Hart in Hand Photography

Ashley & Mike's Engagement

2010-10-24T00:45:00.003-06:00

Well...and...so...
I agree to shoot a wedding without thinking. And in spite of myself, REALLY love the experience from stressful start to finish. And now am venturing into the wedding world yet again...

Ashley is the daughter of one of my Sister-in-law's best friends. We've known this family forever. To be honest, I'm the "new" kid on the block as far as Darcy's family goes (even after 15 years) but Ashley wants me for their wedding photog, and asks for engagement pics, as well.

The wedding is August,2011 Engagement shoot done over 2 days this September (yup, Alberta weather interfered, but honestly, worked to our benefit!)

Ashley & Mike are so great to work with, And I can't wait for their wedding!!!

Here's a few from the engagement shoot!

Boo & Mark

2010-10-24T00:13:00.003-06:00

My friends Boo & Mark asked me to photograph them this summer. I was thrilled by the request---Boo is an amazing photog herself, so for her to trust me to record them was a huge compliment! And more than a little intimidating at the same time. We had a great time wandering through some of our city's walking trails, and shooting a small part of them in Edmonton for her to bring back to her family in Turkey!

A couple of Jeanelle & Vance

2010-10-23T23:54:00.001-06:00

just them, and their girls :)

Jeanelle & Vance, and thier beautiful daughters

2010-10-23T23:17:00.003-06:00

Last June I got a facebook e-mail from a gal that I had gone to Jr. High with at FSCS, and High School with at SCA. She's getting re-married, wanted to send a complete family picture (she has 3 girls, he has one) and the only time that all 6 of them were going to be together before the wedding invitations were going out was when we were going camping! They were great sports, and drove from Fort Sask. to Pigeon Lake where we were camping in spite of their tight schedule, braved the weird weather we've had this summer, and we got great family pics, right before a storm hit! It was wonderful to see Jeanelle again, meet Vance, and their 4 gorgeous girls!!! Here's a taste from their session!

Khloé's Grad

2010-10-23T22:18:00.004-06:00

My baby girl Graduated from Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts last June. Her focus was Directing, and she is learning to be an amazing director. She casted and directed her first live play, which went on stage last March, and got rave reviews from one of Canada's top live theater directors. I'm so proud of the woman my daughter is becoming. She is strong, beautiful, brilliant and wonderful, and I'm so glad she's my girl...

4 weeks later...

2010-10-23T22:03:00.003-06:00

Julian came home, and Darcy & I had the pleasure of completing his newborn shoot, without all of the wires and stuff that are required when baby is so early. Julian is an amazing little man, so beautiful, and such an old soul. Maria is an amazing Mommy. She's doing a wonderful job! I think you'll agree, motherhood suits her!

Well, it's time to catch up!

2010-10-23T21:50:00.004-06:00

Our good friend Maria had her first baby this last April. Julian was born 7 weeks early, and on the day that I was supposed to shoot Maria's maternity pictures, we went to the NICU to do Julian's newborn pictures instead! He weighed only a bit over 4 pounds. This is the image Maria chose for Julian's birth announcement.

More from Lindsay & Michael's Wedding

2010-04-20T20:47:00.002-06:00

Just one more.....for now.....

Lindsay & Michael's Wedding

2010-04-20T20:23:00.002-06:00

I was thrilled and honored last winter to receive a request from my cousin Lindsay to photograph her upcoming wedding, and said "YES!" immediately, completely forgetting momentarily that "I DON'T DO WEDDINGS!!!" Or to be more accurate, I haven't done wedding photography since I was my father's "gopher"/student/second shooter as a teenager more than 25 yrs. ago. Nor did I have any desire to re-enter the wedding photography world! My passion is maternity and newborn photography, and weddings were, well.....weekend work, and a LOT of work!

Well, Lindsay pretty much insisted that I was the photog for them, and to be honest I really wanted to be there for her and Mike on their big day, so on Easter weekend, Darcy and I flew to Vancouver, and here's a little taste of one of the most classy, beautiful and True weddings I have ever had the privilege of attending, and photographing. It was one of the best experiences I have had as a photographer!

Lindsay & Mike are a couple destined to be together. Their connection, respect, and love for eachother is obvious to everyone that has ever seen the two of them together!

Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your day in such an intimate way.

Beautiful boy!!!

2009-11-14T20:36:00.002-07:00

What a sweetie!!! I gotta say, I'm totally in love with this little guy!!! I shot his big sister's newborn pics a year and a half ago and she was (and is) just as beautiful! Thank-you so much K. for having me back!

