Element Photography

A few of our favorite images from Jessica + Elliott’s rooftop wedding in Gastown last weekend! More to follow.

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we travelled to San Francisco for a quick weekend get-away and to check a BIG item off our bucket list – see the ROLLING STONES on their 50th anniversary tour! As luck would have it we were able to score $85 tickets as 1000 seats in the arena were released at this ridiculous steal of a deal (regular priced tickets started at $200). We were ecstatic to say the least. M is a long long time fan pretty much exclusively to the stones, and well a few country artists too. We spent an evening sampling various food carts at famous fisherman’s wharf – clam chowder sourdough bread bowls – my personal favorite. The next morning we hit up Alameda to check out the Northern Cali’s largest antique flea market.  It was a joy to wander through the vendors all 800+ of them! Alameda did not disappoint! my only regret is that we didnt have a UHAUL truck + trailer!! ugh a wee bit painful to leave some of those treasures behind but next time i’ll be ready ; )

We rented bicycles and toured various districts of San Fran. We shoppped at Anthro. We saw the golden gate bridge. We reminsed about our full house days.

we rocked our socks right off with the Stones. we danced. we sang along with every song.

snapped from my iphone (above)

so tell me what’s your all time favorite Stones song??

AJ met Mandi in 2003. He would regularly meet with clients and other relators in the same restaurant, at the same table, looking for the same waitress. Cue Mandi – the gorgeous and witty waitress that caught AJ’s eye. For 5 years he repeatedly visited the same local always chatting with Mandi but never taking it further than that as far as he was aware she had a boyfriend. It wasn’t until one day he was there with a business associate of his. When she approached the table he took a leap and introduced Mandi to his friend “This is Mandi, she is my future wife – she just doesn’t know it yet”. As luck would have it, she had just recently become single and agreed to one unsuspecting lunch which turned into dinner which turned into 5 years of adventure. Mandi + AJ are a perfect pair they will celebrate their 5 year “dating” anniversary this year with a wedding!

Mandi + AJ are a couple that are so genuinely happy, they are driven, romantics, they are well put together and have a strong foundation to build a BIG ol’ life on. When I asked them about some of their ‘favorites’ they replied with “Ethnic foods, funky music, fast cars and foreign lands” – Mandi threw in Orchids, white, hiking and sunshine. Mmm sounds good to me too! I think we are going to get along just fine *wink*.

In September these two will become husband and wife. Being the awesome couple that they are they are planning a ridiculously fabulous wedding! I am so happy to be photographing their Cedar Creek Estate Winery wedding and Laurel Packinghouse reception, styled by Stage it Right (Yes! Very excited to see all their plans come to fruition!).

I was thrilled the rain held off for their engagement session last on my last trip to Osoyoos…  the sun peaked our juuust a bit but I love the muted light the overcast skies left us to work with! Get comfy friends…this one’s worth scrolling alllll the way to the end!

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we like you. like us too!

“… I love my morning coffee, not because it wakes me up but because it makes me feel comfortable with a new day”

Darci + Chris a first got connected on plenty of fish about 3 years ago, and after a few online chats decided to meet up at Lennox pub downtown Vancouver. It wasn’t long after that first meet up, that they met again, and again and….again. The pair have nearly inseparable ever since! These two are quirky and fun loving, they love a good dubstep, art (Chris is a fellow photog! Check out his work here.), color, music festivals, and tattoos. Note – Darci is a very talented and passionate Vancouver Tattoo Artist @ Electro-LadyLux! You can check out her facebook page here and website here! It was such a breeze photographing Darci + Chris capturing them as they loved on each other and joked around in such a casual and relaxed way.  I especially loved how easily they fell into each other, such a quiet but natural ebb and flow about them.

And they love to dance. Amazing right?

D+C are our first couple to book for our 2014 wedding season and we cannot wait to join them in Furry Creek to cheer them on as they say “I do!”.

make-up // Tracy Cake Makeup & More

I got connected with Sarah + Kevin because I randomly liked her profile picture after I saw her name pop up on the Bird’s Eye Cove Farm facebook page. No lie! I sent her a personal message about how rad I thought her profile pic was and reassured her that Bird’s Eye Cove is an amazing venue (if you have been following me for a while you know that Malcolm + I were the first to marry there back in 2010 and the Bird’s Eye Cove family are looong time family friend of ours).

She writes back to me…

"Hi Erika,
I can't believe the amount of coincidences associated with our wedding.

And if you are the couples pictures I saw online (below) then you are

the reason we found out about Bird's Eye Cove Farm in the first place.

Kevin and I were on google and looking at images of

Barn weddings and came across the attached photo. We LOVED it!

