Hanging out with Hannah

What a great smile!

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with another brand new soul this morning. She's only 3 months old and her family is soo in love with her, it is easy to see why. It's cold outside so we stayed toasty inside to get a few fun shots. I have photographed this family before so today was Hannah's special day but of course her big brother wanted to get in on the action too:) Of course who am I to say no - they are soo cute together! Bonnie and Wade will be test driving my new client proofing site so that is a bit exciting too as they have so many great shots to choose from.

....Bonnie, I hope I spelt her name right - I never actually asked you how to spell it....

Not sure if she wants to hold hands.

Checking eachother out.

Such cute little toes!!

The Models

Remember I talked about shooting some models with a bunch of other photographers when we were in Florida. Well I had to get the girls some of their images so I have a couple to put here online. We headed out to the Tampa university grounds in the morning and did a shoot there with these three ladies. They did well considering we (Omari and I) don't ever do models. We were trying to go for the relaxed casual look we are know for and they kept posing and changing their face everytime we clicked the camera. It was kinda funny to us. In the end we did get a couple that I really like....

Alison wasn't a "model" per say but has been a photographers assistant for awhile. She did well on the other side of the camera. We liked how easy it was to get her laughing and chatting with us.Julie wore this wedding dress not long ago at her wedding so it was fun for her to get dressed up again for some more pics.
Cindy brought along an entourage with her which included her little son. He was hungry but managed through the shoot with us without too much complaining. He even lost his first tooth on our drive back to the hotel (it was already wiggly).

Much thanks to Stephanie who coordinated the morning shoot and Alicia who coordinated the afternoon. Both were a great time!!

Scrapbooking Tips...

I was deleting old files while waiting for some data to transfer this morning and I came across these scrapbook tips that I used at a class once. I thought it would be fun to post them here on the blog for all those new scrapbookers out there :)

Important things to remember:

Journaling is the heart and soul of your albums!! Scrapbooks are created to remince with your photos. Without the stories or information your memories will be lost whether you have made beautifully decorated pages or not. You could work 6 hours to create a gorgeous page that will tell nothing about you or the photos on the page or you can create a page in 20 minutes with words that will go on forever.

Error on the side of simple. It is far easier to add to your scrapbook page than it is to undo your work. Very easily pages become overdone and the decorations begin to overtake the photos. The object of scrapbooking is to enhance your photos and stories. Unless you have a special event to highlight, it is best to place your photos down, then add the stories, then if the page looks like it needs something else…then add some decoration.

Try to create a decorative edge, border or title rather than to just “splash” stickers and die cuts into every blank spot on your page. Your page will look cleaner and more “professional”.

Tips:

* Match the colors you use on the page with the photos you are using. Generally it is not appealing to mix bold colors with pastels. Try to keep softer colors together and brighter colors together. Of course there is always exceptions to every rule.
* Try not to use more than 3 colors per page as the colors start to overwhelm the eye. Remember we are enhancing the photos.
* Decorate more on the pages using 4 or less photos if you have only a little journaling to add then decorate less on the pages with 5 or more photos so as not to distract from the pictures and their stories.
*Cropping will allow you to add more photos to the page but you must remember not to crop out all the details of your life. It is a good idea to leave one “whole” photo for each situation to show the area in which the event takes place. Remember that the photos with the price of gas in the background and the cars show the era of time we are in. If you take all the excess background out you are also editing how your family will be able to view their history, let them see the “yucky couch” you once had.
*Memorabilia will enhance the stories in your scrapbook with variety and interest. Treat them as decoration; things you put in are generally detailed and/or colorful and you won’t need to add much more color to your page once the photos and stories are along side.
*Keep the photos and memorabilia separate. Do not let the photos overlap the memorabilia as it can contain acid that will harm your photos.
*Newspaper deteriorates very quickly. The best way to preserve an article is to copy it onto acid-free paper.

Bridal Fantasy....

