Element Photography

 What a busy couple of months its been!  I know the posts have been a little few and far between, but I’ve got lots of good things coming your way soon!

I’d like to share with you a mini family session that I did back in the Spring with the Bayda family. What started out as a just for fun shoot with the girls turned into a fun family session when the weather co-operated and turned out Jason had the day off too! Perfect! So we explored around town, I tried out a few different things with my equipment and had a great afternoon together! Thanks you guys for helping me out with this one and sorry for the loooong posting delay!

Have a great Monday!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my summer sessions are all booked up! Taking a bit of time off this summer to celebrate my own wedding so sorry to those that I could not accomodate! There are still some openings for fall session!

And because a post would not be complete without a few photos here are some from a recent hike on to Terrace Mountain. You may have heard about a devastating fire last summer near Kelowna? These are some pictures from nearly a year later. M and I did a hike there last weekend, he picked a bunch of wild Morrel mushrooms and I took pictures. And then we got chased out by Mozies in droves! eeeeps!

How crazy for me to be caught on the other side of the camera! Pretty much up until this point the only person snapping the odd photo of my was one of my best gals Becky Radtke from B2 photography, my original partner in crime from back in the day when we picked up our first film SLR’s and would go out and shoot each other endlessly! We still get together and just go shooting each other for fun. when Im back in Manitoba. It takes a little more planning these days as grown-up life and distance keeps us apart. And truth is it makes me a littttle bit sad sometimes that we can’t shoot together more cause it sure is alot of fun, and that we don’t have that office with the purple chandelier in an old warehouse building in downtown Winnipeg…well we don’t right now…but maybe one day! Who knows!! In anycase we have a rock solid friendship and we cheer each other on in all of our photography ventures sharing tips and tricks we learn along the way!

This is my girl B from this Spring (see her version of this just for fun shoot  HERE)

And a couple from back in the day…. 2000 ish??…film images…we’ve come along way ; )  These photos make us LAUGH! So feel free to join us!

SO what if getting my photo takent felt a little strange, it was only for like the first 5 minutes…truth. And its because Jamie is wonderful!  Not only is she a terrific photographer, she is funny AND cute to boot. She made us feel so comfortable and chatted with us like she had known M and I for along time, just like a good friend would. If you haven’t heard about this girl click, click, click as fast as you can to www.jamiedelaine.com and take a look around!

Our photos were taken in Whiterock, BC over Easter weekend. We had attempted a shoot for Good Friday but when I woke up Friday morning it was drizzling outside…typical west coast weather I thought to myself. Once we got into Vancouver it was a full on monsoon with gail force winds. Enroute to Vancouver Island to spend a little time with family and friends we were unsure as to whether we would even make it onto the ferry. The radio announced that Horseshoe Bay had shut down so we took a gamble and drove as quickly as we could to the Tswaassen terminal. Signs said OPEN! PHEW made it. After one of my rockiest and wildest ferry rides to-date where people were wobbling back and forth across the isles on board, and even tossing their cookies. ew! Waves splashing over the lower decks…it was crazy but we finally made it! Had a great weekend visiting and then luckily for us coming home was much simpler and safer.  When we pulled into Whiterock  to meet up with Jamie the clouds at Crescent beach started to break up and it made for the most beautiful evening of the weekend!! Here are a few of my favorites from our session. And MORE can be found here !

looong post! Im spent. Good night y’all!

I snapped a few photos of my not-so-little brother back when I was at home in May. He’s funny and his name is Carl. A little quirky, witty and his friends call him Curby. I wish I could be a little closer just to hang with this guy. He will make you laugh to you cry and always always has the best come-back. Like a missle in the water….he’ll getcha every time.  I’ve got so many hiliarious memories of the shenanigans we used to get into. Like the time we tried to make rice crispie cake when I was baby-sitting him…at the time me 12 y him 9 yrs old…where we tried to do it on the stove, cereal and all, tried to mix it in a bowl that was much to small. We even sprayed the glass baking sheet in Pam. When it came out rock hard and like a piece of styrofoam on a slip-in-slide inside the glass baking sheet, Mom ate in anyway. Being the good Mom that she is she showed us a better way to make it even using the microwave and a massive bowl.  As we watch her use the bright yellow tupperware bowl to mix the cereal in with the mashmallowy goodness Carl sighs,” that’s where we went wrong”. 

Oh and the day we got our little Honda 50 dirtbike, Carl was 6. Spoting his oversized orange helmet and somewhat resembling a miniture bobble head. He got on, gunned the throttle and ran it straight into the house about 30 yrds away. Picked himself up off the ground and througha bloody nose and a few tears announced “I’m not riding that thing again till im 91!!”.  Lucky for me I didnt have to share for a few days!! Unfortunately he forgot about the 91 thing and eventually dominated the farm yard on that little red rocket.

