Emery @ Four : : Kitchener Children's Photographer

My baby is four!  I can't believe how much she is growing and changing every day.  It makes my heart ache for the days when she was a babe in my arms.  But, alas, those days are quickly fading into memory as my little angel blazes her own trail out into the world. I took Emery out on a beautiful, sunny afternoon to do her fourth birthday session and we had a blast!  I must admit, there was a significant bribe of TWO donuts for good behaviour and cooperation, but I really think I could have done without, she was so great.  We headed downtown for a bit of an urban feel and to take advantage of all the great colours and textures of the buildings.  I should mention that she did have shoes for the shoot, but complained so loudly that they were pinching that I agreed to let her go barefoot.  Yes, I made sure there was no glass before I plunked her down!

Like most mothers, I think my children are the cutest kids on Earth, so this post has A LOT of images.  I know that her Nanny and Poppy in Newfoundland won't mind looking at more than one! ;)

She is such a ham and loves to be silly.  The next couple of images show her as she truly is, a little monkey who loves to laugh and smile.

I love you Emery Mary Violet and I am so excited to see where your go and how you get there.  Mommy and Daddy and Brielle are so proud of you.

~M

52 Weeks - Weeks 32 and 33

I know, I know, I missed a few weeks.  Life just got away from me and my blog had to suffer in silence.  But now I'm back and the posts will flow once more! My girls were headed to school over these 2 weeks and I wanted to share a couple of images from their first days.  I would like to point out that they chose their own outfits and it is entirely coincidental that they both chose to wear shades of blue.  However, it does make creating a coordinating blog post a little easier, so my anal-rententive heart is smiling just a little more than usual!

First up is Emery, my kindergarten girl.  She was so excited to be starting "big girl" school this year, even though her fourth birthday was only the day before she began!  I must admit, I was more sad to have her start than I was for my oldest, probably because she is my baby and still so young.  I had to miss seeing her off on her first day (which is probably better, I definitely would have been crying) but Daddy reported that she was nothing but smiles.  She is a funny, sweet, compassionate girl who is the first to comfort others if they are sad or hurt.  I know she is going to be growing so fast over the next few months - mentally, emotionally and physically - but I wish she would just stay my baby forever.  Every mother's lament.

Next is my oldest, Brielle.  At six years old,  she is already smarter, sassier and more charming than I have even been in my whole life. Seriously.  She has lots of opinions and loves to tell you what they are, but is a kind friend and a wonderful big sister.  She is off to Grade 1 French Immersion this year and I am so proud of how well she has handled being at school everyday (at least so far...I'm not expecting this cooperation to last!).  The first week she was already saying "Est-ce que je peux aller au toilet?".  Oh boy, I see an adventure to Paris in her future...

My girls are off into the world and all I can do is hope that I have adequately prepared them for all its challenges.

~M

Summer Evening Light :: Kitchener Family Photographer

There is nothing more gorgeous than evening light in the dying days of summer. Rich, warm and bright, it is every photographer's ideal.  As the nights become cooler and the leaves prepare to turn, that beautiful light reminds me that summer is not yet ready to let go of her magic. I headed out on a beautiful, though slightly windy evening to take some family portraits for my dear friend, Jaime, and her beautiful family.  I have known Jaime since Grade 3 and we made it all the way through high school together.  Needless to say, we have plenty of great times to reminisce about every time we ge together, which is usually one evening a week for a rousing game of Boggle (yes, Boggle is exciting for us!).

I am lucky to have such great friends.

This charmer is little Miss Rachel, who recently celebrated her first birthday!  We took some time to get a few extra shots in honour of her big milestone.

Her big sister Sophie also celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago, turning three!  She is exceptionally bright and inquisitive for her age and certainly keeps her parents on their toes!

