Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from me and mine.

xxR

Friends

I don't often post non-photography things here, but this you-tube link was sent to me today by a woman friend, and I wanted to share my gratitude.

I have been so lucky over the last few years to reconnect with many of my women friends, and to really understand what it means to be supported and loved by good women.

Thank you for being my friend.

xxR

(get your kleenex out if you just put on your make up, like I did :) )

Guess what this is!

If you guess right, I'll give you the name of my plumber :)

Jessica and Stuart

Jessica, the editor of the Rat Creek Press (which I photograph for) asked me to take pictures wedding pictures for her and Stuart. Of course I said yes!

I captured some of my favourite bridal pictures ever!


Here is the handsome Stuart.

They are a perfect match. They met at church, but both work in media (Stuart is in broadcasting).

Their wedding was December 6th, and in Alberta, that presents a bit of a technical challenge on the location for photos. Jessica booked the Muttart Hall, which is a perfect location. All the lights in the hall are adjustable, and it has the added bonus of a grand piano on stage (which Jessica can play.)

At first I was nervous about photographing inside, but when I saw the hall, I was thrilled with the possibilities for awesome dramatic lighting.

We really wanted to do some outdoor pictures capturing the beautiful Christmas lights at night - but, December in Alberta - there were several inches of snow, and there was freezing rain, so we decided to skip the outdoors!
Thank you Jessica and Stuart for inviting me to share your special day.

Road Trip

This wonderful family had me come down to Cochrane to take their photos.
These were baby Brynn's first (professional) pictures. She is such a sweet baby.

Big brother Owen - are those eyes amazing or what. This is his official "show the first girlfriend" picture, with his lovey blanket.

Trish and Paul, who are an amazing couple.

Like all 2 year olds, Owen was a challenge to get still for 2 seconds - but we managed.

This is my favourite kind of portrait - catching the love and energy that exists between two people.

Brynn and Owen

Thank you for inviting me down to Cochrane - it was great to hang out with you for the day.

My boys

I have no idea what Gabe is doing in this picture. He gets so excited about stuff. He often bowls us over (quite literally) because he is so happy to see us. He's like a puppy who just can't sit still.

A funny story, and so sweet, at Isaac's birthday last year, Gabe was sitting with his friends Isadora and Jakob on the steps eating their hamburgers, and Gabe said "I really love you guys." He's so freaking sweet!

And, my Isaac. Who could resist that smile?! He's into dressing himself at the moment - as you can tell (at least that's what I tell people :) ) He's wearing a t-shirt over his sweater, and his helmet, cause, well, he likes it.

Yes those are bubbles on the helmet . . . because . . .

I have no idea what they were doing. Just playing bubbles in the sink I think, and suddenly bubbles were all over Isaac, and as you can see, he's loving it.

Nicola is almost 1

Nicola is nearly one.

Check her out last year. And this year.

Nicola got this teddy for Christmas, and I had to include all of the photos I did in this series - I have never seen a baby have such a physical conversation with a teddy bear. Its like she was playing with a sibling. A family picture (Neil in the background, looking out for his girls).

A friend of Reshawn's made this quilt and we've used it in every session. And I have to say - Reshawn is kicking ass in the mommy and daddy department.
Last time I saw Nicola, she was 6 months old, and not so sure about the camera I kept sticking in her face. This time, she did not care at all and I got a bunch of awesome expressions.

This is my favourite from our session. Merry Christmas to you both. It has been a joy and a pleasure to spend the last year with you.

xxR

Wall design

How cool is this?! Michelle is obviously a lot more organised than I am. She drew this blue print up on the computer, and I've seen the wall (when I delivered the prints) and it looks AWESOME! (This is in the front hall, just over three stairs going up to the family room - first thing you see when you enter the house.)

Thanks for letting me share!

Needles to Vinyl

I had the opportunity to photograph Needles to Vinyl, a band Olivia manages (check out their music on myspace). They play good Canadian rock, influenced by some of of my favourite bands, including the Hip.

This was such an awesome shoot - freezing cold that day, but I totally dig it when people are willing to climb trees, sit in shopping carts and let me go wild with the post processing.

And I finally figured out how to load big images - yeah!

Awesome clients

Oh no! I'm losing my clients.

Kristine and Kent are moving to Saskatchewan. What they don't know is that I LOVE Saskatchewan, and will probably land myself on their doorstep one day. I know, I know, nobody loves Saskatchewan, at least not if they weren't born there, but I have a fondness for wide open spaces. It reminds me of the ocean. Its also pretty much opposite in character to the mountains, and I'm not so fond of the mountains (weird Canadian girl, I am, I know.)

Enough about me.

Kristine and Kent - these lovely people


. . . made this gorgeous boy. Jacob. He's so cool. Check out his rather devilish little grin. And that dimple?! Courtesy of his mom.

You may remember, Kent recently returned from Afghanistan. We're all happy about that!
A still picture of the whole family.

This was the middle of October. There were still flowers out. Yeah!
And, my favourite pictures, and one of the reasons I will really miss Kristine, Kent and Jacob - they're so fun!

Birthday Boys

I had the great pleasure of photographing these two wonderful boys for their first and fourth birthdays. They were a delight to work with. Faris (the four year old) and I fell a little in love the day before when I was setting up, and he was excited to come back and get his picture taken - which was good, because if I had been him, I'd have just wanted to get the great party started!




Faris was so good for the pictures - he knew just how strut. I think he may have been watching America's Top Model when his parents aren't looking.

Faran was all sweet fat baby goodness (and also great in front of the camera).

The boys with their beautiful mother.

And their very kind Papa.

The boys each had their own cake (which Faris could hardly keep his eyes off all night.)

Here is Faran with his auntie.
This was a serious birthday party - with magicians and all. Here is Faris and his friends enjoying the show.

A little audience participation.

Faran got a little tuckered out towards the end of the night, but was still good for one more family picture.

I had to include these two - this is Faris and Faran's mama with her beautiful friends. How gorgeous are they?!
I love this one with all the colour and movement. Thank you for including me in your celebration, and for the wonderful meal!