Is to give meaning to your life.

A fellow Aussie photographer friend  shared this on her blog today and I had to also share it hear.  It speaks to why I do what I do.  To try and always capture meaningful moments with my clients and most especially to remember to capture my own family in all their wonder and glory.  To not worry if it is a “picture perfect” memory but to try and capture who they and what they are about.

Taking pictures for me is capturing the memories and my life now, today and this moment.  Because there is no promise of tomorrow….

take a minute and watch this….it will remind you of how truly blessed you are in life.

Alex’s images were captured by Lyndsay Stradnor of Life In Motion Photography in Texas.

Link to- MY NAME IS ALEX

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I luv me some baby love and this little one was as fresh as they come at a whopping 5 days old.  She was a complete angel and I think literally slept the entire time once Mom got her to sleep.   She was also the first baby that never relieved herself on my blankets or drops.  I was so impressed.  She really is an angel.

Stephanie and Cory… I will have your gallery up in the next day or so… so hang in there.  I hope you are getting more rest and enjoy the sneak peek!

Love this one of Mom as she had the best eyes and you can just feel the mommy protectiveness already.  That instinct to protect ones young comes immediately when you hold your child for the first time.  It isn’t something you have to learn… it really is automatic.

So FRESH and beautiful…

loved my new basket find!

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A mother understands what a child does not say.

―Jewish proverb

A quote and some Mommy and Me pictures from our mini session.  Loved doing this.  I had a blast and I know I will offer more of these type of shoots in the future.  I was a bit worried with only having 10 min. for each one but with someone to keep me on track and some amazing Mom’s and children we managed to pull it off quite nicely.

I loved that Shanyn got her Mom, Nanna, this package for Mothers Day!

It has been crazy busy now that the warmer weather has arrived.  I have a few spots the week of June 8th and 15th… and then nothing until July.  If you are thinking of booking it would be best you call asap as my availability is limited this time of year with travel, kids and sessions.  I will also be travelling the end of July and some of August and October.

And a couple more from the fun maternity Session.  Danie is stunning…. I know, and I was hoping I could do her beauty justice!  She makes pregnancy look amazing!  Love me some sun flare!

..and yes… a gorgeous husband.  And best of all… I get to photograph their beautiful newborn as well!  Can’t wait!

last one…there were so many I loved… but too many to share here!

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… is what some kids called Mothers Day this past Saturday when I had the pleasure of photographing some amazing Mom’s and their children.  Sneak peeks to come soon.  And a big thank you to my amazing friend Anita for helping me stay on track!

Sunday was a wonderful day of rest for me.  I revelled in going to church with  my family and hearing my good friend Nicole deliver an inspiring mothers day message with my Minister.  Nicole and Paul’s message was about creating a solid foundation for our children and as a mother, how that needs to be our main objective and purpose in life.  The purpose of raising thoughtful, loving and emotionally engaged children.  To lead by example is a big thing and admittedly one of the things I feel like I fail at daily.  When I raise my voice, or lose patience with a person ( albeit…usually when driving my car!) and my children are there to witness mom’s reaction to that situation.  I want to be a role model that they can be proud of and as mothers we so often find ourselves struggling with guilt and feelings of failure surrounding our motherly job.  We don’t need others to tell us of our shortcomings, we are, as mothers accutely aware of them.  The motherly “guilt factor” I will call it.

There is one thing I am proud of.  I have always had children who communicate with me.  We are huge on communication and honesty.  I am reminded of that success each time they come home and tell me what they did in school or perhaps the struggles they are facing with their friends.  They are such honest children and we have always reinforced the importance of trust and talking to us.  They know they can trust us to tell the truth and I know that will serve us well as they grow into young adults.  If we can keep the lines of communication open.

As like any child, they are not perfect nor would I expect them to be.  Yet it is my hope and prayers that as a mother I will be successful in my efforts to build a strong foundation within our home.  That their lives will be better for it.

My special mothers day gifts…

Hand picked flowers from my garden from Mary Jean..

a home made card from my daughter and son….

the two most special gifts that God could have given me…

And an appropriate quote that came in my inbox today…

I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation, but I’m working on the foundation.

