Features Galore!

I still get giddy every time I get notified of another online feature! Beth and Dan's wedding sure is a big part of that! Their wedding has been printed in a magazine, and now featured on two more weddings blogs!

On June 25, One Stylish Bride featured their wedding (which is actually an Australian wedding blog!)...

On June 27, Wedding Obsession featured their wedding...

I know of a few more blogs that are wanting to feature this wedding, which makes me so excited! So, if you're getting married and want to have your wedding featured as much as this one, be sure to have lots of details and creative aspects to your wedding day! :)

Back From Banff

Hi!

Sorry for the major break in blog posts. We spent a week in Banff camping with my inlaws and just got home Saturday night. I've been fighting a cold and a headache for the last couple of days so I haven't spent much time on the computer. It still hurts to look at the screen, but I wanted to pop in and say Hi!

These next couple of weeks are going to be beyond busy. So please bare with me.  We move in 12 days, and between now and then we'll be spending a long weekend in Osoyoos with my family and I have about 3 or 4 photo shoots to do yet! Needless to say, I'm a little behind!

Here are just a couple pictures from this last week. Hope you had a great week and a great Monday! I'm looking for someone's TV to sit in front of so I can watch The Bachelorette live tonight and not have to wait to download it! :)

Our sweet camper set up. That's right. That right there is a 1980 BonAir tent trailer with a hot dog stand awning. I know you're jealous.

Girlie had lots of fun!

James' cousin and his wife and daughter joined us for a few days and they have this cute dog that Cheyenne couldn't leave alone!

Hana & Eugene's Wedding Sneak Peak

I woke up this morning to rain. RAIN! Yes, I was shocked. I don't know, considering I live in Vancouver (area) but I was still shocked. I started racking my brain, and others', for covered locations in Langley in case it was still raining during the portrait shoot of the wedding. Thankfully the rain stopped for those two hours that we needed to be outside for photos! Yay!! We went to our pre-determined photo location and had a great time taking pictures of the newly married couple! Hana and Eugene are a pleasure to photograph! They are so cute together and the results are always a big success!

Here are a few images from today's wedding!

I LOVE Hana's dress! It was so stunning on her!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Time to call it a night! Pictures of Cheyenne's birthday will have to wait until I get back from a family trip next week!

Two

It's technically June 17 right now. Today, two years ago, at 8:11am, our baby girl was born. I just finished reading through my birth story and am so glad I documented that moment and experience. I just wanted to share one paragraph with you that brought tears to my eyes, again.

"As soon as she came out they put her right on my chest and covered her with a towel. I was crying and totally in disbelief that this baby just came out of me. James teared up, too, as we looked at our baby. Her eyes were wide open and she was so alert and did give us a cry so we knew she was ok. I took the towel off and turned her on her back and asked James what she was- boy or girl. He looked down and proudly said, “It’s a girl!” I was in shock. I honestly thought it would be a boy based on everyone’s predictions. I looked over at my mom and told her it was a girl, too. She was smiling so huge. James and I kissed and looked in awe at our daughter, what a blessing and miracle."


That was a truly unbelievable moment and I will never forget it. 


The balloons have been blown up. The cake is made and decorated. The goodie bags have been filled. Now we need to get some sleep and in a few hours we get to celebrate our little Girlie's second (technically third) birth day! :)

PUBLISHED IN / Weddings In BC

Today I get to cross off on the the items on my Life's To-Do list. Have my photos printed in a magazine! After a slight delay at the printers, the June issue of Weddings in BC is finally available! It's free! And you can find it at so many different stores and venues in the lower mainland, and you can also sign up to have a copy mailed to your door every month, again for free! Here's a link to a few of the locations where you can pick up a copy.

Anyway, I stopped by the Sears at Guildford Mall today and grabbed a small stack of this issue for myself! And I can't tell you how excited I am to see my name and my photographs in this magazine! Wow! And not only that, three of my friends who are also photographers in the lower mainland are featured in this issue as well! Michelle Cervo, Jamie Delaine, and Simply Rose!

Here is a look at my first published wedding!

I also have a full page ad in this issue!

Feeling Summery

Looking at the stats for my blog, I sense I have a few readers who are into fashion. I've received many emails asking why I stopped documenting my 30 for 30 challenge and that they wanted to see more of my outfits. I'm not sure why, I still don't think my wardrobe is anything to be inspired by! BUT, since you asked, I decided I might start taking more pictures of my outifts, when I'm actually wearing something that I think is worth photographing. And you might completely disagree with my choice of photographical outfits, and that's fine! I don't claim to have any fashion sense what so ever! :)

Today I felt very summery. I just bought this new skirt from Old Navy the other day, along with the tank top, and thought today was a good day to wear them. As we got ready for church this morning the sun was shining through the windows, beckoning me to wear something fresh and summery. And so I did. Along with one of my favourite pairs of heels that I just bought in Australia. Love them. This is how the combo looked...