One Hour Photo #3 :: Kitchener Children's Photographer

Hair is my nemesis.  This may sound a bit extreme, but I can assure you, it is true.  Cursed (or blessed, according to everyone else) with extremely curly hair, I have battled my hair for the last twenty-five years in a desperate struggle for manageability.  It corkscrews, tangles, poofs, frizzes and requires frequent attacks with the stylist's thinning shears.  When I had my girls, I worried that they might face the same trials, especially when their little toddler curls appeared. Fortunately, they both have straight-ish hair with some minor curling and waving.  My oldest, Brielle, has extremely thick hair, with a straight layer on the surface and a curly  layer underneath, forcing me to now do battle twice daily, once with my own hair and once with hers.  She is not exactly cooperative, yet another reason that hair is my nemesis.

My youngest, Emery, somehow ended up with fairly thin, easy-to-brush hair.  Since my husband comes from a long line of bristle-haired heads, we are not sure what happened to give her such fine hair.  Don't worry, she does have a reason to make her hair my nemesis too.  I like to call it the rat tail, the low hawk, or the undercover mullet.  Basically, the hair in back of her head grows at three times the rate of the sides, so she always ends up with this long straggly bit at the back.  I can brush it out beautifully, and it looks okay, but within five minutes it has sort of clumped together to reform the hideous rat tail that looks like it belongs on a street urchin.  Are there really street urchins anymore?  Hmm, that is a whole other post...

School is just around the corner, and usually I take the girls for a fresh haircut at the end of the summer.  But last night, after brushing Emery's hair for the millionth time in a pointless attack against the low hawk, I decided I just couldn't stand to look at it anymore.  I bathed her, sat on her on the kitchen counter and cut off the offending hair.  Ahh, that looks so much better.

Sort of.  Maybe I should have waited for the pros to handle it?  I think I left enough to work with?  Oh well, it will grow back, right?

This morning, is the glaring light of day, it seems my trim was perhaps a bit hasty, not entirely even and frankly a bit of a hack job.  But Emery thinks she looks fab and even offered to pose for a picture (without a bribe!!).  So here it is, not from the back because I wouldn't want to offend any hairstylists out there, but from the front, where her beautiful face can distract the viewer!  LOL

This image took 32 minutes, including processing.  She ran away after a couple of snaps or it would have been longer!

Mandy

Blog Carousel - Summer Nights : : Cambridge Children's Photographer

Being a photographer can be a lonely profession.  After the fun of the session or event is over, there are many hours spent in isolation hunched over the computer; reviewing, editing, ordering, blog posting and scanning blogs and forums for inspiration.  To avoid full hermit-status, I am lucky enough to have found a wonderful group of ladies (who happen to be fellow photographers) to gather for a night out of food, drink and lots of photography talk!  We have been known to be the last table out of the restaurant, oblivious to the hovering staff who are eager to depart. A while ago it was suggested that as a group we should try a blog carousel.  Okay, I admit it, it was my idea.  Am I brilliant, or what?  LOL   Actually, it just so happens that I think that my friends are very talented photographers and I want you to see their gorgeous images and creative ideas.

My image for the theme "Summer Nights" was taken during a visit to Valens Conservation Area a few weeks ago.  You can see more images from this excursion here.  This image was included in the storyboards I created for that post, but I loved it so much I had to use it for the carousel (and make it a canvas for my wall!).

To me this image captures one way to spend a perfect summer night: fishing with a sturdy stick, some fishing line, a hook and a worm, waiting excitedly but patiently for the fish to bite.  I spent so many wonderful summer evenings fishing on the docks in my hometown of Port Elgin, with the sun setting around me and my sand bucket full of tiny perch.  Such a simple pleasure but one that I love sharing with my girls.

Check out my friend Sandra Medeiros' interpretation of the theme "Summer Nights" here.  She is an amazing wedding and portrait photographer and also happens to be my classmate at photography school!

Mandy

52 Weeks - Week 25 and Week 26 : : Twillingate, NL Photographer

Well, vacation is over and it is time to face the real world again. Sigh. I spent my time off with my husband and girls, visiting my wonderful in-laws in Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador.  Well, technically we were in the community of Durrell, which is on Twillingate Island and part of the larger almagamated community.  We spend time every summer soaking in the salt air, the cooler temperatures and the warmth and love of our huge extended family.  This beautiful town and its people have found a place in my heart and soul, and every year I look forward to "going home".

