my BiRtHdAy

check, check it out.. BIRTHDAY STUFF

it did rain all day.. and i've come down with some nasty
fluey type thing.. i'll be in my pajamas all day. sigh...

35 tho.. can u even believe it? where DOES the time go..

wow..

cheers.

rosie's learning together potluck

april 11, 2006

at the school, rosie's class had a fun learning together potluck; the parents and kids all hung out in the afternoon and the parents got to know each other and then watch the kids play and then we all ate together.. it was fun!

here's some pics of the day... rosie's learning together potluck

a moment in time with truly amazing women

have you ever wondered what would happen if you completely did something out of the ordinary? like did something that was totally not in your usual character to do?

well... i did it.
i full on did something that i am looking back going, " i actually can't believe you did that, trace. what on EARTH were you thinking??"

let me start this story from the beginning..

in the last couple weeks i have been trying to "get in" to the photo industry here. between finding photographers that will talk to me either in person or via email, to referrals from my most amazing BNI network, i have been able to talk to some here, wondering what their takes on the best ways to "get in" here..

kris krug - the amazing fashion photographer friend of mine - is one.. and thru a contact at bni, marcel newall of "nurse next door" and a former interior designer/architect, gave me a contact number of a woman, reine, who is was apparently pretty fabulous at what she does - note: i dont have a hot clue who is who here, so i'm pretty ignorant to it all!

so i gave the number a call a couple weeks ago and left a message. meanwhile, i got her studio number and called it and her business partner, jana answered. she was so great! she told me the best way to get ahold of reine was to email at a certain email then call her number and leave a message. cool..fairly simple. so i did it.

now why was i doing this? to get a job? that'd be cool to get contacts? definitely. to talk to someone who KNOWS the industry? definitely. so i really didnt' have a clue where this was all gonna lead to.

the next day i got an email back from reine.
it was so incredible. she gave me a glimpse into her photo life and the amazing opportunities that were in hands reach for them. she even said once she got a few more pieces of paper off her desk, she may be able to meet with me to talk. cool.
i emailed her back and told her i'd love that and would wait to hear from her.

so a week went by.
and i wondered..should i email? should i call? will that sound DESPERATE?? cuz that's the last thing i want it to come across as.. hmm...what to do, what to do..

i emailed again.

a couple days later i had another meeting with another photographer, to pick her brain, etc.was a good and interesting time..her site patricia minnis photography

after that meeting i got thinking back to reine. should i call? why the heck not!?
so i called.
no answer. no biggie, i knew the drill.
left a message.

i was driving thru yaletown, the place that her address on her site says. i thought, i'll do a "drive by" of the studio..why not??! meanwhile, i called the studio number and jana, her business partner, answered. we had a wonderful convo! she was asking me lots of questions, about what exactly i wanted to be doing, etc. then she got a call and said she'd call back. so i continued driving and i parked my car.

note - this is where the story gets crazy and the whole bit about "i can't believe i did that" comes in.

and walked to the address. it did NOT look like a studio. it looked residential. but hey, anything's poss right?? so i called jana again. she informs me that IS reine's rez and to knock on the door, "she'll talk to you, trace!"

ok. so i knocked. no response. hmmm..
the gate was open, so what did that mean i wondered.
i called jana again... she must be walking her dogs, she said.

then i dont k now exactly how or what happened after that, but basically...i think i told jana i could come to her and would love to hear anything she had to say. the next thing i knew: she had given me her address to her place in kitsilano.

i'm a freak!, i thought. here i basically invited myself over to this other amazing photographer's house to just listen to WHATEVER they had to tell me. i could NOT believe i had the gumption to be doing this.

needless to say, jana greeted me at her door, where she once again told me she could talk to me while she was doing other things - scanning, getting ready for a meeting. i was REALLY ok with that.

she was gracious to even look at my portfolios and give me GREAT pointers.. she gave me some ideas how to get "in" here, and even took my card if she ever needed a last minute hand in anything.

i walked away stunned.
she really didnt' have to do that.
in fact she could have easily said, um, too busy, sorry.

but she was so great to give me so much just in all she said that i am STILL mulling it over and figuring out the next steps for myself.

the next day reine emailed..hehehe..i'm sure she thinks i'm a freak.
showing up at her house, going to jana's..

but you know what..i learned so much about MYSELF in that day..
and i'm sure it'll be at least a couple weeks til they forget about that "tracey heppner from saskatchewan" showing up in their lives.

so thank you reine. thank you jana. thank you for all your words, your ideas, your advice.
you have NO idea what that meant.

and who knows what the future holds, hey? :)

so i continue my journey..where it ends up.. one will have to wait and see

trace

reine and jana's websites :
REINEweddings
JANAweddings
REINE & JANA portrait photographers

around the block

all different newspapers to choose from, some free, some not.




this is a VERY important sign..no, for real.




beautiful er's reflection in the puddle..




random garbage on a bench..



...so then were does one park?!

these were just some random pics from around our place here..

camels in turkey

this is FULLY not my photography, obviously, but i love love LOVE this photo.. so i thought i'd share it.. look carefully..it's not what it seems.

a day with a fashion photographer

so i had the great opportunity to "assist" ( i use the word lightly!) an amazing vancouver fashion photographer in the city here, kris krug. he was shooting for a catalogue for arson clothing.
the team he worked with were so great.

got there at 11 am, downtown granville street - set up our lights..which we both thought was gonna drive us to drinking right there! the lighting down there wasn't at all what kris wanted, and had to figure out SOMETHING. my job? basically watch kris do his magic with his camera, move stuff if he wanted it moved, and continually pop coins into our cars' meters out on the street..hahahahah! it was awesome.. i think we finally called it quits around 330, ending with the last shoot out in the back alley. and i might add we ate lunch about 3 at this GREAT place, the salad loop - oh my word, the coolest ever..never had been til then.. definitely up there on my list of great places to eat some treats.

kris was great to be around, and let me have a peek into the realm of fashion photography.
he indeed is very gifted in this arena of the photographic world. he even swiped my tripod adapter..sigh..what a guy. :)

i took a few pics OF kris (click on his name there <--) doin his thing.. so ya, it was a pretty good experience all around. :)



below is one of my favorite of kris' shots.. he rocks at what he does!

the coffee place

for all you who i let know about an interview with a coffee franchise in town here last week.. it didn't go thru.. they decided to keep their current photographer. no biggie really.. it was a good experience to go thru the whole interview process..and i'm sure i'll still drink their coffee... :)

stanley park, at it's finest..

so we went for a family outing to stanley park.. twas loverly..

check it out! ---> stanley park pics

gosh i love this city.. sigh.. :) but i was crying the whole time, shelley..

a trip to new west

we went to the new west quay on april 9th.. it was a fun time..

stopped in to see my grandma too..

boy do we live in a beautiful metropolis..

:)

trace

vancouver: home is where the heart is..and my heart is definitely here!

been real lax on the blogging here.. so thot i'd post... have a few minutes.. been crazy.. lots of opportunities opening up for me.. saweeeet..

after an amazing interview downtown with a coffee company, i decided to take a few pics down around that block.. here's what i got..

a day in the life of us..

so me and my bestest erin, went for a drive after her first day of work...after gettin shut down at 2 starbucks in burn-a-by (they were BOTH renovating - go figure!), we decided to just make our way downtown.. so we went down around the science centre (cuz i know i'd find parking down there!) and then made our way to kitsilano/kits beach.. good times had by all..

enjoy..we did. :)

good friday road trip around town..

good friday...we toured about the city.. took in the sites to see via car..

twas loverly. :)