So with the Fall season officially upon us (now that school is back in) I am reminded of Tyna and Haithams wedding last summer. It was at the end of August and I remember preparing for back to school as I was also preparing for their wedding. I never did blog is as I wasn't as savvy a blogger as I am now....haha.....of course I say that with a chuckle because I know how  bad I am at keeping up with this blog!

Anyway......they had booked years in advance!! I was the first service they booked and I was totally honored about that. They were going to do something uniquely different......something that at first I thought was completely crazy.....they were doing their photo's THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING!! What!!! I asked her why she wanted to "get ready" twice. She assured me that this is the way she wanted to do things.

Well as we got closer to the "shooting date" I started to get more excited about the idea of doing their photo's the day before. So many times when shooting a wedding I am watching my clock and worried about having my couple back to their reception on time.....I didn't have to worry about that at all....not only that....she didn't have to worry about being to the Church on time! She texted me that morning and told me she was running 30 minutes late....ok, no problem we have no where else to be. How ideal is that! She took her time to get ready and then we were off and running.

So her groom was going to have his "first look" the day before the wedding. Some people are so into tradition that this would have been out of the question however it was still perfect. Here are some of the pictures from our time together. We took our time, got all the shots we needed (the most I've ever shot!!) and then by the time we were done and sweaty we went our separate ways to enjoy the rest of the day. It really was perfect!!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my poor blog!! Where have I been!! It's been a CRAZY summer of weddings and families!! It's been a beautiful summer to shoot. No insanely hot days! :) I find it hard to blog at the best of times but getting on my computer in the summer is usually reserved for editing only or I swear I'd be here forever.

I love summer vacation with my kids. I so enjoy sleeping in and day trips with them. We have countless numbers of movie nights and lazy days. I am soaking up every last moment with them until they go back to school next week. I will miss them terribly but they are both excited to go back and I am excited to get some work done.

I'm heading back to the bridal show this Fall. I used to love doing the show year after year but business was SO busy (really....not a bad thing!) that I just had no time with my little babies (even when they are 20 I will call them my babies) so I had to pull back just a bit....despite the fact that it doesn't feel that way at all. Come and see me again this year at the Beau Monde Bridal Show at Parkway Suites in St. Catharines. I have lots of work to do to prepare for that but sooo looking forward to it. I love meeting next years brides. The show is a great way to get vendor info and to get a sense of the vendors personality too. Much easier than via email. It makes things more time effective and helps you narrow down your selection for the many consultations that you will have during your decision making process.

Well back to the editing. It's a rainy day (we've had so few this summer) that I think I will work a little and then enjoy some time with my kids as we count the days back to reality.

Enjoy the rest of the summer....pictures of this years awesomeness are coming soon :)

I had a great time shooting Tyler's first birthday. Tyler's parents, Derek and Aara are good friends of mine. Aara worked with me for years until Tyler became more than a dream :) Derek just happens to be my best friends brother. How nice that two awesome people hooked up and got married! I understand what children do to a person. I know how I've changed since having Gillyan and Alexander and Derek and Aara are the same. They are two totally new people with more appreciation for life than ever before.
Thanks for letting me hang out guys! It was a great day!! xo

Here are some photos of the up and coming new trend in birthdays....the cake smash :)
(as you will see Tyler is not so much a smasher....very neat and tidy just like both of his parents!)

 

 

 

So we love hockey! We are all huge Buffalo Sabres fans and of course this comes from living with Rick Jeanneret your whole life (that is of course until I was married). He is my step father and growing up in a broadcasters home was no different than any other I'm sure. Even though people imagined that he would "call the game" as our daily routine went on (and the toast pops up!! Shelly has her lunch in hand and is off to school!!).....really it was nothing like that. It was just a regular home with all the same responsibilities that every other home had. But I was well aware of what the Buffalo Sabres meant to our family. Of course, I had no idea how famous this person that I was living with was. It was nothing to be told by my mom when I walked through the door to "be quiet" because he was on a radio interview, or to wake up in the morning and there was a TV crew in our kitchen (why do they have to do these things so early!!) I really thought nothing of it. Of course I was made fun of at school for being a Sabres fan (imagine I was a kid in school this season!! Oh the humility!!) 

Over the years I have become attached to the team and certain players (even though most of them I have never even met). When Lindy Ruff was fired this season I cried for two days!! I take hockey personally, and I'm good with that.
I used to go up to the press box in the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and eat in the fancy restaurant (no wonder my mom was always a stickler for good table manners) and once again thought nothing of it. I don't think it was until the Internet came about and social media came into play that I realized how iconic this person that I grew up with was. It's nothing for me to see posts about Rick on Facebook pages and tweets about his calls or even more tweets about his absence from the game when he is sick or on vacation. If you google his name there are pages of articles and information (funny, none of that comes up when you google my name, haha!)

When I was pregnant with my daughter, Gillyan everyone said to me "what if she's not a Sabres fan!" What a crazy thing to say!! She is in fact a Sabres fan and has spent her 11 years of life being a faithful fan (you know however, Daniel Briere getting traded to Philly was really tough on her). My son Alexander Daniel(named after my favourite hockey player Alexander Mogilny and Gillyan's favourite Daniel Briere) too is a fan despite the fact that his two closest friends at school try to convert him to Boston and Toronto! Of course my husband Brett is a Sabres fan....I could never be married to someone who was not!