There is no place in the world like Twillingate, or Newfoundland in general, for that matter.  In some ways it feels like you are stepping back in time.  While there are plenty of modern amenities, many of the residents still adhere to their strong values and traditions.  These include catching cod, gutting and cleaning them on their stages and then drying the filets on racks, catching capelin with a cast net, baking homemade bread on a regular basis, keeping a family vegetable garden and putting clothes out on the line to dry in the salt breeze.

It gives me such a nostalgic feeling seeing clothes hanging out on the line.  It is a rare sight here in suburban Ontario, and it reminds me of helping my grandmother pin clothes to her line.  In Twillingate, nearly every home has a long, sturdy clothesline out back, weighed down on sunny days with all the family's laundry.

I love the simple life.

Mandy

Summer Day : : Kitchener Family Photographer

Yesterday we spent the day at a local tourist getaway, Valens Conservation Area.  Located between Hamilton and Cambridge, it has a small beach, lots of camping sites, barbeque pits and hiking trails galore.  The perfect place to spend a gorgeous summer day. We were invited by my best friend, who was camping with her godson and friends, to come out for the day to enjoy the conservation area's natural beauty.  So we packed a lunch, grabbed our swimsuits, bug spray and sunscreen and jumped into Vannicus Maximus (my name for our minivan).  Needless to say, we had a fantastic day swimming, hiking, fishing and enjoying camping life.  A campfire and S'mores rounded out the day and we climbed back into the van for the voyage back to reality, sunburned, dirty and gleefully bone-tired.

52 Weeks - Week 24 : : Kitchener Photographer

Okay, I have to admit this right off the top:  This is not an image from this week. I took it when I was at the cottage a couple of weeks ago, enjoying a relaxing weekend with my family. One of my favourite things about summer is wildflowers.  I love seeing them bloom at the side of the road, in fallow fields, in parks, on trails and in my own backyard.  There is something so quintessentially summer about a bouquet of wildflowers and I can never resist collecting a bunch when I am out walking.  I even keep a small pair of scissors in my car in case I drive past a particulary beautiful cluster (okay, that sounds WAY more kooky when I write it down!).  A bouquet of wildflowers on my table makes my heart smile, what can I say?

I entitled this image Summer Blooms.

One Hour Photo # 2 : : Kitchener Children's Photographer

I really loved the challenge of One Hour Photo the last time I tried it out.  It is a great way to force myself be creative and organized in a short span of time.  This time around, I had a bit of extra time, so I decided that I would attempt to imclude my post-processing time in the hour! My girls had been at the sitter's and were running through the sprinkler nearly all day long.  They were soaked, in their undies (because I forgot to send swimsuits), covered in grass and other undetermined debris,  and I sent them straight to the bathtub when they stepped through the door.  I decided it was the perfect chance to get some images, since usually they are in the tub at night and the light is atrocious.  Every time I try to get pictures of them in the tub they are too grainy and blurry to even try to process.  This is because we have an older home and our tub is not a lovely reflective white.  Oh no, it is urine yellow with black accents, as are the walls, counter, toilet, sink.  It even has a lovely tropical flamingo mural to enjoy while you are sudsing-up!  Not the easiest environment to get nice images.  But that is a whole other post...

I really wanted to get a candid shot of the girls together in the tub, but my little darlings, who I can't usually convince to look directly at the camera, insisted on posing and mugging like crazy.  Sigh.  Finally I decided I was going to have to take what I could get and just let them look at me.  The resulting image was my favourite of the whole shoot.  I just love the angle, the framing and their expressions.  I think I might even enlarge it and put it in the hall outside the bathroom (because the bathroom walls are covered in huge, impenetrable,  formica tiles).

Here is the image, entitled Tub Time.

