98 things has been forgotten || vancouver photographer

april 10th was the last day i posted a "98 things"...geeeeeeez..that's, 18 days ago..

that, my friends, goes to show how RIDICULOUSLY crazy life has been.

enough talk..let's catch up with 18 "98 things" today... :)


22. invent a punch that will raise eyebrows and lower inhibitions.

 

23. don't indulge in one judgmental thought for an entire day. okay, an hour.

 

24. learn a few choice phrases in french or russian to use when flirting or angry.

 

25. stay in a convent for a week.

 

26. ride a motorcycle alone across the nevada desert.

 

27. make wine from dandelions growing in your backyard and send it to the CEO of Greener Chemical Lawns, Inc.

 

28. start a wild rumor that something wonderful will happen later this year.

 

29. squeeze a cute fireman because it's "public hero appreciation day."

 

30. learn to belly dance and integrate it into your lovemaking.
31. apply for a scholarship to an art, literary or spiritual retreat that intrigues you.

32. design a picni around aphrodisiacs- raw oysters, champagne, rose petal jam on chocolate fingers- then whisper in another's ear the sensual images that passing clouds suggest.

33. be someone's fairy godmother. wand optional.

34. write an unauthorized biography of your family, including embarrassing photos, a tribute to the infamous black sheep and favorite recipes.

35. serve something flambé.

36. on the hottest day in august donate matinee tickets to a movie in an air-conditioned theatre to kids living in a homeless shelter.

37. develop a substantial cackle big enough to grow into as you age. (a cackle is a giggle with 
seniority.)

38. flirt with the airflight person just for the heck of it. (it's nicer than air rage.)

39. conquer one fear each year.


ok..i'm caught up.. enjoy  :) and enjoy some venice beauty below.. ;)

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SNEAK PEEK: meryl & brian - maternity session || vancouver photographer

just a little peek into our really fun session yesterday! :) more to come! xoxo

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featured on wedding style magazine blog || vancouver wedding photographer

last week i had the pleasure of working with reine mihtla and soha event for the grace ormonde book launch here in vancouver at the vancouver club.

yesterday morning, while i was sipping on my chai on commercial drive, i was looking thru my facebook feed and saw that wedding style magazine used some of the photos i took at the party on their blog.

so fun, right?

can i just say i love my job? :)

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indescribeable - personal thoughts || vancouver wedding photographer

do you ever sometimes stop what you are doing and really take a step back from this crazy thing we call life and look around?

people..mountains..the sky..stars..how they all work together just so (for the most part!).

i was sitting in church on sunday and my friend jj was singing this song that instantaneously brought me to tears..

here are the words...

Indescribeable by Chris Tomlin

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
 
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God


i don't know what your belief or value system is..but i had to stop and collect myself..every single bird that flies by my window. every tree that sprouts from the mountain to the northwest of me. every drop of rain that falls from the vancouver skies (and there are a heckuva lot!) every gorgeous cherry blossom that springs forth. they are all with purpose. god placed them in their little places here on this great earth.

and that i, too, have such purpose.. wow.. 

thanks god for stopping me in my tracks to reflect how fricking amazing you are, how you know i'm gonna fall on my face, and how i'm going to triumph.  you rock. xoxo

i found this video on youtube..amazing..

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i heart second shooting.. || vancouver wedding photographer

i have lived and worked as a second shooter in vancouver for 3 years. i have worked with some of the best photographers on the planet. yes - i'm gonna name drop..not to brag at all, but to let you see the amazing opportunities i have had with such amazing artists..

elizabeth soergel
sarah rees
erin gilmore
blue olive photography
jeanie ow
patricia minnis
michael wachniak
kristel wyman
sherri koop

fran chelico

kris krug

reine mihtla

each photographer has been so gracious...they have taught me so much..they have given me feedback, they have helped me in so many ways become a better shooter.

when thinking in retrospect the last few weeks about us leaving soon and leaving the community of photographers i wanted to do something to give back somehow. specifically to second shooters  and those getting into the industry.

so...i tweeted a few weeks ago that the first 10 people to respond can come here me say what i know about being second shooter.

that's what i did today...had our "talk"...it was nothing fancy. it, of course, started off with freshly brewed lattes by moi..and then we dove in. i told them a bit about me and my journey to where i am today. and then got into the meat of what being a second photographer means. i had asked several principal photographers to help me out with giving their 5 things they would want every second shooter to know. so i integrated all their gold nuggets into my talk.

there were 9 of us. it was fun..i was a cheeseball. we laughed. i talked to much. ok, i talked a lot! (we were supposed to end at 3..it was 3:38 when we officially stopped!)

thank you miranda, erin, sherri, camille, quin, michael, amber & liz for your "5 things". they were invaluable. xo

and thank you kevin, jen, terry, sarah, sherry, lesley, bob and lani for listening...for a really...long...time. :) 

xoxo

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my friend reine & the grace ormonde book launch party || vancouver wedding photographer

when my friend and photographer reine told me what she had going on, i simply said, "hey if you need a hand, really..i'm all over it."

so when she asked if i'd come shoot with her i was thrilled.

you see, i have loved reine and her work for the better part of 3 years now. it's interesting how our friendship started. i can't recall if it was facebook or me "dropping" in.. :)

anyhow, i love the way she embraces life. i also love how freaking creative she is. everytime i see something new she's done or she tells me of things she's doing, i am constantly amazed. it was the last time i was at her place that i said, "you know what, i don't think i access that part of my brain! that's why people like you are in my life; so i can see the vastness of life and all it's creativity!"