We try to get to the games when we can and we try to go as a family when we can. Every time we go my kids just assume that they will head up to the press box during one of the periods to see Papa and listen to him call the game. They know that as we leave the booth there will be cookies and ice cream and popcorn waiting for them. I try to tell them that this is a unique situation for them to get to go up to a press box. That it's not something most people get to do in their life let along on a regular basis! They think I'm crazy and over exaggerating I'm sure. To them the First Niagara Center is Papa's office and in his office they give out free cookies and ice cream.

Why I blogged this is beyond me....I think I'm trying to "keep up with the blogging times" and really, does it all have to be photography related. We have barely hit wedding season what am I going to talk about?  I believe the reason I get the business I do is because of my ability to get personal, and get close. I love keeping in touch with my couples after their big day. I want to hear all about their lives years after. It's just the way I am.....so I guess this blog is just that....getting personal.

The reason I choose this subject today is because of this photo.....it's an awesome picture I took at last Sunday's game (Buffalo won!! Wooo hoooo!!) For me it speaks to why I became a photographer in the first place. It's not technically perfect by any means....it's an Instagram photo....but it is everything I have ever loved about photography in one shot. When I look at this picture I can remember everything about the day.....I remember the weather, and what we ate and what we did and I remember walking into the press box greeted by silent waves and big smiles (gotta be quiet in those booths!!) I can feel the portable heater on the back of my legs, I can see my kids on their best behavior listening and watching....Alex creeping up on his tip toes now and again so he can see the ice below. I can hear the crowd and their reactions all simultaneous to every puck turnover, every near goal and every hit....and I can hear my step father calling the game ever so quiet his big voice being drowned out by the sold out crowd below. I can see the bond between Gillyan and her grandfather as she reaches around to hug him before we head back to our seats and I can hear Alex say "I love you Papa" not caring who was there or who would hear and I can hear Rick say back to him "well thank you Runt"...in this moment I am grateful to have an iPhone in my hand and for modern technology so I will never have to forget this day or this moment. For you it will mean something completely different I'm sure. But that's what photographs do right??? That's what they are supposed to do...evoke emotion whatever that emotion may be or where ever back in time that emotion takes you....

Chuck from Ohio emailed me one day telling me that he wanted to purpose to his longtime girlfriend Natalie. They were coming to the Falls on a mini vacation (the whole time of course he knew this was his plan) He wanted to incorporate his proposal into an engagement shoot and I was more than happy to be the one to share in their special moment.

It was awkward for awhile because I kind of felt like a stalker following them around at Oaks Garden Theatre in Niagara Falls waiting for him to "pop the question!" I wanted to look like I was just a random photographer there to take some shots of the Falls.

It was a great moment and of course, she said yes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where have I been!!??

Lucky me decided to have my kids within a 17 days of eachother (and 5 years apart of course) not to mention I had them during Easter!! So March and April are crazy for my personal life!
I am "that" mom who bakes cupcakes for the school for the kids birthdays. They both had birthday parties (one was a girls sleepover....yikes!!) not to mention squeezing in Easter (thank you Jesus!!! I'm so grateful to be a follower!!)....and now I anticipate my husbands birthday on Friday :) next week I think I will sit back and take a breath :) and recover from all the cake I've eaten.
No complaints of course as I'm extremely blessed to have my two beautiful children and an awesome marriage. When you're healthy and happy it doesn't get any better than that!!

so I've been having some fun with Instagram!! Here's the link to my page :)


http://statigr.am/skinybop

So remember Ross and Becky.....I had a great time doing their engagment shoot in Niagara on the Lake and then I had a great time with Beckys dad in Queenston photographing him and his motorcycyle. It was a fathers day gift from Becky! What a great idea!!
As much as I tried to get him to crack a smile...I thought he was perfect with his serious "biker face" :)

 

 

Well March break is over and life is getting back to normal!!! I love the extra time with my kids. We filled the week with play dates and day trips. Lots of snacks and games and even a movie. (Went to see OZ...great movie!!)
Now back to getting up before the sun and getting back to work!!

So Melissa and Brad were married last summer. I'm pretty sure it was the hottest day of the year!! I went to Melissa's house where you could instantly see the awesome relationship she had with her parents and her brother. I must add that her brother was a shutterbug! I'm sure he took as many pictures as I did :)
Melissa's father wasn't at the house when she was getting ready. He was going to come and pick her up with the Limo and her brother. Did I mention I cry a lot at weddings!! Well, I cried at this one for sure! It was obvious that Melissa was a daddy's girl and after she was dressed and pictures were done she waited at the front door for him to come. When he came it was a moment that I will remember forever and I was so completely honored to share in such an awesome moment in time.
What a great day shooting Melissa and Brads wedding. I am currently working on their leather wedding album and can't wait to show it to them!!

 

People often ask me...what's the big deal with bridal preparations and taking a photo of the gown hanging?? Well....I think this wedding was a perfect example of what a big deal it is. This is the house that Melissa grew up in. It's where she lived until she moved in with her husband. There are so many awesome memories that her and her family have within the walls of this house. Shortly after Melissa and Brad were married her parents decided to move! I'm positive that having her photos taken in the living room where she made so many other memories throughout her life is just another way to freeze time and remember :)