I've become such a Blogstalker...

In the fall of 2008 I discovered photography blogs. How did I not know these existed? I instantly became hooked and started bookmarking my favourites and I go back and visit them regularly. I keep learning new things and coming up with new ideas to steal for photoshoots; so many things I can't wait to try out.


Not only are these folks fantastic wedding and portrait photographers, they're also really neat people. And they're sharers - have a photography question, ask and they'll answer. Here are a few of my favourites:



Jasmine Star - she's a photography Rock Star. Seriously. Everyone follows her blog.

Jamie Delaine - also an amazing photographer. And she believes in half birthdays. Enough said.

Curtis Moore - my Manitoba-born relatives should check out Curtis' work - this slideshow in particular

Kate L - is a full time music student who also works as a photographer; she gets some amazing shots of her fellow students, very cool

Kimberlee West - one of the Boudoir Divas, she has done amazing boudoir photos - something that would be interesting to get in to



Check these ones out, I'll share more of my favourites another time.

EstrogenFest - Cape Breton

Septembers mean road trips for me.


Road Trips, EstrogenFest, Girlie Weekends - doesn't matter what you call it, 5 or 6 of us girls pile into a vehicle and hit the road.


We always have a destination in mind. Year 1 was Prince Edward Island; Year 2 was New Brunswick; Year 3 was Nova Scotia (the Valley and South Shore); Year 4 was Cape Breton, NS.


It's the only time of the year we all get together and we have a great time catching up and getting all the gossip. We do some sightseeing, take some pictures, hunt down Canadian Idol finalists (we didn't find one but we did manage to get directions to his house!).


We didn't have great weather on this particular trip to Cape Breton - obviously good enough to get our feet wet at the beach, but that was about it.


We stopped at Glenora Distillery - no samples to be had, though.


There was some rain and lots of fog but none of that stopped us. We managed a few stops to get cool shots.

What do you shoot with?

I bought my new lens last month but now I'm struggling with whether or not I should buy a new camera.

Let me rephrase that... I'm pretty sure I'm getting the new camera, but I'm struggling with what to get.

Right now I'm shooting with a Canon Digital Rebel xt; it's a good first digital SLR, but if I want to push my skills to the next level, I'm going to have to upgrade.

I'm considering the Canon 5D but I'm not sure if that's enough of an upgrade. In 6 months or a year will I wish I had gone to the Mark II? From my pocketbook vantagepoint, the Mark II is a bigger upgrade than I want to take at this point.

But if I'm not going to be satisfied with the 5D, maybe I should hold off until the Mark II is an affordable option.

Or maybe neither of these cameras are the ones for me, maybe there's another option out there.

Ahhhhhh, so many decisions! If any photogs out there want to weigh in, please do so - I'd love some input from people who are actually using the equipment and can give me some solid advice.

And because it's finally a beautiful day here in Eastern Canada, flowers seemed like the perfect choice for today's pictures.

Happy Saturday!

Enough already...

This was the view from my balcony in December, two months ago. So very pretty.

It doesn't look like that right now. It's stormy and cold and wintery out right now. Not pretty at all.










I'm still waiting for spring.

Courtney - Just Because

I'm ready for spring, ready to get out and get some more shoots under my belt. Of course, these pictures were taken last fall but it was such a fun shoot, I'm ready to do it all over again. This is Courtney. Her Mom and I are good friends and when I needed someone to shoot, I knew Courtney would be into it - and boy, was she ever.

She picked out her own outfit, made sure her nails were done (love the hot pink polish!) and even brought props. It helps that she loves the camera. And it loves her. What a trooper.

Courtney, I'll be checking in with you in the spring and get you out again to do another shoot - hope you're up for it.

Here come the teen years...

This photo is from a photoshoot I did last summer. This is Nick; he's a pretty cool kid. He was up for just about anything - so long as there was no one else around.

He also just happens to be my nephew. And today is his birthday.









This is the two of us in the fall, 2008. I still don't know how he got taller than me.

Happy Birthday, Nick. I love you. Remember... you promised to take care of me when I get old(er).

Baby Love

I got a call today from one of my very best friends. She's pregnant and due in three weeks. Except her water broke this morning! Her thoughts... "why can't I stop peeing!"

It's her first baby and she's not freaking out at all - I, on the other hand, was a puddle of tears.










She's in Ontario so I don't get to share this excitement up close and personal with her but she's on my mind and I'm sending good thoughts for a quick and easy delivery (uh-uh).

Instead I get to share these photos of another good friend's baby. He's about 16 months now and we had his first official photoshoot when he was 14 days old. And he was as good as gold.
















Happy thoughts, Char and Kev... I'm so excited that you're about to meet your little prince!