follow your heart...to ITALY || vancouver photographer

tuscania...orvieto...assisi...cortona...narni.. ah, yes..these are just a few of the many stop-overs that are on the FOLLOW YOUR HEART..TO ITALY photo tour i'm hosting in the fall.

i have been so blessed to get in touch with our tour/photog over in italy max brunelli.. he has been so amazing to get an INCREDIBLE itinerary for us.

if you haven't heard about the brief overview of the actual tour, here are the 7 full days of the tour:

- Day 1 - Roma airport ~ Orvieto We will be picked up by our host, Max Brunelli, a local expert of adventure and photographer, at the international airport of Roma. We will spend the day on the way to Orvieto and along the road we will visit a couple of wonderful locations: Tuscania & Civita di Bagnoregio. We'll spend the rest night in a 4-star hotel in Orvieto where we'll have an unforgettable dinner with local food.

-Day 2 - Orvieto ~ The second days is dedicated to Orvieto and its treasures, the Duomo, the Underground, the Pozzo di San Patrizio, the Torre del Moro and during the afternoon we will spend a couple of hours in the regional cellar of Umbria where we will taste a large selection of Umbrian wines. Dinner in a quaint restaurant located right in front of the impressive city of Civita di Bagnoregio.

-Day 3 - Orvieto ~ Spoleto Ready to leave from Orvieto early in the morning time to reach Spoleto and make a couple of stops along the road: -Narni & the Narni underground -The Marmore Falls Our group will be hosted in one of the oldest monasteries in Umbria, recently trasformed in a residenza dEpoca. The Eremo delle Grazie.

-Day 4 - Spoleto ~ Assisi Well spend the morning around Spoleto visiting the Duomo, the Tower Bridge, the narrow and characteristic streets of this medieval city. After lunch we will reach the home town of San Francesco, Assisi. A real jewel with an impressive basilica and the castle still on top of the city. Dinner in Spello in the biggest wine bar of Umbria.

-Day 5 - Spoleto ~Monteriggioni Time to say goodbye to Umbria and reach the Tuscan sun. First stop in Cortona and short tour of the city. Gelato all together in Max's favorite gelateria sitting on the square and doing the italian most important sport....people watching. We will drive up and down the Tuscan hills with frequent stops and Max will show us the hills with the cypresses and the original Tuscan Villas. For the last 2 nights we will sleep in Monteriggioni, a small castle still well preserved, surrounded by medieval walls and towers. The Hotel is located right in the center of Monteriggion and close to it we will have dinner in a fabulous trattoria ( a small restaurant run by a family )

-Day 6 - Monteriggioni ~ Siena ~ San Gimignano After breakfast we will reach the most famous monument of Siena Piazza del Campo and we will spend the morning around this unbelievable well preserved medieval city. In the afternoon time to reach San Gimignano and shoot lots of this medieval metropole famous for.....medieval skyscrapers. Dinner in San Gimignano ...trufe and wildboar!

-Day 7 - Monteriggioni ~ Roma Last day of tour, so, we will spend the whole day on the way back to Roma, but with surprises along the way! Time for a couple of quick stops. (a few secret places of Max's!) .. one being our last wine tasting. What a way to end a fabulous week!

like really?? sleeping in 5star hotels, monasteries and castles..
how about wine tasting in umbria's biggest wineries?
and some cooking lessons with an amazing tuscan chef?

ya, these are the NON photographer things we'll be doing (altho, you know there are TONS of photo opps, just in there!) the stop-overs that max has planned are mind-blowing and seriously i know i will need to buy more memory cards!! :)

for more info take a look at a website that i have built specifically for this tour: FOLLOW YOUR HEART..TO ITALY.

if you are photographer, then do consider coming on the tour.. only 15 will be taken..and 2 seats are already reserved. :)

viva italia!!


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vancouver wedding photographer || the [b]ecker hits vancity!

as some may know, i co-founded a group in the city here for wedding photographers and second shooters. this last week we brought in [b]ecker, a wedding photographer from southern california, to do his crash course in kicking a$$ workshop. :)

the months of planning and details really paid off - i would have to say that the photogs who attended had a great time. :) from the workshop content itself, to the food by my lover, the networking galore and all-around good hang out times, the last couple days proved to be a success..

of course, i took some shots throughout the two days.. :)

libby, my partner in crime and co-founder of the group, put together some pretty sweet swag bags for us with a few little goodies in there.. :)

 

the most amazing vegetarian lunch EVER!