Wow, Thanks to all the wonderful couples who stopped by our booth on Sunday. I have enjoyed talking with a few of you who have already called today and look forward to meeting even more couples in the near future. Sorry to some, who I know were upset when they found out that we are booked for their date. We are definitely now booking into 2009 and the summer of 2008 has very few Saturday dates left. Call to check your date availability soon. This was Omari's first year joining us at the booth to hand out our fliers - he was amazed, as was I, with how many brides told us that they have checked out our site already. Thanks for taking the time to browse our work and give us all the fantastic comments, our heads "swelled" just a bit ;)

My Sister-In law Shauna did a fantastic job helping us out again. I always owe her a huge Thank You by the end of the day. She took this pic of Omari and I at our booth. Thanks again Sis!

And the winner is.....Marzena M.

Out of the 250 people who entered to win our basket of scrapbook supplies my son Khaalid pulled out her name. Congratulations!



There were alot of unique booths at the show this year. Among them stood out a fantastic carriage that I haven't seen before. Check out http://www.horsesence.ca/ to see this amazing way to get around on your wedding day - you get to be Cinderella for real! I look forward to one of my brides using them. Nope there is no compensation for this plug - I just loved it soo much I had to pass the info along.


This is a busy week with a few photo shoots, client meetings and yep still some retouching to do. I will try to get some more of those Florida pics online when I get a chance. Thanks again for taking the time to stop in and read my chatter!!

E-session

Last weekend I got to spend some time with Tanya and Mike while we took some pics to document their engagment.

First we went to the park and had a little fun walking around. It was really neat because I had the opportunity to go to the firehall with them next - Mike is a volunteer firefighter. We had a great time finding ways to include the firetruck in our pics with them. I'm looking forward to their wedding coming up in a couple months.

Tomorrow I'll be hosting a booth at Bridal Fantasy here in Edmonton. If your going - make sure you stop in to say HI.

TTD in Florida

So it was freezing cold in Floridian standards :) Of course this was scheduled on the coldest day of the year for them...so we weren't in the water long. I think the shots turned out great for Rosalind - she was soo fantastic to work with and very brave to get right in the water for me! I felt really honored to do this shoot with her.

10 years in the making

This year was Omari and I's 10th wedding anniversary.

Some of you know the story of how we got married and didn't honeymoon cause we had a little guy already and didn't want to take him along or leave him behind - as well, Omari started work the day after the wedding. So, way back then I decided for our 10th anniversary we would go on a cruise with the kids (yep, I planned on having 2 right from the start). After years of planning - I finally got my wish!! For Christmas this year we went on a fabulous 7 day cruise with Carnival on the ship called Freedom. The ship took us through the Carribean where we stopped at Cozumel, Caymen Island and Ochos Rios. The food of course was fabulous and we all way over-ate all the time. It is funny to see my pics at the start of the cruise and the end cause I gained about 15 to 20 lbs in the week! My favorite part of the trip was not having to cook of course :) Thankfully the weather was great the whole time. The kids totally enjoyed hanging out in Camp Carnival so Omari and I got to have some alone time as well (this was the original plan, so I'm glad it worked out). It was nice to just find a quite space on one of the decks and just sit together looking out at the ocean. The staff on the ship were fantastic as well. We made friends with out servers Daniel and Felix - Daniel showed the boys new tricks each night at dinner, much to their enjoyment. I soo appreciated the housekeeping staff that came in each morning and evening to tidy up our room and even left us the famed "towel animals" to enjoy. I would recommend cruising to everyone as we all had soo much fun!

Khaalid took this pic of Omari and I on the ship one night at the beginning of the week.
Our Cruise Ship - The Carnival FreedomOur room - an inside stateroom with bunks for the kids.Our awesome dining staff on the ship.
L-R: Nubian, Trina, Daniel, Khaalid, Omari and Felix.
After our cruise we headed up to Kissimmee in Florida to a vacation villa that we were meeting Omari's family for the remainder of the holidays. I was worried about this leg of our journey because I booked the house online and as you all know - sometimes the internet doesn't quite give you all the information as to what you are really going to walk into. Once again I thanked God for leading me cause this house was an incredible vacation spot!! We walked into to a spotless home (I was worried about insects but didn't see any) with a TV in every room (so great cause everyone could watch their own shows with no arguements), 5 bedrooms (enough for us all to have our own space), an outdoor heated pool (the highlight of the kids stay - they practically lived in it), and even laundry (of course we had a tonne to do after cruising for the week before) and an internet ready computer (another of the kids favorite things to do was sit on the internet going around to kids games sites). All I could say was WOW. I will totally recommend Florida Villas and Homes to anyone who is making a trip to Orlando and area. This house was all the site said it would be and more. The whole trip was so successful - it all went smoothly. I kept waiting for something to go wrong and nothing did.

