictures of her in between the crankiness and trying to get away from the cake.

Her ladybug sandals are just precious and I hope the cake washed off of them easily, her feet had more cake on them than anywhere else.

She was much happier after we wiped her down and took the silly tutu off so we decided to do some more pictures in her cute dress.

I had so much fun doing my first cake smash and can't wait to do another. So if you know any little ones turning one or two give me a shout and we'll capture the craziness. :D

I LOVE FLOWERS!

While I've always liked flowers (I mean who doesn't appreciate their beauty) it's only been recently that I've developed a LOVE for them. My house is barren of any living plant...mostly because they don't live long in my house, but I am destined to change that. I have a great little flower container garden happening on my walkway, and we're even venturing into the world of container vegetable growing. For now we have yellow and purple peppers, tomatoes and purple cauliflower, and will probably add some lettuce as well.

I think my new found love of flowers actually started with a Nora Roberts book that I just read a few weeks ago called "Blue Dahlia" that was about a woman working in a garden store.

When I have nothing to photograph it seems like flowers are always there just waiting.... plus they don't fidget, don't do goofy smiles, and don't poop in my baby basket! LOL

Father's Day

So last night I just quickly looked through my photos to find one of my dad to post on FB to promote my blog about Father's Day. This morning I have an email from my stepmom with some much better photos..... so I'd like to introduce everyone to my dad, Jim!

Wonderful Grandfather: (with a kick ass tan from a vacation!)

Motorcycle guru:

And funny guy:

Who knew zap straps while camping could look hot as a tie! And this guy has teenage grandchildren!

I could go on and on about my dad.... he's an virtual encyclopedia of knowledge, and if he doesn't know something he soon will! He put up with me as a child and now puts up with my wonderful children, they seem to behave better with him and my stepmom that they do for us. I told my stepmom that maybe the kids should go live with them....she just kinda laughed at me, oh well, I tried!

Happy early Father's Day Dad, love you.

Let's Celebrate Fathers!

To Celebrate all the wonderful Fathers out there I am having a special sale.



$100 includes a mini session with all family members except the father (or just the children, your choice), a 5X7 print of your choice from the mini session, and a certificate for a full family session WITH Dad after Father's Day including an 8X10 print!



Mini session will be around 30 minutes and must take place before June 18th so that I can get your image to you in time for Fathers Day, and the full session with Dad must take place before August 31st.



So if you think Dad is tired of getting tacky ties, has all the barbeque accessories you can think of, or would really like an updated picture of those he loves, then this is a great opportunity to give him a memory to last a lifetime.




Call today to book your appointment!


These are my wonderful daughters with their amazing Father and my best friend, David.

Matt and Kristin May 22 2010

Congratulations Matt and Kristin on a beautiful day!

This was my first time second shooting for a wedding and I was so incredibly nervous that morning. Once we got started the nerves went away and I had fun getting into the groove.

The ceremony was a little wind blown but the day got nicer and turned out perfect for pictures in Polson Park after the wedding.

I have to say that when I first walked into the reception hall before the wedding I was thrilled to see black and pink! Anyone that really knows me knows that my whole closet it black, pink, or white :D

I am still working on some editing but have a few teasers done that I wanted to share.

The happy couple have two beautiful little children aged 5 and 2, and I'm working on some pictures of them right now.

Why do I do what I do? (Follow up to why do I charge what I do)

Every photographer has a personal reason for starting in this profession. I would bet that most photographers are sentimental people that feel the need to capture time as it seems to be slipping away from us.

I grew up in a photographic family and have tons of photos from my childhood. I can remember sitting at my Grandparent's house and going over and over all their photo albums from their trips around the world. I got to experience just a little of what they had seen and loved every minute of it.

My dad, stepmom, and I just went through hundreds of old family slides looking for images of my sister so I can start on a memory book of her. For those of you that don't know, we lost my sister to breast cancer in January 2005 after a long 7 year battle against the disease. I am so very thankful that most of my childhood with her is documented in photos. I certainly remember a lot of things, but the photos can trigger so many other memories long forgotten.

As soon as my sister was diagnosed she decided that instead of being behind the camera all the time that she needed to start getting in front of it. My sister Stephanie did the two year photography program at Langara College in Vancouver and was a great photographer. With the possiblity of not seeing her children grow up she knew the only thing she could leave behind would be photos of herself with her children.

I attended a photography conference in Richmond in the early spring and photographer Dane Sanders spoke about his "why" of photography - it's a tiny picture of him at age three with his dad, the only photo of him and his dad together as his dad was killed soon after in his job as a police officer. It was a powerful story about the fleeting nature of our lives.

I was pointed towards this website by a fellow photographer and think it's just amazing.


http://www.debsphotographs.com/photoblog/?p=957

Why aren't you having your photos taken? And are those things really more important than providing a lasting memory for your family? If money is an issue then please talk to me, we can work something out. But I think every family needs wonderful photos!

This is me and my sister in 1977:

and this is us at my wedding in 2002:

Somehow I went from being the little sister to being the "big" sister!

Stephie, I miss you more and more every day, wish you could see my girls growing up, wish you could see your beautiful children turning into phenomenal young people, and be there when I have that all familiar urge to call you.