The Gift of Family

This past month I did photos at my home based studio for the McNeils. Their two little girls are adorable, and a joy to take photos of. I was super impressed with mom and dad's way of parenting. Throughout the whole shoot they had such an amazing way of interacting with the girls. They really taught me a thing or two about interacting better with children. For example something as simple as the the animal game! You say an animal and the oldest of the two would make that noise and the youngest would just smile really big. They loved it!

Family photos are so important to do around the holidays and I'm so lucky to see the love between so many families. It's a constant reminder of what the true meaning of Christmas and the New Year is all about. Spending quality time together!

Happy New Year everyone and enjoy the holidays with loved ones!

Let's see the Glasses

Recently, I have been shooting for Grand Magazine in there advertising section for many business in the area. It's been wonderful and I have met some great business owners, one of them being Christine from Eyeview Optical. She so personable and very knowledgeable in her field. She's basically sold me on a pair of her very well priced glasses. For any of you looking for new eye ware, Eyeview has a great selection and fabulous pieces that really compliment your face.

Grand's next issue will be coming out in January/February so be on the look out for Christine's add for Siht Optical, her new location opening in the Bauer lofts. A must see and an easy stop if any of you are Vicenzo's shoppers because their new location will be in going in there as well!

Twelve Months In a Year

Michelle came up with this great idea for a photo shoot of her son Izayah, to do themed photos for each month of the year! The shoot went amazing and Izayah cooperated so well with changes and little breaks, but he really did make his way back in front of the camera again instead of going off to play. He's got a lot of energy and every time I looked at him he was always doing something different.

For Christmas, Michelle is making up calenders for family showing each themed month. It's a fantastic Christmas idea! These would also make wonderful birthday gifts for mom and dad or the grandparents. It's a gift that you can keep longer than the year, look back, and smile:)

A Ton of Tulle

A few weekends ago John and Becky came by to the studio to get some photos taken. They hadn't had any professional photos done together since their wedding day! It's a good thing they booked an appointment because that's way to long to be away from the camera. What a fantastic job they both did!

This shoot was inspired by a photographer Becky and I both love, Annie Leibovitz. The shot that inspired us both is one Annie took of Julia Roberts in her massive black crinoline dress in the mud. Becky was so excited she had made her dress for the shoot. From over 20 yards of crinoline! They coordinated so well in their black and white attire it would be hard for anybody not to take photos of them.

Little Evelina

Lina, a friend of mine, messaged me about getting some photos done of Evelina, her little baby girl. I was so excited because I just think she's so adorable. Cute Evelina! I loved photographing her she's such a well behaved baby. One of the best I've taken photos of I think. Lina's sister came to the shoot to watch her little niece being photographed. She was wonderful and helped out a ton! She really coached Evelina during the shoot I think that was a result in the good baby behavior.

Evelina kept up amazingly well with all the flashing lights. She actually really loved them! I find a lot of babies can't stand them and you really have to make them comfortable and play with lighting to get that beautiful end result. Evelina was so hungry after all the modeling she had to be fed and passed out after having her bottle. It was the perfect time to get some really cute sleeping photos. What a memorable time!

In Beautiful Sault Ste. Marie

This past Sunday I left with my boyfriend Mike to Sault Ste. Marie. Mike had to go up for business and I had to go up because I had never been! What a perfect trip to relax a bit and take photos of whatever comes my way. The drive down was amazing I can't believe how much the landscape changes within seven hours away from home.

Walking down by the water was wonderful and really calming. There was a few pigeons that sat on the rail along the boardwalk. I just had to take some photos of them hanging out. When I started taking their photo they turned around and started to fly at me thinking I had food for them. Well I turned so fast the other way and I didn't look back.

Walking down a little bit further I was looking at great landscape shots everywhere. I had to stop by a bench to take out my zoom lens. Well, I had my camera over my head and my bag and some how the straps got really tangled. Looking over I saw an older man sitting on the next bench over. I walked over to him hoping he could help me out a bit. He was so nice! I even gave him a pretty good laugh at my expense. He told me about some good places to take photos and that he use to work at the old steel mill and how much he loved Sault Ste. Marie.

Ang's Rockwood Shoot

This past Sunday Amy and I got together to do another creative shoot with Ang who is a good friend of ours. She's got an amazing look and a true pleasure to work with. I had this idea for a shoot in Rockwood, down by the water with sand, and trees. The weather was definitely on our side Sunday to be able to do some outdoor shots.

Walking down to the water was great! There wasn't too many people there and it was all pretty relaxing. Ang got in the cold water for some photos and I was just hoping the seagulls flying around us wouldn't poop on our heads. After I snapped a few photos of Ang, Amy decided that we should change it up a bit and snap some photos of each other. Ang you did an awesome job! Thank you so much for being apart of everything.

Eva's Friday Night

This past Friday night I got to take photos of Eva and it happened to be her first! She had asked for a fun shoot and if it was alright that her friend Neil came along. Of course I was perfectly cool with all that. Neil brought a covered tray to the studio and in my mind I said cookies! It wasn't cookies it was better Neil is employed at Iris as a manager in Uptown Waterloo and had brought some really nice eye glasses for the shoot. What a treat!

Amy Bridger came over and styled hair and makeup for Eva and what an amazing job she did. Eva and Amy have been friends for awhile and I know Amy couldn't have been more happy to be apart of it all. Eva did an amazing job and really made the shoot her own! I think it really made it a lot more fun having some of her friends there to see her get in front of the camera. We all had a really good time laughing really hard and listening to some of Amy's finest stories.

Shannon and Jeff's Engagement Photoshoot

Shannon and Jeff are getting married!!! They are such a cute couple that really do compliment each other. We went to to take some engagement photos in this really incredible little spot with water and forest called Snider's Flats. Shannon and Jeff brought their dog Hunter who was so well behaved and a real treat to have in the shoot. She Jumped in the water, chased after sticks and even tried to carry around huge tree logs in her mouth.

We walked around on the trail and found this field of milk weeds. If you have ever busted one open you would know that they are a ton of fun. Well Shannon and Jeff tried it and what turned out to be innocent photo taking in the field turned out to be a milk weed fight with the couple. I loved it!