One of my families from Saturday

2009-11-11T19:01:00.003-07:00

I had two great shoots on Saturday. This family was so much fun to work with! Thank-you so much for welcoming me into your home!!!

From last August

2009-11-11T15:00:00.003-07:00

Here's a couple from our camping trip last August. These were taken at the HooDoos near Drumheller.
Llyr, Khloé and Khloé's friend Krista

More from Tennessee

2009-07-27T20:23:00.003-06:00

Here's a few of the models that were lined up for us.

My "Creepy Bride" is actually one of my fellow photogs--the beautiful Maggie Davenport!

It's been awhile!!!

2009-07-27T20:05:00.003-06:00

WOW!!! I can't believe how long it's been since I updated! We've had quite the year at our house this year. A lot of changes, a few health challenges, many emotional challenges.......

Finally, things are starting to settle into a new rhythm that is working well for us, and I'm feeling more like sharing again. A very good thing!

In April, I had the opportunity to travel to Tennessee to meet up with a group of photographer friends. What an incredible weekend it was! Here are some of the pics from that weekend.....

The very talented Melissa Arroyo took the group shots of myself with my photog friends, and the pull back shot is one I took during our big group shoot with our models. Let me just say, I'm dying for a fish-eye lens!

And a couple more!

2009-04-06T14:59:00.002-06:00

for Heather

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and a few more.....

Winterlight

2009-03-25T19:41:00.004-06:00

Edmonton has run a whole bunch of events this winter in an effort to celebrate our cold season. The majority of the events were free to the public, and a really wonderful way to get our city out in the cold weather and have a whole bunch of family fun! Some of the celebrations were The Silver Skate Festival, Ice on Whyte and Bright Nights which ran over the Christmas Season in several different Locations. The final celebration was called Illuminate and took place in Churchill Square last Saturday night. It was a celebration of fire and light, and designed to recognize the end of winter, and to usher in Spring.

The event was pretty cool--the big choir from here did a walk through Churchill Square singing the whole way, and carrying these cute little triangular lanterns.
There was dancers with illuminated umbrellas, hula hoopers, live entertainment of all kinds, Randall Fraser of The Edmonton Stiltwalkers Assoc. and his fire batons along with another stiltwalker (sorry, I don't know who you are!) and there was a Native Indian drum circle, and a Native elder there to perform the ceremonial lighting of the fire and circle dance to usher in Spring. It was incredibly beautiful!

Oh, and the 30 ft high illuminated marionette was really cool too! It's operator was on top of a building!

I know I'm leaving out a whole bunch of people, and I apologise for that!

Here are a few pics I took that night.

Just some snaps of my kids

2009-03-11T12:16:00.002-06:00

I forced my own children to sit for me last night--they change so fast that I wanted to update our wall portraits, so here are Khloé, Llyr & Taegyn as of yesterday!

couple more of sweet Mr. J.

2009-03-10T14:59:00.002-06:00

Sweet Mr. J.

2009-03-03T15:39:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful boy back in January, and he was one of the happiest babies I've ever met! Thanks for welcoming me into your home!

2008-11-20T16:45:00.001-07:00

Just a couple more from our trip to Drumheller

Random photography from my personal children's files

2008-11-20T16:28:00.002-07:00

This is some stuff from our house this year! Enjoy!

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Halloween fun

2008-11-03T18:46:00.002-07:00

Here's a couple of our yard, the dayhome kids, our own kids and friends.

Vanessa

2008-10-09T19:16:00.002-06:00

Here's a couple of my girl's friend Vanessa. She spends alot of time at our house, so she may as well be ours too! She's a cool chick and I love her lots. How gorgeous are these 2 girls???

One more of my girl!

2008-10-07T23:51:00.002-06:00

Khloé

2008-10-07T14:31:00.001-06:00

Here's a couple of my daughter from her 16 yr. session we did last weekend!

More Family pics!

2008-10-06T20:25:00.002-06:00

"Tis the season for family portraits!!!!! Well, and I only do family portraiture in September & October, so I really don't shoot too much of anything else during those months. I have a standing date with the Leedells each year. Their two wonderful kids are in my dayhome, and Mom is one of my biggest fans, and probably my biggest promoter, both for my photgraphy biz, and my dayhome! We did their family shoot this last weekend. I also took my daughter out for her 16th birthday shoot, and one of her friends came along too. I'll post some of those in the next couple of days.

The Braumbergers

2008-10-01T20:42:00.003-06:00

I worked with another great family last Sunday, and yes, we were back at the Museum. It's becoming one of my favorite places to shoot in the fall! There's such a wide variety of things to use for backdrops it's wonderful!

