A new dress, A flower farm, and a 4 year old. - Saskatoon photographers

My little girl turned 4 this summer!  I can't believe it's been 4 years since we welcomed our first born into the world.  She received this gorgeous dress from her Auntie who brought it all the way back from Italy for her!  I knew I had to do a photoshoot of her in it.  I really wanted to do something really girly with her, as that is her:  Girly.  I thought doing the session out at my parents flower farm would be the perfect place!  (Yes, my parents grow flowers on the farm to sell to flower shops in Saskatoon.  Pretty cool right??  You can keep tabs on what they are up to on their facebook page HERE)  While the farm got hit with frost a few nights ago, there was still a lot in bloom and they looked amazing!  We did this session in about 20 minutes, because well, that's all my girl will give me.  Needless to say, I feel like I captured her personality perfectly.  So here she is... my little princess.  I love her to bits!!!  And I'm bias, but isn't she gorgeous?    

A Saskatoon maternity session - Lakeview park Saskatoon

When I saw and e-mail in my inbox from a past bride, I was secretly hoping it would be an inquiry for maternity photos:).  Well, after opening up the email, it was!  I seriously love it when past clients call me to capture the next chapter in their lives!  I photographed this bride and grooms wedding 7 years ago already!  It was so awesome to get them in front of my camera again!  I can't wait to meet their newest addition:).  I know one thing for sure.  This baby is already so loved.  So I sit here and patiently wait for the call to say their little one has arrived.  Until then, here are a few from their maternity session.  The last sunset shot is definitely a fav!   

How to photograph fireworks

With the fireworks festival coming up this weekend in Saskatoon I thought it would be fun to do a blog post on photographing fireworks!  So.. here is a simple guide to photographing fireworks.  You can find out all the details of the 2015 fireworks festival in Saskatoon HERE.

1.  Put your camera on a tripod.  If you don't have one, you will need a steady surface to put your camera on.  Although a tripod is always best! 

Put your camera on manual mode with the following settings:

ISO:  200 or 400

Aperture:  F16 or around there

Shutter speed:  Here is where you need to play around a bit!  I would suggest starting at one second, then adjusting from there.  Depending on how much ambient light there is, you may want to go a bit lower or higher than that!  If the fireworks aren't the big grand ones, you will likely need to add a couple of seconds. 

DISCLAIMER:  These are the settings I used!  They can totally depend on your surroundings etc., but this is a great starting point!!!

A great tip is when you press the shutter, hold onto the camera with both hands, and don't let go until you hear the shutter close.  If you push it and release instantly, it can cause the camera to move a bit (even on a tripod), resulting in blurry pictures. 

Play around with it, have fun and break the 'rules' to see what you can create!!!

**All off these images are from the Canada Day fireworks here in Saskatoon. 

**All off these images are from the Canada Day fireworks here in Saskatoon. 

Adding people to the mix is a whole other ball game!  Of course, I only have recent fireworks images with people in the them, being a portrait photographer and all.  Keep an eye on our page for future blog posts on adding people to your fireworks pictures.  For now, go out and master fireworks shots on their own. 

Another thing to keep in mind is try and get some really great shots right at the start. Once a bunch of fireworks go off, it gets really smoky and they don't photograph as well.

Good Luck! 

I don't like to play favorites...

This mom and I went to photography school together.  Their wedding was the second wedding I ever photographed.  The not-so-little girl was just 2 when she posed for us in class.  It's hard to believe she turned 10 this year!  I'm grateful they come to me every year for family photos.  It's pretty cool to see the kids grow up and the mom and dad look exactly the same (lucky buggers, lol).  They are some of my favorite people to photograph.  Thanks for supporting us over the years.  It makes me so thankful to do what I do!  Looking forward to capturing your family again next year!   

Smokey and the bride (and groom)

When I first met with this couple, they said their wedding could be described in 3 words: Family, Friends and Fun.  After meeting with several wedding photographers here in Saskatoon, they decided that we were the perfect fit!  I’m not sure who was more excited!  The bride, or myself?! 

The bride had so many personal touches in her day.  The salon that did her hair was the same salon she has been going to since she was a little girl, she even had pictures on her phone of the makeup artist doing her make up in a wedding she was in last year.  Her dress was new, but the overlay bottom part was added from her mothers gown.  These were just a few of the details that made her day so uniquely hers on the day she married her highschool sweetheart.

The wedding party fit right into their theme, it consisted of some family, many friends and a lot of fun!  The only thing that wasn’t planned was all the smoke that came from the forest fires up North.  The fires were picking up speed around the weekend of her wedding and the smoke in the city was thick.  Luckily, the smoke added to the images and really made them feel that much more romantic.  

The day started a bit earlier than we usually arrive, as the bride wanted some getting ready shots at the salon, as it was sentimental for her.  We put the dress on at her mom and dads place then rushed off to the church.  The ceremony was beautiful!  We hit up a few locations around Saskatoon, the last being a greenhouse!  The bride loves flowers, so we made the stop to get some nice images with a ton of color.  My assistant and I stopped by the hall to get some detail shots before we called it a day. 

If I could describe this Saskatoon wedding in 3 words it would be:  Sentimental, attention to detail, and FUN!   To the lovely couple:  I hope your day was everything you dreamed.  Wishing you all the best in your married life! 

