more olivia!

I think these photos do a fine job of illustrating not only how completely adorable Olivia is, but also how much she is loved.

little olivia

Olivia was an absolute pleasure to photograph. Her parents and home are very peaceful and gentle and I imagine that Olivia is going to grow up to be a very special little girl. Here are a few of my favourites from our session so far... isn't she just precious?!

apple mmmmmmuffins

This muffin is from a batch I made on Sunday that might be the best batch of muffins I ever made in my whole entire life. (If that strikes you as an odd thing to say, it's because it's a Whelan family joke). :)

I found the recipe at robinhood.ca and slightly modified it. Follow these easy directions and enjoy a super-moist, super-delicious muffin with your tea tonight!

Apple Berry Crumble Muffins

Topping: Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 almonds, 3 tbsp oats, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp margarine. I melted the margarine in a small pot on the stove to make it mix together better. Set aside.

Muffins:

Mix together 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar and 1 tsp baking soda.

In a different bowl mix together 1 egg, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, and 1/2 cup olive oil.

Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Add 2 1/2 cups peeled, diced apples and 1 cup mixed frozen berries.

Spray your muffin tin (and paper liners), fill with batter and sprinkle the topping over each muffin. Bake at 375F for about 25 minutes or until the tops are firm to touch.

Voila! Easy yummy muffins in less than an hour... enjoy! :)

pinhole art

Hey-o! I'm back after a much needed creative break and you can expect blog posts galore over the next few weeks as I catch up on my editing and share some of my new creations with you.

This afternoon I was tooling around on the Internet and came across Heather Smith Jones' beautiful website. She creates the most amazing pinhole art. In fact, I think she invented it because when I google "pinhole art" all links lead back to this talented lady.

I was feeling pretty enthusiastic about pinhole art and immediately decided I wanted to make some too. Now, mine is nowhere near as intricate and I am wielding much blunter tools (a sewing needle and scrapbook paper) but I think the effect is so neat. It looks like all you have is a blank piece of paper until you hold it up to a light source... and then your design magically appears!

Now every time I walk into the kitchen I smile at my lovely new pinhole creations. I can't imagine how fun this would be if you could make a light box-type frame for your wall... you could put different colour light bulbs in it and create some real magic! (Like this maybe?)

ooOOOOooo the possibilities....! :)


And of course, you should be listening to awesome music such as this while punching out your art!

please be patient with me

I know there are many of you out there waiting ever-so-patiently for the results of your recent (or perhaps not-so-recent) photo shoots. I realize that I am quite far behind in my editing and catching up is taking much longer than I had expected.

Taking pictures started out as a passion for me and has quickly become overwhelming. I was trying to grow my skills at a break-neck pace and unfortunately, did not take into account the time I need to spend working at my "real job" (the one that pays the bills) along with all the other things-needing-doing that are a part of life.

I am sincerely sorry for the time it is taking to get back to all you wonderful, generous, supportive people. I am inching my way through the digital pile and hope to be back on top of things by the end of the month. I apologize for all the unanswered e-mails and photo-shoots-put-off. The fact you want me to capture your family, friends and special events means the world to me and I appreciate all your love, support and commitment more than you'll ever know.

My dream is that one day doing photos will be my "real job" and that I can devote the bulk of my time and energy to it. But until then, I am trying to let things grow organically and authentically and I'm starting to see that takes more time than I had realized. Please me patient with me. And thank you so much for your love and encouragement. xo.

From the beautiful Buttercup Festival by David Troupes.

the weckmans

As promised, here are a few more from the Weckman's family get-together. What a great bunch of good lookin' people!


I don't recall what's going on here. To be honest, I'm not sure I knew what was going on while it was happening. But I love how she's laughing and he's pointing. So fun!


This is the whole lot of them... They're pointing at the guests of honour in the middle - the lovely couple was celebrating a very significant milestone: 60 years of marriage!


You can tell by the sparkle in his eye and her radiant smile that they're very happy. And perhaps that laughter is the key ingredient to a long, happy marriage.


And how could I not include at least one more of sweet little Ella?

all about ella

About a month ago my friend Meaghan asked me to take a few photos at her family reunion. I (finally) finished editing them today and while I got a few great shots of the family (which I'll post tomorrow) I absolutely fell in love with these four pictures of Ella.

The youngest (and first grandchild!) is always the star of the show. And the love surrounding Ella is undeniable. Look how beautiful Meaghan looks smiling at her little girl. xo.

You may have noticed that I'm experimenting with my editing techniques lately. I tried making the above three images look like old photos you might pull out of a shoebox. I like the effect but they also turned out nicely in straight colour and black & white. The one below simply melts my heart.

and this one's for my sister

Sharlene, Christine, Allison and Tippy dressing up "punk" circa 1986.