After I got the girls out of the tub, dried and into fresh clothes.  I went to let out the water in the tub.  They had left their toys  behind and I couldn't resist snapping a shot.  I have entitled this image Secret Synchro Practice.

Just for the record, I completed this round of One Hour Photo in exactly 53 minutes and 13 seconds, including processing for both images! Ta-da!!!

52 Weeks - Week 24 : : Kitchener Photographer

Okay, I finally got back to the heart of this project, which was originally devised as a self-portrait portfolio.  I must admit, it has been harder to get in front of the camera than I thought.  I am just so used to being behind the lens that I am not always sure how to go about photographing myself.  Plus, I am still waiting for the remote shutter release that I ordered (darn Canada Post Strike), so every time I want to take a "true" self-portrait, I have to race againt the timer and borrow test subjects to help me with focus!  Inevitably, I end up looking more serious than happy, because I am concentrating so hard on getting everything right. Sigh.  I really am happy and smiling usually.  Really, I am! This image was taken with a new hat I picked up to add to my props collection.  It is a fun vintage sunhat that looks good on everyone, and I have the photo to prove it! LOL  I managed to find a spot in the forest where the light was only slightly dappled (miraculously) and coaxed my hubby into helping me get my focus. It only took 15 tries to get the one I wanted!

Here is the image, entitled Mandy at Midday.

Canada Day at the Cottage : : Tobermory Family Photographer

My family is the kind of family who actually like to vacation together.  Weird, right?  We enjoy each other's company, we love to play games and cards and we cherish every moment we spend creating new memories. Tobermory, on the tip of the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, has long been our destination of choice for a summer getaway.  In fact, my mom has been going since she was a child and my parents honeymooned there!  About 14 years ago my parents invested in a cottage and we have spent countless summer hours enjoying the peace and breathtaking beauty of our little log cabin.  Purchased from a retired school marm, it was sold to us fillled to the brim with furniture, dishes, decor and various oddities and art.  We kept much of the kitsch, just to maintain the cottage atmosphere...we are firm believers that a cottage should be the bare essentials and tacky decor , not a second home!

As the years have passed, we have made it a family tradition for everybody to load into the car for the three hour drive up Highway 6 to our little haven to celebrate Canada Day.  Some years we had up to 21 people and 4 dogs, all crammed into a cottage (with a separate "bunkie") that sleeps a maximum of 7 at best!  It was not unusual to have to step over numerous bodies on the way to the bathroom in the morning.

However, now that my parents are getting older and the family is growing as more babies are born, there is an unspoken understanding that the Canada Day weekend is now reserved for only my parents, me, my girls and hubby and my brother.  Sometimes my Grandma joins us too.  It feels so good to have our little group together, enjoying books, swimming (if you are crazy enough to jump in when it's only 56 degrees Fahrenheit!) and eating.  We love watching from our front deck as fireworks explode in the sky, holding our collective breath as my girls scramble over the rocks with expert balance and coordination, the dog swimming and chasing ducks that stray too close, breakfast cooked solely on the BBQ and talking and reading late into the night, with a sure promise of an afternoon nap the next day.  Cottage life is the best!

Here is a collection of images from this past Canada weekend that represent my family and our cottage.  Here's to many happy memories yet to be made!

1.  Wildflower bouquet  2. Kitschy lamps  3.  My girlies  4.  Mom  5. Dad  6.  Fire for roasting marshmallows  7.  Nightly rituals  8. Ben  9.  Old School doors  10.  Photos of the cottage from the '70s  11. Carl and Brielle  12. Fireworks!  13.  My favourite seagull mobile (they are two!)  14. Rustic chairs with well-used cushions  15. Games cupboard  16. My favourite painting, love the mood  17. Bathroom sign...classy  18.  Cottage clutter creates atmosphere  19. The official name of our cottage  20. The bunkie  21. Grandma 22. Emery making pancakes  23. Me!  24.  My favourite view when reading  25.  Happy Canada Day!

