More Snow ... IT'S MARCH!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we've been having the craziest weather lately. It was nice today so I don't have any reason to complain about that but Saturday night IT SNOWED!!! At the end of March - craziness! It actually snowed a few times last week, it totally felt like Christmas. Not to mention we had the craziest hail storm I have ever ever seen - EVER! Apparently it all has to do with some crazy arctic front that has come down from Russia, and even though I have a geography degree and am supposed to understand a lot about weather systems - I still think it's NUTSO!!! Here are a few shots of some spring buds trapped in the snow :( I don't know where spring went but I hope it comes back soon (without the showers of course)

The Importance of Professional Photos

I just found this cool article on the REAL SIMPLE magazine website. It's very true for a lot of people that it's not always at the front of your mind to have professional photos taken. But here it is - a friendly reminder! My job is to capture you and your family in living art. I want you to have amazing images to show off and cherish and look back on when everyone's all grown up and moved out. Also, if you're always taking pictures of your kids, chances are you're not in any of them ;) Please contact me through my website if you'd like to schedule a family session for spring. Here are some of my favourite family shots as inspiration. Enjoy the article and Happy Spring!

Get Professional Photos of Your Children. By Gretchin Rubin (Original article HERE)

I’ve never forgotten an invaluable piece of advice that I heard from an older friend right after my first child was born. She told me, “One of my greatest regrets about my children’s childhoods was that I didn’t have more professional pictures taken.”

“You didn’t take many pictures?” I asked.

“I took tons of pictures,” she said, “but the fact is, professional photographs are so much better than even the best snapshots.”

I absolutely agree—professional photos are better. And keeping her advice in mind, ever since my daughters were born, I’ve been zealous about getting their photos taken professionally at least once a year.

While it’s a lot of fun (and also a pain) to take pictures myself, it’s terrific to have some pictures that are truly excellent. These photos don’t take the place of the on-the-spot pictures that I take myself—I still take scads of photos at birthday parties, first days of school, on the slide, with a popsicle—but these pictures memorialize my children’s childhoods in a different way.

Plus they make great family gifts. I can never figure out a good present for the grandparents and great-grandparents, but they always love to get a really great photograph—especially the relatives who don’t often get a chance to see the girls in person.

Also, research shows that one way to boost your happiness is to reflect on happy times, and looking at photographs helps keep memories more vivid.

It’s a splurge, of course. Professional photos aren’t cheap.

However, I figure that the money I spend on these photographs will strengthen family bonds, enhance happy memories, and capture the fleeting moments of childhood. They give me more pleasure than practically any other purchases that I make. That strikes me as pretty good happiness bang for the buck.

A friend’s family had another great photography tradition. For her whole life, at every milestone, her parents took a picture of her and her brother sitting exactly the same way on their front stoop. It’s fascinating to see them change through the years. Along the same lines, the artist Nicholas Nixon took a photograph of his wife and her three sisters once a year for 33 years. The collection of these photographs, The Brown Sisters, is riveting.

Getting professional photos take is a great example of the tiresome fact that happiness takes thought and effort. These photographs are easy to arrange; in the scheme of things, not terribly expensive; contribute greatly to our family happiness—and yet it probably never would have occurred to me to do it if my friend hadn’t suggested it.

Have you ever had your child's professional photograph taken? Did you think it was worth the expense and trouble?

Shots from Vegas

What can I say about Vegas?! It really was awesome even though I really only got to see about 2 and a half blocks of it. But, I wasn't there to see Vegas, I was really there for WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) which is an awesome conferenc and tradeshow with about 10,000 photographers from around the world. I got to see some amazing photographers whose blogs I stalk, network with amazing people, sit in on awesome seminars as well as find some beautiful albums that I can't wait to share with my clients. The funny thing though was all the Canadians I met there, and as Jenn Bebb said, 'you pretty much go to Vegas to meet everyone from Vancouver" - so true! But here are a few of my favourite shots from my small time walking around Vegas ( I got to wear capris, a tee and flip flops - man is it going to be a while before I get to that here at home ;( ).

The view of Bally's and Paris, where the conference was

Some architectural detailing of Paris Las Vegas

The Bellagio
The blown glass ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio
The forum shops at Ceasers Palace
One big - a** slot machine and one little lady
Yeah, palm trees
The fountain show at the Bellagio
Night shot of Ballys and Paris

Recovering from Vegas

I'm finally home and I had the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G time in Vegas at WPPI! I am beyond exhausted and have totally crashed now that I'm home. There's so much to share... like all the fun Kristi and I had together, the amazing rock star photographers I actually got to meet in person like Jessica Claire, Chenin Boutwell and Jasmine Star as well as all the info my brain tried to take in and of course all the amazing products I saw that I want to get for my more than amazing clients (woah run on sentence - that's how my brain feels). I'll try and do updates and share photos soon. For now, its rest time...

Kristi and I in front of Ballys on our way out to explore Vegas

OFF TO VEGAS!!!

I just want to let everyone know that I will be away until March 20. I'm off to Vegas for the big Wedding and Portrait Photographers tradeshow and convention. I will be answering emails and calls when I get back.

Can you guess what I photographed yesterday?

I'd like to wait just a few more days when the site launches to tell you about this super cool shoot. Can you guess what it was of?