So Excited

Now I remember being really excited waiting for Christmas morning to see if Santa had come in the night, when I was little. I also remember D being very excited about Santa and Christmas, but I don't think either of these can compare to "E's" excitement. I think the excitement just built a little more each day since her birthday. By Christmas eve, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She was still awake at 11:30, and 12:30 and 1:30. Finally she was off to sleep, but it did not last, at 2:45 in the morning I awakened by a giddy little girl who could not wait to tell us that Santa had been here. She promised that if we came and looked she would go to sleep for a while. Finally we got her back into bed and she slept for a few hours, but was awake again by 7 when D got up.

See how excited she was. If only I could bottle up that excitement and save it.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all my family, friends and clients a very Merry Christmas and every happiness in the new year!

Guilty Pleasure

Yes, this is a post about a guilty pleasure of mine, well really, I have included a few things that together make is a really guilty pleasure. Hmmm, maybe I should rename it "The Ultimate Guilty Pleasure". The reason, I would post this, since it is out of the norm for me is because Brandy and Danna over at Two Photogs are having a cool contest for an opening in their online mentoring program that will start in January. Brandy and Danna decided that seeing as its the season of giving that they were going to give away one of the spots available for our first mentoring session.

Cool contest huh! I have to admit that I am huge fan of both of these ladies and that I truly love newborn photography, so to be able to get in on a mentoring session by these ladies would be awesome! OK…so, if you want to win one of the 5 spots available for the on line mentoring Danna and Brandy decided is what you need to do….

Take a self portrait that incorporates your favorite guilty pleasure. Then post it to your blog and link it here in the comment section before midnight on Tuesday December 15th so we can see what you have done. We will be choosing the winner next Wednesday (December 16th, 2009) when we announce the full details of the mentoring sessions. This will NOT be a random draw, the winner will be chosen by us based on their creativity and effort.

So here we have it, my Ultimate Guilty Pleasure, relaxing in my computer chair (wearing my favorite warm, comfy pajama pants), with a cup of hot cocoa, complete with a layer of mini marshmallows, some whip cream and chocolate shavings, some chocolate (opps, I kinda broke into that before the self portrait photo session was over) all while, I surf the internet for my favourite photography sites/blogs to see their latest work, and well maybe a few other sites too. LOL!

Caught in the act!

Now, this did not turn out quite as I had imagined, so here is a little closer view of the necessities for an afternoon of surfing. The little pink and blue thing is a play dough teddy bear that my daughter made for me. Unfortunately it fell over, and I missed setting it back up again.

Happy Birthday "E"

I cannot believe that my baby is 6 already. Where does the time go??? It seems like just yesterday she was a baby.

In honour of her birthday I thought I would share a few new favorite pictures of her that I took of her recently while I was practicing working with sun flare.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Special Time Limited Offer for Canadian Scrapbooker Readers

Today is December 1st and that means the 2009 Winter Issue of Canadian Scrapbooker is in stores now!

If you can tell me which picture was used in my ad in the market place section of the magazine, and you book a session by December 31, 2009, you will receive a "mini brag book" of your session with a minimum $200 print order purchase. Sessions must be booked before December 31, but can be scheduled during the spring.

Here are some samples of what the mini brag book looks like. They are so cute and just the perfect size to keep in your purse.




***** Remember this is a time limited offer, so do not delay, book now! *****

**** A minimum purchase is also required to take advantage of this special offer. ****

It's Coming

The Winter 2009 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker will be in stores December 1st!

Here is a sneak peek of the cover:


I was thrilled when my copies arrived in the mail yesterday. (I'll bet that was not what my mail man was thinking though!) Don't you just love getting a magazine before it hits the newstands or is on store shelves. I know I do.

Miss E was so cute, she took out her polishing cloth and gave the cover a little shine. Then she asked me how many people would see the magazine. I told I was not sure of the exact numbers, but I know it is a lot of people all across Canada. Her eyes lit up at the thought of being famous!!!

Thanks Jackie and the fabulous people at Canadian Scrapbooker for the opportunity to work with you again.

Stay tuned for a special promotion I will be running in conjunction with the release of this Winter issue on December 1st.

Gone Batty

I am not sure I have any other way to describe these pictures than that..."Gone Batty"! Yep, I think she was done, she had just plain had enough, and the pictures show it.

