I had my first ever ‘Short and Sweet’ sessions this weekend. I was a little bit nervous. Should I be admitting that? I was nervous because I like to take my time and strive for emotional connection and wasn’t sure that the images would have that. Have that and also have some fun, funky stuff going on…know what I mean? But, the families who took advantage of the best light of the season(man it was GLORIOUS that day) should not be disappointed. I got a little of everything

Oh…and it was weird being down there. I mean there were a lot of other photographers down there. None of whom I knew(which is odd as I know a lot of photographers in town) and all of whom had an enormous amount of gear with them. I was thinking–what will my clients think when I show up with just my camera(and my flip flops–yes, I’m still wearing them…yes, I’m cold in the mornings). I actually think that my lack of gear was my advantage as we went for a walk away from the usual spot and found our own little perfect locations. In amongst the beautiful fall trees. And, my flip flops were an advantage as well–it made it easier for me to stand in the creek. Anything for the perfect shot!!!

Uh…hello, gorgeous?

This one had a shirt on that said ‘Lock up your daughters’ before his mom changed it…might tell you a little something about him

And, look at this…so sweet…can’t believe they did this in such a rushed fashion for me! Love it.

And, a little bit of funk…

Mom liked my close ups of moms with their babes…I love how much she is just loving him in this moment.

I’m thinking dad might not like his expression, but, man…I love it! How fun is this image?!

And, the perfect fall portrait. One more sneak peek…maybe tomorrow…maybe Wednesday…I guess we’ll see! Thanks everyone for bushwacking with me!

This couple were married in this church 10 years ago. You know what that means, don’t you? It means that this year, she gets a ring. It’s true.  I can’t wait to see it

This church is on their friend’s property. In the small western town they have on there. Did I mention that there is also a fort? How about an equestrian center? Oh yeah, and the lake complete with boathouse as we saw in another post. What an absolute treat to spend the afternoon exploring this beautiful getaway in the middle of nowhere. When we were driving out, we had to stop on the road to let a deer pass. When that happens, you know you are in for a treat!

The western town had it’s own little jail. Which the kids loved(mine, too, as they were invited to come and play). Having a jail made it so easy to get a family image…stick them all in there and VOILA everyone is in the shot! ha! Wish I had one on every shoot

Of course, the kids didn’t waste time in trying to break out! Resourceful little ones!

We decided dad made a good outlaw!!!

Is this post too big? Bob told me not to put another one like this on my blog, but, man, I love them sooooo!

After 10 years, they still got it

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this swing image is a new favorite for me…as are any one of the boathouse images(dad’s idea by the way)…

I want to mention that this mom runs a wonderful mommy website called Mommy Club. You should all run and check it out.

Another thing that I wanted to mention briefly(as this post is awfully long) is that this family lost many of their precious family images. Their computer crashed…and I mean CRASHED one day and years worth of digital images were lost. They have spent time and money trying to retrieve them, but, as far as I know, nothing. Here’s the thing. We don’t know how precious something like this is until we lose them, right? If you are taking digital images do a couple of things for your own peace of mind. #1: Invest in an external harddrive or two and store copies of them on there. #2: When you upload your images, immediately back them up to DVD and store them in your deepfreeze(a fireman once told me this was a good place). Or take them to your friends, a family member or your place of work. Have another copy someplace else–just in case. In this digital age, people often don’t take the time to print their images and store them in albums–instead choosing to store them on computer. If you are one of those people, make sure you have a backup. Just in case.

I hope these new images will help capture this time for them. Thanks for a fun time guys!

A few things. First off, I only have a few dates left with guaranteed Christmas delivery, so if you were hoping for a spot, please contact me soon as I wouldn’t want to disappoint you. Second, your session is not officially booked until you pay your session fee. If you do not do that, I don’t have you on the books. Just so we’re all clear. Third, I still have a couple of spots for beautiful fall portraits in Fish Creek on Saturday–my short and sweet sessions. If you want one(and you know you do)…better get on it! It’s going to be the best weekend of the fall in Calgary!

 And, lastly, locations. I have lots of ideas and will always make some suggestions. If I say something like ‘I’ve been dying to do a shoot here’ then that is a good bet that your gallery will be large and fabulous. AND, if you have friends with an amazing piece of property that are willing to let us come and explore…DO NOT HOLD BACK ON ME!!!!!!! This is a sneak peek of a sneak peek of a shoot that took place on just such a piece of property. A hidden gem. I’ll tell you more about it in a couple of days…for now, here’s the boathouse.

Yes, boathouse…I couldn’t decide boathouse or helicopter pad picture…oh, this one was prettier Have a nice Monday!

This session is from sooooo long ago!!! Yikes! While we were in Saskatchewan at a family reunion this summer, I did a little mini session for my brother in law and his family. Um…ya, that was at the beginning of August. Um…ya…we are now fully in the middle of September. I’m glad they’re so patient I wish I had more time with them, but it was hard to convince the kids to hang out with boring me and my boring camera when they could be playing with a couple dozen kids their own age.

