This year Angela planted a vegetable garden for the first time and I have to say it was awesome! We had lots of fresh veggies all summer long. She also planted sunflowers early in the year and while they did grow super duper tall, they did not flower until just recently. She was worried, and so was I for the kids sake , that they would not flower at all this year.

I think they turned out amazing!

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Today Brandon turns 3 years old, Happy Birthday Brandon! We wanted to take some pictures to mark another milestone for Brandon, it has sort of become a tradition of ours and we did a studio shoot for Owen’s 4th birthday. We started off at the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert but it was pretty busy inside and there was not much to work with outside, well at least not much where we could convince Brandon to sit still long enough to compose a shot. There was just too much room to roam.

This was my favorite shot from the Enjoy Centre, Brandon recently got these pair of boots that he is so proud of and loves wearing.

Next up was a quick stop at the Grain Elevator park in St. Albert. This place was awesome, we got a quick tour of a grain elevator that was built in the early 1900′s. It was pretty amazing to see and even Brandon was pretty interested in what the guide had to say! Of course walking around all the farm equipment Brandon noticed all the bugs and cobwebs and needed a little extra reassurance from mom, nothing a little hand holding could not help. Brandon loves holding mommy or daddy’s hand right now, so cool.

After the Enjoy Centre and Grain Elevator Park we headed into Red Willow Park also hoping to find something to keep Brandon occupied so I could sneek some photos. You see when you are 3 and you have an older brother who is 4 there is no way you can sit for a moment, you have got to make the most of your time… Luckily we found some trees that Brandon liked leaning on and peeking through to see what mom, dad, aunty, and brother Owen were up to! Cross the straight shot off the list. I give you the many faces of Brandon at 3.

Brandon has really grown into quite the little man, um I mean big man, these last few months. He uses words a lot more to express his feelings, he shares more with his friends, and he loves telling stories that can go on and on. He has such an amazing imagination!

And of course lets not forget his best friend in the whole world right now. Brandon loves to play dress up and role play and act out all kinds of things, and who better to share this with than his older brother Owen!

Check out Angela’s post for more pictures and details about Brandon at 3.

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What an awesome wedding Janna and Martin had, it was a hot and beautiful day and the church was packed with family and friends. In fact it was so packed there was standing room only, I mean this place was jammed!

Jana and Martin obviously have a lot of people who really care about them because even though it felt like a sauna inside the church tons of people travelled from all over and no one left the ceremony early! Of course people did take opportunities to dehumidify, including yours truly

Janna looked stunning, Martin could not take his eyes off of her.

The exchange of vows is one of my favourite parts of the day. I love when a groom gets a little emotional during their vows, and while Martin did pause to collect his thoughts he delivered with poise. I think it is a testament to how much he cares for Janna!

And by the look on Janna’s face I would say she appreciates Martin’s candor.

An ice breaking moment happened during the exchange of the rings

With all the heat in the church Martin’s ring needed a little extra encouragement to go on, but in the end the ring made it and provided everyone with a laugh. Then the kiss!

I love the expressions on their faces in this shot just as they were being introduced for the first time.

You got to get a shot of the newlyweds before they drive off!

This is one of my favorites from the day. An “in between shot” of Janna and Martin relaxing and enjoying the moment.

These next two crack me up, they were having some fun with the photos and pulled out the playboy pose showing how suave Martin is…

what the… come on ladies that’s my stuff!

Alright back to Janna and Martin. How awesome are these guys! Another easy favourite of the day.

Some details

I love gowns with lace-up backs, no doubt a whole lot of lacing going on, but they look amazing.

The super fabulous wedding party!

This one is my favourite from their day.

Near the end of Janna’s dance with her dad her mom joined them on the floor. What can I say about this shot that you cannot see, this one is easily worth a thousand words, I love this shot!