Here's your sneak peek folks! Thanks for a great afternoon!

I spent Sunday afternoon with my friend Roxanne

2008-09-23T16:55:00.002-06:00

I sometimes forget what a beautiful city we live in, and this last weekend was a good reminder. The grounds of the Museum on Saturday were in full fall bloom, and Roxanne and Dennis took me downtown to a street where we had a fabulous view of the river valley. I really don't spend enough time appreciating how stunning Autumn is here in Edmonton.

So Roxanne scared me a little, racing full speed down ramps and hills, but we had a great time with her shoot!

Thank-you so much Roxanne, for asking me to photograph you! Here's a little sneak peek.

Our day at the Museum

2008-09-20T18:50:00.003-06:00

I had the privilege of shooting my friend Suze-Anne and her family today. We had a great time--they were awesome to work with! Here's a sneak peek!

What I've been working on

2008-09-12T19:30:00.002-06:00

So along with all the editing I've been doing for the Trash the Dress shoot we did last weekend (don't worry girls, I'm not neglecting you! you'll have my shots in a couple of weeks!) I'm also working on some marketing stuff for the Maternity/newborn end of my biz.

Here's a sample of the postcard I designed today, front and back.

2008-09-08T20:16:00.000-06:00

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More TTD!

3 photographers, 5 models, wedding dresses, OH MY!!!!!

2008-09-08T19:37:00.003-06:00

Yesterday a couple of photographer friends of mine and I went on an adventure with some awesome crazy chicks in wedding dresses! We had such a fabulous time! This type of shoot is technically called "Trash The Dress" and is becoming very popular in the U.S. and Europe. TTD can cover everything from non-traditional but fun wedding photography, to full-on trashing of the dress (think fire, scissors, mud, and the really dark & morbid). My co-shooters were Jenny Jardine of Jenny Jardine Photography, and Rhonda Imbeault of Sweet and Sassy Photography. They were absolutely amazing to work with! Our Models were Heather, Shauna, Lisa, Jen & Marliss. What a great bunch of gals! I hope they had as much fun as we did!!!!

Thanks so much to everyone I worked with yesterday. You were all amazing!

Here's some shots from the day!

More Camping

2008-08-19T12:55:00.002-06:00

Camping...

2008-08-19T12:22:00.003-06:00

Here's a couple of pictures from our camping trip! We were staying at Crimson Lake Campground. It's just beautiful there! We had a week with just Darcy and I and the boys, and then our friends Dan & Rhonda and their kids joined us for the second week. We had a couple of really big storms, but for the most part, the weather was great!

Well...

2008-08-13T20:59:00.002-06:00

We've been home for a while now, but things pile up when you're gone, so I've been trying to catch up! I'll have some pictures of our camping trip up tomorrow, and will announce the fall/Christmas Special in the next few days! Stay tuned!!!

Camping!!!!

2008-07-20T13:49:00.001-06:00

Yup--we're heading out today! I can't wait to get there!
So, I'm going to be gone for a couple of weeks.

See you all when we get back!

The Babies!

2008-07-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

So, our pet rabbit, the one we thought had been fixed, had babies. Yeah, we were a little surprised to say the least!
Anyways, they are now 4 weeks old, and soooo cute!

Meet Pixie (black & white), Delilah (darker brown), Thea (black), Gavin (lighter brown) and Jimmy (brown & white)

Oh, for anyone whose interested, most of them will be ready to adopt in about 4 more weeks!
Free to a good home!!!!

What's new?

2008-07-12T12:56:00.000-06:00

Well, the last few weeks have been crazy with trying to get alot of the business end of things straightened out and working. The website is almost finished, and in a few days, the blog will have a slightly new look as well!

I've been re-structuring some things, and have implemented a Referral program! Seeing as about 95% of my new business comes from word of mouth advertising, it seemed like a wise step to take! I really can't take credit for the idea though. I've received such good advice and ideas from so many of my on-line photographer friends in our little cyber communities. Thanks guys! You all rock!

Here's one of the referral cards. Who doesn't love free stuff? Everyone who hands out these handy little cards (my awesome clients will receive them in their print orders) will get $20 credit on their next print order. The new client will also receive a $20 print credit! More details to come!

Also, keep your eyes peeled for "CHRISTMAS IN JULY"!!!!! I'll be announcing a very cool Family Portrait special designed to make some of your Christmas stuff a little easier!!!

The Last of the Stiltwalkers

2008-06-30T21:02:00.000-06:00

Here we have Aaron & Veronica, Aaron & Taegyn, and all 4 of my awesome kids--Aaron, Khloé, Llyr & Taegyn

Hope you enjoy, and Happy Canada Day!!!

