Fall Family Mini Sessions

Fall is absolutely my favorite time to do photos.  The colors and leaves are incredible, the clothes are fantastic and so much fun, and the light and weather is perfect!

It is also my busiest season.  We never really know how long the leaves are going to last and how yellow they will turn.  Last year we totally lucked out and got a longer week of amazing leaves.

I'm sure these sessions will fill up extremely quickly so CONTACT me to book your session.

Family Mini Sessions - July 26th.

Have you been thinking about updating your family photos?  Has it been too long since the last time your family moments were captured?  This date is the perfect opportunity for you to save a lot of money while still getting those wonderful new family photos.

I don't often do mini sessions anymore because I'm extremely booked with full sessions.  However I do love to make my photography affordable so everyone can take advantage of my services.  

ONLY $175 

July 26th.  

Includes 20 minutes and 10 edited photos.

If you are interested in booking a session please CONTACT me!

Recently I have witnessed that men don't like to be photographed....

So whenever I think about blog post topics I usually jot them down and get around to them when I have a moment.  However this topic I have been thinking about for a long time.

I feel blessed to be as busy as I am.  I am constantly being contacted by families wanting to book in sessions with me.  95% of these bookings are done by women.  Now usually I get to a session and I can sense the tension immediately.  Recently I have taken a step back and  noticed that men usually don't want to be there.  Now this isn't every man so before you think I'm a man hater, I ensure you I am not.  However,  I have been racking my brain as to how I can help these situations from happening.

Now my initial reaction when I see this happen at a session, I want to get upset with the husband or partner.  My gut reaction is to turn the camera around and show them how lucky they are to have such a beautiful family and to shape up. I feel sorry for the women who are so excited for new photos and the men in these session are making it an unenjoyable experience.  Whether they are frustrated because they don't want to be there I usually do not feel sorry for them at all.

As a photographer, I try very hard to make the session relaxed and as much fun as possible.  I try to joke around with the family and have real smiles come out instead of forced uncomfortable ones.

Here are a few things I've been thinking about that might help these men not be so grumpy during their photo shoots.

• Give them lot's of notice about the session.  Sometimes if they are caught off gaurd they aren't prepared.  Us women know how we like to be prepared for these things so give them the courtesy as well.
• Involve them.  Involve them in picking a location, possibly a color of what they would like to wear (now I do recommend having them ready my what to wear blog post so just forward them the link)
• Be positive.  Let them know how important these photos are to you and you want to show the world how happy you are and how proud of your family you are.
• Offer a photo of something he's interested in.  Tell him he can bring his Harley.  Even involving photos near water and then ending with a photo of him fishing with his kids.  The idea's are endless but sometimes this might help.

Finally ladies.  If you show up with your family and there is still tension.  Trust me!  Forget about him.  Don't let him being grumpy let you down.  You enjoy you photos.  When you see how great you look you will be happy.  I promise!  If he's excessively grumpy trust me. I will take over and ensure we get photos that you will like.

This family totally didn't have a grumpy dad.  He's actually is an absolute treat to photograph.  However I couldn't possibly put a photo up of a dad who was grumpy without feeling bad.

Kelowna......my love of the Okanagan

As many of you know I regularly go back and forth between Edmonton and Kelowna.  Recently I have had many of my clients in Edmonton ask me for advise on places and activities to do while vacationing in Kelowna.  This makes me smile.

Not only is it my personal favorite place.  I think everyone needs to check it out.  My life changed for the better when I experienced living in Kelowna for 3 years.  My son was born there, I owned a couple businesses there, and now my mom and stepdad live there.  I am the luckiest person to be able to do photography there as well.  Considering the surroundings are absolutely unreal.  I even have had my Edmonton clients hit me up while vacationing in Kelowna so they can sneak in with me for a session.  How perfect is that.  I spend a lot of time there during the Summer so always inquire about photo sessions if you are in the area and want beautiful surroundings for your family photos.

Now for the real fun!  My suggestions on things to definately check out while vacationing in Kelowna.  These are personal reccomendations and great for those of you who want to know what we do when we are there.  

•  Kelowna Kangaroo Creek Farm - this place is fantastic and those with kids wont be disapointed.  My son absolutely loves going here.  Honestly....I was pretty thrilled to hold a baby kangaroo as well.  

• Carmelis Goat Cheese - we usually check this place out every visit.  They have amazing goat gelato.  You also get to see the goats and check out the facility.  It's very cool.  Always remember to grab your goat cheese on the way out.  You won't be disapointed.  It also has amazing views.

• Penticton Channal - we usually pack up friends, floaties, and a cooler.  Located right off Highway 97, the Penticton Channel connects Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake; it flows from Okanagan Lake to Skaha Lake and it's lots of fun to float!  The beginning starts across from the Days Inn Hotel by Okanagan Lake and the Sicamous.  You can rent tubes and life jackets at the beginning, or bring your own.  You can purchase a ticket for a bus that will transport you from the end of the channel back to the start where your car is.  A fun day for adults and children over 8.  Make sure to bring some sunscreen, so you don't burn, and some cash for snacks at the halfway point of the channel.  Depending on the time of year and the wind direction the full length of the channel could take 4 hours to float.

• I also reccomend Peachland.  When I lived in Kelowna we spent most of our time there.  I would wake up and take the dogs for a walk every morning along the water.  They also have a nice dog beach for the dogs to swim.  There is many locations that are amazing there.  There is a great kids park in Peachland.  There is also many locations along the water with wonderful beach areas.  Also a tonne of wonderful little restaurants.  

