A Photography Preview for Reche & Family

When I first received the booking form filled out by Reche, I knew hers was going to be a fun shoot.  You see, the two of us have a past connection.  Her brother and I were very good friends back when we were still teenagers and young adults.  It seems like a lifetime ago now, but good friends never really stop being friends – even when they lose touch.  So getting to see Reche, meet her family, and work with them all really was a treat. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… the best family sessions, are those when the kids are allowed to just be themselves.  Let them play, let them show off their personalities.  Sure, it’s nice when everyone is looking the same direction, but those captures that really show how a family is together, that shows those connections?  It really is SOOO much better.

Thanks for the chance to work with your family, and reconnect with you Reche.  It really was a treat!

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Our mother’s day

I’m kinda tired and I don’t much feel like telling a long story. So I figure I’ll just share a few snapshots from our day.

A dandelion bouquet, my first of the season.

The girl’s frozen yogurt.

My frozen yogurt. Gotta love a trip to the yogurt bar.

The kid and I wearing the matching necklaces I made for us from the strawberry charms I’d commissioned from Nanashi-no.

The treasure box the girl and I made for my mom… Upon which she placed her little mouse figurine after putting it on the big window ledge in the kitchen.

Lily and her cousin, eating spaghetti out on the deck, enjoying the sunshine and one another’s company.

The picture the kid drew of me “in a princess dress” right before bed.

Now… I’m posting this with my fingers crossed, as I’m doing so from my phone. Hopefully it works and the formatting isn’t all goofy. LOL

Sending out tons of love to all the moms (to both skinkids and furkids) and would-be moms. You’re all awesome! We may make different choices, and parent in different ways, but we all make the best choices we can for our individual families… It’s not always easy, and it takes guts, but it’s so worth it. Happy Mother’s Day!

A2Z – Pink Prom

On March 30th, Saskatoon had it’s first prom…  well…  first as far as I’m aware, and as far as my parent’s and grandparent’s are aware – and that’s as far back as this city really goes.  So I feel I’m pretty safe saying that it’s a first for this prairie city.  Anyway…

It was an amazing night.  Some folk I talked to were concerned about a city-wide prom, with people from any school welcome to attend.  There was talk about things like school rivalries and the possibility of fighting.  All I could really do was smile.  These were obviously adults who just didn’t get it.  This  was an event I knew our youth would rally around.

Prom is an amazing right of passage, and one we’ve never had here.  We’ve all watched the movies, read the books, heard the stories.  Prom is supposed to be amazing, and it’s something everyone deserves to experience.  And at 34, I went to prom… and just like all the teens in the movies, my parent’s bought my dress.

Saskatoon’s first prom was made even better by being a part of Pink Revolution (an anti-bullying week which made it’s debut this year).  So huge thanks to the Avenue Community Center and all their amazing volunteers for making it happen.  Both Pink Revolution and the Pink Prom were ground breaking events and I sooo look forward to them happening again next year.

As the official photographer for the Pink Prom, I organized my first ever photobooth.  No, it’s not my typical photography (usually on location in the study of life and love) but it was sooo much fun.  I was happy to donate my time and skill for something so incredible.

Yep, that’s me at prom.    Wanna check out the rest of the action from my photobooth?  Head on over to http://td365.smugmug.com/  Prints and other cool items are available!

A2Z – Expression

 

Okay…  today I’m going to again share my gingerbread cookie drawing.  The one I did to accompany my session at Breaking the Silence.  I think it explains the basics of Expression, Gender, Assigned Sex, Sex, Sexual Desire, and Affection rather well.  After all, that’s the entire reason I created it.

So…  at it’s most basic?  Expression is “all this” – and if you could see me you’d see me waving my hands and fingers over my entire body from my head to my toes and everywhere in between.  It doesn’t exactly translate the same way to a blog post as it does when I do it in person.    Your outward expression of gender doesn’t have to match your assigned sex, your actual sex, or any particular gender.  It just just how you feel like presenting yourself at any given time – and there is no wrong way to express yourself.