This is my husband taking pictures of me...

This afternoon looks like it will consist of a trip to the "swinging cool" (what my daughter calls the swimming pool), a cold beer on the deck, and more chapters of Velvet Elvis read. (And can I just say that I'm being blown away by this book? There will be many blogs coming with thoughts and revelations from this book. I have to read it again once I finish and actually journal my thoughts, because there are too many to keep track of! In the meantime, you should read the book so you'll know what I'm talking about! It's Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.)

Enjoy your sunny Sunday! Hopefully I'll be able to pop in a little more often this next week! We've got some exciting things coming up in the next few weeks that are taking up a lot of my time! Will write about those this week yet too!

Campbell Valley Park Engagement /BETH & STEVE

Beth suggested we do their engagement session at Campbell Valley Park since her and Steve have spent a lot of time there together. We planned for the shoot to start at 6:30, my most favourite time of day in the summer for a photo shoot! I was seriously looking forward to their shoot for a whole week! And I was not let down, not even a little bit!

The sky was clear, the sun was shining and it was a whopping 17 degrees Celsius that spring evening. Gorgeous. When Beth stepped out of the car I was even more excited! Look at her cute outfit! I love me some nice dressed couples! Beautiful couple. :)

So, let me tell you something. The lighting at this session was to. DIE. for. And I almost did. It was amazing. I've been waiting for this light since last October! This is the reason I schedule all my summer shoots on weekdays at 6:30pm. Because of this light. This dreamy, angelic, awe inspiring light. Keep this in mind, all your brides, for your wedding day. If you can slot some time into your day for a few snap shots at 6:30pm you will NOT regret it! Just look at these pictures and tell me you wouldn't want some of this deliciousness for yourself, in a wedding gown. Wowsa!! I can see the beauty already!

Anyway, back to Beth and Steve. As we walked across the field to the landmark barns they told me repeatedly that they didn't know what to do, they weren't good models, etc. Yeah right! You guys were naturals! And Beth thought Steve would be the more reserved one. Oh no. He was right in there, stealing every kiss he could from his stunning bride-to-be! Love it! :)

Hope you enjoy this engagement session and all the lovely light in all its glory! To see more images from their session check out their Slideshow!

One of my faves from the session:

Love this moment:

Hope you enjoyed those! Very much looking forward to your wedding in September!

FAQ / the little things matter

I've been thinking up this blog post for a few months already. It's somewhat of a collaboration of all the little things I've learned to help improve my pictures along the way, and I wanted to share those with you!

1. Calibrate!!!
I can't stress this enough! Until you finally do, you have no idea how off your computer screen colours actually are! For the first 8 months of my business I edited all my pictures on my laptop. I always had to crank the warmth in the white balance. Thought it was just bad Auto White Balance in my camera. When I bought my Mac desktop in September I was shocked at how different the images on my blog looked on the new computer! I couldn't stand the idea of my clients looking at my photos online or on their computers and seeing something totally different than what I saw on my computer! Yikes!  So, pretty much the day after I bought my desktop, I bought the Spyder 3 Express calibrater. It's a little thing that plugs into your USB port and hangs over your monitor and goes through all the colours and figures out what your screen needs to be at in order to be the right colour. Let me tell you, the difference was insane! Not as insane on my desktop, but my laptop was a HUGE difference (you can use the Spyder on as many computers as you want, and it's portable too!) So now at least I know that the colours I've edited my pictures to be are true, and that's why I highly recommend ordering prints through me because my lab also calibrates their monitors so the colours come out pretty much exactly the same! I can't tell you how many photographer's pictures I've looked at where the colours are so off. They're probably good on their own computer, like I thought mine were, but in actuality they're pretty off.

2. Check your background!
This is so important. Look at what's going on behind your subjects when you're taking their pictures. There are so many potentially distracting objects out there. Not buildings and other normal background stuff, but little things like purses and cups or cars or anything else that takes away from the moment of the picture. We tend to focus on our models, which is a good thing, but we still need to keep our backgrounds in mind. Move your body so that the couple's bodies hide that stray garbage can in the backdrop, or move the couple all together if there's too much distraction, or move the garbage can! Set your scene! I still have to constantly remind myself about this. Too often than I'd like I end up having to delete an image because I didn't make note of what was going on in the backdrop.