Wow and now Carl’s going to be a teacher!! Starting the Business Education program through the U of W this fall!! WAY TO GO!!!!   Congrats Carl Im super proud of you!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was back in my old stompin’ grounds of Southern Manitoba. The weather was spring-like and pretty soggy. I had plans to meet up and shoot some photos mid-week, so I had my fingers crossed that the weather would hold out! Lucky for me it actually did!

Meet my friend Kari Dalke, and her sister Kim!  I fell in love with Kari’s rad projects from her etsy site Dovetree! Check it out for all things pretty, lacy, and wooly!!  Im fascinated by her rad style! I love quirky, different things, “where did you get that its so unique” kinds of things.  Kari’s super talented, after spending a couple hours shooting her fun designs, I took a dress home for myself!! I couldn’t help it. I love them.  She is designing my hair piece for my upcoming wedding too.  Can’t wait to see what she comes up with after the summer when she becomes self-employed…I suspect I’ll be making a few more purchases!

Shout out to Russ Dueck another photographer friend-o-mine who joined us girls last minute, for some dress up fun! Had a blast!!

On Sunday we surprise my good friend Lori for her birthday! Lucky girl got hooked up with this tasty cake! The theme of the birthday was RED, so we all dressed up in  Lori’s favorite color.  And even the cake came ”dressed” to party! Defying all laws of gravity the cake sported a dazzling strapless gown.  I was clearly dumbfounded by the greatness of the cake, I mean HOW does a cake come out looking like a dress?? Certainly no cake of mine! Lucky for me Rachel asked me to show her a few tricks on her new camera, while she enlightened me on a few of her design tricks. So I snapped away and got to get upclose and personal with the cake in red. The mastermind behind Artistic Creations, Rachel makes delicioussss cake like this! With loads of experience in cake design and enough energy to assist with “day-of” wedding cordination, ladies this is a girl you must get to know! 

We had talked about getting our passport done for months, almost, but not quiet as long as we had talked about snapping some “feel good” photos.  Meet my girlfriend Karen. What started off as a simple trip to get our passports re-newed turned into a full day adventure of hunting for vintage finds, crossing our fingers to win a weekend in Vancouver to see the Black Eyed Peas, quick stops at our favorite shops, and great conversation! Karen is such a sweet heart, the kind of girl that goes out of her way for you, laughs with you and shares stories that pull on your heart stings. 2009 was a tough year for this little love.  But Karen is a resilient woman, and her love for her friends, and her God have helped her through the tough bits. When she brought up the idea of a lil’ photo sesh of course I jumped at it, who wouldn’t just look at those eyes! And while we didnt know quite where the day would lead we couldn’t help but pull over when we saw this wild orange couch with a sign that read “free” sitting on the side of the road!  Go ahead and share some love and support on the blog for this sweet thing, afterall who couldn’t use a little love??

Sarah Rhoads is a photographer that absolutely inspires me.  Her perception of the world through a lense make you step back and really notice the little things, her perspective is remarkabley unique. I love the way she shoots and I love the way she writes. A few weeks ago she posted a blog about self portraits. And it made me realize that I have not taken any honest photos of Malcolm or myself in what seemed like a very long time! More often than not I get so busy editing, proofing and posting other clients materials that many of my own personal photos get put on the back burner for “when I have time”.  Well, last Sunday I found some time. That afternoon we went Christmas tree hunting up on Anarchist mountain. I toted my camera along and this time made a point to capture images of us through out the day.  As I reflected on the love and laughs we shared that day as we tromped through the snow  it reminded me of what is most important in my life, and allowed me time to reflect. Just like Sarah said,  ”internal self-exploration is powerful and seems to be a therapeutic and beneficial practice for every creative”. I couldn’t agree more, plus  how else will we remember what we looked like, what we explored and the places we went?

Next I hope to find time to wrap up my photos from Australia. Stay tuned!

It’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when on Dec 2/09  this is the sight of your backyard. Feels like this has been the longest transition between seasons…we are waiting and waiting for Winter to start.  I’ve been wishing for some white stuff for the last couple of weeks, but still no flakes in sight!! The local mountains have been getting loads of it though which makes me very happy. I can hardly wait to strap on my board and hit the slopes!!!

I snapped this pano earlier this month on November 1, 2009. What a beautiful day, the lake was so still it made for some awesome reflections!! I thought it would be a great opportunity to practice shooting some pano’s. Shot from the top of Anarchist mountain after scoping out the local Mountain goat with Malcolm. Such a rare site to see that Billy sunning himself on the mountain side, he was a little to far away or I would have snapped a photo of him too!  Here you can see the town of Osoyoos, Haynes Point, Lake Osoyoos and even the American border.

This is where I get to live??     Somebody pinch me!!!!!