My brother in law…okay, I’m just going to use his name, even though I don’t as a rule..Ryan…there I said it…Ryan is a musician. Ever since he was a kid. It’s what he was born to do. Truly. He used to be in a country band called KC Jones. Not being a country fan, everytime I hear a song that they played–I’m like, oh hey! It’s a KC Jones song. Bob is always telling me who it is really singing it–ummm, no Dana, it’s a little band called ‘Alabama’ or no, no…have you ever heard of ‘_____’…I gotta say, I miss country dancing to all their ‘originals’. Now, he’s in a band called Millenia who you might hear on Ukranian hour on CFCW. They rock the Ukranian tunes hard man! If you need a Ukranian band for your wedding(or just a REALLY good band), you should give them a call!

My nephew…looking at me and asking if we’re done yet because he’d rather be connecting his ‘DS’ with his cousins than being out in the field enjoying the beauty of Sasktachewan…Ya, dude…can’t say I blame you

My beautiful niece…

Okay, we’re out of here…running.

Time for shots of mom and dad…

Before their little mini session, we attempted some larger Pugh groups. This is Grandpa Pugh with his four grandkids hanging out in the yard he used to play in as a child. Yes, that is my princess daughter being difficult.

Grandma getting a cuddle.

And, cousins…but also total buds. Jack adores his older cousin. Especially since just after this shot was taken, he showed him how to connect his DS to someone else’s. Thanks for being so patient guys!!! Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Yes, these people have been on my blog before. Yes, I said this the last time as well…these people know how to dress for a family session. Love the layers, the colors, the lack of matchy matchy, but still matching–know what I mean? Okay, yes, these are my friends. I’ve been known to rock out on Guitar Hero in their basement while waiting for their popcorn machine to make a new batch. Yes, I’ve had one too many glasses of wine in their living room on a Friday afternoon, but you would, too…believe me. They have good taste in wine as well as clothes

 I have a tough time doing sessions for my friends. Here’s the thing…man, I feel a lot of pressure to get it right. It’s kind of like stage fright. I think I got it right with these guys. Thanks for the lovely fall walk(and the Tiger Tail Ice Cream–it really does taste like Fruit Loops, doesn’t it?). Hope you like your sneak peek…

It’s no secret that I love these shots where I cut the parent’s heads off. I love how you can see a family’s personality without actually seeing the whole family And, okay, the binoculars were the cutest thing ever. Seriously. You gotta have a gimmick to get on my blog!!!

And, yeah…I absolutely love this big sky picture. L-O-V-E love.

Like I said, the binoculars…and the dirty hands–gotta love the dirty hands.

upside down and backwards…

And, a nice family shot just cause I thought you should see more of mom and dad!

And, okay…Ms. Pac-Man. I used to rock that game at the arcade in West Edmonton Mall when I was a kid. Until they got Dragon Slayer…then I just watched all the cool guys play that one…cause I never did catch on Love the boots. Love the purse. Love the ice cream. Love you guys! 

That’s what this is…the end of summer. It’s here folks. The first trees are starting to turn yellow down the street from me. Jack starts school on Monday. Georgia the following week(preschool is later for some reason). We’ve been shopping for school clothes and indoor shoes. Ahhh…I miss it already. Thank goodness that fall means soon Starbucks will have their pumpkin spice lattes in. It’s the only thing to look forward to…well, that and having some time to myself while the kids are in school.

So, after this session, I got to thinking…how lucky am I? I get to hang out with a family for a couple of hours and see them enjoy each other. And, I often really enjoy myself as well…this was my kind of evening…beautiful evening light, Calgary’s classic scenery, and a close knit family who love the outdoors almost as much as they love each other.  Pure Calgary…

I love that this family chose to just be themselves…no pretense. They wore their everyday clothes, they brought their dog and their smiles. AND, when this dad talked about his son who is away at University(in Hawaii–I know you are all drooling), he beamed. I got choked up. I get the best dads So, on with their sneak peek…

There is so much technically wrong with this image. Let’s start with the fact that it was dreadfully underexposed as kids can be…ummm…unpredictable and she moved at the last second…and in the fixing of the exposure problem the image got all…well, grainy. But let’s focus on HOW MUCH I LOVE this image…the sun, the way the color worked out, and her gorgeous face…seriously. It’s love. To me, it’s perfect.

Enjoying the mud from the day’s rain…I was a little scared when I awoke to a torrential downpour, but wouldn’t you know the sky opened up to a beautiful summer’s night afterwards. ahhh….

Okay, so the dog is my favorite thing about this image. Isn’t he sitting perfect? Seriously…you should see the two frames on either side of this image. blech. Thank goodness for high speed shutter when working with kids and dogs

I love how ‘organic’ this image is. I really did very little to it. I didn’t need to…beautiful light, beautiful people, beautiful connection. Just beautiful. Have a nice long weekend everyone.

