Allison, Thomas and their son Parker were some of my favourite wedding clients last summer. I really got to know this young family at their engagement session and had the wonderful opportunity to fly up to Fort Chipewyan to join in the official celebration of the three of them as a family.

However, anyone who knows Thomas will tell you that he’s kind of shy and reserved. In fact, I’m not sure how he made it through all of the pictures on the wedding day, except for the fact that he was doing it to make Allie happy. So she compromised with Thomas when it came to her maternity photos by making focusing on Parker and his soon-to-be born little brother.

While I love having a connection with all of my clients — opening up to each other allows me to capture their true selves — I always feel blessed when I know that we’ve become more than just photographer and client but actually friends. That’s what has happened with Allie, Thomas and Parker. Thank you so much for welcoming me into your lives and for entrusting me with documenting your family’s joy and love. I look forward to the many celebrations to come.

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I’ve known Blake and Candice for a few years as I worked at Keyano College for a short period of time before I decided to go back to school to get my Visual Art Diploma. This was the first time I ever got to meet their children, Nathaniel and Kaleb, as well as Blake’s parents who were visiting from Newfoundland.

It was a beautiful night out in nature and it was definitely kind of a challenge getting some natural photos of the two boys who didn’t really want anything to do with me and my camera. We had good time and managed to get finished before some large storm clouds rolled in.

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It’s always fantastic when I get to see my friends families grow and change, especially in the case of Dawn, Marris and Mariko. I kind of feel as though their little family has grown alongside my business.

Dawn and Marris were some of my first clients when I started doing photography as a business two years ago. I did maternity photos for them and then helped capture some of the first images of Mariko. In fact, we’re celebrating her second birthday tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

So, I was very excited when baby Kenji finally made his appearance. If you think this little guy has a lot of hair, I think his big sister rivaled him when she came out. Either way, this is one pair of good looking children.

Congratulations to the O’Hama/Romaniuk family!

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What do you get the family who has everything? A photography session!

That’s exactly what Patrick’s coworkers did for him and his wife Aimee and their newest family member Archer. I have to admit that I love this little guys name and he was so wellbehaved during our session. Also in having a chat I learned that little Archer was born at around the same time as my friend’s new baby as well. In fact, at one point they apparently shared a hospital room.

Congratulations on your new little baby! I look forward to helping you document more special moments in your family’s story.

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Bringing a child into the world is a blessing and it’s also darn cute when you’re a couple like Elizabeth and Andreas.

I’m not sure how much cajoling was required, but Andreas was up for whatever I suggested that they do. We got together on a sunny Saturday morning and I’m glad the weather was nice for them.

Congratulations! I can’t wait to meet your new little man.

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It’s always great when I meet people who love something as much as I do, and in the case of Kim and Kyle that mutual love is for Fort McMurray.

Both Kim and Kyle were both born and raised here, and while I can’t make the same claim I did move here when I was 2 so I figure that counts for something. Quite often I hear that people like the three of us are rare. It’s not that we’re not still here in Fort McMurray, it’s that we’ve been outnumbered by all of the new people moving in. After all, when I moved away for college in 1999 the population was around 39,000, while they’re projecting that we’re over 100,000 now. What do you think happens when populations double within a decade?

So, when I met with Kim and Kyle I knew that I wanted to go old school Fort McMurray and that they would probably love it too. Knowing that Kim is an elementary school teacher and knowing that I had been wanting to do a session at the “pencil school” as I’ve always known the daycare in Gregoire as, I figured it would be a perfect fit. It was also a bittersweet moment to shoot some photos around the recently closed bowling alley.

You both are fantastic and I wish you the best in your future together!

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Getting the chance to travel and take pictures is always exciting because I get to experience new places and get new inspiration. I also love it when I have clients who enjoy and value photography as much as I do. In fact, Chris loves taking photos himself, but more of objects and scenery.

As well, shooting this wedding was more like visiting with friends, as I have known Tonia for years when we worked together at the Fort McMurray Today, where I also worked with her maid of honor Katherine and bridesmaid Dawn. The best man was Katherine’s fiancé Tyler and the groomsman was Tonia and Chris’s roommate Andrew.

