Short and Sweet Photography bio picture
  • Welcome to my blog!

  • Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable!!! This is my personal online journal featuring images from my favorite sessions, as well as, my very own life ;) I can't wait for you to get to know me!! If you leave a comment or two, then I can get to know you a bit as well!

    Enjoy!

    The fabulous picture of me was taken by the lovely Miss Tara Whitney!
    Dana is proud to be NAPCP Child Photographer of the Year.

Anniversaries and Availability…

Well, hello…I should have written before now, but my life today has been a bit busier than usual. I apologize. I still haven’t done the draw for the i-tunes gift card, but will do that tomorrow and post the winner tomorrow night. The count is in though and the winner of the canvas by a landslide is #4!!! Yay!!! Congratulations to them. I’ll be contacting them asap to let them know the details so that they can work out the exact spot in their house for their new piece of art. Thanks to everyone who participated as I was completely floored by the response.

Now…my availability is going to change a bit…for the better I think. I have secured some ‘office days’ which will be consistently Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those will be days when you should be able to get a hold of me fairly easily. I am even considering moving all my newborn shoots to those days which means that frees up weekends for family shoots. AND this time of year is definitely about family shoots. I still have some spots left in my Short and Sweet Sessions in Fish Creek Park on September 20th. I picked that day as I believe it will be a prime day for getting fall pictures that would make for perfect Christmas gift giving. They are half hour slots and if you’re interested–act fast. I also only have a couple spots left for family sessions including the weekend of the 13th and 14th of September which should be an awesome time for fall colors as I think fall is most gorgeous as it is just turning. So, the first two people to pay their session fees get those days. A cool alternative to traditional fall images are some cool ‘urban’ shots. I have an urban Short and Sweet Session date in October and still have availability there as well…so act fast before those slots are gone!

On my first anniversary(and my 7th wedding anniversary), I want to thank everyone. Everyone who I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with in an attempt to capture you through my lens. And my heart, really. You see…for me, photography is all about connections. And, if I can feel connected to you even better. I’ve been lucky to be welcomed into so many fabulous families this past year. I realize that I have the most wonderful job on the planet. It truly fills me with joy in return.

Not to mention the joy I feel being able to turn my passion into my career. And, one that I can tell my children I adore almost as much as them. What a wonderful example for them to see that work doesn’t have to feel like work. Know what I mean?

To my family and friends who have encouraged me, supported me, and, most of all, listened to me drone on and on about my work…thank you. You will never know how much it has meant to me.

To Bob–you know….how lucky am I to find someone who so sees the world in the same way as I? Seven years of marriage…11 years of together…and 6 years with our babies. I love how they are adding up. Can’t wait for the list to get longer.

My wish for next year is that I can better balance it all. I’m currently working on figuring that one out…and, if you just read this whole post, I’m shocked! ha! I promise–images tomorrow;)

by Dana

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My Last Sneak Peek of the Summer…

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…

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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.
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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….
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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;)
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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.

by Dana

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Friday’s Favorites

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Hmmm…lately, I’ve been following some design blogs. Design of all kinds is another passion of mine. One which I wish I had more time for, but still enjoy dreaming about. Well, the ‘design blog’ world was turned upside down yesterday with all sorts of fundraising for a blogger named Stephanie Nielson. I must admit to never having followed her blog, but have recently looked at it and love her images and her joy for life. I went to it about a week ago when a blog I followed mentioned that there had been a tragic accident–a plane crash. Where the flight instructor perished and Stephanie(or Nie Nie) and her husband sustained severe burns. Now a fundraising effort is underway…which makes me sad. Sad that her family has to worry about the medical bills during such a traumatic time in their life. And it makes me feel lucky. Lucky to be living in Canada where that would never be a concern. Instead, I could just focus on getting better. So, today, read Nie Nie’s blog and then if you feel so inclined, go to www.designmom.com and see the list of things being auctioned off by fabulous artists everywhere and bid on something beautiful to help someone beautiful.

by Dana

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Family Photos

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….

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I’ve seriously processed this like 4 different ways. I can’t decide….so, I’m posting this one here.
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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.
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Chowing down…love the distortion on this one…
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Two 10×20 crops…which one is your favorite. I simply can’t decide. I think I’ll put one in my banner!
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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!!!!
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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…

by Dana

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My Baby Boy is 6 Today…

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…and, I’m not going to lie…it makes me a little bit sad. Where did his baby rolls go? Now so tall and skinny…still sweet and cuddly and social…still Jack. We love you so much baby…Happy Birthday.

Image by Shannon Loewen in Vancouver, BC…his first birthday photo shoot. Some of my favorite images ever.

by Dana

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