3. Line 'em up!
Another big thing of mine is having straight lines. I'm uber anal about it. I'm one of those people that will get a twitch if I see a picture frame that isn't hanging straight. The same goes for my pictures. I level out most of my pictures, at least any that have an obvious line in them. It's a small thing, but it makes a huge difference. There's nothing worse that looking through photos taken at the beach and in every picture the horizon goes off at a 45 degree angle. When I first got my camera last January I was so busy focusing on how to use the camera and on my subject that I didn't even think about the background. I had some pictures with buildings in the back that were all tilted and it's been ever since then that I take time to notice my lines. That's just my style. If you like the tilted look, heck, tilt away!

4. Filter!
When you're going through your images, don't keep any that don't "wow" you. And don't keep any that are even slightly blurry, no matter how great the couple/subjects look. This was one of the biggest things I learned at WPPI and I'm so grateful for it! Nobody but you knows that that image ever existed so the clients will never wonder what happened to it! Instead of giving them a blurry image that makes them unsatisfied, why not give them only your crispest images that make them gasp in awe! And, along with blurry images, get rid of any where someone in the picture looks funny, or where there's bad lighting, etc. You are representing yourself and your work in your images, and your clients will show these images to their friends and family... if they like them. And if they don't, they might show them and say negative things, which is SO not what we want! Aim to make your clients rant and rave about you your work and their experience with you!

Those are my rambling thoughts for the day! I have been there, done that, and this is what I've taken from my own personal experience! Hopefully it will help someone else out there!

Thanks for reading!

The Three Hundredth

Post, that is. This, right here, what you are reading at this very moment, is my three-hundredth blog post since I started my photography journey a year and a half ago. Wow. SO much has happened and changed within these three hundred posts. Let's go back on a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

My very first blog post here.

My first practice run with my new camera here.

My first photo shoots with my sister. Bridal and Portrait.

My first family session here.

My first Trash the Dress session. Part One and Part Two.

My first couples session here.

My first newborn session here.

Girlie's first birthday here!

A bridesmaid photo shoot that brought so many new clients and friendships my way! Here.

Our accident in Tofino last July here.

One of my favourite sessions to date, and  the start of a great friendship! Here.

My first wedding (not my very own, by still my first experience with weddings!) Here.

The launch of my website and new branding! Here.

The day our lives changed forever when we found out about Cheyenne's life threatening nut allergy here.

My first engagement session here.

Our Five year wedding anniversary here.

The day I was asked to fly to Australia to photograph a wedding here.

Our first family photo shoot here.

Girlie's first Halloween here.

My first wedding here.

A personal post of the importance of taking time to be, here.

Booking a trip to Las Vegas for WPPI here.

My two hundredth blog post here.

My second wedding here.

Our Christmas story here.

Probably the most important, amazing, overwhelming blog post I've ever written. And moreso, experienced. The post that still has the most views than any other post I've ever written. The miracle. Here.

Buying a new lens! Here.

Attempting my 30-for-30 challenge, but only making it about 15 days or something! Here.

Having to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Meetzy, on account of Cheyenne's allergies here.

A short reflection on my time in Vegas here.

A huge revelation for me. Learning how to establish my business the way it works FOR ME, not for you. Here.

My first wedding blog feature! Here.

My first destination wedding in Australia (third wedding overall) here.

My fourth wedding here.

My fifth wedding here.

Wow, did that all just happen in a year and a half?? Crazy! And so good!

Today, for my three hundredth post, another feature! This time a preview of what you'll be seeing in the June issue of the Weddings in BC magazine!!!! Yes, Beth and Dan's wedding will be featured in a printed magazine this month. Whaaaaat??? That's unreal! That was my third wedding ever!! You can already read some of the details on their website by clicking this link.

So, basically, I'm floating on air right now. So excited about all the things that have happened for me over this last year and a half, excited about the things that are yet to come! Nine more weddings for 2011. Love it!

Featured In: WEDDINGS IN BC

Yes, again! It's crazy! I so appreciate Weddings in BC and all of the sessions that they've featured on their blog! It's amazing! Thank you so much!

Today they featured Hana and Eugene's engagement session. This session is turning out to be quite the success, two features! Wow! I'm blown away!

And, now you have to keep a look out for the June issue of their printed magazine. This is what it's going to look like you can have a visual...

One of my very own weddings is featured in this issue of their magazine, along with a full page ad. So please pick up a copy! It's free!!! I believe that it can be found at most Home Outfitter's, The Bay's, lots of wedding dress stores and other wedding related venues. If you can't find one, please let me know so I can tell you where to look!

Thanks again for all your support! It means the world to me! :)