Khaalid enjoying the pool in the back yard.Omari watching one of the TV's in the living room.
Me with the kids in front of WonderWorks.
L-R: Trina, Nubian, Khaalid and Davu (my nephew)

On the last leg of our journey Omari and I attended a Wedding Photographers Convention in Tampa. It was nice because we got to leave the kids with their Grandma back at the house in Kissimmee. We got to meet all sorts of top notch photographers from all over the world. Of course we did a little shooting too. A little later I will post some of the images we took while we shot brides, some models and even got to trash a dress in the bay.

So stay tuned....first I need to do some major unpacking.....

Happy 2008 everyone!! I'm looking forward to more great images this year!

A couple of weekends ago...

This post is a little overdue as I have been focusing on getting a bunch of work done for clients anxious to have things by Christmas...that is now caught up. So here are a few images from 2 e-sessions I did awhile ago both were at the Muttart Conservatory. The place is shutting down for renovations in January so it was nice to get in and enjoy the greenery now.




First is Cindy and David - they are a fun couple getting into a very busy 2008. Not only are they tying the knot but they are also adding a little one to the mix :) I'm sure it will be a very exciting time! Cindy, I hope you are getting alot of sleep now cause I know from experience that you are going to need it.

Next I met up with Destiny and Chris. I have known Destiny's family for quite awhile and even took Destiny's Sweet 16 pics and her Grad pics. It is an honor to photograph her engagement and wedding to come as over the years she has become my adopted niece. Not only did we take pics inside but these guys decided that they wanted pics in the snow as well so we headed out. Unfortunately we didn't have the packing snow they would have liked to get into a great big snowball fight but they did shovel handfuls and kick snow at eachother anyway.

Well this is my last post for 2007 as I have promised my family that I will take a break from work and give them some one on one time. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! See you in 2008 - I look forward to many new exciting images with all of you!!!

Trina

Christmas Info

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm shutting down our office for the Holidays. I will check email and phone messages periodically but we are taking some well deserved family time and going to a photography conference too. This will be from Dec 22/07 - Jan 8/08.

The current retouching list:

Chito & Anne - ready for pick up
Heather & Travis - your book has arrived!!
Jeannette & Rob - ready for pick up (minus the bragbooks :( which we will keep waiting on)
Teresa & Osman - in the lab

Holly & Ryan - in progress (this is another big wedding order so it could take me awhile)

Antonia & Kenton - waiting
Anita & Brad - waiting
Esther & Joel - waiting
Betty & Jeff - waiting
Candice & Mike - waiting

Santa Claus is coming to town :)

On Saturday I had fun taking pics of kids sitting on Santa's knee. The TopCo Kids Christmas party went well and I got alot of great expressions from crying babes who didn't like the strange man in red to the kids who adored Santa and couldn't keep from hugging him.
I'm getting ready to do a shoot at Eastglen High School to help put together their school brochure. I'm sure it will be an interesting shoot - I'm glad I will have Omari with me to get these teens smiling :)

The wedding update:

Anne & Chito - Ready for Pick up
Jeannette & Rob - Prints in the Lab - still waiting on bragbooks from the printers
Heather & Travis - still waiting for your storybook from the printers
Teresa & Osman - In Progress

Holly & Ryan - waiting
Antonia & Kenton - waiting
Anita & Brad - waiting
Esther & Joel - waiting
Betty & Jeff - waiting

Thanks for your patience to all!! Slowly but surely the work is getting done and I'm close to back on track for due dates ;)

So Exciting!

Congratulations to Tanya and Mike!!

They are the lucky 100th couple that have booked with us. As we (Creations) are making their final payment, they happily bumped up their package to one that has everything that she would want ;) Stay tuned in to see their pics as the wedding is not even far away - it's in March 2008.

How exciting that we made it to our 100th booking before 2008! I feel so blessed to have all these wonderful couples to work with. Thank you to all who have put their faith in us. I LOVE my job!!

