Well December sure got really busy, am I right?!?! If there are any full time working mama’s or full time stay at home mamas that have figured out how to balance work and family please please let me know!  I can honestly say I have never been more busy in my entire life!.  Working full time (well minus Wednesday and the weekends), keeping up on my Photography edits and sessions while trying to promote the heck out of my business is very time consuming, then add in family time which is basically equal time, I have little hours in the day left to do all the house hold chores, laundry, dishes, meals, cleaning, bath times, bedtimes, naps, snacks all of which take top priority .

But moving on because who has the time to rant.

Last month my wonderful and beautiful cousin got married and it was a ton of fun to be able to capture her day!

Ok so long story short, we had a storm, it fried ALL our network gear, had to buy new and wait ever so patiently for it all to arrive in the mail, and for my awesome husband to get us back online!  Yea!

Ok back to business!  I have just started my Christmas Mini Session blast!  I know I know STOP talking about Christmas, we just had Halloween. BUT listen in order to create you your FABULOUS Christmas cards we need to shoot them now so I can design them and print them.

So for now lets talk only a little Christmas, then December 1 you can go nuts with it!

Oh Miss Avery I am still finding gold glitter all over my house but your worth it 🙂 Happy Birthday !

Picking Locations – Engagement Sessions

So many ideas for these kinds of sessions the creative mind runs wild! I love it and secretly these are my favorite just because it is so much fun to plan.

Being as these are always done with adults the locations are really endless, children sessions you will have to take into account a ton of variables, like weather, age appropriate places, will kids under 5 be able to go to 3 or 4 locations in a timely manner? No way not my boys at least. Yes shooting engagement sessions are great!

OK OK so you just got asked and you of course said yes! Plan your wedding now ! It takes so much work oh my! Or better yet hire a planner, this is their whole job let them be the masters and worry about everything. Now you got a date and you think oh we should probably get some amazing shots of the 2 of us that arnt ones of us a a friend’s house…probably drinking…..good idea 😉

If you haven’t already found a photographer for your wedding, engagement sessions are a wonderful way to meet your photographer one on one and see how the 3 of you fit together, do they see the same vision as you? Do you like the end results that sort of thing. Most photographers will offer the engagement session free or discounted if you book them for the wedding.

OK so you got that done check…now because I am a photographer and I’ve had a wedding I feel somewhat of an expert in this but picking your ‘theme’ for your session is important. You want to capture your couple personality. I personally had my engagement session at the calgary airport and it was such a fun day. We walked all around, the areas we were allowed to, indoors and out and even the parkade. It fit us well I felt because we lived there but all our family and friends were in ontario so it seemed fitting to be there.

 

Aww so much love 🙂  I had the photographers Facebook page but it looks like it no longer exists, she was a local in Calgary and was AWESOME.

Once you have an idea of what your couple personality is you can start brainstorming ideas for locations. I’m honestly not 100% sure brides to be do this or if it’s just the photographer in me but they should! Brainstorm them while your meeting your photographer, or email back and forth heck even open a Fb chat and get everyone involved.

I’ll list a few personality and locations below but keep in mind an unlikely place could be a gold mine for amazing shots, look past that grundy old building and see the potential it has in your photos.

Let’s step outside the norm and do things differently!

Gym Buffs /Sporty Couple –
– Go to a pond or arena for some ice skatings shot
– Baseball games or any other game you are both into
– Only one of you is into sports? Why not have your partner show you how to play hockey, could get cheesy cute!
Nature Loving Couple– wooded parks that have a large variety of locations, Pointe pelee, corn fields, wide open spaces with amazing sunsets.  These are almost everywhere you look, super easy to find amazing locations where ever you live, even in the city there is some kind of green space.  The trick with these kinds of locations is to make it stand out.  Love nature, great, but have a killer outfit or cool prop like a retro looking couch in the middle of the forest, something that screams different!

City Folk Couple – This also is a good one for endless possibilities.
– Favorite coffee shop, bistro or patio
– Parking garages on the top floor
– Street walking
– Downtown Michigan so you have a bit of a big city vibe and skyscrapers
– Retro stores even, like trendy thrift stores (I know sounds odd but I did a shoot in one and they turned out so fun!)
– Alleys can have the modern urban look, cool and sleek, place a good looking couple in there and the contrast is stunning
– You city have any street performers? events? Doing a shoot around this type of thing would be fun, goes along with the county fair type
– Are you in a real city? lol like Toronto not windsor? ride the rails a bit, get some shot in the subway, on the street car, showcase your daily life together, do it at golden hour (1 hour before sunset) and get that sun kissed look.
– Do a session at night! the city is full of lights

Hipster and vintage couple – historical sites like heritage village, Hiram walker or cool trendy stores and buildings, cool graffiti is always an interesting backdrop, even more when its under a bridge.  Or better yet a cool train bridge, those are my favourites.  (BUT always remember SAFETY FIRST- Train tracks are dangerous!) Ok not a picture or engagement more just one model but you get the point.

Adventurous Couple– Mountain hikes (I still pretend I live out West sometimes), Ontario hikes (I mean to say long flat hikes), rock climbing the indoor kind or head a couple hours north, camping! I mean the real camping, or pick some where you know set up a cute tent bring the amores kit and have a ‘fake’ camping trip – you know just for the shoot.
Everything Water Couple– marina, ferry rides, rowboat or canoe rides, point pelee marsh, beaches, waterfalls
Cuteness couple – glitter bombs, powder paint, county fair