$25,000 to charity!!! - Trash the Dress charity event

We had our annual Trash the Dress for charity event last weekend!  We raised over $25,000!!!  I will be posting more images from the day soon.  In the meantime, we made the news yesterday!  Thank you to CBC for covering our story!  7 ladies fund-raised their buns off, so we were so thankful that the event got some recognition from the media this year!  You can read the article HERE.  Also, please go follow our event over on FACEBOOK.  I decided to do something a bit different this year.  I used our portable lighting, which gives a bit of a different feel to the images.  We love how they turned out.  Stay tuned for more images from our day!

A wedding in a castle

Well not really a castle, but the closest thing we have to a castle here in Saskatoon.  This wedding was a referral, like so many of our weddings.  If you have been following me from the beginning of my photography journey, you will recognize one of the hilarious bridesmaids.  I photographed her wedding a while back and have actually become pretty close friends ever since!  Her little girls have been on my blog over the last 4 years as well:).  

Back to this day, which was fit for a queen, and, of course, her king.  We had the pleasure of capturing the full day, which was so hard to narrow down the favorites for.  She wore the same shoes her mother wore on her wedding day, which was so incredibly special.  Even in her pretty ballet flats, the bride and groom both over 6 feet tall, towered over my 5"5' frame, so thank goodness I brought my ladder to get some great angles of this incredibly tall, incredibly good looking duo.  

Everything about this day was something to talk about.  Our day started with getting ready coverage.  The groom gave the bride a gorgeous pair of pearl earrings along with a note that made the first tears of the day flow freely.  Once the gals were suited up we headed over to a gorgeous church on third ave here in Saskatoon.  Again, more tears flowed.  The wedding ceremony was a mixture of sentimental, traditional and heartfelt.  I could really witness 1000 weddings and love every single one!  This one was no exception. 

Once the ceremony wrapped up we went to garden architecture, where the bride and groom nailed their portraits, like to a 'T'!  So many amazing shots, I really could have posted every one!  We met up with the wedding party and went to a pretty park which I found while location scouting, where I cried... tears of laughter.  They were so flippin' funny!!!  To say it was a blast would be an understatement.  Seriously, I would love to hang out with them every single weekend!  These guys know how to have fun and let loose, which is right up my alley!  

We headed to the bes, to get some shots of the gorgeous room after the wedding planners were finishing up setting it up.  It was so darn pretty!  Purple and gold everywhere!!!  We finished up the portrait portion of the day and headed right into cocktail hour, not before finishing with a few 'jumping' pictures (an inside joke with the bride and groom).  

The speeches were a bit on the tame side, so I'm thinking not all the juicy details of the couple were spilled by never-less, they were classy and so hilarious!  The slideshow, so sweet and the first dance, again, brought tears to the happy couples' eyes.  Thinking back to this day, it was perfect!  So here it is... a wedding in a castle.....      

Thank you!

I often have a hard time writing blog posts.  Finding the right words has always been a struggle for me, as each client is so different and brings out different emotions.  Writing has always been something that has been an interest, but something I have never been good at.  I have to admit, I'm super envious of great writers.  For me, translating my thoughts into words is tricky.  Not to mention proper grammar, where to put the comma or starting a new sentence.  Yup, the struggle is real.  Translating into pictures is so much easier. 

I have always been an artistic person.  Seeing moments happen and capturing the emotions is what I love.  Being a wedding photographer in this beautiful city of Saskatoon is something I don't take lightly.  Capturing the love between couples and all of the emotions of a wedding day is something that I thrive on.  At times I run into different vendors on a wedding day and wonder why the heck they are still in the wedding business.  They are bitter, cranky and complaining the whole day.  Weddings bring out just the opposite in me.  After each year, wedding season becomes more exciting. The night before a wedding I get giddy and excited for the Saturday to come!  I think I can truly say, that after 8 years of shooting weddings I fall more and more in love with them each and every year.  I really feel so fortunate that I am able to share in the love between two people who trust me to capture the memory of their big day, and preserve that memory long after the wedding day.  So many weddings I've shot recently include photos of their own parents and even grandparents on their wedding day, Either at the guest sign in book or on the cake table.  To think that a wedding I have captured could be displayed long after my time here on earth is unfathomable, yet a reality of so many of our clients.  To say it's an honor to capture someones wedding day is truly an understatement.

To all of my clients who have trusted me to photograph the happiest day of your lives, thank you!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  Cheers to the last 8 years, and to the next 8 years (+).  I can't wait!

A beauty of a grad session in Saskatoon

My little cousin graduated high school this spring!  I'm still in shock!  I used to babysit her when she was little and now she babysits my kiddos.  It's pretty cool to see her all grown up into this gorgeous young lady.  I would like to give a shout out to my amazing auntie and uncle who have supported my business in trusting me with all their memories over the last several years.  It means a lot to me:).  It's always a pleasure to get your crew in front of my camera.  Congrats Miss 'T' on your graduation!  Good luck on your road to adulthood!!!   

Teddy Bear's picnic - Saskatoon Photographer

What do you get when you have an adorable little boy who turns 6 months old, and his mom is a talented event planner over at Barredo events?  You get this!  A super cute stylized shoot.  The most adorable 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' I have ever seen!  Huge thank you to Jess over at Barredo events for bringing all the props for this super cute session!