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lindsay & darcy – candle lake wedding

Have I ever mentioned how much I looooove outdoor ceremonies?  And outdoor weddings at a place as beautiful as the Candle Lake Golf Resort is like the icing on the cake!  This past weekend we headed up north to photograph Lindsay and Darcy’s wedding.  The weather, the setting, the couple were all perfect!!  The guys arrived to the ceremony location on a pontoon. Immediately following the ceremony the whole bridal party as well as Andrew and I hopped back onto the boat and headed across the lake to some private property to take some pictures there!  I couldn’t narrow down a small selection of photos to blog so this ended up being quite a large post!  Enjoy!!  lindseydarcywedding1

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where’s waldo? or in this case….. where is Andrew?  Oh there he is standing on a tree stump in the background!!

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tiffany & rod

Wow….. this last week has just flown and I realized I have not blogged!  Lots of great stuff to hit the blog soon…. including a wedding that we shot at Candle Lake this past weekend!

Tiffany and Rod recently came out from Bulyea for their session.  This past December Tiffany and Rod tragically lost their home in a house fire as well as their two Jack Russell Terriers.  Everything was destroyed, including their wedding photos….. I don’t think any of us realize how many memories are in a home and what a feeling that would be.  It was special to be able to photograph the two of them together, and worked out nicely that it was the day before their third anniversary!

Hope you two had a great anniversary….. it was so wonderful to spend an evening with you!

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the newest addition to Tiffany & Rod’s family….. Scootertiffanyrodblog5

brielle – 10th birthday party

My once-little girl is growing up SO fast. Too fast sometimes, it seems. It is bittersweet, having an almost ten year old now…. I absolutely love the age that she is at and the fun that we have together, but to have a child in the double-digits has made me realize how fast these years do fly. It makes me want to treasure every single moment and remember everything.

I was so young when I had Brielle & I remember being pregnant and then the feeling of having a newborn and “playing house” with my new little baby. But, as time passed, I realized more and more how huge our responsibility was. The last year especially I have noticed how much of a young adult Brielle has become. Her interests have changed, she has matured & some of the conversations we have had have amazed me. I better not write too much more because I don’t want to embarrass her when she reads this! Brielle, you are everything we could have ever hoped for in a daughter….. thank you for brightening up each one of our days. Your whole family loves you soooooooooo much!!!

Here are a few photos from her party. (Her actual birthday isn’t until the end of the month but it worked better to have the party now with swimming lessons/travel etc at the end of the month)

these were the treat boxes that we had fun putting together!

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Andrew took some of the younger kids for a “field trip” out to see the silage pile!

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the new baby kittens came out to play for a while too!

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Brielle was very excited when she realized she was receiving her very own PINK holga camera!! We have already planned a little outing to go out and shoot a roll of film each with our holgas!

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bethan – grad

A couple weeks ago I photographed Bethan’s grad photos.  She looked so amazing in her dress…… how great is a grad dress with pockets??!!  Loved it!  Thanks Bethan for coming out….. hope your summer is fabulous!!

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recipe – chicken & veggie pizza

Pizza is always a hit in our house and I try to make it with enough veggies and healthy meats vs processed so that we don’t have to feel so guilty enjoying it!  I just use whatever veggies I have on hand and it really is a quick, easy meal to throw together!   The dough recipe is one that I got from Andrew’s mom when we first got married, and we love it so I have never found the need to try find a different one.  I just keep changing the variation of toppings so we never get bored!

basic dough recipe:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp yeast

Mix flour and salt.  Mix remaining ingredients and add to above.  Make a soft dough, kneading until smooth.  Let rise.  Place on greased pan.  Add chosen toppings and bake at 400F for 20 minutes.  We quite often will cook our pizzas on the smoker instead of in the oven which gives it such a unique, tasty flavor.

For this pizza, I spread a layer of bbq sauce on the dough.  Then added small pieces of grilled chicken, peppers, carrots and onion. Top it off with mozza cheese and you are ready to bake.

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the finished product! chickenpizza3

By the way, if you ever have any questions about anything with my recipes, feel free to post them in the comments or send me an email!

amy & russ – wedding

This past weekend it was so fun to have a somewhat local wedding in Kennedy.  We hadn’t met Amy & Russ beforehand, but they are good friends of some of our other clients & after the emails we exchanged it felt like we’d already known each other for a long time!  I love that feeling!!

We had the opportunity to have a third shooter along for this wedding as well which was a treat!  Our friend Melissa who lives in California has been visiting family in Saskatchewan so I asked her if she’d be interested in coming along.  It was fun to have her there helping out & she was an expert veil adjuster!!

In the morning when we were hanging out at our house before the wedding I commented to Melissa how I hoped to someday photograph a bride with a bird cage veil.  I am in LOVE with these veils and then when Amy brought hers out…. I was just a little tiny bit excited!!  To make things even sweeter… Amy was wearing her mom’s wedding dress & it was seriously stunning!  Her mom wore the dress 29 years ago and the only alterations they made to it was to remove the lace sleeves.  Pretty amazing!  Amy also wore her great grandmother’s pearls…. I just love all the personal touches that made everything more meaningful!

Amy & Russ, I hope you are enjoying married life & thank you so much for having us there with you on your wedding day!

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tenille & adam – wedding

This week has been crazy but I knew I couldn’t let the week go by without getting a sneak peek up on the blog from our most recent wedding! I also know that I have fallen behind on my recipe posting….. I promise once the craziness of July is over I will get back on track with that & hopefully sneak in a couple in the meantime.

