Easter: Chocolate overloads, and sugar crashes.
I know… I know..
I am horribly late in posting. Easter was last month. Suffice it to say that I am a part time blogger.. at best. I would say that I have had personal things to deal with lately.. but even that argument doesn’t hold water. I didn’t post all that regularly when my private life was peachy keen.
Either way.. we managed to get the whole family together for Easter, and I was pretty excited! :) My sister Mel and her wonderful daughter Gracie came up for the holdiay, and we even managed to sneek in a Belly Shoot for her! ( More on that another post).
When easter finally rolled around, we had quite the gathering. My parents, Brian and I, Mel and Gracie, and my other sister Miriam and her family.
There were six children in total. Seven if you count me! :) I’m a big kid at heart.. and always make sure the easter bunny knows that I will be participating in the egg hunt! :) Might as well get to feed my sweet tooth on official occassions so I don’t feel quite as guilty about it the next day! hehe
Here’s a few pics that I managed to snap during the day. Hope you like them, and that they make up for being a month late. I hope everyone else had as great of a holiday as I did! Hopefully you spent it with loved ones!
My Nephew Jayson was waiting anxiously by the window for the easter egg hunt to begin! I love how this shot turned out. All thanks to the gorgeous window lighting! :) 
The Easter bunny is cruel at my house! He color matches!
Or he hides things above eye level ;) 
Gracie had to empty her basket a couple of times throughout the search.. there were WAY to many eggs for such little baskets!
This.. is my darling niece Kaitlyn! She is adorable.. and I love her. Oh .. and I also love backlighting! :) 
Styled Winter Wedding Shoot
DISCLAIMER: This is a LONG post.. so grab a cup of coffee and donut and be prepared!
A little while ago I wrote a post about my first attempt at a styled shoot. You can read more about my thoughts behind it here. This is just the post where I tell you all about the venue, phenomenal model, and show you the pictures. :)
We decided to shoot at Okanagan Serenity Gardens, an up and coming wedding venue in Kelowna. The land and orchards are gorgeous, nestled in among the apple orchards that overlook the city. I rented quite a bit of furniture from a local vintage shop, including a hutch, some chairs, and a few birdcages, and with the help of some friends and Brian, we managed to lug it all up to the orchard. Having scoped out the scene the night before, I knew exactly where I wanted everything to go, and I got the scene staged by around 10 am.
I then photographed all my detail shots until around 1 in the afternoon, when Amy, the model arrived. The fabulous Nicci Mohr, and Tahnee Collin did makeup and hair (respectively), and they did an amazing job!! The two of them understood exactly what look I was going for, and had some great input as well.
The idea for the shoot was a ‘Rock Winter Wedding’. I wanted to showcase something a little different… when you google wedding inspiration, or check out most blogs, you see white, frilly, fru fru weddings. Nothing to inspire an alternative couple. I wanted to show that different is beautiful.. You can wear black lace gloves, and have black lipstick.. and still be sexy! Nicci and Tahnee took my thoughts and ideas and brought them to life. It was an amazing feeling, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome! And Amy.. she rocked it! If it hadn’t been for Amy, this whole thing would have fallen apart. She was the glue.. and I thank her! :)
The pictures of Amy are what pull this whole setup together (and when you see her pictures further down in the post you will understand).
I hand stamped these invitations at about 2am the night before. (Yes.. I know I leave things to the last minute.)
The lovely brooch below was lent to me by my dear friend Kristna.
She has a fantastic Vintage Etsy site that you should check out! :)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/gathersalot?ref=top_trail
Boudoir = Confidence Booster!
When “K” asked me to do a boudoir shoot for her, just in time for Valentines, I felt a little queasy, but, I thought about it for a little while, and finally said yes.
Boudoir Photography is not something that I’ve ever tried, and I’m not one to step out of my own comfort zone.. but the fact that “K” is a friend, someone who is completely open and honest.. and not to mention funny, I figured if things went south, we would at least have a blast trying. Plus, she had so much confidence in my abilities that even I started believing her.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with boudoir.. Wikipedia states this:
A great deal of “boudoir ( photography)” is now created in the photographer’s studio or in luxury hotel suites, where it has become very fashionable to create a set of sensual images for women in “boudoir style”. This often takes the shape of partly clothed images or images in lingerie, and has become more than just a passing fad for brides to surprise their future husbands. Although in the past there were many negative connotations associated with boudoir photography, in recent years the trend has begun to gain momentum, and the entire look of boudoir photography has begun to change.