Yep we are now booking into 2009 as well - so if your considering us - make an appointment to discuss your plans we'd love to see you.

The retouching line-up...

Diane and Adam - ready for pick up

Chito and Anne - at the lab (if all goes well they should be ready early next week guys - I know Anne is soo anxiously waiting)

Jeannette and Rob - in progress

Teresa & Osman - waiting
Holly & Ryan - waiting
Antonia & Kenton - waiting
Anita & Brad - waiting
Esther & Joel - waiting

Cathy & Glen...

Awhile ago Cathy and Glen were married. She wore a fabulous red dress and I was a little sad that she wasn't comfortable with the model release idea cause I knew that she would look soo great. Well after picking up their images the couple decided that they were OK being on the blog so here are 2 of my favorite pics as well as a link to their slideshow - Cathy and Glen's Slideshow.

They had a super hot day and it was tough to keep going with the pics but they trouped through and we got some great memories for them. The asian theme that Cathy chose was very pretty and the red dress was the most unique idea that I have seen for a bride yet. Cathy and Glen thank you so much for having us photograph your wedding day it was a pleasure meeting you, your family and friends. We wish you alot of love! I do look forward to seeing you again for family pics :)

The update: We haven't moved on the retouching line up really - Louie and Anne have alot of pics in their package and it is taking me a little while to get through them so please bear with me.

I have been keeping quite busy with family pics and engagement shoots. With all the nice weather the season has lasted longer than usual. With lack of model releases though I don't post their images online - I must remember to ask everyone to sign them when they come to pick their pics cause there's been some really cute families.

This past weekend's wedding went really well. They had a wedding day that focused around the kids and it was alot of fun. They also decided to forgo the model release due to the amount of children around but I will leave you with this cute frog pic that I just love...it was a bit of a tough shot cause the little critters didn't like to sit still!

Take 2 minutes today to remember...

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Seeing Sydney

Last year we met Chrysten & Ken when we were invited to photograph their wedding. This year I got to meet thier brand new daughter Sydney. She is such a doll! What a great baby she was for getting her photographs. I just couldn't stop touching her cute little fingers and toes so of course I had to photograph them :) Funny cause she kept grabbing hold of my finger but we had a tough time getting her to hold onto her Mommy's. Thank you Chrysten for letting me see Sydney - it was a joy to take her pics! You make a great Mom.

Now - an update on our wedding retouching -

Diane & Adam - ready for pick up

Cathy & Glen - ready for pick up

Jamie & Mac - ready for pick up

Heather & Travis - in the lab (book at the printers too)

Louis & Anne - In Progress

Jeannette & Rob - Waiting

Teresa & Osman - Waiting

Holly & Ryan - Waiting

Antonia & Kenton - Waiting

Anita & Brad - Waiting

Thank you once again to everyone and their patience. I look forward to seeing those who's orders are ready for pick up.

Tea for Two at Felicitea

Omari and I had some fun playing with tea the other day.
Karen - a friend of one of our bridal couples - is opening a tea shoppe in the West End soon and it's name will be Felicitea. She wanted some fun pictures of tea leaves to decorate the walls and gave us the opportunity to get creative for her. Omari thoroughly enjoyed this assignment! I had a fun time as well and welcomed the change from our people shoots. Karen was a little surprised when she came by and sort of expected us to plop the tea down and shoot it - the whole production lasting maybe 15 mins....1 1/2 hours later....we were helping her pack back up to go. It was fun to create and not have to rely on the subject to "work" with me. Product shooting is definitely not my cup of tea LOL but it is fun to do on occasion...Omari on the other hand may add a new wing to our business in the future just for him and this kind of shoot :)

I will post when she does her grand opening so that all who peek in our blog can check it out. Here are two of my favorite images...

Currently...

The wedding retouching line-up is as such:

Diane & Adam - waiting for pick up
Cathy & Glen - waiting for pick up
Jamie & Mac - at the lab

Cindy & Billy - in progress
Heather & Travis - waiting
Louis & Anne - waiting
Jeannett & Rob - waiting
Teresa & Osman - waiting
Holly & Ryan - waiting
Antonia & Kenton - waiting

For all others who have not picked the photos for your package yet - the wait is currently over 8 weeks putting us past Christmas at this time. Sorry for any inconvience this may cause.