Stiltwalkers continued...

2008-06-30T20:51:00.000-06:00

I didn't mention "the FALL" in the previous post. That's Veronica laying on the ground, and their instructor Randall pulling her up. The fall was intentional--part of the show, but most of the spectators did not know that. The gasps of horror were incredible! All I can say is, WOW!!! They are 13 feet tall on those stilts! Getting back up takes incredible strength!

And yes, that's real fire!

I totally forgot to give all of you the dates for the other 2 shows!!!!

So, here they are:

Sunday, August 3 at 4:00 pm

Sunday, September 14 at 4:00 pm

Location: The Royal Alberta Museum here in Edmonton
12845 102 Ave

Hope to see some of you there!!!

Edmonton Stiltwalkers

2008-06-30T20:09:00.000-06:00

My 19 yr old son and his girlfriend are both stiltwalkers. Before Aaron started learning this incredible art, I had no idea that the Edmonton Stiltwalkers even existed! Aaron has been on stilts for 4 years, and Veronica (his gal) for about 6 yrs, I think. They performed in an amazing show at the Royal Alberta Museum on June 20. It's a fully choreographed story--the brainchild of Randall Fraser. It's called "Fire & Water: the Dragons Awaken". It ties in with the dragon exhibit that is running at the museum between now and September. It's an amazing performance performed in front of the front steps at the museum here in Edmonton. If you're able to go and take it in, I highly recommend it! The entire show is about 25-30 min. long, and it's FREE! I wanted to share a few stills with you!

Beautiful newborn!

2008-06-30T19:54:00.000-06:00

I just finished up with Miss C. a few days ago. What a beautiful girl! Here's a couple more of her.

A couple more of the bubbles

2008-06-04T13:57:00.000-06:00

Just one or 2 more.

The blurry little guy with the pointy hat in the background is Gunnar--our Norwegian lawn gnome. He keeps our garden faeries safe from the trolls!

Bubbles and Bokeh

2008-06-04T13:50:00.000-06:00

So, on the May long weekend, my sister-in-law came over, and she and Taegyn got to playing with bubbles. They had a great time!

For those of you that don't know, "bokeh" is a term used in photography to describe a very shallow depth of field. These pictures are a perfect example of really great "bokeh"!

Thanks Denise, for being such a good sport!!!!

Beautiful Newborn

2008-05-28T15:43:00.000-06:00

I had the opportunity to photograph the gorgeous Miss. C. last weekend. She was such a little doll---slept right through the entire shoot! Many thanks to her Mommy for inviting me into their home. I had a wonderful time! Here's a sneak peek for you!

My Boys

2008-05-12T20:10:00.001-06:00

Here's the photo tiles my boys and I made for me!

My little Italian, Mother's Day, and other stuff

2008-05-12T19:33:00.000-06:00

So I've finally finished up with The beautiful Dario. He's such a cutie-patootie! Diana, if you're checking the blog, send me an e-mail!

As everyone knows, yesterday was Mother's Day. I always get spoiled. I have the best husband and kids in the world!!!! I sleep in, Darcy made "big breakfast" for us, then we all piled into the van for the traditional trip to my favorite greenhouse, where I spend too much money on plants! Each year, the kids all pick a perennial that is theirs for the garden. Then Darcy makes supper for me, and the kids clean up. And I get to do whatever I want. We had my sister-in-law here, as well as my oldest son's girlfriend for a dinner of homemade chicken cordon-bleu, roasted red peppers, greek salad, and bbq potatoes, good wine, good company.... Yup, life is good!

We did a little project for the dayhome kid's Moms last week. We had a photo shoot in my living room, and then had prints made. Then the kids and I used Mod Podge to glue their photos to ceramic tiles to give to their Moms. Here is the result, along with another glimpse of Dario.

Maternity marketing......

2008-04-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

O.K. I LOVE being a photographer. It would be so great to do nothing but shoot all the time. Unfortunately, there are alot of other things that go along with running a photography business, most of which I don't enjoy nearly as much as making beautiful pictures! One of them is all the marketing stuff! That's what has been consuming so much of my time lately. I'm working on a marketing package that will showcase the maternity & newborn facet of my photo-biz. I wish I could just wiggle my nose and have it all come together!!!!!

So here's the new business card!

It's been awhile...