I have to be honest.  I’m kinda glad we’re on “E” with this challenge.  Sure, my blog posts have been really fast and easy to write since the challenge started.  I find this type of thing really easy to talk about.  It helps that I talk about it with such a range of people on a day to day basis.  From toddlers to teachers, I talk about orientation a lot and in a lot of different ways.  So writing about it comes fast and easy.  But I miss the challenge that comes from writing about myself and following the whim of my muse.

It really is a far greater challenge to share about important parts of my day, and how those things led to moments of self discovery or laughter.  Sure, it means I end up with the occasional “sorry for being so boring today” post.  But generally, it’s a very satisfying part of my day.  It allows me time to put everything into perspective.  It is time for me to reflect on the days joy or frustrations.

Expression.

That’s really what this blog is all about.  It’s about my expression of self.  What I feel, who I am, what’s important to me on any given day.  And this challenge, to a degree, has robbed me of that.  It’s a good thing this is such an important topic or I’d be likely to scrap the whole darn thing at this point. 

Expression.

It is an exceedingly important part of who we are.  Without it?  (get ready for the exceptionally geeky reference dead ahead)  We might as well be assimilated by the Borg.  Taken into the collective, sharing a mind…

Expression.

It’s easy to think of it as the least of the parts that makes up our orientation, but when it is robbed from you?  It’s easy to see it as potentially the most important.  Without it, we are but shades of ourselves…  lost, and without the will to communicate.

So value your ability to express yourself, through the way you look, the things you do, how you interact with others…  Express yourself freely and without regret.  BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE!  Be the very best you, you know how to be, and inspire others to do the same.

 

“Mommy loves all of our parts.”

I’m very “body positive”.  I think bodies are beautiful.  All sorts of bodies. I didn’t always though.  Sometimes that’s the sort of wisdom that comes from living (not from age, but from experience, and making conscious decisions about the way we live).

I want my daughter to be body positive.  I love how my post baby belly feels all warm and squishy, and I want her to love all her parts too – however they turn out.  I tell her all the time how much I love her parts, every single part, because they are hers, and that makes them perfect.

I fear for our girls.  The messages they receive from almost everywhere are that they aren’t good enough.  They can always be more SOMETHING.  More thin, more curvy, more youthful, more, more, more…  But the fact of the matter is that they are PERFECT.  They are perfect as they are.  And that’s another reason for my Power of SHe project.

Not familiar with "Hilda", I suggest a Bing search.

Now I’m rambling.  I tend to do that when I get on topics of importance.  Okay.  Back to my story.

You never know if what you try to teach your children really gets through – until you KNOW it’s gotten through.  One of those wonderful little moments happened tonight, and it made me grin a wonderfully large self-satisfied grin.

Lily-Ann was in the bathroom with her Daddy.  I don’t remember specifically what they were doing, or the context of their discussion…  but I do remember hearing Damon laugh before they made their way into the bedroom where I was doing some work on the computer – waiting to put the girl to bed.

“Do you know what Lily told me?”

I looked up from my work and gave my husband my attention, “What?”

“She said you love my parts.”

I laughed and the story spilled forth.  Apparently the girl was educating her father, telling him that his parts are beautiful too.  “Mommy loves ALL of our parts.”  And she even made sure to let him know that I even love the stinky parts, because they’re perfect too.

Yep.

It’s nice to know that sometimes you really do get through to them.

A visit with family (pictures)

My youngest brother (the baby of the family) came for a visit today.  Coming to town for a six hour visit meant six hours on a bus (three hours each way) for him.  Not a fun trip, but I’m so glad he did it.  We don’t get to see him often enough, and we love him very much.  Not much to say other than that.  I love that so much of our family is local, but we dearly miss those who aren’t.

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Tracey and Brent – a photography postview?

Sooo…  I am just way too darn beat to type much…  and then I realized that I had pulled some photos to share a preview last week, but never did post them.  So this isn’t a preview so much (seeing how they’ve already gotten their disc) but Tracey and Brent are just too adorable for me to keep them all to myself.  So here’s a postview of one of the world’s most awesome couples:

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Tracey, Brent – I truly enjoyed working with you two.  And thank you so much for inviting me to come shoot on your land.  I’ve already made it out there once, and hope to do so again.  Your hospitality is very appreciated.

