Here we are at Friday again! And, today at noon, I am officially on vacation until August 5th. I know that I still have some galleries to get up and, as I’ve already said, I promise to get them up asap once we are home. I wish I could say that I am off to some exotic land, but alas, we have rented a house near Greenwater Lake in Saskatchewan to be near a fabulously beautiful lake and close enough to our family reunion. It will be a nice break, but the metropolitan girl in me is looking forward to a city trip real soon. I was trying to convince Bob that we should go to New York the first weekend in December to see the tree in Rockefeller and he reminded me that we had in fact been there before(and relatively recently). I said, yes, but NOT at Christmas time I have a while yet to convince him. Maybe if I could line me up some work while I was there…hmmm…

 So, this week I had two very flattering things happen to me. Well, at least I thought they were flattering. The first was a photographer I know in Toronto, Kerry Ould, listed me in a post as one of her inspirations. That, in itself, is extremely flattering, but I almost cried when I saw who else she listed. SERIOUSLY—Tara Whitney and Jinky. SERIOUSLY…Kerry, I am beyond flattered, but REALLY…they are my inspiration!!! What a treat to just be listed in the same blog post as them! Wow! Second, was a little bit quieter, but still gave me a tiny bit of glee…Andrea Hanki commented on an image of mine in flickr. Flickr. Do you all flickr? I do(but I must admit that I am not good at any sort of message board type thing…I’m just on there). And, this week, Andrea Hanki commented on an image of mine. Seriously. She liked it. And, it’s an image that I really liked(this part is important). If you don’t know who she is, well, you’ll be surprised to know that she is an Edmonton wedding photographer(man, you guys have it so good up there–Jesh AND Andrea…not to mention a few others like Shaun, but I’ll save him for another day). So, today she is my blog to check out…Pink Sugar. Man, it’s as good as the cotton candy I had at Calaway park yesterday…better Thanks Andrea.

 And, a couple of images…

My loves and an image for one of them. Jack desperately wanted me to take this dragonfly image. I am SO NOT a macro photographer, but I have a macro lens at my disposal, so I’ve been playing around with it a bit. I just thought the dragonfly was uber cool.

 So, yes…vacation. I’ll have email access, but that’s it. Maybe cell phone access. If you want to book at my current session fee price, you must do so before August 1st. After that, there will be no exceptions(do I sound like a hard ass?). I may just post from Saskatchewan, but I don’t think that there will be any images because I couldn’t stand to look at one straight out of my camera on my blog(no editing–ALL my images are edited). I may post my new collections, but I might just wait until I can get home and do them justice. I guess we’ll see. For sure, I’ll be on here on August 1st announcing my first contest of the month….you know you want it August will be a fun month!

This family invited me to come exploring in the forest behind their house. Well, well, well…who knew? It was so beautiful there and, really, the perfect place to capture this family together as they spend a lot of time there(who wouldn’t?). Just to make their house that much more fun, they are welcoming a third into the mix in August. When you make kids this gorgeous, why stop?

Okay…the hair. It’s fabulous, isn’t it? See…in my house the boy got ‘the hair’…of course, this little girl is 4 and already talks of how she likes to straighten it when it is wet. What is she NUTS?!!!!  Just look at how gorgeous the light is in it?

I really love images of the parents having a quiet moment. Afterall, it is their love for each other that created this family.

Just mom…waiting for babe. Oh! And, for those in the know–these guys won a contest of mine a while back for a free session! Keep your eyes open because I have some contests coming up!

This is one of my favorite images from last fall…ahhh, fall. It’s coming fast and I just want to remind everyone about my fall ‘Short and Sweet’ sessions. They are 30 minutes long and designed to get the best images for holiday gift giving. The $75 session fee is waived if you purchase the digital negatives up front for $600. Your session is guaranteed to get 7 great images(but let’s face it–I’m being conservative!!!). You’ll have access to all my other fabulous treats and some special ones reserved just for this special group! Want to get your Christmas shopping done in one spot!!! Two sessions. Two locations(Fish Creek and Downtown). Limited spots. Contact me for more information.

So, I knew I’d get a long great with this couple when they suggested an abandoned road we could use as a location. I love to go ditchin’. You know…pull over on the side of the road and take shots of kids running through the beautiful long grass(and the occassional weed). In my house, that’s called ‘Ditchin’.  My favorite activity. If you add to that a cute 6 month old full of drool and gorgeous blue eyes–you get my favorite morning activity.

If the look and the drool on this one don’t just make your heart fill with joy I don’t know what would!!!

This family shot is a ‘me’ shot. Which means it makes me happy.

Look at the size of daddy’s arms? Boys will need to be careful with this beauty!!!

And, if we all looked this good at 6 months postpartum the world would be far more populated

When I plopped her down in the middle of the road(okay a driveway, but still) she just wanted to eat the rocks, so I called off the shot. The mom pointed out that there were less rocks in this spot!

