robin and grant.

i spent yesterday at golden gardens park, photographing robin and grant’s beautiful wedding with/for libbie mistretta. it was my first time meeting everyone, but they were all so kind and welcoming! i want to be friends with all of them! robin totally cracked me up, and i loved how laid-back her and grant were. i could really see that they are totally comfortable spending the rest of their lives together.

robin and grant decided to have a dramatic “reveal,” (which i always love), and i took a few shots to capture it…

doesn’t grant’s awesome top hat just make the shots?!

an example of robin’s awesome personality… her shoes! best bridal shoes *ever.*

i love this shot of robin’s misty-eyed maid of honour, glancing back at robin right before walking down the aisle.

the ceremony:

ok, favourite moment of the whole wedding: the ceremony ended, and robin and grant walked into this back room. robin says (all choked up): “hi. i’m your wife.” so sweet, it killed me. i looked at libbie, and we were both crying!

i love the trees in this park!

i found this little girl hiding all over the place… the washroom, a back room, and under this table…

here are robin’s other (formal) shoes, which she wore for about 5 minutes in total. (i can’t blame her, i doubt i’d even be able to walk in those things!) when i saw the clouds going all crazy, i couldn’t resist stealing them for a few minutes…

the reception was catered by a grand affaire catering, and they are awesome! their food was so incredibly delicious, and all their staff was so friendly and attentive. i absolutely can not wait to eat at another wedding they cater! and the word on the street is that one of robin’s friends made the incredible (cup)cake(s)! there were three flavours, but i went straight for the red velvet… yum!

robin and grant, i wish you all the best in the future! thank you for letting me share in your day.

reason #2798 why i love my clients…

…they send me presents!

thank you so much, stephanie, for sending me these amazing chanel sunglasses!

when i had my session with stephanie, i’m sure she was feeling my major eyewear envy over her versace’s. but really, she only fueled it by continuing to get me to wear them so they wouldn’t get broken, and then continue to tell me how wonderful they looked on me… so, i guess she took pity on my naked eyes.

stephanie — these are, as i told you, way too generous, and completely unnecessary… but i sure do love ‘em! thank you!

prison break.

ok, have you guys seen prison break? for all i know, it’s been off the air for five years… i don’t have a tv, and am pretty out of touch with pop culture or whatever, so sorry if i’m way behind. but this show freaking rocks! it’s so intense, so full of suspense and crazy twists… i love it! man, has tv ever changed… it’s at the point where i can’t stand any shows more than five years old, they just seem so boring, you know?

anyways, i have about four hundred and thirty six things i should be doing, so i’m going to get on them… right after this episode is over…

Schmap Canada Guide

i was just contacted by “schmap canada guide” to say they had published one of my photos in the second edition of the “schmap canada guide. “

the steam clock is hugely popular with visitors to vancouver, and it’s almost impossible to take a photo without dozens of tourists in front of it! this is one of my older photos, taken december 30, 2006, while i was showing my friend kristi around vancouver. anyways, i am very flattered that they liked this shot, and appreciate them notifying me of publication.

http://www.schmap.com/canada/attractions/#p=91496&i=91496_14.jpg

amanda.

amanda is beautiful, fun, hilarious, super nice, and great photographer to boot! i’ve been keeping an eye on her photos for over a year, and have always been inspired and entertained! so, it was so fun to hang out with her and take a few shots of her in her wedding dress while i was in greenville.

look at that light…

stacy and luke.

i was so honoured to work with mark elkins on stacy and luke’s wedding in greenville, south carolina. stacy and luke met in college, and were so in love and excited to get married, i couldn’t help to get a little teary at a few points.

stacy gave one of these necklaces to each of the girls in her party — what a sweet idea!

the attire:

i think this is my favourite shot of the day:

the entire day was so emotional for all of stacy’s family. here’s her mom, seeing her daughter as a bride for the first time:

it was a small wedding in a huge mansion:

my favourite shot of stacy and luke during their first dance:

stacy and luke, thanks so much for letting me be a part of your wonderful day!!

apparently, i’m doing it all wrong…

just came across this article, i found it amusing. of course, i’m a nerd…

edit: it was just brought to my attention that this might not be a joke. gosh, i hope it is… otherwise, it’s really sad.

bridal session :: stephanie.

last friday was the greatest day ever, no joke. stephanie and i went out to take some bridal shots, and one thing lead to another, and we ended up shooting for six-plus glorious hours. we had a few interruptions (like lunch at mary mac’s tearoom) and a little “modeling” for an abc documentary, believe it or not.

it was really one of the greatest days ever, but i feel a little weird writing about it in a really positive way, because 24 hours later, a tornado hit atlanta, and destroyed many of the locations we shot in. i’ve only seen a few photos of some of these places, but stephanie phoned me yesterday to tell me she drove by there again, and that buildings were flattened, cars were overturned, and the neighbourhoods were just destroyed. i feel very sad that these beautiful, historic spots were damaged and are no longer there. and i worry about the kind people i met there, and pray that they are alright.

the morning of the tornado, i went to greenville, south carolina. i am definitely glad i wasn’t there that day, although returning to atlanta was strange… the hotel i had stayed in while in atlanta was closed because of extensive damage from the tornado, so i had to find another place to stay… and i’ll tell you about my awesome alternative soon. )

however, for what it’s worth, i am glad that i got a chance to photograph in these beautiful spots while they were still there.

sweet tea and fried chicken…

these next few shots were taken at the cotton mill lofts, which, as you might have guessed, used to be a cotton mill. i still can’t believe that while there, i kept saying how much i wanted to live there… now, the people that did live there are without a home.

my favourite shot of the day…

then, we went to the oakland cemetery, which is a national historic site. unfortunately, it was also heavily damaged.

i love this shot… i literally had room on my card for exactly one shot, and it came out exactly as i wanted.

free rice.

the stupidly talented sarah k chen first told me about this incredible site the other day, and ever since, i can’t stop playing! it’s a word definition game, which i love, but what makes it even better is that for every word you guess correctly, 20 grains of rice are donated by advertisers through the u.n. food program!

you don’t have to register or download anything, so get started on improving your vocabulary now…

http://www.freerice.com

hailey and joe.

last thursday, i was photographing hailey and joe, and their mom decided we should do them at the zoo — what a fun location!

these kids are my favourite ever, i’m not kidding. hailey absolutely captured my heart with her super polite and talkative nature (she reminded me a little of myself ;o), and joe’s aversion to the camera was completely endearing. he’s just his own little person, and i love that he is true to himself.

first shots of the day… hailey in the parking lot.

joe, being all adorable…

hailey often makes these little fists, and that combined with her chipmunk face…

here’s joe, trying to get away from the camera, and hailey, being her dramatic self…

another shot of hailey, taking a break in the sun…