It's Party Time! - Derek and Kristin- Prince George Wedding Photography

After a beautiful ceremony and a fun and laughter filled afternoon shooting photos we headed to Derek and Kristin's wedding reception and dance.  The hall had been transformed and looked amazing!  I've found myself really starting to give more focus to shooting the details of the day.  Think abou it... brides spend a lot of their time on those little details of the day that make up the complete package.  Kristin spent a lot of time on her details and it showed!  Loved it!  So you too can see what she pulled off, take a look below.

I also couldn't resist sharing a few of the dance photos.... they were such a cute, quiet couple at first glance it was great to see them pull out the stops on the floor and entertain all of us!

If you are looking for a photographer for your wedding, engagement, family or lifestyle photos, please contact me!

The Yarycky Family - Calgary Family Photographer

"You love me!..... You just don't know it yet!", she yelled out her van window as she drove past some of us parents waiting for the school bus.  I think that is a fair assessment of my friend Jolene... full of life, laughter and love.

Jolene didn't know it at the time, but she was HUGE blessing to me.  I was new to Calgary and was trying to figure out how to get to know people in the neighborhood and school and she just walked up to me one afternoon while we were waiting for the school bus to drop the kids off. "Hey... do you know if the kids have school tomorrow?" after the question came some introductions along with a firm and welcoming handshake and a friendship was born.

Now that we don't have the school bus to wait around for anymore I'm fortunate enough to be able to walk past her house every day to our brand new school.  And I never ever know what is going to happen when I pass by!

I was able to spend part of a Saturday morning in Fish Creek park with Jolene and her lovely family.  It was a gorgeous fall morning and the light was aMAzing! I had so much fun and enjoyed getting to know the four of them a little bit better.  I'm already looking forward to getting our whole families together for a visit... should be a blast!  

If you are interested in having some family/lifestyle/engagement/wedding photos done, please contact me at www.ckoop.com or just leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Derek and Kristin - Prince George Wedding Photographer

She was ready....ready for the day to begin and for their life together to officially start.  We came through the door of her parent's house and she was sitting there calmly waiting for what was next. And what was next was the photos! Kristin was cool and composed as she got into her wedding dress and that attitude of being relaxed carried through the whole day.  A great way to shoot a wedding when the couple is sooooo relaxed.

They had met online and had their first date at Tim Horton's (ironically where she was currently employed!) and never looked back.  Their's is a relaxed and calm kind of love.  The kind where you don't have to pretend or make the other guess what's going on. The kind where one balances the other perfectly and takes care when things don't go as planned.

Lisa and I had a great day hanging out with Derek and Kristin and their family and friends.  There were funny and poignant moments throughout the whole day, I found myself laughing at various points of the day as Derek completely trashed my first impression of him being a quiet and reserved guy.  He knows how to let loose and I was glad to see how well he could make Kristin laugh.  Making your wife laugh is a great gift to have... it's a sign of good times ahead!!

During his toast, Derek thanked Kristin for agreeing to meet him at Tim Horton's and I was thankful for that too! Otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get to know this great couple.

Congratulations Derek and Kristin. I hope that Hawaii was all you imagined!

Enjoy this sneak peek!

Ron and Melinda and Family - Houston Family Photographer

I was in grade 9 and was attending my very first YQ ("BIG" youth event in southern Saskatchewan)  I was the only girl in my youth group attending and was rather nervous about spending the weekend by myself amidst 2000 other high school students.  But I didn't need to worry for long.... I met up with 2 other girls staying in my room with me and they became my lifeline for those 52 hours we spent together.  Melinda and this other girl and I attended rallies, hockey and volleyball games, danced at concerts, followed cute boys around the campus and generally had a great time together all the while knowing that we'd probably never ever meet again.

All I could remember years later was that she was from Houston, BC.  Funny thing? My parents moved to Houston over 3 years ago and one of the first people they introduced me to was Melinda..... Melinda.. the girl from YQ! Small small world I have to say.  She spends a fair amount of time hanging out with my parents and her children have almost become surrogate grandchildren for them.  Their closest grandkids live 8 hours away so someone has to fill that need for them!

Anyways, I spent some time with Ron and Melinda and their boys a few weeks ago at Melinda's parent's place (GORGEOUS!!!!).  It was the only rainy day amidst 2 weeks of straight sun.. go figure! So the ground was wet (which I learned while laying down to get that "perfect" shot)... BUT in spite of the dismal day we had a great time exploring the property.

Thanks Ron and Melinda and boys for sharing some of your time with me... I can't believe that after 20 years Melinda and I could pick up where we left off. A few things have changed.  A crowd of 2000 doesn't intimdate me anymore, in fact it's invigorating! I still sit and watch hockey games and love to dance at concerts (just ask Tys and Ry!).  But the biggest change is that we don't follow cute boys around anymore, we caught them! Oh wait.... we're not following cute boys anymore, we're chasing after our own... and they are keeping us busy hey Melinda?:-)

I've still got space for fall photo shoots. If you are interested in updating your walls check out http://www.ckoop.com/ and click on the contact page!



I'm not too sure what Melinda is laughing at here. It may be because of her missteps leading her to walk through a fresh cow manure whilst trying to situate herself for that perfect pose.  She was a great sport and finished up even though the cow manure fresh-o-meter was off the charts.  She ended up taking off her flats and rolling up her pants.... true northern girl! I love it!!  I could have shot her for a waaaay longer time... isn't she beyoutiful?

 

"Hey you... girl.... come here and look at this!" Was the phrase I heard several times during the photo shoot. It seemed that I "needed" to see different things.  I laughed at the hey girl thing (note not hey lady or ma'am but girl... nice!). 

 Ron works in the forestry industry and I had to laugh when I heard him prodding Ryan to say... wait for it..... SKIDDER!!! A true northern boy!

Swanson Family - Prince George Family Photographer

The Swanson's were family... are family to us.  Lori and I became friends rather quickly and bonded over our Saskatchewanyness (yes... that's a new word I just made up... deal with it... I like it!).  We reminisced over sunsets, northern lights, Midtown Plaza, and general prairie girl stuff.  We both missed the prairies for different reasons, but we still bonded.

And because we both lacked relatives in PG, we decided that we'd become eachother's PG family.  Birthdays, holidays, special dinners were shared together and the bond grew even deeper. So much so that our children started to fight like they were siblings!  Funny..... but annoying.  Therefore it was hard to say goodbye to our PG family, and I'm still trying to convince Jim that moving to Calgary would be a GREAT idea. I'm sure the Calgary Herald needs a new sports editor! :-)

They let me crash at their place a couple weeks ago while I was up shooting a wedding and we found a little time to squeeze in some family photos. It was great catching up with them and being able to come and go made it feel like I hadn't left PG.

 It was the only rainy day during my whole trip and since I was leaving right after the shoot we had no options to postpone/delay.  They were troopers and withstood a little rain and wet grass so I could attempt to get some good shots.  And I wasn't disappointed!

Love love LOVE this shot! Can't say why, just love it!

The next photo is a typical Rachie face... too funny!!!

Such sweet smiles!

I think this may be my favorite from the afternoon.  Just some Swanson family love!