we’re a tad bit excited about April!

join us in our first styled shoot by sending us a photo of you and your sweetheart and a few sentences that tell us about you! Our final couple will be chosen by random selection on April 1 2012. Have fun!!

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Pink Velvet Cupcake Recipe
Makes approx 24 cupcakes
Adapted from Taste Of Home

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

1 cup of butter softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
Pink food coloring
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.   Once light and fluffy add your pink food coloring.  Start with a small amount and increase to reach your desired shade of pink.  Blend well with butter and sugar.

Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add in vanilla and beat well.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.   Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter and beat until well combined.  Add in 1/2 of the butter milk, beat until combined, followed by another 1/3 of the dry, then the remaining buttermilk and finally the remaining dry ingredients.    The batter may look a bit lumpy after buttermilk is first added, but beat well and it will combine nicely.

Fill paper lined muffin cups two-thirds full and bake at 350 degrees for approx 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Watch the cupcakes closely in the last few minutes of baking so that they do not over brown.    Allow to cool for ten minutes before removing from pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

My Favorite Buttercream Recipe

1 stick of butter softened
2 tablespoons of Crisco
1 two pound bag of powdered confectioners sugar – (I used about 2/3 of the bag)
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 teaspoon of salt – (optional)
Whipping cream

Blend your butter, Crisco and vanilla together, adding in the powdered sugar and salt.   The mixture will be very dry.  Slow start adding your whipping cream, about one tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.   I find that I prefer my frosting firmer for some recipes and softer for others, so I do not have a standard amount of whipping cream that I use.    Once you have reached the desired consistency, beat for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Click here for your own download printable copy of this reciepe!

My dad mowed our Manitoba back 40 on Christmas Eve. Just because he could. An out-of-the-blue decision turned out to be a family affair and so much fun! Fired up the old Cockshutt 20, with his family cheering him on and not a speck of snow to be seen –  he was happier than seagull with a french fry!

Look at that grin!! I love my dad, he’s the best : )

i even love the perfect size of their catalogue and how it fits in my purse, just right!

if there was ever a clothing company that could convice me that i could be cool too if I dressed like this…

its them. see what i mean?

brides - j.crew does weddings! get inspired. you can be connected with your own stylist from j.crew to help you coordinate your wedding party looks! they’re pretty much the best thing since, um sliced bread.

i wore j.crew pearly bracelets + my girls each picked their own j.crew dress.

]]> http://elementphotography.biz/2012/01/j-crew/feed/ 0 http://elementphotography.biz/2012/01/most-inspiring-wedding-photographers-of-2012-wedding-bells-magazine/ http://elementphotography.biz/2012/01/most-inspiring-wedding-photographers-of-2012-wedding-bells-magazine/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:01:00 +0000 erika http://elementphotography.biz/?p=5498

I’m still in disbelief. I almost deleted the email by accident on my iphone. I paused a second and instead opened it without reading the subject line in full. I burst out in a fit of giggles (alone) in the coffee room at work. I stared at it for what felt like an eternity as it sunk in. I was just chosen by Weddingbells Magazine as “One of the 25 most inspiring wedding photographers of 2012″. say whaaat?! me? so fun. Thank you Weddingbells.ca for being so supportive of photographers like me and for the acknowledgement.

Make sure you check out the link. There’s a heck of a lot of talent going on over there!

Thank you to my brides + grooms for your quirky creativity! High fives everybody and back flips (if I could). Thanks for the massive support!

i’m loving all the goal setting i read about online in early January. Something so refreshing about it all. So I decided to start my own! With the new year kicking off with a big move to Vancouver Island, new jobs for M + myself things are off to a rockin’ sort of DREAM BIG start. and we love it! I’ll round off the post with some photos of my family absolutely killing the first annual Pfahl family Christmas photobooth. i hope you laugh, a lot. we did!

1. spend more time with M + my family

2. eat clean (trendy but what the heck)

3. develop regular workout habits

4. keep in better touch – call all my friends + family more often..facetime, skype, emails, texts or good ol’ snail mail. Im going to make it happen!

5. be positive

6. invest in slideshows for my clients

7. learn more about flash + lighting

8. attend CPhA conference with my dad (i skipped out last year)

9. take another thai cooking class

10. go on a missions trip

11. book fall/winter holiday with aeroplan points

12. start making designs for house plans – dream big?!