 

“A Family Affair” – photography preview for the Shuya family

The Shuya family’s session was very much a story about the love a mother has for her children.  Wendy and I had met years ago at an attachment parenting group, so it was a very pleasant surprise when she contacted me about having me come in and work with her family.  Getting to have this small peek into her life as a mother was a rare gift, and the photos speak to the kind of mother she is (and that we should all inspire to be):  involved, devoted, nurturing, and fun.  Wendy’s love for her two little ones knows no bounds, and I’m thrilled to have had the chance to help celebrate and immortalize it.

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And I hope this slideshow proves to some folk that sometimes?  Shooting at home really is best.  When your children feel safe and comfortable, it really does shine through.

Jen & Martin – Sweethearts at the University Bridge

I believe this is the third time I’ve blogged about Jen and Martin’s Sweetheart Session.  To bring up one particular photo shoot three times is unheard of for me, so I believe it speaks to the impact this couple had on me.  I really did love working with them.  Their feelings for one another were so evident in every interaction, they made my heart glow.  I truly believe theirs is a love that will last through any difficulties they may encounter – and in today’s temporary society, that’s saying a lot.

I took Jen and Martin to the East side of the University Bridge here in Saskatoon.  It’s not a spot I hit very often, so it remains an adventure every time I go.  We shot on the lookout platform on the South of the pedestrian walkway, under the bridge itself, and along the path that extends under the bridge and through the University Campus on the North side of the bridge.  In spite of relatively grey skies, we had a lovely time and created some beautiful images in celebration of this gorgeous couple.

 

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A Photographer’s Dilemma

Possibly the best dilemma a photographer can have, is narrowing down a fabulous shoot to a manageable chunk of images.  When working with clients, I like to present them with 40-50 excellent shots – all suitable for large scale framing.  Several dozen images, all that they can be proud to display anywhere in their home, office, or personal gallery.  I never have a problem coming up with that many.  Even in the most difficult of shoots I can easily find four dozen beautiful images.

In an hour long shoot, I typically take 200-350 images.  Not every photographer shoots as much as I do, and some shoot several times that amount.  It’s a personal thing.

When I sit down to begin “adjustmenting”, I first take a quick pass through all of the shots.  A quick, couple second each, pass through the entire photoshoot.  I then go back to the beginning, and begin my first purge.

During the initial purge, I delete any images that strike me instantly as a NO.  What makes it a NO varies greatly.  Whatever it is, it’s a NO.  Not even worth a second look.

I’m usually then left with about 10o images that are all worth looking at more seriously.  And that’s when my, very critical, eye really begins to work.  I flip back and forth between similar images, sometimes several times a second.  I pull a loupe (the round magnifier) and examine expression lines.  I go forward and backwards, forwards and then back several more.  And I don’t like to be interrupted.  This is, for me, the most serious part of the job.  It’s about the potential each of these images has to be more, to say more, to create more, to inspire more.  And only the best will pass this second purge.

From this, I end up with my 40 to 50 final shots.  And this is when I begin my edits, adjustments, and enhancements.  This is when I begin to have fun again.

I love my work.  I find it joyous.  But I also take it very seriously.

Today?  Today I have the best possible kind of photographer’s dilemma.  Today, my initial purge took me from just under 350, to 182.  182.  A gorgeous couple, and they feel for one another just leaps off their faces.  I’ve now gone through three purges, and am still hovering around 100 images.  Time to purge again…  and be HARSH.  I need to cut this baby down another half.  It will break my heart deleting some of these shots, but only the VERY best are worth the time I spend on adjustments.

I spend several hours working through a session after the purges.  And so far, just the purges have taken a number of hours.  LOL  But, like I said before…  too many excellent images?  That’s the kind of dilemma every photographer LOVES to have.

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Jen, I’m determined to get your shoot completed, burned, and ready for your Grandmother’s 102nd birthday.  Wish me luck.