52 Weeks - Week 23

Well, I am a bit behind on this project (again), but I do have an image I would like to share. This week's image is one that I took during their first night at the family cottage this summer.  It may not be the most technically sound or creatively composed, but it makes my heart happy.  For me this image represents two thing: sisterhood and growth.

My girls have always been close and while there are days that I think they may acutally kill each other, more often than not they can be found snuggled togther on the couch or off playing some game they have devised to pass the time.  I am so happy that they cry when they are apart, laugh when they are together and are each other's best friend.

And every day, the inevitable march of time creates growth in their minds and bodies, which I love and detest at the same time.  I want them to slow down and stay small so I don't miss a thing and at the same time to grow and learn and become the people they are destined to be...ahh, the trials and triumphs of motherhood.  In particular, this photo expresses growth as it shows my oldest daughter reading to her younger sister.  How I love to see them curled together, Brielle sounding out the words, more confident each day, while Emery listens raptly, adoration in her eyes. I am glad my girls will always have each other.  Wow, this is a super sappy post.  I guess I need them now and again, right?

Here is my image, entitled First Night at the Cottage.

One Hour Photo

One of my favourite photographers to check out for inspiration and new ideas is Brandy Anderson of Fresh Sugar Photography.   She is based in Calgary and creates stunning child and family portraits.  She recently posted on her blog that she was going to attempt to complete an image (including brainstorming, model-rangling, light-finding and image-snapping) in just one hour and included her first attempts, which are some gorgeous images of her girls. I thought it would be fun to try this little challenge, if for no other reason than my only willing (well, mostly willing but mainly bribed) subjects are my own girls, and getting an hour of shoot time out of them is a miracle!  Not straying too far from Brandy's idea, I headed out to the backyard with my girls and gave myself an hour from start to finish.  As usual, the first five minutes were fine, and then chaos began to reign.

My oldest, Brielle is usually pretty good at taking some direction and listening, but she had a case of the giggles, so I just kept snapping away, hoping for something where her face wasn't completely goofy.  I was standing awkwardly on the top of the playcentre, which she found hysterical and kept asking if I was going to slide down the fireman's pole to get down (the answer is NO.)

Meanwhile, my youngest, Emery managed to strip herself naked and was careening around the driveway at a pace that would surely result in the eventual need for several Band-Aids.  I had to abandon my giggle girl to get control of my little exhibitionist before my hour ended in tears or a hospital visit.

I managed to corral her in the garage (Brandy was right, great light in there) where she got her underwear back on (backwards, of course) and let me brush the grass out of her hair (not sure where it came from) and we got situated.  I'm not gonna lie, the idea for the image of Emery is exactly the same concept as Brandy used, but I used a different angle for a new perspective, and to try to get a shot of her great lashes (they must be from my hubby, my eyelids are practically bald!).

So, here is my first attempt at One Hour Photo.  Thanks again Brandy for the great idea!

52 Weeks - Week 22

Here are a couple of images from this week that I took of my girls.  They only cooperate for so long and rewards don't seem to be working as well as they used to...I guess they have finally wised up to my games.  Oh well, at least they will never be able to say that there are no pictures them when they grow up!

52 Weeks - Week 21 - Vegas

I just returned from a much-needed vacation in fabulous Las Vegas!  This is my second time visiting Sin City, so I had a wish list of places that I wanted to visit, and of course, photograph.  I didn't make it to half of the spots I wanted to shoot, but that is the perfect excuse to go again next year! I decided that this year, I would leave my pro equipment behind and just do low-tech, especially after lugging my big camera up and down the Strip last year and paying for it with a stiff neck and aching shoulders.  So I used my Polaroid 300, my point-and-shoot, my newly-acquired Holga 135 and of course, my beloved iPhone.

I had a chance today, in between squeezing my girls and doing laundry, to throw the iPhone images into some semblance of order, so here they are!  All images were taken using the Hipstamatic App, my favourite vintage photo app.  Stay tuned for the images from my other cameras ( hopefully sooner than later!).