• If you want to check out some great wineries definately visit Summerhill it's an organic winerie and one of my absolute favorites.  It has a great patio with a beautiful view.  Or Quail's Gate in West Kelowna.....another amazing location!  Or take a day and do a wine tour in Naramata.

• City Park is also great.  They have a beach, and spray park, and play park.  Also in the summer they have a lot of fun vendors and it's right downtown so a lot of restaurants and shopping right close by.

Now there is a little bit of information about Kelowna.  Also if you are ever interested in purchasing Real Estate there as I know one day I will end up purchasing something there again.  I personally know an incredible Real Estate Agent. Ralph Wiber  has been doing real estate for over 30 years and is in the top 1% in Canada.  Even if you are wanting to just be notified of foreclosures or great deals in the Okanagan, or a vacation property, he's definately your go to guy.  Once you vacation there you will want to live there I'm sure of it. 

Wedding Photography can be quite emotional... this wedding in particular is one I will never forget!

I was asked to photograph a wedding last summer for a cute young couple.  At this point in my career I had chosen not to do a lot of weddings because they were such a huge venture.  I was so focused on families and boudoir sessions that I never made a point of even photographing weddings unless they were for close friends.

Alicia came to me asking me to photograph her wedding and when I knew what type of bride she would be I said absolutely.  I knew she was going to have a beautiful outdoor wedding with horses and also had a super cute bulldog so that didn't hurt.

We started with their engagement session at Centenial park in Sherwood Park.  They brought their little English bulldog puppy Roxy which made for a fun evening.  It worked out perfect that she had her trial makeup done for her wedding right before our shoot.  She went with Raw Refinement Makeup Artistry who I recommend and work closely with.  Steph is a fantastic makeup artist who always makes my clients feel amazing.

Now for the big day.....I met the girls at Alicia's parents house while she started getting ready.  My second shooter Savanna with SMcMillanPhotography met me there.  Savanna and I have worked together many times and we always have such a great time.  The house was packed full of people and it was a fun easy morning. Steph with Raw Refinement Makeup Artistry had a busy morning of makeup that is for sure but once these ladies were ready....look out!

One of my favorite moments to capture is the moment a woman gets into her wedding dress.  I think this is when reality sets in and emotion begins.  I also beleive it's one of the most beautiful moments.

 We then head over to the guys getting ready quickly and straigth out to the ceremony location.  Miller Venture Arabians.  Alicia's very involved with her horses so what better than to get married directly infront of her horses.   The weather couldn't have been better that day and everything was running smoothly.  Alicia's mother walked her down the aisle while her father waited for her at the end.  He had been extremely sick that week and was unable to walk her down the aisle.

After an amazingly beautiful ceremony the guests headed to the reception (a hall nearby)  while I organized and rounded up family and the wedding party for photos.  For those of you who know me.  I can be kind of bossy.  However this is very important to get the photos you want.  Now for the most emotional part!!!!

The bride gets organized and I get prepared to do photos of her and her parents.  Her mother comes over and quietly whispers to her daughter that her father was actually not doing well and was leaving in an ambulance from the neighbours since he didn't want to attract attention.  Weddings are emotional days and this moment will stay in my memory forever.  Alicia broke down.  I asked everyone to give her 5 minutes and let her cry.  I walked over to her and said "it's ok....cry. Let it out we will figure this out"  As I walked away from her I began to cry.  I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind.  This is her one day! Her one chance for a photo of her and her father on such a special day.  You can't just redo this day.  So while organizing the rest of the wedding party and family I asked them to stay together.  I walked over to Alicia as the ambulance drove past.  I grabbed her hand and told her "this is your one day, your one chance, and I want you to have a photo of you and your dad no matter what!!!"  Get in the car!  We pulled up while the EMS workers were loading him onto a stretcher.  Being the bossy photographer I am, asked them to stop for a moment.  They looked at me quite confused as I'm sure they have never had this happen before.   I had him sit up, and wrap her arms around him.  (as you can see from the photos below you wouldn't know that's what was happening)  I did have to photoshop his skin color a lot but this moment she will cherish forever!  

You can see the emotion in this brides eyes, however what you don't see is while I was taking these photos I was also crying.

Now as I'm sure you are all wondering.  He made it through!  He recovered and has these photos to look back on of his daughters special day.

This wedding will forever be one of those extremely special ones.  It taught me that emotion is ok.   That the fact I was in tears made me so uncomfortable and I felt unprofessional.  However, it was me.  This is also another reason I do what I do.  I capture moments!  Happy, sad, emotional....whichever these moments are I capture them.    

What you pay for when you hire a photographer

Many of you think that when you hire a photographer you pay for someone who has a good quality camera and can take a good photo......however, guess what. That isn't the case.

So when you question my prices you must know you aren't just paying for the one hour of shoot time.    There is many expenses you are not aware of.

• Camera gear is an obvious and is not cheap.
• Studio equipment, backdrops, props, etc.
• Editing software.

Now on the topic of editing.  It's rare that anyone of my clients sees unedited photos, because I always feel it doesn't show your best work.  Some other photographers show this easily, for me though I want you to always see my best, and that is the finished product.  However I'm going to take the time to show you a few photos so you can see what goes into a photo after you leave our session.

Some of my newborn sessions are in your home which sometimes don't make for ideal perfect settings.  But this image shows you exactly how much time and effort goes into the perfect newborn photo to hang on your wall.

Final Newborn Announcement

Before / After

Before / After

So this is a quick view into what actually goes on after our session.  Many of my clients are clients for life and repeatedly come back.  I get many photos and emails of clients who have decorated their homes with images I have taken.  I feel priveledge to become part of their lives.