 

some networkin'!! :)

 

  

 

 

and then the walk-about watching [b]ecker shoot.. here's day 1:

 

 

  

 

 

thanks geoff and naomi for being wednesday's models!! :)

 

  

and of course for me, a photowander wouldn't be a photowander without some of my fave kinda shots:

 

 

then day two.. :)

thanks to  jason and lena for being our models!

  

 

[b]ecker even took every single person's headshots too.. :) good fun!

yes..it was a good few days.. a big huge thanks to reilly & miranda of blue olive for letting us invade not only their studio but home for 2 days! and to my partner - in - crime, libby, for all the swag and keeping me sane. :)

and to all the AMAZING vanphotogs who came - you guys are the best!! :) xoxo
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AMENDED!! our true christmas [wish] || in collaboration with studio jeanie || vancouver wedding photographer

greetings!

we have wonderful news! due to the number of responses we have had for our wedding gift, we are extending the deadline!

AND there is more!

as we have sifted through interested couples, we felt that we should ammend and expand who qualifies for the true christmas wish.

the new deadline is valentines' day, 2010.

the new qualifications are that

...whilst work in a non-profit organisation is not necessary, a commitment to the non-profit community must be demonstrated. please substantiate with letters of references from communities and organisations that you (or both) are involved in.
...the wedding does not need to be in vancouver. jeanie and i are both willing to travel. travel details can be worked out with the lucky couple.

this holiday season, we hope that we will make one 2010 couple's wish come true!

...make it an outta-this-world valentine's day, knowing that your wedding will be photographed by two of vancouver's TOP 50 PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS!

will you be our winning couple? :)

to view my website visit http://www.traceylheppner.com

tracey@traceylheppner.com || 604.512.4679

lotus events - headshots || vancouver photographer

just before christmas andrea tweeted if anyone would like to take her headshots. "i would love to", i thought. so i tweeted back and we set up lunch and went for a wander afterwards and got some really fun shots. 

her partner in crime and love, rob, was there too..he's a ham! and we got a couple cute shots of them together too. :) 

if you need an AMAZING event coordinator or a day-of planner, call andrea & rob - lotusevents.ca
andrea & rob are helping me out with some day before prep for the [b]ecker workshop VanPhotogs is hosting next week -  yea, Tuckers!! :) xoxoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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a proud mama || destination photographer

just before christmas the fam headed across the great pacific ocean for a family reunion/40th wedding anniersary for J's parents.

our local paper, the burnaby NOW, has a section called paper postcard; if you bring a copy of it on your holidays and take a photo with it they may put it in the paper.

so being the geek mom i am, i toted along the paper and had my children (caleb was NOT impressed, i might add) pose on the beach of boracay, in the philippines. and this wednesday's paper had them in it. :)

(and here's the actual photo i sent in..)

and a pretty decent size i might add!

(photo from my handy dandy iphone using best cam)


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running sucks... || vancouver wedding photographer

yes i JUST said that.

but lemme finish. "...but sometimes you just gotta do it."

gonna be candid here - i HATE exercise.

i LOVE food. ( and it doesn't help Lover is a trained chef!)

friends, those two are NOT a good combination. chuckle.

and i SUCK at going at it alone.

tonight my hubs said he would do it with me...exercise.

i am registered for the BMO Vancouver 1/2 marathon in may; in fact one of my best friends here is doing it with me, plus another is flying in from saskatchewan. I  HAVE TO BE READY FOR THIS.

i am taking a fellow photog's (cathy empey) advice and blogging about it.

there i just did.. i can do this...

:)

 and a random photo cuz i'm like that.

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some more second shooting || vancouver wedding photographer

i have also had the priviledge of working with erin g, as i fondly call her. :)

here's a few of "the tracey factor" from the last year of shooting with her.. good times.. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it was so much fun shooting with you my dear erin friend.. :)  if you're ever in a bind or need a 3rd, you know my after-hours numbah.. ;) xoxo

contact me  || view my online portfolio || check out  my facebook page || follow me on twitter