Tulips in Blossom

Just wanted to give you a follow-up image of my tulips, to show how much they have opened!  I love the hidden surprise of the rich darknes at the base of each petal as it opens, in contrast to the yellow-orange stamen with its delicate pollen.  Wow, I know way more about tulips than I rightly should.... Anyway, this image was taken about 5 days after the previous. There have already been a couple of casualties, with petals raining down on my table, leaving a bald stem behind.  Cheers to the survivors!

Tulips

Just wanted to share this image of the lovely tulips my mom gave me for Easter.  I love fresh flowers, especially spring blooms and just had to capture these gorgeous buds as they began to open.  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with family and friends! 

52 Weeks - Week 18

I love board games.  I grew up in a house where we had family game night most Sunday nights, and we are a competitive bunch who love to win.  I must admit, while I love most games, I am not a fan of Monopoly or any other money-lending or simulation-type game.  My creative brain cannot concentrate on all the mundane minutiae that goes into strategizing.  I much prefer word games that stimulate my brain cells in a creative way.  A perfect example of such a game is Boggle.  Trying to makes words out of a senseless jumble of letters just floats my boat (I know, kind of geeky).  Recently, my lifelong friend casually mentioned during a visit that she loves to play Boggle but her hubby won't play because he thinks it is boring (the nerve!).  Right then and there we decided to have a weekly Boggle night.  So, every Tuesday, once our kids are asleep, we set up the classic Boggle set (that her kind friend hunted down for her as a gift), drink wine, and Boggle until our brains fail.  Ahhh, such bliss.  Nothing better than a good friend, good wine and a great game. 

Here are some images from our most recent Boggle night, which I have entitled, as a group, Boggle-rific.  I can't wait 'til next week!

52 Weeks - Week 17

This week I put together a little collage of one of my favourite activites with my girls - pedicure night.  About once a month I set up a mini-pedicure at home, where I soak and massage their feet and then trim and paint their nails.  They love it (of course) and it gives me a reason and chance to do some  nail care without any argument.  Sometime I do their fingernails too, but with one nail-biter and one who sucks her fingers occasionally, I prefer to keep the nail polish out of their bellies! This time, I went a step further, with a mini-studio set-up, including a book rack with a selection of their faves, lemonade (sugar-free) to sip, and new Webkinz puppies waiting to be their spa companions.  I just felt like after a long winter, they needed a little extra special pampering in readiness for spring and flip-flop season!

As you can imagine, it is pretty trick to get shots while massaging, polishing and keeping them still,  but I snapped a couple and put them together for this week's post.  Here is the image, entitled Pampered Princesses.

Now, if only I could get them to do this for me! LOL

 

52 Weeks - Week 16

This week , rather than a self-portrait, I decided to take some images that represented the part of my day that is my favourite - supper time.  When I was growing up, my dad worked long hours, but my mom was always home to serve us supper and to sit at the table with us each night.  It was the time of the day when we talked about what was going on, in our individual lives and as a family.  I have very fond memories of these conversations, and of course, the food that was at the centre of them.  I come from a long line of fantastic cooks, and my own recipe box is overflowing with handwritten recipes from my grandmas.  I love to cook and I love to prepare meals for my family every night. 

However, I realized a while ago that the tradition of the family meal had gotten lost in our home.  With my husband and I working, the girls' after-school activites and just life in general, our mealtime had become totallydisjointed,  with the kids eating in front of the TV, me scarfing down my meal alone, after the kids were done and my hubby eating whenever he got home.  I made the decision that this had to change!

So now we make the effort to sit down every night and having our meal TOGETHER!  I ask the girls about their day, talk about the food we are eating and just generally have a nice family meal.  It is amazing how many more stories I hear about their day when I am listening (LOL)!  My girls also love to help prepare the meal and I let them get in on the action whenever I can...but I stay well clear of my 6-year-old when she is wielding a paring knife!

So here is my image for the week , of a meal that we had earlier this week.  I got the corn on the cob as a treat, since it is not yet in season and we added ice cream to the strawberries for dessert!  Yum....