This past Saturday found us in Esterhazy photographing Tenille & Adam’s garden wedding.  The ceremony took place in Adam’s parents yard and no detail was overlooked! (they even had a big basket of mosquito spray, a much needed accessory this year unfortunately) Thank you very much Tenille & Adam for having us there to capture your beautiful day!  Hope you are having a great honeymoon!

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a quick after-ceremony snack for this little sweetie!

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red leaf cinema (for photographers)

****This post is for photographers, so it won’t apply to many of you!  Some of my friends, Richard and Amy of Red Leaf Studios have created an online learning workshop that I think you should definitely check out!

I have attended a few different in-person workshops as well as done a couple online courses in the last few years.  In the past I have preferred in-person to online…… BUT when I heard that Richard and Amy were putting together an online workshop, I knew immediately that it would be amazing!  One thing I have to say about any Red Leaf Studios workshop, whether it be in person or online, they will meet and EXCEED your expectations.  When I first logged into the workshop site, I didn’t even know where to begin looking, I wanted to see everything at once!

I originally started off this paragraph saying “My favorite thing about this way of learning……”  But then I realized I don’t have one favorite thing, there are many, many favorite things about it!!  First of all, the fact that the opportunity to really let the information soak in is there because you can access the information over and over.  Often during an in-person workshop you hear things that you intend to remember and apply to your business but there is so much information coming at you at once that it is hard to absorb.  That is the great thing about this workshop, you can take notes, re-read the workbooks, re-watch the videos, study the examples etc.  Watching Richard and Amy shoot in the video & seeing what is happening behind the scenes and then the resulting images is eye opening.  The video in my opinion, is far more valuable than trying to shoot at a workshop where everybody is concerned about snagging those portfolio shots instead of studying the instructor and what they are doing & what you can learn from them.  I have always been in love with Richard and Amy’s insanely gorgeous detail shots and learned some great tricks to get those “how in the world did they do that?!” type shots!  If you don’t know what a histogram is….. (or don’t think it is important) what you learn about the histogram will change how you shoot forever!  You will know by looking at it in an instant if your image is properly exposed.  From the very first challenge I attempted, it made me say “aaahhhh” and I learned something about myself and the way I shoot immediately.  Doing these challenges definitely got me out of my comfort zone!  (and they were fun!)

Obviously I could go on, but it all boils down to this: it is so evident that this online workshop is the result of many, many hours of hard work.  Richard and Amy have chosen to share without holding back & the photography industry has the opportunity to benefit from their years of experience and knowledge.  (Plus, learning from the comfort of your own home is pretty nice!  No hotels, travel expense or time away from family!) cinema_header

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Be prepared…. I have a feeling there is going to be a decent amount to read in this post before getting to the good stuff… the pictures!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous before shooting Lindsey’s session earlier this week.  She was spending about 4 hours in the car each way to drive out for her session.  I wanted the weather and everything else to be just right & it definitely was!

Lindsey is getting married at the end of July in Portage, Manitoba and we are so happy that her and her fiance, Ben have chosen us to be there to capture their day!  Unfortunately Ben is still in Idaho until closer to the wedding, so Lindsey decided to come out for a shoot on her own.  I think these pictures will be an awesome gift for her soon-to-be husband!

From the moment Lindsey and her mom Lana stepped out of the vehicle there were big hugs & an instant connection!   The girls got off the bus minutes after their arrival and the plan was for them to head to grandma’s shortly after while we were shooting.  Well, Lindsey and her mom could tell how fascinated they were with everything that was going as we brought things into the house, so they told the girls to stay & help out!  (Lindsey & Lana, you had a little fan club from that moment on!!)

While Lindsey was having pictures taken, Lana and the girls were off discovering the new baby kittens that had just been born hours before, going for walks down the lane and hanging out at the swing set.  They also serenaded us at the piano as we took pictures in the grass nearby!!!  So, if you have glanced down at the pictures below you will see a piano in the field!!!  After Lindsey and I brainstormed ideas for her session, I had been on the hunt for a piano that we could use outside.  Some friends who were moving (the same ones who gave us our dog) graciously offered us theirs since they weren’t going to take it with them!  No, the piano was not just a prop, Lindsey is an accomplished pianist and it was beautiful to listen to her play!

When a client puts time and effort into preparing for their session, it really shows in the photos and there was no lack of effort on Lindsey’s part!  One of the things I loved most about chatting with Lindsey is she doesn’t do anything halfway.  She puts her best into everything she does & I admire that trait in people so much!

I think that is probably enough writing……  on with the pictures!  There will be a second post coming after the wedding.  We did shoot some with Lindsey’s wedding dress but of course I have to keep those top-secret for now!!  But I will say it is GORGEOUS!!

Thank you sooooo much Lindsey for coming out.  Andrew and I are really looking forward to traveling to Portage this month and meeting Ben as well!  And I must say thank you again for being so wonderful to the girls!  (Lindsey even let Brielle set up some poses at the end & my future assistant did very good!!!)

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hmmmm…. what is that?  An eyeball??!!  Yes, you are correct, it is an eyeball!  Lindsey (aka DR!!) is an optometrist so in addition to a glasses collection, she had this fun little eyeball!

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The quilt Lindsey is laying on is a wedding gift from the ladies at her church.  What a beautiful, thoughtful gift!

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schools out….

…… and it sure is a good thing because apparently we are almost out of pencils that are usable!! The girls were home early today…… we sat out on the trampoline together going through scrapbooks and notebooks full of work & drawings then an impromptu water fight!  So excited for the fun-filled summer days ahead of us!

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