I will end with Martin and Janna busting some moves

Congratulations guys, you are lucky to surrounded by so many people who care deeply for you guys! Thank you for letting us be part of a very special day. It was well worth the trek, we had a fabulous time and feel fortunate to have captured some great memories.

To see more of Janna and Martin’s day hit play down below:

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Things have been pretty crazy around here and I am getting behind onn posting, tsk tsk… I have lots to share coming real soon, a couple weddings, portrait sessions, and some family holiday photos as well so as soon as I get caught up a little there will be lots of posts coming your way. Until then I will leave you with these snapshots of the boys wearing their super cool aviator sunglasses. We got them hoping we could do a cool photo session with the boys using them as the base for styling, but alas have not got to it yet Owen would not sit still for a second and would not come close to me so his photo is a little blurry and heavily cropped. Brandon on the other hand got so close the camera almost could not focus on him. I had to ask him to back up just a bit. Ha ha, brothers at times they can be polar opposites!

Check back in a day or two and I should have the full post from Janna + Martin’s wedding!

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Here is a sneak peak of Janna and Martin’s wedding from August 13. The ceremony was in Redwater with a reception in Radway following. It was a blast to shoot this wedding and I hope to have more from their day up real soon. The day was gorgeous, and even though it was really hot they never slowed down, they brought it all day! Congratulations guys, hope you have a great time in Orlando!

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A few weeks ago I photographed Janna + Martins engagement session and I thought I would share my approach to the location scouting for the session and all sessions I photograph. I like to be prepared and this approach is what works for ME, it may not work for you. In fact I know some people prefer to not see a location ahead of time and that is fine too. Remember this is my approach, take what you like, toss the rest, and add as you please!

I try to scout locations as close as possible to the date I will be shooting as well as at about the same time of day. The reason I choose time of day is so that I can see what the lighting will be like at that time. Where is the best light? Can I find open shade for the size of groups I am dealing with? Will there be enough light or will I have to supplement with flash? I like to check out the location close to the session date so that I can see the conditions of the location. Is there construction or renovations on the premise or grounds where I will be shooting? What can I use for backgrounds? Is there parking close by so that the clients do not have to do too much walking and I can have access to extra gear or props without the need for a donkey?

I take test shots to see if I like the way things look. I had Angela stand in while I dialed in the look I wanted, she got a little restless and started to play it up for the camera! I like what I see with this wall because it provides me with two things 1. a simple uncluttered background that I can throw slightly out of focus and 2. open shade with a touch of rim lighting. This same wall in the morning would be lit totally differently and I may not have used it if it was a morning session. 1 Spot down lets look for more.

Here we set up the camera on a tripod and used the 10 second self timer… I barely made it into position for the camera to fire! lol In fairness the camera was almost at ground level so I had to lay on my stomach to compose and focus the shot, then get up and run as I was using a long lens. As you can see the tails on my shirt have yet to settle.

We saw this amazing Lilac tree and I loved the subtle pop of purple from it’s flowers. The light here is awesome and the background gives me good separation from my subjects. 2 spots down…

From there I continue to walk the location and search for spots that I can use with my subjects seated, standing, walking, full length, three quarter length, in close… I take photos of all the spots I want to use and put them on my iPad, I can then use this to plan my “path” to hopefully create some efficiency and flow to the session. I will bring this with me on the day of the shoot and get there at least a half hour before the session starts and do a walk around to determine if the spots I have picked out are still usable. For example an empty fountain with some funky blue tiling is now either filled with water or the tiles have been ripped out and awaiting replacement, not that either of those have ever happened.

I take any opportunity I can to photograph my assistant, who happens to be my beautiful, lovely, and talented wife even if she is just lugging gear around!

And last but not least is to pack the gear up and head to dinner, hey you have to take every chance you can when you have someone looking after the children!