the shoot today was absolutely wonderful. it wasn't just any old shoot. it was a shoot she was doing for grace ormonde, THE wedding woman herself.

that's when i was like, hola! this is gonna be fun!

and it was. reine also asked melissa to shoot too - melissa gidney is a FREAKING talented phenomena..her photography is so raw and real. i love it. and so after i successfully checked her out on the interwebs and "creeped" her facebook fan page, i was really excited for today!

the table settings we photographed were a DREAM. reine shoots medium format film - LOVE LOVE LOVE the feel of that, lemme tell ya! and so melissa and myself were shooting digital. and what were we shooting? DETAILS. oh my goodness. i pretty much was in my glory. i LOVE shooting details. :)

tonight grace had her book launch party at the vancouver club. it was my first time, today, being at the vancouver club. its so elegant. i loved everything about it.

after shooting 4 hours from 10:30 - 2:30 i put on my mom hat and got the kiddies from school. we headed to the army & navy legendary shoe sale and the kids scored 2 pairs of shoes each. :) they were happy campers.

we got home and i got "dressed up" and the kids approved of my attire.. :)

the evening was so much fun... so many wonderful, fun, really great people from the industry. from here and from seattle. grace was, well, so gracious...she mingled and then said a few words and then signed books. i had fun being the paparazzi and taking photos of everything that went on tonight.

check out grace's website where you can see what her remarkable book is all about. it's real purdy in real too. :) grace ormonde's book website.

there are scads more photos on facebook, but for now, here's a few photos from tonight's cocktail party. and click the link below them to take you to the ones on facebook.

more photos on facebook here.

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SNEAK PEEK: angela & domi - maternity || vancouver photographer

angela & domi have this fun little business called THE PHOTOBOOTH. check it out!

i have gotten to know them thru meeting at different weddings throughout the season and at events. when i found out that they were pregnant, i was soooooo happy for them!

i went out to their place in whiterock yesterday to do a little maternity shoot...here's a few shots to tie you over..

ang & domi - you guys are freaking adorable! :) xoxo

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SNEAK PEEK: omer & shannon- {our true wedding wish} couple || vancouver wedding photographer

just before christmas you may recall, oh faithful blog readers, the wedding give-away my dear friend jeanie of STUDIOjeanie and i were giving away.

the couple had to be getting married this year, on a date we weren't already booked, and be involved in giving back to the community in a non-profit organization.

jeanie and i had so many amazing couples enter the contest. and we had chose omer & shannon.

fast forward to a couple weeks ago - we shot their adorable engagement session and it was so much fun to see some of our shots incorporated into their wedding day.

their ceremony took place at the stanley theatre on south granville street. it was like a red carpet event - red carpet, paparazzi, tickets and a trailer before the ceremony.

their trailer and ceremony were so incredibly moving..of course i cried, hello. :)

i will  write more in the big post, but here is a sneak of the gorgeous couple..

head over to jeanie's blog to see her sneek! :) www.studiojeanie.wordpress.com

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peter & gosia | second shooting w/fran chelico || vancouver wedding photographer

when my dear friend fran of fran chelico photography asked me if i was free to second shoot a wedding with her in april some weeks back, i was so excited! i love frannie, as a i fondly call her. :)

and i loved shooting with fran! she is so calm..relaxed..fun..and gets the job done fast! my kinda chiquita!! :)

her couple, peter and gosia were freaking awesome! these two know how to have a good time and were working the camera for us big time! we started a quaint little church in surrey - in fact it is surrey's OLDEST church- headed to white rock to the pier and beach for some fun bridal portraits and down to peace arch for the cozy reception.

these are just some of the shots i got to capture from their fun day! enjoy!

frannie fran...you are remarkable. thanks for letting me shoot with you. i heart you. :) xoxo

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2 of my favorite people - eSession || vancouver photographer

i had heard of her...her name was in the industry...i had never met her though. and when i finally did, it was a rather quick meeting. i hadn't known if she remembered who i was when i saw that she liked scrabulous on facebook too and started a game with her.

from that first game, i knew that we'd be friends.

fast-forward 2 years.

jeanie & ian just celebrated their first year dating anniversary last month...and to no one's surprise who know them, he asked her to marry him that same night.

of course she said yes! :) he proposed with a honda ruckus scooter (ask her about that sometime) and they are planning on getting married with their immediate family in...scotland. oh yes. her brother and fellow photographer here in vancouver, jeff ow of stu-di-o, is photographing their wedding. how exciting!

so when jeanie told me about her engagement and asked if we could maybe make those portraits i was going to shoot of them, engagement photos, i was totally thrilled!

note: it's always, i know for many of us photogs, nauseating to photograph other photographers. the only thing that made me feeling less pukey is that i have photographed jeanie before and know that her and ian are CRAZY in love and such a gorgeous couple, so that would make my job a dream.

i was gonna do one of those "here's one photo for a sneak" tonight, as i'm shooting two weddings this weekend and was going to go to bed early. but when i downloaded all my cards, i knew there was NO way i was gonna be able to pick one of the HUNDREDS of fun shots we took today.

so i chose 20. (remember - click on them to get a bigger look - my blog settings are crazy..will try and figure it out one day.. :)

we brought out the infamous ruckus too..

jeanie and ian - i couldn't be happier for you two. i'm so glad you found each other. and i'm so glad today wasn't very painful for you. :) (ian, yes, i do think you could go into modeling ) love you both so very much.

enjoy the sneek. :)

xoxo

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