Amanda & Scott ~ April 7. 2007

Amanda and Scott tied the knot! (wow...I'm a poet! lol!)

I met Amanda after photographing Michelle and Andrews wedding last summer, and I was excited to hear that she was getting married in my very own town. I rarely work here in Colborne, but when I do, we have the whole studio at our disposal to use on a wedding day, which is so much fun.

Amanda and Scott did something very untraditional, that I just love to do. They did all of their wedding photos before their ceremony. The reason I love to photograph couples before-hand, is that they are able to have their first meeting in private, just the two of them (and me!), where we arrange the groom so he can't see the bride until she taps him on his shoulder. When he turns around, he sees her for the very first time, alone and privately, and he can get a really good look at this gorgeous woman in front of him with no distractions. I usually get really beautiful reaction photos when we do things this way, because there isn't a huge room full of people watching the moment. It's so much more intimate and it's really beautiful to see the moment unfold. Once Scott and Amanda had a few moments together, we brought the rest of the families in, and they joined us for family photos. Later on, the guys went to the hall, and the ladies took the limo over to my studio, where we had a blast doing some studio photos with all of the bridesmaids and Amanda.

After the wedding, we went right into party mode, after a couple of quick photos with folks who didn't get a chance to have their photos taken with the bride and groom. It was nice for the guests, who were able to enjoy the company of Amanda and Scott, without having to wait around for the photos to be done. Besides, after the ceremony is done, everyone knows it's PARTY time! :)

Here are a few pics from their big day....

Sick Kids ~ Toronto

We have had a long week.

Many of you know that our youngest daughter was awaiting surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children to correct a problem with her hip and pelvis. We have been nervous and anxious about the surgery since we found out it was going to happen for sure, and I'm glad to report that the surgery was done last Tuesday morning, and we came home from hospital on Friday night. It is so hard to see your child in pain, but I have to say that it was incredible to be at such a fantastic hospital for the experience. There are things you will see there that will break your heart, and parents who are going through so much more that we were dealing with. There are lots of children who will be returning to the hospital many, many times over the course of their lives, and even more heartbreaking, there are children who won't leave the hospital. I can't help but think of how lucky we are to have a situation that is easily corrected, with very little trauma or post-operative care needed. After our daughter is out of her spica cast (a full body cast from the chest to the toe) we will be able to get on with our usual routine.

We had the most amazing nurses, (Mike, in particular!) who treated us like gold, and who were so good with our little patient. I am so thankful that she was treated so well there, and that we are on our way to recovery. For the parents and children I met, I will be praying for all of you, and hoping that all of the kids are healing well.

I want to make sure I thank all of our family and friends who have been so generous with their time, gifts and prayers. I also want to thank my friend Yolanda Rowe (also a photog!) from Tennesee for the gorgeous bouquet of flowers, the teddy and all of her kindness shown to Tanis, and to me. :) Also, the long distance friendship award definately goes to my photog friend Emanuelle Leblanc, who travelled bearing gifts all the way from Halifax to T.O. to visit us at Sick kids. :) Okay, she came with her husband who had an important appointment in T.O., but I know she secretly came to see us! ;) Thanks friends!

So, if you've tried to reach me in the past couple of weeks, and I haven't returned a call or an email, please know that I'm working my way through everything, and that I will be in touch
very soon. :)

WPPI 2007

I have been absolutely terrible about updating my blog lately, but things have been so crazy around here it's ridiculous. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I went to Las Vegas for the WPPI convention, which was amazing! Unfortunately, I got unbelievably sick almost the second I stepped off the plane. When I got back, I found out that I had influenza and a chest infection, which explained why I was so ill during my trip. It didn't stop me from seeing and doing all I had planned, but it probably accounts for the reason that it took me nearly a week (and a full course of anti-biotics)to recover!

While I was there, I met people that have changed the way that I feel about my business. I wish I could describe in one blog post what it was like to be with some of the most influential photographers in the world. It was exciting, fascinating, inspiring....I still am reeling from all of the info I soaked up. I have now shot 2 weddings since my return, and already I'm seeing the difference in my style. It's like someone (well, many someones actually!) flipped a switch for me that brought it all together. I can't wait for all of the other exciting learning opportunities that I have coming up.

No trip to Las Vegas would be complete (in my opinion) without a visit to the brand new skywalk at the Grand Canyon West in Arizona. It just so happened that the skywalk.

From the official website:

The Glass Bridge Construction of the Skywalk began March of 2004 and will open March 28, 2007.

Upon completion, the Glass Bridge will be suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. On May 2005, the final test was conducted and the stucture passed engineering requirements by 400 percent, enabling it to withstand the weight of 71 fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes (more than 71 million pounds). The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100 miles per hour from 8 different directions, as well as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles. More than one million pounds of steel will go into the construction of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

So you might say to yourself...wow, that's the photographic opportunity of a lifetime. I bet she couldn't wait to get out there on that glass bridge, and take a million photos. Well....you'd be wrong. You see...they don't actually allow you to take any cameras of any kind (including cell phone cams) because they don't want anything falling into the canyon, or scratching the glass on the skywalk. So, when I found out it was an additional $25 USD, on top of the $50 we already paid to get into Grand Canyon West, and I wasn't going to be able to take my camera, I said, hell no, I won't go! :)

And really....you'd have to be NUTS to go up there anyway!!!!! ;) Well, that's not true actually. My husband and a fellow photographer friend went up there and loved the view. I wondered why they lingered so long up there, and why they looked so suspicious. It all made sense to me when our friend giggled that she had snuck her cell phone cam up there, and that my hubby had helped her by blocking her from the view of the guards up there. She got caught anyway, but it didn't matter, since she already had the goods. :) For those who are interested, several cameras that were snuck onto the skywalk got lost into the canyon on the very first day it opened. Rule number one...don't hold your camera over the edge of the canyon! D'uh!

I absolutely loved visiting the canyon, and being at the edge of one of the most incredible views that I will ever see. It was unbelievable. You can't help but wonder how many people have fallen over the edge when you see how close you can get. You could literally walk right off the canyon edge! I kept way, way back, but I saw families there with young kids and the moms looked like they were going to have a heart attack, worried that their little ones would go flying towards the edge. Definately not a relaxing vacation for the families with kids under 5! ;)

A few pics of the canyon...

Canyon West's big draw, the new Skywalk....

..and an almost very unfortunate incident at the canyons edge... ;)

LOL! Just kidding! ;)

Editing this to add a pic from Heathers cell phone camera!

Heather, you are such a REBEL girl!!!! ;)

Viva Las Vegas!

Well, I am exhausted to report that I am back from my trip to the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International annual convention in LAS VEGAS, baby! WPPI runs the show every year at this time, and it has a huge trade show full of goodies, as well as tons of seminars, platform speakers, and master classes that are part of the whole event. I am still totally blown away by the master photographers I met and studied with, the amazing photographers that I met attending the convention, and all of the information that I crammed into my brain over the week. I have tons of new stuff to try out this season, and I think my brides and grooms are going to be very excited to see how they will benefit from this amazing learning opportunity. I can't wait to blog about some of the events of the trip (including an incredible trip to the Grand Canyon West, home to the brand new skywalk over the canyon!), but right now I am recovering from a nasty bout of influenza and a chest infection. I will be back with more details, and photos as soon as I am feeling a bit better, I promise! :)