Maternity

Occasionally I will post some personal shots of mine up here.  Usually this happens when I'm all caught up on my edits and I feel particularly inspired to share... this would be one of those times. :)

This evening I went outside with my chocolate lab, Hartigan to take photos of him.  Unfortunately he was more inclined to play with his ball than pose for photos....  So I pulled out my tripod for a couple of self maternity portraits since my belly seems to be growing quickly!  (Well, all of me seems to be growing, much to my dismay but that's to be expected when you substitute your gym routine for a napping routine.) 

I shot with another photographer once who insisted that the hardest photos to take were self portraits because you have to rely on your skills to set your camera properly and then step out from behind the control of the camera.  Although I don't do self portraits often, when I do I try to experiment with my settings.

 Hugs from Hartigan are always nice... although somewhat drooly.

 

Baby :: Carter

It's no secret I love dogs. It's also a well known fact that I love babies. :) Well this weekend for Carter's session I got to photograph both! Like any little man, Carter has two of man's best friends. His mom Michelle invited me over to their home for some family photos. Here's a sneak peak from their session today....

Baby fusses, dog cuddles and kisses.

Family group shot!

Practice makes.....

Practice makes.... well not perfect. I bought a manual lens from a fellow photographer and have been practising with it between photo edits. What's so hard about this lens you ask? It has the ability to have a very very small focus spot, blurring everything no matter how close to the subject. Take the photo above for example. My focus was on the flower head, but the depth of field is so shallow on this shot that not even the whole flower is clear. So it's a toughie.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

....So I know this post is late. I've been behind on the times lately and I apologize profusely. Work has been very busy. And my "real life" has been even busier. So since this is a part time thing, something had to give.

I am currently working like a fiend juggling packing, work, and editing a bunch of photos. As you may know, May/June was a very busy photo month for me and to be fair to my family I have tried very hard to not be a photo zombie...especially with the stat holidays. (Photo zombie definition: when you have eyes only for your camera or computer because you are editing.) Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you and I am working to have your photos done as soon as possible.

In the mean time, while I am trying to get my external memory to connect to my photo editing programs so I can continue editing, I figured I shot attempt at a Canada Day post. I did have this post for the Canada day long weekend, but unfortunately it seems in my busy photo zombie stat, I forgot to actually click "publish post." So the lovely, well written blog post I had was lost.

Canada Day my hubby took our little family (him, me and our chocolate lab Hartigan) to a man made pond just outside of Calgary that we like to go to. Hartigan used to be terrified of water but as he has matured he's come to love it. Before, he would through himself down on the ground when you brought him within 10 ft. of water. Now it's tough to get him out!

The pond is glacier fed. This gives it a gorgeous blue colour.

Walking around the pond....

Hartigan at a distance.

"Oh hai!"

Swim swim swim

Getting sleepy

Shaun took away the stick that Hartigan found and he didn't seem to care for that... so he shook his fur as hard as he could in Shaun's direction :p

"Please please please throw the stick..."

Puppy Project

I wasn't going to post any photos about my adventure at Deerfoot Meadows Petland, but in the end I changed my mind. I wanted to thank the store and staff for letting me come in to photograph some of the pets for my photo project for school. As usual, the staff was very helpful and friendly. Overall even though I left smelling of puppy pee and drool it was a great experience. For those who don't know, my chocolate lab (Hartigan) is a Petland puppy, or should I say he was. He went to the pet store for rabbit food and we left three hours later with a puppy. He is more than just our dog, he's our furbaby and he's loved dearly.

Jennifer + Ryan ...and Bella

I heard a quote once that went something along the lines of "We give dogs time we have left over, space we can allow and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. Their heart, soul and loyalty. They consider us their family and best friend and will be there for us no matter what. It's the best deal you'll ever find." Never have I thought this sentiment more accurate than when I met Jennifer and Ryan... and their beagle Bella. Here are some of my favourites from their session!

In true dog fashion, Bella insisted on being a part of the more romantic moments of the session. She even wanted her own kisses at this point!