2008-03-26T10:24:00.000-06:00

We've had a busy, busy week. Between dayhome, family stuff, Easter, photoshop issues (sometimes it just won't co-operate!), and our internet being down for a few days (over the long weekend--of course, when there's nobody at work to fix it!!!), I haven't gotten nearly as much as I had hoped to accomplished!!! And we're all still battling this nasty cold/flu bug too. Well, as we say, LIFE HAPPENS!!!!
I had the opportunity to do a shoot with our good friend Maria's nephew a little over a week ago. He and his Mom are here visiting from Italy (that would make them international clients, right? LOL!!) Mr. D is probably the happiest baby I have ever met!!! Full of smiles, and so incredibly beautiful too! I had the best time working with he and his Mom!!! Thanks to Maria, Deanna, and Dario for this opportunity!!! Here's a glimpse of this gorgeous little man!

Sweet Miss R.

2008-03-18T10:42:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of doing a session with sweet Miss R. Her Mom's maternity session was the second mat shoot that I had ever done, and I was thrilled to be asked back to do Miss R.'s 1 year portraits! I can't believe she's a year old already! So here's one from that session, and one from the maternity session for ya!

Me & my brood!

2008-03-15T17:07:00.000-06:00

Here we are!!!! Much thanks to my sister for helping out with the ones of my own family!!!

Love you Michelle!

More of my Family

2008-03-12T15:09:00.000-06:00

Well, here's some more of my nutty family! I'm so pleased with these images of my Mom & Dad, Kurt & Ardis! They have been married for over 40 years now! what an accomplishment! I'm moving on to the individual group shots tonight. If I can commandeer my computer back from my daughter that is! LOL!!!

Mike & Michelle

2008-03-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm into the family stuff now! I've learned that if I don't treat them like clients (as far as workflow goes), then the images sit in the computer for forever & a day, and they never get done!
So, here's my sis & her hubby Mike!

More Maternity!

2008-02-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Over Christmas break, while visiting my parents in Saskatoon, I had the privilege of photographing Kim. She is my brother-in-law's sister, and was about 35 weeks along at the time. My beautiful sister Michelle sat in on the shoot & we had a riot! Giggling & laughing & behaving like little girls! I also shot family pics of Michelle & family, Mom & Dad, All 12 of us together, and Michelle helped me out with my own hubby & kids. I'll post some of those in the next couple of days! Here's a little taste of gorgeous Kimmy, and my equally stunning sister!

Time flies!

2008-02-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

...when you're crazy busy! Our house, as usual, has just been insane with kid stuff this week! Teething babies, head colds (babies, my daughter & me), teen stuff, speed skating, birthday parties, blah, blah etc. I wouldn't trade the chaos for anything, but I always seem to run about a week behind where I think I should be!
Here's another one of beautiful Miss T. I'm hoping to send hers off to print today!

Well, it's been a week already!

2008-02-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

...and this is the first post since I added images. I've been trying to finish off post-production work on the sweetest, most serious little gal, and life seems to keep getting in the way!
Some of you are probably not aware that as of yet, I'm not a full-time photographer. I run a dayhome full-time, and do shoots on the weekends right now, so post work is only done during nap time, and in the evenings. You've already seen some of my dayhome kids--they, and their parents have been invaluable for promoting my photography business--handing out flyers and business cards, using my images as screen savers at work, and really just showing my work to everyone, and telling them all where to find me! They are a HUGE part of the reason that I will someday be able to make my passion my full-time career, and I owe all of them a HUGE thank-you!
So, here is the adorable Miss T. I'm almost done!!! Will be calling soon!
And a family pic of the ones who have sent me so much business!
Let me be perfectly clear though. I generally do not do family portraiture. Nor do I want to! I only do it for family, and those who are like family.

2008-01-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Just a couple more for today.

2008-01-26T16:21:00.001-07:00

2008-01-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here come the kids!!!!

2008-01-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Full of energy and life, these guys are so fun to work with!!!

2008-01-26T15:34:00.001-07:00

2008-01-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

More photos!

2008-01-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Maternity comes in a close second for my favorite things to photograph. I just LOVE showing almost mommies how beautiful they really are!

2008-01-26T15:01:00.001-07:00

2008-01-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

O.K. Here come the pictures!

2008-01-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

I think I'll start with a few newborn images, since the very wee ones are my most favorite.

Wow! I have a blog!

2008-01-25T15:43:00.001-07:00

There's just nothing in it as of yet! I'm creating this blog so that people are able to view my photography while I work on getting my website up and running. I have had many requests over the last few months for some sort of on-line gallery, sooooo.....here it is folks!
I'm probably not going to be able to post every day, but I am going to make an effort to update regularly, and am looking forward to meeting new folks!
My project this weekend is to get some of my more recent, and some of my favorite images in here from my photo-biz for the world to see.
I hope lots of you will join me on this adventure!
C'mon guys! Let's go!!!!