After a morning of ditchin’ everyone should take a nap like this. Isn’t she the sweetest thing? Seriously. Thanks guys!

In between summer storms here the other night, I took these images of my loves. I just felt like sharing…

Okay…seriously, Jack is getting good at the poses a la Zoolander. What’s up with that?

And, to finish a self portrait. Georgia and I holding hands and the long shadows of a beautiful summer night in Okotoks.

Here it is Friday already! Wowzers! Where did the week go?! And, I don’t even know who’s blog I am going to share with you all, yet…but by the end of the post–I will. I promise.

 Soooooo, yesterday was the biggest day in my blog’s history. All I can say is that little girl below has A LOT of friends And, when I have a big day like that, I am wondering–who were all these people stopping by? You should see some of the places they came from. I’m not place dropping or anything–but Greece…Wichita…hey…hey?! Pretty exciting. Bet you didn’t know that I could see that stuff, eh? I’d be fearful that you all might think I’m weird, but…if you follow my blog closely, you already know that! ha! It got me thinking…what if everyone who popped by left a comment? Seriously. That would be…insane! So, today, I’m going to play a blog game(just to see how closely you all read)…WHO’S OUT THERE? Leave me a comment and tell me who you are and why you came here. Tell me what the weather is like where you are. Tell me what you ate for lunch. I don’t care what you tell me, just tell me something

 Ummmm, on another note, August is coming. Ya…that’s right, it is. And, I have big plans for August to prepare for the fall. I’m going to change my galleries on my website(update them with all of my recent sessions) and I’m going to change my collections and announce some new stuff. Including a fabulous new contest…oooohhhh a contest. That’s got you all paying attention, doesn’t it? Why a contest? It’s my anniversary on September 1st…it’s actually two very important anniversaries for me. A wedding one and a work one. So, a contest to celebrate. Keep watching…you just might win something.

 Okay…I’m wasting time. One of my favorite blogs is…drumroll please….Lena Hyde! I love her work and, lately, I’ve been enjoying reading all about her family vacation. Check out her site after you take a peek at her blog.  Thanks for checking in…

Look at this little bright eyed girl…isn’t she the sweetest? So tiny and new…so short and sweet She gave her parents a bit of a fright by making an early appearance, but, she’s home now…in daddy’s arms.

Her parents might look familiar to my blog stalkers…they’re the beautiful, red wall couple holding hands in my banner. I love that their love for each other and their little girl oozes. What a wonderful thing to witness.

Born on the evening before the Calgary Stampede parade, we thought a little cowgirl blanket was in order. Her dad thought he’d be at the rodeo the day these images were taken. Ha! He was doing something way more important than that…

Thanks guys. I have loved working with you!!! Enjoy every second.

For family and friends in the know…today was the day. Jack beat me at checkers. He wiped the floor with me. Fair and square.

 For those not so much in the know…we’ve had this ongoing thing for about a year and a half. I play to win and then when he beats me he beats me fair and square. In exchange, he gets to pick out one thing from Toys r Us. It all started because Bob would let him win…and I said, how is he ever going to learn that way? Bob was sure that there was lots he could learn by beating his dad. I was sure that he could learn more by beating me. Yup. Don’t play him at checkers unless you want to be humiliated.

Prize: Mario Party for his DS.

The most expensive checkers game I ever played. Congratulations buddy!

I keep thinking that I should have an ‘outtake’ gallery! You know a gallery full of babies peeing, kids having tantrums, and dogs running into shots. This was too funny as we were trying to get a certain shot, this friendly neighbourhood dog came by and slobbered on the mom to be. I love that she just welcomed him into her space…but that is this couple…extremely welcoming. I had a great time with you guys…and, you already know this, but I was extremely impressed at the dad to be’s eagerness. He made sure we got the right shot and the right light and the right…everything. I can’t wait to see him with his baby!

 

Check out the view from their place…how awesome is that? And, when she answered the door wearing a shirt in my favorite green, I knew they’d be cool

She had wanted a silhouette…I don’t have a soft box , but this is mine using Mother Nature’s softbox!

This one is entirely inspired by my wonderful friend, Alicia…

And, the shot we were trying to get when the dog so rudely interrupted us! My watermark band looked out of place, so I left it out. This to me is the definition of a Calgary mom to be. Can’t wait to meet your little one!!! Thanks for the ride in the invertible

Just a taking care of business post. I wanted everyone to know that I am officially closing my summer availability. I hate to turn people away, but I am beyond booked. So…if you want a session, we are looking at fall. Beautiful fall Don’t forget that I have two ‘mini-session’ dates that I am calling my ’short and sweet’ sessions. If you want to learn more about those, just fire me off an email!

I promise another sneak peek later on today…and, oh! have I ever said how lucky I am? I do feel incredibly lucky. I love my job. I love my clients. I love my life