Radiant - A Country Girl at Heart - Calgary Beauty Glamour Photographer

I had the pleasure of driving out east of the city a couple weeks ago and spending the afternoon with a new friend.  Sandra teaches at a small school outside of Calgary and asked me if I'd be interested in coming out to the country to do a photo shoot.  I never say no to travelling! And was looking forward to shooting outside of Calgary and having a little bit of a country vibe in the photos!

Sandra? Ya she knocked this session out of the park!  How gorgeous is this woman?  One of the first things she mentioned when booking our session is that she just wanted to take some time and celebrate herself.  Just an hour or two to focus on her and capture this moment in time.  And capture we did!  We found a rather generous gentleman that allowed us to wander around his barnyard and hang with his horses and a donkey!  Sandra was amazing with the camera and I loved that I could capture her gorgeous smile!

Thanks again Sandra, I had a great time, I hope you enjoy the images!

If you are wanting some "me" time where you can shine in front of my camera, please contact me! I'd love to visit with you about you and some new photos for your wall!

carly@ckoop.com
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The RADIANT Jen - Calgary Beauty Photography

This session was a BLAST! You see....I know Jen fairly very very well....I guess for the last 35 years....you see...she's my sister...my little sister...my baby seeeeester....piccolo.....Jenny Penny.  We decided to try and do a RADIANT shoot while we were together in BC visiting my parents.  And the shoot became a family affair.  Our other sister Nikki showed her reflector prowess, my Mom watched my boys during the shoot and Dad came along as muscle.  You see we shot in the middle of bear country and Dad had to come along after mentioning that we might want to take bear spray along.  Once that was mentioned my sisters started FAAAREaking out about bears.  

Okay...faaaareaking may be a little strong...and it was more just one sister tense about it.  Many laughs were had right from the start as my Dad started yelling "Hey Bear!" as we wandered right through beary delicious appetizers...(did you get that? Beary? Like Berry?.......aaahhh..nevermind).  I do believe it was Nik that asked, "why would we greet the bear? Shouldn't we be yelling "GET AWAY BEAR!"'. Yes....as I said it was the start of the laughter.  So...as Dad "kept bear vigil" we started to shoot....after a while I noticed he was no longer being so vigilant and was scouring the riverbed for rocks....sigh....boys and rocks....apparently it never gets old....in any case, if anyone is looking for bear detail...give my dad a call!

It has become my belief that the people hardest to shoot are those you love....or those you love make you work a LOT harder! Jen? Made me work. And I loved it!  To show you how hard she made me work take a look at the last batch of images...this was shot in about a span of 8 seconds...the girl kept acting up every time I set her up...sigh....

Anyways, here is my gorgeous lil' sis Jen. She's not only beautiful but she is funny, motivated, encouraging and loves...deeply.  She is an amazing woman; takes whatever life hands her and keeps moving!  Jen is focussed, fun, and fabulous! She works hard but when she's not working, she's working hard at having a good time. I am very honoured and proud to call her my sister and my friend.  I love you Jen!

If you're interested in having some photos of you...just for you or for those you love please contact me about my Radiant/Beauty shoots.  We all need some great images of ourselves don't we?

carly@ckoop.com

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Jen.....RAWR!

I LOVE this shot of Jen...not my normal edit or pose but LOVE it...isn't she gorgeous?

The many faces of Jen....I love them all.

Remember I said Jen made me work? Well, here is Jen "trying" to follow my directions and get ready for a shot...needless to say it took a while for her to focus and for me to wipe the tears from eyes as I was laughing so hard!

Radiant - Allison - Calgary Beauty Photography

I squeal...yes you read that right...I squeal when I get a shot that I love....sometimes I squeal internally before I even shoot it and other times I squeal while I shoot it but in any case...I squeal.  Monday night? Squeal.fest. But mostly internally....because to squeal that much would have been overkill and would have caused the gorgeous Allison to get worried!

Meet Allison....wife, mother, friend, volunteer, daughter, supporter and encourager. This woman? Amazing. She gives like there is no tomorrow.....and then gives some more.  Allison is celebrating right now....she's been working hard on getting in shape and is partying now because she's been so successful. What better way to celebrate that success than to buy a new dress, get her hair and make up done and spend some time documenting how amazing she looks!  

The smile you see below? The real deal. Allison...you.are.radiant.

A big thank you to Michelle at Michelle Suffolk-Walsh Hair and Make Up Design for helping Allison look even more amazing!  Check out Michelle's website to learn more.

If you'd like to celebrate a milestone event in your life or just celebrate yourself with photos, contact me at carly@ckoop.com, my website, or Facebook.

At this point in time I could barely hear myself think I was squealing so loudly!

We had the yummiest light and such a beautiful face!

The Feist Girls - A Radiant Shoot - Calgary Beauty Photography

It was a flurry of suitcases, make up and hairspray at my place a couple weeks ago.  I had the Feist girls in for a Radiant photo shoot and they came prepared!  So much so my bedroom looked like it does when I'm packing for vacation!  I'm never surprised when my clients come with a closet full of options for what to wear during their shoots....it's a tough job trying to figure out what to wear!