We decided to do an outdoor shoot. ( This woman is crazy! It was freezing cold in the beginning of Feb). The orchards at Okanagan Serenity Gardens provided the perfect setting, secluded enough so no one could watch, but a beautiful location for the pictures. “K” rocked it out! She was freezing cold, but you can’t tell at all, and we made sure to give her warm blankets between takes.
I hope you like these shots as much as I do! K is gorgeous, and they couldn’t have turned out any better in my opinion!
ps: “K” thank you for believing in me, and for pushing me past my boundaries. :)
Did I mention that “K” is a mother of two! Jeesh I’m jealous!
Kristie and Family
Kristie asked me to take some highly overdue family portraits! Just in time for Christmas cards! It’s been more than a few years, since the last time they had family pictures taken, and I really don’t understand it… Kristie and her kids are SUPER photogenic! And Kristie’s boyfriend.. isn’t so shabby either! :)
We had wanted to do fall pictures, but between Kristie’s trip to Mexico ( Hello gorgeous tan!) and a super early snowfall in the middle of November, we settled for Christmas snow type pictures instead. Unfortunately, I’m quite certain we chose one of the coldest day’s in history! In fact.. the news reported that the week had record breaking lows. - 21 C . The coldest since 1993!!!! Let’s just say we weren’t really thinking hehe.
But… everyone made it through, all fingers still attached! The kids were such troopers! With their pink noses and cheeks, they even gave me a few smiles, which covered up their chattering teeth. hehe
Juliana + Matt = Love
Brian my boyfriend is in the Poker business. He’s been doing it for about 4 years, and is lucky enough to hang with some of the bigger names in the biz.
Matt Jarvis is one of those guys. He’s been playing poker professionally for about 6-7 years now, and most notably made the final table at this years World Series of Poker. As a trade for the two of us, I took some head shots of Matt for his new website coming out. And Juliana, Matt’s girlfriend from New York flew in, so I got to take some couple’s shots!
Matt lives in Vancouver, Canada and Juliana lives in New York, USA. They try to see each other at least once a month and make sure that they never go to long without talking.
They met in Las Vegas. He spotted her on the dance floor at the club, and knew he had to talk to her. They spent the next 3 hours whispering in a corner, and ignoring the rest of their friends. The rest is history. In a city were millions of strangers come to party, they met each other and fell in love.
I wish you two nothing but the best! and ps: good luck in November at the final table Matt!!!
Liane + Cole = Love
Liane and Cole are co-workers of mine… they’ve been dating for about 2 years and are the cutest / most gorgeous couple you’ve ever met! Jen and I coerced them to come to the beach with us so we could play paparazzi. :D
They’re so good-looking that it wasn’t hard to get good pictures of them, and after a while even Cole was comfortable in front of the camera ( or that might have been the beer he had earlier hehe ).
see what I mean about GORG-eous??!!!?
love that look in her eyes *sparkle* sparkle*
that’s the look of love! :D
Jennifer : Portrait
I set up a photography meetup in spring for a bunch of up and coming photogs in the area, and Jen graciously volunteered to model for us. She’s recently been bitten by the photography bug as well, and wanted to come along for the experience.
There was 5 of us in total, Willow ( Willow Christine Photography), who is my usual partner in crime :D , Jeff Preston Photog, Robyn, and I. And of course Jen, who was a phenomenal model. She came completely over-prepared, bringing at least 6 different outfits, and she didn’t bat an eyelash at any of our strange requests.
Janina : Portrait
Janina is Fraser’s girlfriend, they’ve been dating for about 3 years now, and when I first met Janina… I knew we would click right from the start. She is such an upbeat genuinely sweet girl!
Janina was nice enough to pose for me last summer, when all my other friends and family was running away from me screaming “no more, no more”. Let’s just say they’re sick of seeing me with my camera in hand, hehe
We went to Ben Lee Skate Park in Kelowna, because Janina wanted something a little more edgy. We found this great wall of graffitti and just went from there :)
Thank you Janina.. for making this day easy, you were a joy to work with. And the pictures turned out AH-mazing! :D
