This is Ms. O, from Sunday’s boudoir marathon. Isn’t she gorgeous?

This is a strange little short week for me, as I was away in Moncton for the weekend, and later this week I’ll be off again. Moncton was a good, low-key time – went to the farmer’s market, ate a lot of things (including delicious Cake Box cupcakes I always make sure to get), watched a few movies. Yep, it was a relaxing weekend with minimal opportunities to make compelling photographs. But there was an opportunity! So, here are a few frames from a very quick photo session I did on Sunday afternoon. I’m keen to share these because I realized that I haven’t done ANY portrait sessions with little girls in 2011! In fact, when I looked back at all my portrait shoots, I discovered that I get hired to photograph boys twice as often as girls. Hey parents, what’s up with that?

Little girls are cute. Especially this one.

Last week was exciting because it brought the arrival of my new sample albums! Picking the company who would supply my albums was no easy task, since I had to satisfy my needs as a photographer, my needs as a small business, AND the neurosis about longevity and quality materials that I picked up when I worked in an archives. Finally I found KISS Wedding Books, a company that fit so well with me and my values that I pretty much had to pick them. Ordering was a breeze, the turnaround time was mind-blowingly good, and when they got here… ooh la la!

So here they are, the perfect albums: simple yet elegant, modern, clean, and gimmick-free – the embodiment of my photographic philosophy. They are made from high-quality materials: full-grain natural leather covers (available in seven colours, as well as in linen for vegan types), lay-flat binding, and seamless folds (that means no cuts between pages). Images are printed on archival photographic paper, and each page is mounted on a hard substrate for strength and durability. These albums are custom-designed and hand-crafted, earning the title of heirloom. They will let your photos shine… and all of that comes in an extremely cute cloth sleeve.

The albums shown are the 10×10 full-sized album in black leather and 4×4 mini album in red leather (so cute!), each with 17 spreads. Albums are available for both wedding and portrait clients – get in touch to start the process of creating your custom-designed heirloom album!

I was pillaging the Halloween aisle at Dollarama when the thought hit me: I’d really like to photograph a Halloween-themed wedding. In the spirit of “if you build it, they will come,” I put it out there on Twitter:

Fellow photog Ashley Goodwin quickly hit me back: why not set up a styled shoot?

Well, honestly, I don’t love styled shoots. I don’t like that parts of the wedding industry seems to exist just to convince people to spend money on decor (you are not your decor, and your wedding is not your decor. Your wedding is people getting married, the end.); and I don’t like seeing photographer portfolios that are full of styled shoots instead of actual weddings. I also feel really weird about posting this when a huge conversation is happening right now within the industry about what wedding blogs are selling you… but all the same, the idea was planted.

If I ever get to shoot a Halloween wedding, it’s going to be at least a year from now, if ever. So why not take the opportunity to create a scene for my own enjoyment? I justified it to myself by conceiving, coordinating, and styling this shoot myself. Everything I purchased was with my own money, for my own amusement. (Full disclosure: the whole thing cost less than $100, and most of that was the wine. Which I will also drink with no regrets.) I installed the scene. I even designed the invitations! From start to finish it was an exercise in creativity. And sure, there’s no groom, but um… that’s because it’s not a wedding.

It was FUN! OMG, it was fun. Once I decided to go for it, I was all in. I had blast thinking about what the shoot would look like, and bringing those thoughts into reality. I giggled aloud on a few different occasions. And hey, since everyone is having their Halloween parties this weekend, you can totally use these ideas for your Halloween party. Because your Halloween party is kind of about decor. :P

So THANK YOU, Ashley, for suggesting I do something I probably never would have otherwise, and thank you to Trisha Jayne for being my model and being so great! Enjoy!

 So I asked AG to give me a couple of names for the sample invites, and “Enid” and “Duncan” are the ones he threw out. (Thank you for that sneak peek into your psyche.) Also thanks to You’re Invited for the black envelope and paper backing for the invite. :)

I am a style-blog junkie. This will come as a surprise to anyone who knows me and how often I go downtown bare-faced and sporting workout clothes, but I guess it’s kind of like how you can enjoy reading books but not write one.

Anyway. My friend J got me hooked, and before long my Google Reader was filled up with the likes of Kendi Everyday, Hello, Monkeyface!, What Would A Nerd Wear, Atlantic-Pacific, Selective Potential, and the sadly defunct Academichic (as you can maybe tell, my personal style skews towards Hipster Nerd (my cardigans, let me show you them!)). Then I discovered that there are style bloggers in New Brunswick, and indeed, right here in Fredericton: Doll Parade.

Kristin (that’s Doll Parade, of course) and I have been planning to get together for months now, but the timing was never right. Finally we got together, and just as we were driving up the hill to our first location, rain drops started falling on the windshield. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” I thought. “We’ve waited so long!” We did get rained out of our first location, but fortunately after a bit of driving around, we were rewarded with a sky that broke into incredible light. Combine that magic with how Kristin is chic as heck, and you have the makings of one frigging fabulous photoshoot. Kristin, you are gorge, fun, and fab to work with. Let’s not wait to do this again :P Enjoy!

So I guess I had it in my head that Brad & Becky were shy. I don’t know why, I just did! (In retrospect, the fact that Becky’s Twitter handle is “SassyBeckyG” PROBABLY should have tipped me off, buuutt…) In the lead-up to our engagement shoot I was thinking about ways to make them comfortable and draw out their personalities… and then they show up all tricked out with a 1950s-style, with props and poses and personality to spare! I was amazed. And I absolutely loved it.

Becky and Brad, you are fabulous! And totally sassy. You both looked amazing and were great about putting up with that blustery day in the park. I was looking forward to your wedding before, but now? Madonna’s got nothing on you. ;) Enjoy!

I met up with Melanie, Adam & Noah last week, as we lucked into some fantastic weather that needed to be taken advantage of. I absolutely love photographing children at this age – Noah is 5 months, super alert, and so expressive (and SO CUTE!). You can tell that he thinks Melanie & Adam are really funny. You can also tell that Melanie & Adam think Noah is really funny. That’s how it works.

This was my first family portrait shoot in awhile, and it was so fun to get back into it! I think I went overboard a bit. Thanks for getting in touch with me, Melanie… I think your images will look fantastic on the walls of your new home! Enjoy!

I’ve been looking forward to meeting this guy for awhile now, and last week I finally got my chance.  First I spent some time with the whole family, and big brother Vinny (cute as ever!) showed off “[his] baby,” and then it was off to school for big brother and off to work for dad, and then I had some quiet time with Sal & Sam. It was around this time that I got overjoyed at the gorgeous light streaming through the nursery window, adding so much to an already-beautiful scene.

Footnote: Sal is at least twice as big as Vinny was at this age. His nickname is The Tank. You can see why.

Enjoy!

I love the way Margot laughs with Dominic. (I love how much Margot laughs, in general).

I love the way Dominic looks at Margot. (I love the way Dominic looks, in general (Alan Rickman lite, am I right?)).

I love that they brought me a plumcot.

Can’t wait for the wedding.

A few weeks ago, before she was even here, I was in bed trying to fall asleep when it came to me: the perfect thing to write about Marieke for her blog post. Exactly the thing that would convey her adventurous spirit; kind demeanor; zest for life. Then I fell asleep. All I was left with was the knowledge that Marieke is a great friend and that 29 will be her best year yet.