My Carmalita

This is my sister. She's awesome and I love her. Currently, she is in bed, on an extended "vacation" leaking all sorts of nastiness from her ears. She was supposed to leave on Jan 2nd, but can't fly. Which I am totally ok with, because I get to keep her for an extra 10 days. YEAH!

This is what she looks like when she's not really sick, just a little bit. Isn't she beautiful?

I love this picture of us. It is totally how I picture us as children (and obviously hasn't changed) - two wild little monkeys alternately hugging the crap out of each other, and fighting the next minute (although, the last couple of years has seen a huge improvement in the fighting department :) )

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!