And through reading the blog the picture came from we decided we needed

to call that location ASAP."

 yup. that’s us!

(photo cred – Jamie Delaine Photography)

We met for coffee last summer, they were off to Manitoba for a visit – my homeland (coincidences continue!). We chatted up a storm and booked their 2013 wedding! This spring I chased them around pastures and through the streets of Cowichan Bay dodging rain clouds and mud puddles. These two are a HOOT! Hard to keep a straight face while photographing them. There were lots of jokes and mad tv quotes getting passed around all afternoon…and the results look like this : )

enjoy the photos.

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On a blustery Osoyoos morning last weekend I had the privilege of meeting up with Jodi + Morgan and their brand new baby boy Clark! Little Clark was 10 days new at his very first photo shoot and oh-so-tiny too.  Jodi + Morgan quietly doted on him while lil’ man exercised his lungs for us periodically throughout our session. See Clark had his own plans for the photo session, 10 days new and he didn’t want to miss a thing! I especially love some of the in between photos of Jodi + Morgan loving on Clark, its clear that parenthood comes very naturally to these two! With so much love around him I know he is set up for a sweet little life. I can’t wait to watch lil’ Clark grow up with all of his other little Osoyoos friends : )

This weekend in Osoyoos I met up with Mandi + Aj for an afternoon photo session. There was so much love sweet love between these two – such a perfect pair!

Here are a couple of my favorite frames from our session, more photos coming in the next few weeks! Make sure to catch up with element photography on facebook to know when the full session drops : )

This weekend Leeza and reunited and kicked off our wedding season with a beautiful day discovering Granville Island with the sweetest pair – Darci + Chris. I thought I might be able to title this post – just two – but its impossible.  Who are we kidding here. There was so much love going down between D + C I could not simply choose two. So here is five instead! *wink*

follow element photography on facebook – pssst we are giving away something for FREE!

surprise sneak peek! more photos of the hilarious Sarah + Kevin coming soon – join us on Facebook and be the first to know!

My friend Sidney has an UH-amazing opportunity to travel to Rwanda + Kenya this spring to offer help to a country that is in great need. See Sid is a student at Bible School at Word of Life church in Red Deer, AB. She will be working with an organization called Home of Hope and will working on a number of interesting projects including feeding and caring for babies in an Orphanage rescued from the local 30 acre dump.  Yes, the poverty is so bad women literally throw their babies in the dump… but Home of Hope is working hard to change this harsh reality.

Home of Hope is a non-profit, Red Deer based organization dedicated to helping desperate children in Haiti, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo, and India. Through a monthly sponsorship program, Home of Hope is helping hundreds of children and orphans. Many children are going to school for the first time,  they have dozens of orphanages in each of these countries so that kids are no longer living on the street, and they are feeding over 2200 children daily who would otherwise be digging through dumps to find scraps to eat. They are also helping widows and women with microloans to start small businesses in order to provide for themselves and their families. Sidney’s heart for these children is so big and her realistic outlook on the support she will be able to provide to the lives of the childern she will care for in Africa is honorable. She is working hard to raise $4000 that will help her get to Africa and help thousand’s of children that Home of Hope is involved with. Any extra funds that she raises she will be able to distribute where she identifies a need! For example, she is raising money to buy pigs. These pigs only cost us $35. However, to the people in Kenya and Rwanda, one pig will literally change a whole family’s’ lives by giving them a way to make money for years and years to come. Also, for every $1 given she will personally be able to give a meal to 1 child. Therefore, $100 can feed 100 children who would otherwise be digging through the dump to find something to eat!

Mission work is something that Malcolm + I have felt a calling to do for a very long time. We are waiting and prayerfully seeking the right opportunity for us. In the meantime we happily GIVE AND SUPPORT our friends in the field as we know that the assistance that they lend to other’s will help make another’s life a little brighter.

Sidney has less than ONE MONTH to raise just $1200 more to meet her minimum goal of $4000. Every little bit helps and every bit of excess will go directly to a child in need – hand delivered by Sidney.

In closing a little word from Sidney + info and how you can help : )

“I am so excited for my trip to Africa next month. There’s so much need in Africa and though I can’t change a whole country I am so overjoyed to go and make a difference in the lives of the people and children that I come in contact with while I am there. It is such an honour to give what I have in order to make someone else’s life a little better. All I can ask is that you would be able to support me as I go, knowing that your gift will have a gigantic impact.  To send your support make out a cheque to Home of Hope with my name (Sidney Pankratz) in the memo and then send to: Home of Hope RR4 Site 4 Box 50 Red Deer, AB Canada T4N5E4 . Again, thank you so very much for helping me get to Africa and making a difference!”

Spread the word! Let’s send Sid to Africa!