Joey

Meet Joey.

His parents are dear friends of mine (whom you have already met here) and when they found out soon after their wedding that Karen was pregnant, I was all over it. For her entire pregnancy, she put up with my excessive daily, and sometimes hourly, "how do we feel now?" with a smile and an honest answer. Then, two days after Joey was born, I visited them in the hospital and held this little tiny person in my arms.

And he didn't even cry.

Now, at the ripe old age of 14 months, it appears he doesn't remember those moments with the same fondness I do. :)

Or maybe there are just more interesting things to look at than that chick with the camera. Shoes, for example.

Or that thing over there!

Dandelions (which he promptly ate afterward) are worth smiling for.

And, of course, DADDY!

Needless to say, once the camera was away, little Joe was all smiles. I have assured him that I accept the challenge, that he and my camera will meet again someday, and that next time, I'll have some sort of baby bribery in hand.

I think that might have been his plan all along.

Ahhhhh.... summer....

This is what it's all about.

Silhouette

Wentworth Park in the evening.
Because who doesn't love a good silhouette.

There's No Place Like It

I was born in a tiny little suburb of a tiny little city in Cape Breton. South Bar was my home until I was nine years old. I loved it there... I still do. And on occasion, I take my camera for a stroll down memory lane.

This was my house. My uncle lives there now, and the garage is new, but it's still got the best backyard for playing baseball, the awesome fish house for cooking lobster, and the best view of the Newfoundland ferries as they head out into the Atlantic.

My best friend Tracy lived across the street.

My parents were married in the church. I was baptized there, and had my first communion there. My grandparents and uncle are buried in its cemeteries. It's falling apart these days, and you can't go in anymore, which kind of makes it all that much more iconic to me.

One of the mainstays of the community is the wharf. It's where we used to watch the older boys swim, it's where many of the people make their living, and it's absolutely picturesque...

...and so very peaceful.

If I know nothing else, I know this little tiny place will always be a great big piece of me.

Nancy and Jonathan

Nancy and Jonathan are a ton of fun to be around. Combine that with the fact that they are both highly photogenic and not a little bit camera shy and VOILA! A couple session that was literally... a walk in the park!

We shot at Peter's Field in Cape Breton. I was hoping for a field of bright yellow dandelions, but the sky was overcast so we had no such luck. Not to be deterred, these two were willing to get down and dirty in the grass anyway!

 

So perfect for each other....

 

This was Nancy's genious idea. She even looks amazing upside down!

Time for a little playground lovin'!

Within a few weeks after our session, Jonathan and Nancy got engaged. He was on one knee and there was a waterfall and all those things girls dream of. With any luck, we'll be seeing more of these two in June of 2012!

Monique: Trash the Dress

Monique and Steve were married last September. We have been planning her Trash the Dress session ever since, and finally headed to Peggy's Cove in the middle of May to see if we couldn't do it in.

This one reminds me of something out of a bridal magazine.

Time to get wet!

 

 

After a little while at Peggy's Cove, we headed back to a little lake near Monique's house... and proceeded to get dirty.

 

It was right about here that I dropped my 70-250 lens into the lake. To clarify, it fell out of my hand, bounced off the rock I was standing on, and rolled into the lake... so technically I didn't drop it in. After a good inspection, a minor coronary attack, and cradling the innocent victim in a dry towel, Monique and I returned to shooting and I was able to get this beauty with my 18-55 mm before deciding I was way too horribly distracted to continue.

 

Because I know you are on the edge of your seat wondering, the towel on the lens didn't work. Neither did a bag of uncooked rice, as I have heard works for cell phones that have had a run-in with H2O. I took my lens to the Camera Repair Centre here in Halifax. The prognosis wasn't good, but the lovely chap there promised to put my baby in the dryer and do what he could. I trusted him: you can tell this guy really gave a damn. I lined up a loaner for a shoot I had the following weekend. I searched the flyers, the stores, and the online second hand sites pricing up a replacement. I moaned and lamented my loss on Facebook. So it was nothing short of a miracle when they called 5 days later to say my lens was working. Nothing short of a miracle. Those might have been their exact words.

Monique's dress also survived in all its original glory, but with any luck, not for long. :)

Spring Things

One of the things I looked forward to about owning my own home was having an actual yard to test out my green thumb. When we moved in, there were beautiful petunias lining the walkway to the front door. Little did I know that under all those petunias there were already tulip bulbs waiting in hiding to surprise me in the spring.

 

Come May, I accepted a trip to the gardening centre as a delayed birthday present from my husband, and the seed of hope of having my own garden was planted.

It's now the end of July and my pansies are still in full swing. We've transplanted some of the bushes from the front of the house to the back, and I've put some morning glories in the backyard that grow unbelievably quickly, but have yet to flower. I'm already planning for next year's blooms!