―Marilyn Monroe

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Image of me by Shanyn Harvey Small

What is PHOTOGRAPHER ONE ON ONE????  I have had the idea of offering one on one personalized photography sessions  for clients after many people began inquiring about whether I taught photography classes.  I didn’t think… well I knew I wouldn’t be up for conducting courses in a classroom setting so I initially gave up on the idea of offering this type of help to others.  Then the idea of one on one custom sessions with a client began to float around in my mind and out of it I conceptualized my new offering of “photography One on One”.

MY FIRST SESSION

Yesterday I went out with a client who I have gotten to know quite well over the past year and a half while photographing her pregnancy and then her son’s entire first year.  Shanyn was more then willing to let me try out my “photography one on one” concept with her as she is very interested in photography and had just recently upgraded to an DSLR REBEL.  She was also one of those who had, in the past, inquired about classes.

so we met at the park with our cameras to go over some technical information as well as creative photography pointers to better enhance her photography skills.

Shanyn was like many people who was still at the “play it safe” and stay in program mode or one of the custom apeture or shutter modes as the thought of trusting yourself fully in manual mode can be overwhelming.  The first thing I made her do was to put it in manual mode and create a correct exposed image.  And she easily did that with a bit of help. We progressed through discussions on exposure triangles and all that is involved in achieving a properly exposed image.  How your camera achieves this through light and what the heck an apeture, iso  and a shutter speed is and how do they all correlate.  She knew the basics and really underestimated how much she already knew.  We had a great time and by the end of the session she took the image of me above!  Not bad eh!

What’s involved?

It will be offered as a 2 hour one on one session for those people who are interested in photography and wanting to improve their skills.  I am still in the process of designing my hand outs, cheat sheets and assessment forms .  I am excited at the prospect of helping others to become better photo takers when it comes to their friends and family.  To become more comfortable with the technical side of photography, how to handle different lighting situations and to think outside the box and be creative and fun with your photography.   Getting beyond the “say cheese” mentality to a more relaxed “capture my life” kind of approach.

Who is it for?

These are one on one sessions offered to the amateur photographer and not for professional photographers or for those people aspiring to be professional photographers.  Rather for those wanting to move beyond program mode and taking control of the images you create.

Maybe the whole technical side of the photography is confusing you and you need help with it.  Need help with your confidence in moving into manual.  I will be designing these sessions for beginners and intermediate learners and will have each person who books complete an assessment form so that I can better determine their skill level and needs prior to the session.

This is still in the design and production stages but if you are interested then let me know and i can put your name down on a contact list.  The cost will be $100 for a two hour personalized hands on session and follow up support and emails with handouts and material for you to take home with you.

And an UPDATE on the MOMMY AND ME Session this Sat.  All but a few of the spots are filled.  I still have a few so if you are interested please let me know asap to book your spot.  Make sure to share with your family and friends who would love to have a wonderful mothers day and fathers day present to give.

And here is another few image that Shanyn took of me.  Didn’t she do awesome!

She borrowed my 85mm 1.8 and we were reviewing “focus and recompose” techniques at the time.  I think she nailed it.  Although I am usually behind the camera for a reason!  I really hate having my picture taken.  And of course I did a bit of work on her image of me in my digital dark room.  You don’t actually think I would post an image of ME straight out of camera!  Just a bit of smoothing here and thinning there!

Thanks Shanyn for a great time!

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And things worked out perfectly for this maternity session.  Who says you can’t have a beautifully warm night in April in Canada.  I was simply amazed that it stayed warm enough to be out doing a maternity session….

And here is a teaser with more to come.  Can I just say this was probably  my most inspirational session for such a long time.  Envision a ton of acres, barns, fields, hay and tons more character.  LOVED it.  A sneak peek…

And I do not hand pick my gorgeous clients!  I promise!

I could not wait to proof this session and I have waaayyy too many favorites.  BUT I can’t show them all here unfortunately.

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