Ryan and Holly

Last Saturday we spent the day with Ryan and Holly. It was pretty neat because Omari and Ryan actually work together. It turned into a great day and we got some pretty amazing images just before it started to sprinkle and they ran back to the safety of the dry vehicle. It was a pleasure spending the day getting to know this couple even better - through the getting ready preps highlighted with Holly nearly burning down the building LOL (inside joke!) to the ceremony on stage where they were officially linked and finally through all the wonderful words said at the reception both to eachother and by others. I have got the sneak peek slideshow online if you follow this link - Holly & Ryan's Slideshow. Thank you guys for trusting us with your photography, it was such a pleasure working with the both of you! The e-book was so great and I'm sure the art book will look fantastic too - I'm excited to go through the many, many images with you. I wish you both so much love in your future together!!

Busy!!

On Facebook I have written that I wish there were 10 of me - and I really do. I'm getting behind because I am too picky with the retouching so I need to be apologizing to those couples that have been waiting patiently as their 8 week waiting period has come and crept by. I am consistently plugging away and my eyes are getting tired but I am loving every minute of it. Yes, I am weird but I do love my work! I love taking an already great image and tweaking it to make it just that much better. It is just taking this process through 100-300 images that is taking me soo long. I love putting together the album and taking one last look through and feeling satisfied that it is a job that is well done. Recently I had the lab I use redo the pics for one wedding that I just wasn't happy with the look of the prints. Yeah, I'm picky. I want to be happy with what I am giving out to all of you. I love knowing that there are great images in every wedding that we shoot - even if the day was not fabulous weather wise or stuff came up that pressed us for time. Pictures that I feel belong on the wall cause they are that good. My aim is to make sure every wedding has a minimum of one "WOW" image. One special image that you look at and say "WOW, is that really US?! We look like we belong in a magazine :)" Alot of times there are many of these but it is always my aim to make sure everyone has some. I don't want anyones wedding to be just like everyone elses. I want every client to walk away happy and satisfied with their package with great memories of fun and romance when we took their pics.


Alright enough chatter. It has been busy retouching but also shooting. The past few days I had the honor of meeting Steven and Crystal. Crystal is a friend of one of our wedding clients and she liked the images that we took and decided to give me a call for some of their own. They are an adorable couple that have been married for a short time but don't have alot of pics together. Well I don't know why not cause they are very cute and getting good images with them was pretty easy. I enjoyed our session and look forward to going through all the rest of the images with them. Here are a couple of my favorites...

This week I also was also able to shoot an e-session with Megan and Jordan. Their wedding is coming up in 2008. Another totally cute couple (yeah, I know I say that alot but it just seems that there is cuteness in everyone!) We had some fun tromping around finding fun spots to use and even tossing some leaves and getting wet. I am looking forward to the wedding - I know it is going to be a great day.

update...

here is the current wedding retouching line-up as I know I have more than a few anxious couples waiting patiently.

Diane & Adam - waiting your pick up
Cathy & Glen - prints at the lab and books at the printer
Magdiel & Scott - in progress

Jamie & Mac - waiting
Cindy & Billy - waiting
Heather & Travis - waiting
Louis & Anne - waiting
Jeannette & Rob - waiting
Teresa & Osman - waiting

Thank you again for your continued patience with my progress. I know it is hard to wait - I hate waiting too :)

Esther & Joel

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of joining Esther & Joel's friends and family in their wedding celebration out in Vermilion. This sweet couple was a joy to work with and we got some spectacular shots for them. At first the day started of cold and windy but by the time we ended up shooting at the farm the weather was just perfect. This reception was packed out with so many people that care about this couple. Joel's sister gave a very touching speech that brought tears to everyone's eyes, even me :) My favorite part was the Ice Cream Sundae bar - it had a constant line-up and although I never actually got to partake in the treat it was alot of fun watching people make the decision - vanilla, chocolate or oreo? Esther and Joel, thank you for including us in your wedding plans. We enjoyed being part of your day and had fun creating images with you. I wish you alot more love in your future together!

If you'd like to see a few more images here is the link to their sneak peek slideshow...Esther & Joel's Slideshow.