Gavin & Dawn - Round Two- Wedding

Gavin and Dawn were married in this May, I posted some of their wedding earlier in the year. It was a beautiful day, unforunately the photos ended rather abruptly due to a surprise rain storm and slight hail fest. We had about maybe another 20 minutes scheduled for photos at THE MOST beautiful spot. Which incidentally was right out their front window across the road. At Ken and Haley's wedding in September they both happened to be in the wedding party and we had a tux and of course Dawn still had her dress so we figured.... why not?

Sunday after church we met in their front yard and proceeded to catch those photos that had been missed. I had great plans in May to shoot in the field across from their place and had it all planned out so set out to create my idea again. I found a cafe set in someone's front yard, proceeded to swipe it for an hour and then return it later (I did sort of ask for permission- it belonged to my Mom's friend - so I figured it wouldn't be too bad!!).

So I did get to shoot that idea that had been festering in my mind - you've gotta love my brides - they accomodate my ideas and let me do what I like - talk about trust!

I must admit that they turned out okay (I've only posted one of them), not very standard or real I suppose, but the field screamed out a formal picnic scene. I think I'll hit up Gavin and Dawn or maybe Ken and Haley or ooooo ooooo IDEA! You'll just have to wait for next spring or summer for that blog post. Now I'm EXCITED!!!

Okay, off the rabbit trail and back to the photos - we had a gorgeous fall afternoon, it was actually warmer that afternoon that it was on their own wedding day in May. I had a great time with them out in the fields, they have a serious gorgeous view out their front window - I'd love to wake up to that view every morning! Marriage seems to agree with them, I didn't have any problems having them get close!

So here are some photos from Gavin and Dawn - Round two.

Enjoy!
Let me know what you think - I love comments!!!

Keepin it green!

Well, I thought I'd have time to post some more wedding photos, but I ran out of time.

I really really needed to go for a long walk. I hit Ginter's field and a friends house and made it home with enought time to get my wings going in the crockpot before I hit the lazyboy and Garth's lap to watch the game.

Game you say? What game? THE GREY CUP baby! And the RIDERS!!!! Yup, Saskatchewan born and bred and PROUD OF IT!!!


So no photos today, I'm hitting the basement to cheer on MY TEAM!!! GO RIDERS!!!! And to totally blow out my caloric intake for today and chow down on wings, potato skins and chips with spinach dip. Yummy! And I'm thinking chocolate for dessert. Can't get much better! Well, maybe if I could watch the game from a hot tub on my deck would be the only thing I can think of to improve it.

Eli and Kyla-Engagement

These two are the sweetest couple! I had such a fun time doing their engagement photo shoot for a couple of reasons. First they had fun and were relaxed and made my job not really feel like a job (well it rarely feels like a job but you know what I mean!!). Second they took a chance and let me shoot them in downtown Prince George (which can be a rather sketchy place at the best of times).

Sitting down with them you are instantly made aware that they love eachother - like puzzle pieces they compliment eachother in so many ways. It was a pleasure to sit with them in church a few Sunday's ago and watch them in action as they cared for their newborn son. Eli and Kyla trusted me enough to let me try out some places I thought would be fun. And that is really part of who they are as a couple, willing to take chances and enjoy themselves while doing it. They are getting married in a few short weeks and are in the midst of all the last minute plans, I am looking forward to watching these two puzzle pieces fit together and start their life as a family.

Enjoy your last few weeks you two, it will FLY by!!! And please keep praying that we get a great dump of fluffy snow on Friday night that doesn't melt off the branches, it would make for even more beautiful photos!!!!!

Marissa - Just Because

So.... I attempt to go to the gym early mornings to work out....attempt is the operative word. I was doing real well for quite a while and then exhaustion hit as I couldn't be getting up at 5:30 to exercise and then stay up until past midnight to edit photos.... something had to give and it ended up being my waist!! The exercise was put on the backburner, being squeezed in whenever I had the energy or time to make it work. I'm trying to fit it into my earling morning routine again since those late night edits have slowed down due to the wedding season wrapping up last month.

I need to say that my mornings wouldn't be as good if it wasn't for Marissa. She and I work at the gym together and it is rare to enter the gym and not hear "GOOD MORNING CARLY!!!" and she may not be at the front counter to greet me, but across the gym! She will also "yell" at me to run harder, lift more and keep going, it's great motivation having her around at the gym, although I'm not too sure having her yell, "pick up the pace Carly" anywhere else would be as well received!

Marissa is a hoot, I love hanging around her, she's makes me laugh, makes other members relaxed and has a personality that can't help but have you fall in love with that great smile and laugh. She is so full of energy and life that hanging around her is a blast! She is in the process of getting her personal training certificate so if you need someone to get you back on track with fitness - the trainers at Women Zone are for you!! http://www.womenzone.bc.ca/

We made a date to go shoot some photos and we had a blast doing it! I'm thinking it will happen again this winter as I know I'll need to scout out locations for a few winter weddings! She relaxed in front of the camera right away and it took very little to get her to laugh (which isn't out of the ordinary anyways!!). Enjoy the photos, I know I did.