These girls got together for a girl's weekend, some shopping, visiting, eating and spending time with a women's speaker.  They managed to squeeze in some time for some photos.  It was a blast putting each of them in front of my camera....they all did a great job and looking amazing!  Huge thanks to Rebecca of RC Make-up and Hair, she did a great job with the make up and hair for all the girls.

These girls (okay women, but I like calling them girls!) have a special place in my heart....they are family.....it was an honour to capture their beauty, poise and grace.....they are RADIANT!!!

Enjoy the images....I sure did enjoy shooting them!  We were working with a rather tight schedule and dealing with a pending rain storm (which did hit in the middle of our shoot) and I could have shot quite a bit longer....that always seems to be the issue with me though!!

I'm going to split this session into two posts as I really don't want to cramp up the post....check back tomorrow for images of the four of them together!!

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Finally getting it!.......Calgary Women's Beauty Photography

I have wanted one for ages.  One that would be around for a long time.  One I actually loved.  One that my family loved.  One that would show me...who I am...and who I was when time has passed.  I'd always found something to not like in a photo of myself.  I'd pick it apart, I was having a bad hair day, I was looking super puffy, you could see a roll or two, I didn't like my pants, my skin was looking terrible, where did that second chin come from, you know the usual.  I've had some time under my belt, some laugh lines are appearing, grey hair is in the future, I've had some babies, psoriasis has struck....my body has changed and I hated the images I'd had.  I often see images hanging on walls or on desks that are timeless.  You know the Grace Kelly/Audrey Hepburn timeless kind of image.  Something that will be around forever and doesn't contain floral patterned bell bottoms and a tube top. (side note...that was when I was like 4 years old people!).

Being around photography all the time ramps up my critique of images of myself and so I often felt that I'd never get one that I'd be happy with.  That all changed a couple months ago and confirmed something that I'd been mulling over for quite some time.  I had the opportunity to model for two photographers. (yup...you read that right...me...model. Watch out Tyra!!)  It was an experience that I won't soon forget.

Two weeks prior I found myself so excited with anticipation as I decided on what I should wear, how I should have my hair done.  I felt so amazing that whole day....hair...make-up....clothes....photos. It was a blast! I experienced something that day that I hadn't in a long time.  I felt confident, strong, beautiful.....radiant.  At no point was I self conscious about my skin or my weight.  I was in the moment and enjoyed every single second of it.  It helped that I had two amazing photographers!  Huge thanks to Joelene Mills of Joelene Mills Photography and Sheila Buhr of Forever Captured Photography.  As a result of their amazing talent and the skills of the hair and make up artist I finally got it....those images that I'll keep forever.

As I walked through the whole process I kept coming back to my photography and the direction I wanted to head.  Women have an innate desire to feel beautiful, to feel confident, to look beautiful, to be remembered.  I want to give that chance to women...I want them to have those images that will be seen by generations to come that are timeless and a true representation of her.  And so with that I'd love to introduce a new branch to c koop photography....Radiant - Women's Photography.  Capturing your radiance and sealing it forever in images.  Timeless images for every woman.  Stayed tuned for featured Radiant shoots. 

Below are 3 images....a before shot (yup...here's Carly with no makeup and hair freshly washed!!) as well as two images from my talented photographer friends!Thank you ladies....I love them!

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My Girls......Calgary-Prince George Beauty Photography

These women are friends.  They are wives.  They are mothers.  They are sisters.  They are amazing!  It was my absolute pleasure to capture these women at this point in their lives....and a gorgeous point it is!  They helped me down a different photography road that is exciting me which I'll share more about in the next week or two.

These women are my friends and I was so honored to be able to shoot their photos a couple weeks ago.  Each one of them brought something special to my life in PG and after 2 years I still miss that day to day input they had.  I consider myself truly blessed that I can call them my girls.  They encouraged, challenged, laughed, cried, supported, laughed (yes I know I said that twice!), and loved me.  They still do, it's just from a distance (which totally sucks by the way!).  I can honestly say that I don't laugh with anyone else the way I laugh with them, they are GOOD for my soul. 

It was a great afternoon shooting and even though we were missing 2 of my girls because of scheduling conflicts, we still had a great time.  (Dee and Lori....next time!!) It was a learning experience for all of us.  For me; shooting friends in a totally different way than I'm used to and for them to be infront of the camera for a period of time alone, without their kids or husbands.  It was a fun afternoon and I loved hearing them chatter away as we shot, laughing over so many things, discussing what they should wear for the photos, catching up on news....sigh....it was so GOOD!

This blog post will be lengthy in images, but I had such a hard time choosing what to post I went a little overboard!  Which one is your favorite?

If you'd like to have some photos done, please let me know!  carly@ckoop.com
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Suzy....I love this photo! This girl makes me laugh....hard...tears rolling down my face hard.

 Jennifer....this is IT! So timeless.  She always has an encouraging and positive word to share with me.  So it was nice to give back to her!

 Holly...you've seen here before...she's the other me. 

I asked for bedroom eyes and this is what I got...Jason?

 Lisa....2 years have passed and nothing has changed...we can still sit around your island and share our hearts.  My photo friend. She got me started in this whole thing..photography. She claimed she'd be difficult to shoot, well she was right, but I prevailed!