13. lend a hand  to my friend Sara around bird’s eye cove farm – however i can be of most help. Water girl??

14. plan to make more time for life – work a little less!

15. allocate more quality time in prayer + the word

16. laugh daily, and try to race M to be the first to make the other laugh daily. we’re slightly competitive so this should be fun!

17. start pinning new ideas for a blog rebrand + reVAMP!

18. plan a spring trip to Manitoba + another Christmas trip. Lots of babies coming in 2012 to cuddle : )

19. DIY DIY DIY! give my new home some style. good thing M’s handy!

Please excuse the hiccups, twitches, rapid eye movements, umm’s and gahhhs. Its realllllly hard to talk to a camera. Honestly, how many times can i say “awesome” in 53 seconds?? Awkward much? hehehhe

Quick re-cap…

How to play

1. Find your favorite bride + groom on the element photography facebook page in their “CONTEST” album

2. Click the LIKE BUTTON to cast your vote. No need to do anything else. easy peasy! No comment votes required. But feel free to leave love!!

Thanks for playing : ) Happy Hollllla-days!!

An email popped up in my inbox last January with the subject line ‘love food’. who me? Why yesss I do! So I opened it up and was greeted by a warm email from Todd the owner/manager of Shores Lakeside Restaurant + the Sol Grill here in Osoyoos.  Sol is one of my favorite restaurants to hit up for nice night out with Malcolm and my friends. I love the quiet atmosphere, delish appy  menu, the vaulted ceilings and the stunning views of lake Osoyoos. Shores is the best for breakfast, hands down! Todd was looking for some food photography highlighting some of the tastiest dishes from both Shores + Sol. I stepped out of my comfort zone (food photography was a first for me) and  jumped at the opportunity to help out a friend! Below is a peek at the droolworthy menu and the 3 small plates that always appear on my table.

My top 3 favorite things from the Sol menu are (drum roll please…)

#1 spinach artichoke dip

#2 white french onion soup au gratin with poire williams, roasted garlic + gruyere cheese

#3 edamame with blue crab stuffed wontons

Osoyoos can turn into a bit of a sleepy town this time of year so Sol is giving you a reason to have a night out on the town…

WEDNESDAY  + THURSDAY nights starting at 430pm Sol is featuring a tasting plate + a 6 oz pour of an Okanagan Valley Wine for $12

(the tasting plate has 6 items including the prosciutto wrapped aspargus pictured below and my fav the french onion soup!)

***AND FOR element photography readers….FRIDAY + SATURDAY nights mention “element photoshoot” and receive 10% off!!! Valid until Jan 15 2012, and excluding New Years Eve***  THANK YOU TODD!!

i feel a little date night coming on….hey Malcolm??

Jumbo prawn cocktail!

Chef Nelson with my #1 favorite – spinach artichoke dip!

new york steak + lobster tail!

butter-garlic wings!

prosciutto wrapped asparagus!

mecca burger!

veggie pizza!

Don’t forget!!

WEDNESDAY  + THURSDAY nights starting at 430pm Sol is featuring a tasting plate + a 6 oz pour of an Okanagan Valley Wine for $12

FRIDAY + SATURDAY nights mention “element photoshoot” and receive 10% off!!! Valid until Jan 15 2012, and excluding New Years Eve

Cass + Ken sweet couple from Vernon who I met a few years back on the streets of Osoyoos. A fun loving couple always up for an adventure, were always looking for an opportunity to bring Malcolm + I to famous Douglas Lake Ranch where the two of them grew up! Douglas Lake Ranch is Canada’s Largest Working Cattle Ranch. With a current cattle herd of approximately 20,000 head. It was established way back in 1884 and is a sprawling half a million acres. Loads of history in all the buildings and landmarks. Ken used to cowboy on the ranch and was eager to show us the sites! We jumped at the opportunity a few weekends ago and toured the home ranch, visited with Ken’s family and made our way into the back 40 – errr – 400 000 to send the night huddled up in a historic cowboy bunker. We got the fireplace roaring, broke out the table games, lit the propane lamps and had such a great time!

I’ll also mention that  Cassandra + Ken celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary the summer!! So naturally some photos to mark the occasion : ) these two – just beautiful, in and out.