Lake House Anyone? | Calgary Photographer

This is the family of the wonderful Kelowna photographer, Tasha Jean. And, when I say family, I mean F.A.M.I.L.Y. !!!! For awhile, Tasha had been trying to set up a family session for her immediate family, but the timing was just never right. Sooooo, when I told her that I could swing through Kelowna on the way home from our Epic Adventure 2010, she said sign me up for 2 sessions! Seriously! 2! She even offered to put us up in her parent’s guest house(it’s always easy to offer up someone else’s place! ha!). Well, it was certainly sweet. S.W.E.E.T.!!!

It should be said that I am always reluctant to take on big family sessions. Why? Because it is hard to capture intimate, natural images with large groups and that is what I always strive for. I am starting to get asked to do these ALOT so, occassionally, I can be convinced. Guest house on Lake Okanagan was pretty convincing It was a lovely way to end our trip(and, for me, it was great to be in a real bed instead of the trailer for a couple of nights!!!).

Narrowing down the images for this post was difficult because of the sheer volume of them, but these are the ones that stood out for me. Today, as I look at these, I can’t help but think how important it is to capture these sorts of images of everyone together–healthy and happy and loved! It was an honor to do so.

Lately, I am really loving more ‘documentary’ type shots of people just hanging out doing their thing…those last three shots make my heart so full This last shot is a little spooky love:

Thank you all the Gammels and the Gordons for allowing me to witness the love that makes up your family!

Dana

Bravo Farms | Epic Adventure 2010

I hesitated to share some of my personal images from our trip as most of them are really just holiday snapshots and it makes me feel a little like that aunt you love, but she is always pulling out the slide projector and making you go through old slides from your childhood. I, of course, am the only person who enjoys that sort of thing so these are for anyone else who is like that and just happens to read my blog. And, for my mom She’s playing shy and not commenting anymore, but I know she is still my biggest fan.

These were taken at Bravo Farms Cheese Factory in Tulare, CA. Do not ask me where that is. You see…we were driving and we saw these huge signs telling us we really wouldn’t want to miss this stop. And, on this trip, we had decided to stop whenever we could to do whatever just for the heck of it. Soooooo…those signs were a sign, no? Plus, if you know us, you will know we have a thing for really great cheese. Our kids share this enthusiasm ever since we once stopped at a Gouda farm and taught the kids this mantra: Gouda is gooda. It really is!!! Well, Bravo farms did not disappoint! Not only did we get some incredible cheese(and ice cream–it was a holiday after all!), but they had THE MOST AMAZING TREEHOUSE I have ever seen. This place was bursting with character and the kids had the best time. One of our favorite unplanned stops for sure.

Oh–and we knew it was fate when we saw the ‘Griswold’s’ sign as that is what we had been calling ourselves If you do not recognize that reference I am not sure if we can be friends. Seriously.

So, that is one of the most visually busy posts I have ever posted BUT that place is visually busy so I feel I did it justice. If you ever find yourself in Tulare, CA make sure to stop. You won’t regret it.

Tomorrow a session blog post–I promise.

later skaters,

Dana

Why?

A while ago, I asked people what they would like to see on my blog. Someone commented that they would like for me to share why a certain image speaks to me or why I chose to edit it over another image. This is an image I took while in the Redwood forest of Northern California. It’s my son and a heart shaped leaf. There were MILLIONS of these giant clovers covering the earth there. For Jack, the most wonderful thing about the clover leaves are that they are heart shaped. You see, Jack has this wonderful habit of collecting things he finds out and about that are heart shaped and giving them to me as presents. After our walk this particular afternoon, he handed me a handful of heart leaves. I wanted to save them and this was the best way I knew how. I chose this image over the more perfect image of the leaf(there was an image where I caught focus on the leaf) because I liked that it showed me the details of his tiny hands. Hands that are growing a bit too fast for my liking. I love that it tells me a story…a story of Jack at 7–gifter of heartshapes found in nature. He really is the sweetest boy ever.