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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Sleeping Chihuahua (pic)

Long day.

Folks checked into the hotel room next to ours at 6 AM…  loudest people ever!  Seriously.  I gave up on getting any more sleep at 7:00.  We had no plans on waking before 9.  So by the time Alice and I were in the ring in the afternoon, we were already ready for a nap.  Which is exactly what we came back here to do:

My cow baby, snoozing on her cow.

 

No points for little Alice today, but hopefully with some rest and treats she’ll be back to her usual self, and ready to own the ring tomorrow.

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.

The Mermaid and the Seapony

So, my most recent addiction has got to be Deviant Art.  I’ve posted about it, and some of the awesome pieces I’ve had commissioned by artists I’ve found there.  Well, the most recent was one I had done up for the kid.

I know when I was a little girl, playing in the bathtub with my sea wees and sea ponies (both of which the kid now plays with), I always pretended I was a mermaid too.  And Lily-Ann does the very same thing – though, thanks to the deep soaker tub most of the water stays IN the bathtub.    So, I couldn’t think of a better thing than to have someone recreate my little girl as a mermaid.  Which is exactly what I did.

 

When she saw it for the first time, Lily-Ann exclaimed:  “It’s ME!!!!  And I’m a MERMAID!!!!!  WOW!!!!!”  She paused for a long while admiring the image before she continued “I have to go get Daddy, he just HAS to see this.”  And off she ran (returning promptly with Damon in tow).

So, a big thank you to Kate!  I’d say this piece had the desired reaction. 

Shoo be doop.  Shoo shoo be doo.  (only tried and true pony fans will get that reference)

Raised to be censored.

I logged in today specifically to write more about Women and the fight to challenge societies notions of what and who we are to be.  So it was seemingly appropriate to discover the following when I clicked on WordPress in my toolbar:

Of course, WordPress isn’t protesting on behalf of gender issues, it’s doing so to help prevent the potential screening and censoring of content on the web.  Another important issue that could affect us all.  But in all honesty, these repeating black boxes got me thinking.  Children are essentially raised to be censored.

As a society we don’t raise our children to be radical free thinkers out to change the rules and defy convention.  We raise our children to fit in, to maintain the status quo, to work within the system, to be censored – by us, by society, by themselves.  It’s a sad state of affairs.

Colour within the lines.

Present yourselves as society deems appropriate.

Working on the Power of SHe project has been challenging if for no other reason than I am forcing myself and my models to defy convention.  There are many shots that I have set up in my mind, but finding women brave enough and strong enough to participate with me is hard.  I don’t want airbrushed, magazine ready bodies.  I want real women, PERFECT in their natural, untended, and even derelict form.  Mother’s aprons, scars, celluloid, stretch marks – part of lives well lived.  Time for them to be celebrated not censored.  Love yourself in your decrepitude.  It’s time to teach our daughters a new standard of beauty, one free of censored black boxes and filled with the rosy pink hues of love.

Get involved!  I need you!  Please.

You can drop me a line any time to volunteer for this project – photographer at tobi-dawne dot com

Let’s break free of the black boxes society insists on using to mask and muffle us.  Embrace all it is to be a Woman, and celebrate in your own flesh!

Chibi Me!

Okay, I had something all planned out to write about.  And it was actually something I’m pretty excited about (the Breaking the Silence conference – I chaired a board meeting for it tonight)…  but then I got home, put the kid to bed, and checked my email.  Now?  Now I have no choice but to share CHIBI ME!!!

A little while ago I commissioned a really amazing artist I found at Deviant Art (it’s becoming habit).  Scotty – http://scotty6000.deviantart.com/ – does some amazing comic work, and also creates these uber adorable chibi figures.  And seriously, at her prices there was no way I could NOT commission one.

I shared my idea (me and two of my dogs: Thora and Alice) and shared a bunch of photos.  She then came back to me with two rough drafts expecting me to be able to pick one of them.  Well jeepers.  That was not happening.  I loved them both.  So… well…  I ended up commissioning them both.  LOL  It totally wasn’t my fault though.  Honest.  I mean there really just was no way I could pick between them, they were both awesome.

And that brings me to tonight.

Sitting in my inbox was a message from Scotty.  My pieces were finished.  Yay!

Both images are clickable if you’d like to see larger versions.  Way too cute though, right???  LOL

Thank you Scotty!!!  I absolutely adore them! 

A Wintery Day in the Park – a photography preview for Pat Kilgour

I had a lovely time with Pat and her family on Sunday afternoon out in Gabriel Dumont Park.  It’s one of my favourite spots to do family photographs ANY time of year, even when it’s -20 out.  Thankfully it was substantially warmer than that, as we’re having the warmest Winter Saskatchewan has seen in my 34 years, so while we were all starting to get red cheeks and cold hands by the end of our hour together, we managed to get all the way through without complaint.  Well…  except for Shmee, who was unimpressed by the whole thing.

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Nothin’ but Love!

Yesterday I found my thoughts turning to the new year.  2012 hits in a matter of days – and yes, like many folk, I can’t say or think “twenty twelve” without thinking of all the doomsday prophecies.  It’s become so ingrained into our thought processes that it’s there, in the darker parts of our brains…  dwelling in a perverse little cave crammed away with the conspiracy theories and abduction stories from the history channel.  So, for the time being, I’m going to stuff that whole thing back into it’s dank little dwelling place and completely ignore it.

Twenty eleven was all about personal joy for me.  It was a roller coaster of a year – with three quarters of it being nothing but up, up, up followed by a real quick down.  Throw your hands in the air and scream!!!!  Then it started making it’s way up again.

I actually found it really hard to settle on a word or theme for this past year.  Right down to the last minute I was in a state of utter confuddlement (yep, another of those made up words of mine).  But I won’t bore you with that story.  It’s on my blog already, back from when it was fresh and new.  No point in rehashing.

Anyway…

After last years struggles for a word, the fact that a word came to me instantly was to my complete and utter amazement and shock.  It was very literally instantaneous.  The moment I thought to myself “guess it’s time to come up with a new word” I had my new word:  Love.  It came so easily that I actually began second guessing myself.  But honestly?  It’s a perfect fit.

2011 was about joy.  2012 will be about love.

Loving one self.  Loving others.  Allowing one self to love.  Loving without reservation.  Loving without second guessing.  Loving without embarrassment.  Yep.  I’m giving myself permission to feel things completely and fully, without holding back.  …so watch out!    This one could get a little messy.

I can’t imagine giving up my focus on joy.  It’s changed my life in such a hugely positive way.  Focusing on love will merely be an extension of that.  I think it’s gonna be great!

So?  What’s your word for 2012?  Don’t do a word?  What’s your theme?  Or if you’re a little old fashioned, what’s your resolution? I don’t like resolutions, they’re just ideas that lack action…  but if they work for you, more power to ya!