I have to say that I loved Tonia’s sexy dress which very much matched her personality. For her something old she placed an embroidered pin on the back of her dress, be sure to look for it in the gallery. It was such a great idea and a wonderful personal touch.

The day was a beautiful one with the wedding taking place at the Devonian Botanical Gardens in Devon, just southeast of Edmonton. (Don’t believe your vehicle’s GPS if it tells you that it’s located at the UofA campus in the city, that got a few guests lost.) Tonia and Chris got married in a great little alpine garden which kind of reminded of the area in which we live. They had the quirkiest marriage commissioner but he definitely matched their personalities. The other great thing was that we were able to get photos all over the gardens and as a bonus we were the first of four weddings for the day.

Then it was off for a ride in the limo to get a photo over the Edmonton skyline before heading to the Fantasyland Hotel for the reception. As a celebration of Tonia’s heritage, her mom brought an Eagle feather and ink well for people to sign the guestbook with although there was a pen for those who didn’t want to try their hand at it. As well, her grandmother and grandfather made a beautiful and delicious cake.

(I have to admit that I fell a little in love with her grandfather before the ceremony when he wanted to trade me cameras – my new DSLR for his point and shoot. I told him I’d trade him the camera for $3,000 but it didn’t include lenses, to which he replied he would trade his camera but I couldn’t have the battery.)

This group definitely know how to party and they celebrated late into the evening, but I have to admit that I didn’t last.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day. It was definitely a lot of fun.

And in case you’re curious, you can see Tonia and Chris’s engagement photos here.

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This is more of a personal post, but I wanted to share some photos of the Barenaked Ladies concert back in June. I love the Barenaked Ladies, I always have.

I first saw them live at the FLLY Dome here in Fort McMurray. You have to be a long time local to know what I’m talking about but basically it was a big balloon dome that used to sit in the field behind the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre. It was going to be the answer to Fort McMurray’s lack of recreation spaces, especially in the winter. Apparently large balloons don’t keep out the subarctic weather that well and I think the bills got a little high.

When my friends and I went to New York City a few years ago and I found out they were playing Radio City Music Hall I really wanted to go. My one friend asked me, “Why would we go see a Canadian band while we’re in New York?” I couldn’t believe it. I believe I said something along the lines of  “Because it’s the freaking Barenaked Ladies at freaking Radio City Music Hall!” No one else wanted to go though, which made me very sad. They wouldn’t let me go by myself either considering we were tourists, staying in Jamaica, Queens.

Anyway, I was very excited to hear they were coming up here to kick off the Canada Day celebrations. I really wanted to go and enjoy myself so I didn’t bring all of my camera gear, just my D90 (so I could shoot some video) and my 85mm lens.  At some points I wished I had other lens but I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed the show nearly as much.

So, here are some of the photos of the Barenaked Ladies, as well as The Red Threat, a great band from Edmonton, and country singer Jessie Farrell.

A big thanks to Events Wood Buffalo for continuing to bring great entertainment to our city and for putting on such a rocking concert!!

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In the post before this you got to see Sara on her graduation day. It was raining and wet that day but Sara looked so beautiful in her dress that we decided to do another session the next week.

I just loved her sense of style and simplicity with the dress that she wore. It played to her beautiful look and wonderful skin. A big thanks to Desiree from Pretty Momma Makeup for doing her makeup both on the graduation day and for this session.

Here is the second set of images that we made together. Enjoy!

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My second session for a Westwood student was for a young lady named Sara.

She was truly a beautiful woman, both inside and out. I have to say that I really love this young lady’s sense of style and her sleek, modern wedding dress. In fact, I loved it so much that I was excited when Sara agreed to do a Trash the Dress session the next week after her graduation — which you’ll get to see in another post.

It was funny when Sara’s date showed up, as his father was my high school science teacher back when I went to Composite High School. Then we met up with a group of Sara’s friends who all go some photos together.

Thanks for a fun time Sara!

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