Yes, Grandma, I know you are looking and thinking, but that is not what she wore for Halloween. No, it was not her Halloween costume this year, but it was last year. I know, I know, why am I taking pictures of last year's costume??? Well, you see, because last year, E wanted pictures in her Halloween costume on the beach in Florida(we left for Florida after trick or treating last Halloween), but of course in the last minute rush, I forgot to pack the costume. Then by the time we got home, it was too cold and snowy, then next thing you knew it was summer, and way to hot to put on a heavy costume like this. So here we are, one year later, just getting pictures of her Halloween costume.



Attack mode


See, she is done, just plain done.



A close up of that expression. Seriously, how does she point her eyebrows like that?


Now to try and get some of this years costume before it snows.

Colour Challenge

I chose the colour purple for Inspiration Challenge #1 - Colour over at Two Photogs. Basically all you need to do to participate is pick a colour and shoot it. You then use the handy template they provide to put the pictures into a neat little collage, post it on you blog and then comment and leave a link to your blog on their blog. Easy peasy right! Well, I guess that depends on what colour you choose. I chose Purple because it was my daughters favorite colour. Who knew I would be able to find so much purple around, or that purple came in so many different shades and hues.

Somewhere over the rainbow....

I think I have had that song in my head since seeing an amazing rainbow the other morning. When I first looked outside early in the morning, the sky was a orangish/gray colour off into the west while the sun was just rising in the east. I also noticed a red beam of light off to the north. I went out for a better look and noticed that is was actually part of a rainbow.




Just after taking a couple of pictures of the rainbow, it started to rain ( I thought the rainbow came after the rain, not before), and the rainbow became more vibrant.

Here it is over our house. I changed the white balance on this one to get the nice blue sky, it was actually the sort of eerie gray in the second picture. Fun to see how colour temperature can change the look of a picture.




It was just so amazing to see, the colours were so vibrant, I could see the colours in front of the dull gray bare trees in the forest.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all my clients, friends and family a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A Splash of Fall Colour

Glorious Sunset

With the rain coming and going every 5 minutes these days, I felt pretty lucky to capture a glimpse of the sun just as it was setting the other night.

Autumn Days

It is hard to believe it is October already. I mean really where did the month of September go??? Fall has also officially arrived. I thought this image sort of summed up fall, the leaves are changing the weather is cold, and lots of dark stormy skies.

Sneak Peek for L and K

Congratulations L and K on baby "M", she is beautiful. It may have taken a while, but once we got her to sleep, she slept like a trooper. D, I know Mommy says you are "willful", but honestly, I don't think you could have been better behaved while I was there. I enjoyed our little chat about farming and trucks too.

Enjoy your sneak peek L and I will be in touch with you soon with your gallery information.

Giveaway for Professional Photographer

That is right Beyond Red and Green is having a giveaway.

Giveaway!

What would you like from Beyond Red and Green? Been drooling over a baby set? Have your eye on some Christmas templates? Then this giveaway is for you! Beyond Red and Green is giving away a $100.00 credit to TWO lucky winners to spend any way you like it! Give your photography business that added touch with Beyond's unique and elegant templates!


All the details including rules are here on the Beyond Red and Green blog

Happy Birthday D

Well it is hard to believe that another year has gone by already. Where exactly does the time go??? Anyways, D celebrated his birthday last week, by going riding out at a local track with a few of his friends. It was a beautiful day weather wise which made for some great pictures.






I have done a combined exposure picture for D before when he did a jump with his petal bike, but never the dirtbike, so I got out the tripod and snapped away and then combined the exposures later in photoshop.




I made one for his best friend also. I love the way his turned out as I captured him right from the take off to the landing!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

I thought I would share some more photos from our vacation a few weeks ago. We stopped at Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan, and what an amazing site it is to see. My pictures hardly do it justice the dunes just go on and on as far as the eye can see.



As you go around the scenic drive to view the dunes there are various lookouts to stop at. The dunes are delicate and the natural vegetation is easily damaged by foot traffic so people are encouraged to use the paths and lookout spots provided. Once the vegetation is damaged it is easier for erosion to take place. Here is the warning just before you get to the lookout platform.


This is the view of Lake Michigan looking straight out over the lake from the warning sign.


I did manage to inch a little closer towards the edge to find the shoreline. It may not look that high in the picture, but trust me it is. Can you spot the two people who decided to descend the dune that morning?


I have circled them in red for you.


Here is a close up as well. The quality is not great with that much zooming in, but I wanted you to see that they are actually people.


A couple of different views of the steep dune.




The view to the north from the lookout platform:






The view to the south: