Taralynn and Cody's Wedding

A while back I was honoured to be asked by Danielle of Lucier Photography to second shoot for her at Taralynn and Cody's wedding.

I was excited and apprehensive at the same time. Danielle is an amazing photographer and I didn't want to let her down. She was so sweet and encouraging though, and gave me opportunities to learn from her through out the day. She also allowed me to edit and use any of the images I took for my portfolio.

As second shooter, I headed over to the boys place the morning of the wedding. I had never done boys before and I was a little dubious about how well they would take having  a camera pointed at them for a couple of hours . . . I shouldn't have doubted though. They were so sweet. If I asked them for something, they did their best to help, even when it didn't make a whole lot of sense to them.

At one point, when they were getting ready, I noticed the groom's pocket 'hankie' was a little wonky. I couldn't help myself, I had to fix it! I went over to him and told him the mom in me couldn't let him go out with a less than perfect hankie. He was thrilled I was fixing it for him. When one of his groom's men had troubles with his hankie Cody told him to let me fix it.

"She knows what she's doing . . . she's done thousands of these things (weddings) . . . "

I burst into hysterical laughter. How old did he think I was???! 100?? 200?? Luckily for my professionalism, all that laughter stayed on the inside, although it threatened to burst out off and on  all day. I still think it's hilarious.

One we were finished with our pictures we headed off to the Prince of Wales Armory for the ceremony. What a lovely venue! I had catered a Credit Union dinner there, years before, but we had only used the main floor and a few small rooms on the upper floor. The room  the ceremony was held in was just lovely. The bride and groom were filled with emotion and their families and friends were so very happy for them.

We took family pictures and then a few formals with an awesome vintage car on the Armory grounds.

 The dinner and the reception took place in a beautiful hall on the University grounds where we took more formals before dinner.

Taralynn and Cody's wedding was beautiful and working with Danielle was a real pleasure.

It has converted me from a "I will never do weddings!" photographer to a "when's the next one?" kind of girl . . .

Taralynn and Cody, I wish you only the very best as you begin your married life together.

The Truth about Young Kids and Photo Shoots.

Late this fall I decided I wanted to get in one last photo shoot before the snow flew.

I wanted something different for this one though . . . something magical. Luckily for me, my sister-in-law Andrea is always up for adventure and has four kids.

I explained what I was looking for and she dug through her dress-up box and came up with some great fairy tale costumes for her kids. I brought along bags of gourds, a suitcase full of assorted props, and a few wooden props.

We all piled into our trucks and headed for a nearby park. Thankfully the older kids were able to help carry the props into the park. I've got to find a better system for getting my props from place to place. Ideally I would just bring less props. But that's not going to happen any time soon . . . Henry choose a roomy Yukon XL for me because he knows me and my ways better than anyone. Ahem.

We had a great time acting out fairy-tales and making up stories of our own that afternoon. And then, because I'm smart that way, I thought we should see if we could sneak in a quick family session with the kids . . .

We started out pretty good . . .

Some one very quickly noticed me and my camera . . .

Someone else had really difficulty with the whole, 'stay sitting down' concept . . .

Tongues poked out, props were eaten, thrown and knocked over . . .

 Mom spent a lot of time putting someone back in the shot and fixing the props . . .

 All in all, an amusing challenge.

I did get some sweet moments though. Not technically 'perfect' mind you, with everyone looking 'perfectly' at the camera, but sweet none the less . . .

So now you know the truth about young kids and photo shoots.

There is no way to control what happens, you just take what comes.

And that's just the way I like it.

Creating Gingerbread Houses and a Contest

For longer than I can remember, I've made gingerbread houses with my kids. When we were young, my siblings and I would visit my dad in the bakery while he was making gingerbread houses and 'help' him decorate.

You'd think, now that my kids have all grown up, that this tradition would have petered out . . . . but, in fact, they like it even more now than they did when they were younger. Morgan and Kim even came home to decorate with everyone and left their creation behind for me to enjoy. (Smartie the cat would devour it if they brought it home.)

I love that my kids enjoy creating. And to celebrate that with all of you I've decided to have a contest!

Here are the rules:

• The person who can choose which gingerbread house belongs to which creator correctly, for each house posted here, will win the desk version of this year's Whimsey Photography calendar.

• Who ever gets the most creator/house combinations right will receive the calendar. Should there be a tie, I will make a random draw for the winner.

• You have until Thursday, December 18 at 8pm to give your answers. 

The winner will be announced on Friday, December 19th at 12 noon. The contest is open to everyone, no matter where you live. Shipping is on me! 

I'm still having trouble with my comments here on the blog, so, rather than leaving your answers on the blog please go here to leave your answer on my Facebook post. (click on the blue word 'here' to get to the proper Facebook post)

Now to introduce you to the creators  . . . .

My oldest daughter Crystal:

My next daughter, Holly (with a friend):

Holly's boyfriend Alex:

Morgan and his new bride Kim (they did one together):

And Jesse:

Here are their creations in no particular order:

 House number 1:

House number 2:

House number 3:

House number 4:

And house number 5:

And just to get you started . . . I posted one of these house and it's creator on my Facebook page, If you haven't seen it yet, head over to A Life Of Whimsey on Facebook to find out which one it is.

Good Luck!