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We took the boys to Sesame Street Live: Elmo’s Healthy Heroes at Rexall Place on Saturday and the tickets included gate admission to the Capital X as well. While we waited for Aunty Claudette and Grandma Korsan the boys played around the statue of Wayne Gretzky one of the greatest hockey players of all time who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979-1988. I love this photo because even though the boys are just playing around it looks like they are taking a moment and praying to the hockey gods for greatness!

Sesame Street was better than I was expecting, actually it was quite good! This is pretty much the only photo I took because security came and told me no “professional, detachable lens cameras were allowed”. I asked if it indicated that on the tickets as I had not read them and he said indeed it did, in fact NO CAMERAS were allowed. I reluctantly put my camera away so as not to be asked to leave but could not help but laugh at the fact that hundrends of other cameras were clicking away with flashes going off.

After Sesame Street we headed to the Capital X for some lunch and rides. After lunch we started off easy on the Carousel.

Brandon wanted to ride the bumble bees but Owen wanted to ride the motorcycles so we split up to wait in lines. While Brandon loved the bumble bee mom did not look as thrilled, at least not in this photo

Owen started off great on the ride all by himself, all smiles and happy!

but once it started going he put his head down in his hands and slumped over the handlebars… I was worried that he banged his face on the bars going over the “jumps”. I was even more worried that as the ride jerked and spun that he would continue to bang his face if he did not lift it up! I hollered for him to lift his head and when he looked up he was not crying or hurt but he was no longer smiling. After he got off the ride he told me that he did not want us to cheer for him on the motorcycle… Ahhh I felt so bad, we embarrassed him with all our cheering him on. Maybe the pom poms were a bit too much So sweet!

We took a break from ride time and played a few games. Both Owen and Brandon seemed to like the games even more than the rides, expecially since they could win prizes playing the games!

And what sweet music to our ears the prizes were!

By this time the clouds had rolled in and some showers started but soon fizzled and we went back for a couple last rides before home time.

Owen and Brandon had a ball in this jeep, they were talking and gesturing the whole time. I imagine this is what they will be like once they get their hands on mom and dads car in a few years. Cruising around with the music blaring waving to all the girls. “How you doin’?” I guess we better start saving for a convertible!

The roller coaster was last on the list of rides and the boys wanted Aunty Claudette and mom to take them so no rides for dad this year, which was fine because I did notice the sign behind the coaster. CRASH, did not seem like the thing I wanted to read or see just before we took the plunge from the top! Of course the ride ended without incident and Owen seemed genuinely pumped from the experience, either because he had fun or he too read the sign and was relieved it did not come to a CRASH.

At the end of a long day we all piled into the van and headed for home, bellies full, rides riden, and games played. See you next year Capital X!

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The weather has been pretty hot the last few days and the boys wanted to have an ice cream cone because “it is sooo hot outside”. Owen is getting pretty skilled at eating an ice cream cone but Brandon is still working on his mastery of cone consumption.

I asked Owen how come he had ice cream on his tongue.

He mater of factly told me it was “because i’m lickin it!”

Brandon is managing to eat ice cream cones on his own now which is terrific.

But with technique like this… It is no wonder he ends up with a chocolate goatee.

At least it was neat and tidy and somewhat even.

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We have had some spectacular sunsets as of late but this mornings sunrise is the most amazing I have seen in a long time. The last couple of nights have been different, albeit interesting, for sunsets. As seen from our deck.

July 5

July 16

And then this morning Angela woke me about 5:30am and said you have to look outside at the orange sky. Through the window it looked like the sky was on fire, everything outside was orange from the rising sun reflecting off the approaching storm clouds. It was pure awesome. The power went out a few times and Owen and Brandon kept asking us to turn the lights back on. ha ha

Click the image for a larger pano to open.

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I realize that Canada day was a couple weeks ago but I was sorting through some personal pics and came across these two. We took the boys down to the Legislature Grounds for Canada Day celebrations. Owen was being cheeky all day, dodging the camera, running away, and then finally just when I thought he was going to sit for a couple shots…

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