If you are looking to have some photos taken just because let me know, I'd love to set something up!

Thanks Marissa for making my mornings at the gym a lot easier to start!!!

Apparently I can be very funny - who knew? She was great for my ego!

Isn't she geeeeooorgeous?

Wordless Wednesday..... almost

I'm heading out to a funeral tomorrow morning and will not be posting for a few days so if you need to get a hold of me - just post a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I just finished editting Ken and Haley's wedding photos and here is one of my favorites.

Have a good weekend.

Curtis and Andrea-Wedding

"Hey, good morning Mrs. to be!" I yelled as I entered Andrea's house the morning of her wedding, "how are you doing today?"

No answer for a moment or two.... "Hey Carly!" Then she quickly comes down the stairs, "how do I look?" shes asks as she jokingly holds out her shaking hands towards me.

"You look great! and your nails are awesome! And don't worry in just over an hour you won't be shaking alone, Curtis can hold you up at the altar!!"

She's had reason to be a little stressed as her pastor ended up with H1N1 a few days before and had to be replaced. And his replacement was.... well how do I put it..... he was H-O-T - hot! Yup, Garth performed their ceremony - and did a great job I must add!

This was the start to a beautiful morning - it was a calm, orderly household that I entered yesterday. Andrea was already done with her hair and makeup and was moving around doing a few last minute things before dressing and paused to stop and help her son tie his necktie. That relaxed sense of peace that Andrea possessed set the tone for the whole day - The wedding ceremony and photos afterward were just who Curtis and Andrea are - it was a relaxed, casual and fun time with them.

Congratulations Curtis and Andrea - thank you for letting me share in your day I enjoyed myself! Have a good time away without getting away!

Just not entirely thought thru

I have good ideas.... sometimes I even have GRRRRREAT ideas! And other times my ideas just aren't completely thought thru before I start them. BUT... those times don't happen too often thankfully!

Like the time I thought it would be a great idea to move the boys sandbox. Yup, you heard me MOVE THE SANDBOX!!! Now this wasn't just a little green plastic turtle sandbox that holds 10 ice cream pails full of sand. This was a monstrous wooden sandbox that Garth had painstakingly built with some help from his boys and needed a half ton box of sand to fill it. So this box was bigger than a king sized bed and I thought it would be a GREAT idea to move it! Now with some of my ideas Garth just has to walk away from because he knows he will need to rest up for the work he will have to do later on to help me finish it up! And in this case he wasn't even home yet to realize that he'd have to rest up for it!

Anyways, I proceeded to empty the sandbox onto the hugest tarp I could find in the shed. I had a little help for a while from the boys but then they took a little break in the hammock while mommy slaved away at it by herself. And I got it emptied and I even got the sandbox moved to the new location across the backyard. I took a little break and was pretty proud of myself until I realized that I now needed to put all the sand back (not too hard huh?). Except.... that the pile of sand was where the old sandbox was and I now had to move the sand all the way across the yard - did I mention that we don't own a wheelbarrow? Many hours later I did complete my task by getting a little creative and ended up using the boys wagon as a wheel barrow of sorts and did get the sand all moved. It was very satisfying to see that I had moved the sandbox and had done it all by myself. Had I thought it through I would have either realized my problem before it happened OR I wouldn't have moved the stupid thing in the first place! The sad thing? I wasn't entiredly sold on it's new location! Sigh! Oh well, we moved the next summer and I'm now pestering Garth to build another one because the boys miss it and I need something to move!

Anyways, the following photos are from a recent wedding where I had this great idea, but didn't think it through entirely. I had the group all set up and ready to go, had the timing down and everything was looking good. What did I miss? My shutter speed! Not the effect I was looking for in the end, but I love them! You can definitely see who the clown in the wedding party was! Sometimes I am surprised when I go through to edit. Something that I thought wouldn't be real great ends up being one of my favorites of the day!

Have a great weekend! I've got a morning wedding tomorrow and am looking forward to my time with the couple. I'm hoping that either it snows a little bit more to whiten things up or that we get 15 degree celcius temperatures this afternoon to entirely melt it! I'll post something tomorrow.

Playing in my backyard

Okay so maybe it isn't my actual backyard, but I like to call it my back yard. It's pretty close and my boys now sometimes sigh when I say where I'd like to go for a walk or a bike ride. Can't we go somewhere else Mom? No! Why would we when we've got this in our backyard? Sometimes I'll give in and head somewhere else, but we know that we've got this great year round play ground in our back yard (except maybe during the early spring and late fall when the bears are either waking up hungry or trying to grab one last snack before winter.) I wish this really was our backyard, how awesome would it be for my boys to just be able to run around and play in this all day every day. BUT the good thing is that I get to go play with them there!


Anyways, such a long introduction to a location where I took this family recently. I think their kids got why I love it so much. D was looking for logs to move so he could build a fort and little B kept asking me to take photos of her jumping off things. Amazing playground for kids with no slides or monkey bars or grounders related equipment. Just trees, rocks, hills and leaves. Great place and I had a great family to hang out with too. Check them out.