Okay, so this is a huge sneak peek…but you see…this is another photographer. She lives in Edmonton(well, St. Albert really). We are doing a session swap. Why would photographers ever need their own family photographs? Well…mostly because WE ARE NEVER IN THE PICTURES!!!!! So, she is in a lot of these. And, what is a session swap? Well, it means that I am having her do my family photos next time we are in Edmonton. Which means I am on a diet. It also means I am completely stressed about what we should wear. Which is funny because I always find it so amusing that all of you get this way–I mean, I’m capturing you the way you are today. Right? Ya right. I’m going to lose 10 pounds if it kills me. And, I bought Jack a cool Batman sweater yesterday at H&M…now he just needs converse shoes. But then when he put the outfit on, I got all jealous that Jenny(oops, I never use names) was going to get to photograph it…I might just have to pull out my own camera Except I promised Bob I would leave it at home. Ahhhhh….

I’ve seriously processed this like 4 different ways. I can’t decide….so, I’m posting this one here.

I love that her son’s little cubby legs are squeezed into those chucks. I also love how you can see her husband’s hand holding him there.

Chowing down…love the distortion on this one…

Two 10×20 crops…which one is your favorite. I simply can’t decide. I think I’ll put one in my banner!

Okay…does she not look so incredibly happy here? I love how her eyes twinkle. You will not believe that they have been together FOREVER. I remember when Jenny brought him to a group outing for the first time. I think she was like 14 years old! AND, if you invite him to your wedding, he does this crazy dance to this crazy song–Jenny, what’s the song? It’s hilarious!!!!

So, yes…my good friend, Jenny, and the loves of her life. She is so blessed….Check out her blog here One day in October or November, maybe we’ll be on it! Ah, scary…

******CANVAS CONTEST CAN BE FOUND IF YOU SCROLL DOWN*******

Wow! I can’t believe how crazy this canvas contest is! I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to continue with my blog posts or I will fall desperately behind. So, scroll down and vote for your fave! This family deserves a big sneak peek. They met me in Edmonton this past weekend. They came all the way from Fort McMurray! Wow! No pressure or anything. Thank goodness we had lovely weather. Fall is coming. I can feel it.

Okay…I love this guys hair…and his little impish expressions. That’s what he is…a little imp. What is an imp anyways? If you look in wikipedia surely his image will be there!!!

Okay…what’s not to love?

Again…I loved that the dad knealt down.  It’s funny because this is a very popular location for Edmonton photographers. I just thought we’d play in the weeds, but the kids LOVED the slanted concrete under the overpass. I think they were disappointed to walk away from it!

okay…everyone can sigh here…love LOVE crazy love it!

Even though this family is not very serious, I still managed to capture some sweet moments.

A new try at processing. Isn’t she beautiful?

And, I love his silly expression. I love how he blends into the bright summer sky. But, I especially love his mom’s blue toe nail polish. Fabulous! Thanks for a splendid Edmonton morning!!

So, one of the moms who was gracious enough to bring her children out for the workshop had three of the most beautiful children I’d ever seen. A slight disclaimer here as someone told me that I say this about all children I have ever met, but honestly, look at these kids! Man, they are sooooooooo beautiful!

And, this one…well, he’s a bundle of character which is a trait I LOVE

The youngest of the three of them was soooooo sweet, sooooo precious, soooooo hard to capture in the giant crowd of the workshop, but I have this series of her and her mom that I am in love with. I put one in my blog header and I’m posting one here. I hope these look okay despite my monitor issues. Oh! And, I was told by my roommate that I was much too quiet on the last post and had to tell everyone that I was like that kid on the disneyland commercial on Friday night after learning that Tara was the guest speaker. You know ‘I’m toooooo excited to sleep!!!!!’. Well, my response to that is that I was trying to appear all cool and collected and not the bumbling mess that I truly was! I feel blessed to have met the two photographers I admire most(Jinky and Tara in case you aren’t a regular reader) thanks to the wonderfully talented and wonderfully generous, Cheryl Muhr. I am shaking my head in disbelief at my good fortune. Truly.

Just because there are a lot of shots like this…

Doesn’t mean I didn’t get any like this:

Just because I’m finished processing their sneak peek and I can’t wait to share, I’m doing it tonight instead of tomorrow!

Funny thing…I worked with this mom ~ahem~ a few years back at Roots in West Edmonton Mall. Hard to admit, but it’s true. It took us about 20 minutes to figure that out. I’m sooooo glad that we did or I don’t think my focus would have been the same! What a gorgeous family she has now! And–OH!–if you were wondering what a storyboard was, the second image is a 10×20 storyboard with three vertical images. I personally find that size a little bit small, but it’s great for a smaller space Thanks guys!