Today is my sister's birthday so I wanted to post this photo from way-back-when in her honour. She's the best big sister a girl could ask for - fun, thoughtful, caring, giver of excellent advice, and best friend ever.

Sharlene, I hope you have a wonderful day and a year of AWESOME. (As awesome as you are hopefully!). I love you! xoxo.

this one's for my mother

I don't know where this sign came from but I thought it deserved a special place above our bathroom sink. I highly suspect this is something of which my mother will be deeply proud. >:)

three favourite pictures

Today was a beautiful day and here are three of my favourite pictures from it.

This morning I met up with Megan and LG to snap a few shots of the newly engaged couple. These two were so laid back and game for anything. Of course, I have loads of photos of them being (very much) in love (they were so darn adorable) but this particular image made me stop. And laugh. I know it's pretty serious for an engagement photo but there's something about it that makes me go, "ooOOOooo" and then laugh out loud. Thanks for a fun morning you two, I can't wait to edit through the rest of your session!


This afternoon I went for a short "hike." That is, if you consider walking along a well-groomed, overly-signed, gravel path hiking. It was a glorious day... one of those perfect fall days where a wool scarf keeps you cozy and the sky is the most awesome azure blue. The leaves were a riot of colour but my eye couldn't help but scan the ground. And to what reward! Too lazy to switch to a different lens, I approached these mushrooms with a wide-ish angle and I have to say, I love the result. This is exactly the type of landscape my imagination painted as a little girl.


My final favourite shot of the day is, of course, a portrait of a handsome man. (And a mighty fine Boggle player, I should add). I tried to make this photo look a little rumpled and desaturated and I kinda like the effect.


My beautiful day ended with my beautiful friend Elaine arriving safe & sound from Scotland. I'm lucky to have her be all mine for the next week or so. It hasn't been just the two of us since collage! I wonder what trouble we'll get up to... >:)

what is original, anyway?

While home this past weekend my Mom and I had a great discussion about original thought, inspiration and what we feel comfortable calling our own work. For the longest time I've thought of myself as an excellent adapter. Oftentimes I find myself wanting to footnote a photograph or something I've made with it's original source... maybe it's my science background.

Isn't it amazing how when something's on your mind the answer will pop up in your life, often where you least expect it? While meditating on this dilemma, I stumbled upon the quote below - something I've seen before but had long forgotten. It carries much more meaning for me now and I hope it helps you in celebrating all your creativity and authenticity too.

ice cream cones after dark

My session with Lucas and his family went until the sun set. Shooting an hour before sunset is ideal - the slanting light is beyond spectacular (as you can see in the first two images).


But as the sun sets, it's hard using available light. I'm reluctant to use flash so I'm always trying to push my camera. Here, lit by the ice cream stand, Lucas is still looking pretty cute (though maybe a tad blurry, oops).


Just before this, however, I tried taking these two shots. For the camera nerds out there, I was at 800 ISO, f2.8 and 1/125 (which is as low as I dare to go with a long lens). They were still super underexposed and it breaks my heart, because these are such sweet images, especially the one of Lucas and Stacey. I pushed them in post-processing but they still don't look right to me. Oh well... all that grain is a style, right...? :)

more lucas!

I didn't realize how many pictures I took the night I was out with Lucas and his parents. Here are a few more favourites. And there are still more to come!

I love this first one, it's so typical of a toddler... "No Mom! I want don't want to go over there!!"


And this, I discovered this morning while puttering around the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. Yes, that is a napkin twisted through a perfectly circular hole in the middle of a wine glass. Odd.

laughter is the best medicine

Here are the promised photos of Lucas' mommy and daddy. If you notice one thing about these pictures, please notice how happy they look. In each of these images either Leanne or Stephen are laughing. And that evening, while out with them, I definitely noticed an ease and comfort between them that I thought of as very lucky. So lucky that after a few years together, they've not only maintained that special glow of love, but have improved upon it.

darling lucas

I had so much fun hanging out with this little guy (and his family!) at Dingle Park a few weeks back. Lucas is super busy. So busy I almost had a hard time keeping up - I don't know how his parents do it all day every day! I guess it helps that he's also super adorable and one of the sweetest little boys I've ever met.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from our evening together. I absolutely love the first image of Lucas jumping up and down in front of his Dad - I think it captures something really special about this time in their lives. I also like the one where Lucas is sitting on the path - he looks so tiny and precious!

Tomorrow I will be posting a few pictures of Lucas' mommy and daddy. I'm finally back in the groove of editing so keep checking back!