It’s always fun to photograph Leon and Louise’s family. They were celebrating the American Thanksgiving, so they had everyone together, which is difficult to do. They have a nice park behind their home, so the original plan was to do the portraits there. However, just a week before our scheduled sitting, we had our first snowfall of the season. So we reverted to the basement, which still worked out well.
For the smaller portraits, the backdrop works well. The larger groups, I relied on the power of post-production. The simple background made it easier to fix so that it extended to cover the area I wanted.
For this shot of the boys, I wanted a more HDR look, so the backdrop didn’t matter as much anymore. I think it turned out great!
Photographing the children is always the most difficult. They had a great playset that I could work with. The idea is to at least try to make it seem, to the children, like it’s just play time. Getting them on the playset is easy. Getting them all looking at the camera at the same time is the hard part. Again, post-production to the rescue. I took as many as they could stand and then, after the best photo was selected, I was able to photoshop good faces from throwaway shots onto the selected photo.
See if you can figure out which faces were replaced in the photo of the children. I’ll give you a hint: only two were replaced.
Tags: Calgary, Family, indoor, Photography, Portrait
I had an exciting opportunity to be with Brent and Carol when they were married in Regina Saskatchewan. We had considerably better weather than at their engagement photo shoot. Also, after so much driving last month, the trip to Regina didn’t seem as long as it might have.
We only spent about an hour at the temple doing family photos, some formals, and the composite shot. I love doing composite shots. They are so much fun when you’re letting them be spontaneous and silly in a bunch of different ways. It seems a bit odd to them at first, but when they see the results, it’s always exciting for me.
The rest of the formals were done at the park in Moose Jaw. One of the groomsmen is wheelchair bound, so it was a neat challenge for me to compose the shots in a way that was inclusive, yet still flexible in showing the beauty of the park. Her little sister was certainly a feature in a lot of photos and is cute enough to steal the attention of everyone. She’s very shy, but absolutely opens up in front of the camera. At the reception, during the dance, I got down on the floor and all the kids just loved that. It was so fun.
Tags: outdoor, Photography, Regina, Temple, Wedding
The exciting day finally arrived for Steven and Amanda. The wedding was simple and elegant, with a beautiful bride and bridesmaids.
We took the wedding party to Prince’s Island Park in downtown Calgary. We’ve had heavy smoke in Calgary from forest fires in B.C.. I was concerned about the effect of the smoke on the photos. Positioning the wedding party with their backs to the sun added a nice glow effect that minimized the problems with the smoke. It diffused the light nicely. Having such a beautiful park with a variety of features to work with makes it a great place to go. Many of the pedestrians were polite and I think they enjoyed watching us play.
I was accompanied by Chris Ratzlaff, who also got some amazing photos. We really worked well together and it was nice to have him focussed on getting more candid shots while I set up the group shots and formals. We were able to get really creative with the poses and the wedding party was very easy to work with.
Tags: Calgary, outdoor, Photography, Prince's Island, Wedding
Tim and Crick have the cutest kids. You might not be able to tell from the photo on the right, but there are only two of them. As usual, they were a bit shy, but they didn’t take long to open up and relax around the camera.
They have a great back yard with a play structure that helped them be more comfortable. The weather was great and made for a lot of good contrasts. My son assisted me with a second camera (he’s 13). He got some great shots also. I find that the best way to take photos of children is to let them play and get them while they’re not paying so much attention.
Tags: Calgary, children, Orton Effect, outdoor, Photography, Portrait
Mark and Jenn were married in Waterton. It’s a beautiful town with a lot to choose from for photo backdrops. 
Waterton has a dark side though; it’s very windy. Overlooking the lake is the Prince of Wales Hotel. It sits majestically at the top of a hill where, if you go outside, you’ll have to walk sideways at times. The family did their best to pose, but mostly we’d try to get the pictures every time the wind dropped for a second or two.
One popular spot is at the falls. We got the rest of the wedding party photos there before I took the couple to my personal favorite. I love the lake shore. We were able to work with the bright sunny backdrop 
and the wind to get a really dynamic shot of Jenn. She just loves the camera, and it in turn is very kind to her. 
It was definitely one of my more challenging and fun weddings to shoot.
Tags: outdoor, Photography, Waterton, Wedding
I really had fun with Wally and Gill. The small ceremony was in their friend’s back yard. It was beautifully landscaped with several trees and flowers. They also had reflecting globes that added a neat touch. The weather also cooperated enough to hold back the rain while the overcast sky made the greenery really come out.
They were easy to work with and, while I wanted to make sure the photos look more formal, we made sure to have some fun too.
The formals we shot at Beaver Dam Flats. It’s a bit wooded with some wetlands and a bridge that made a great backdrop. Our biggest challenge is not getting run over by people using the pathway.
Tags: Beaver Dam Flats, Calgary, outdoor, Photography, Wedding
John and I attended the temple at 6 am. We returned back to the motel room at 8:15 and went with the kids to have breakfast. The motel had a self-serve kitchen. We ate cereal, toast, and waffles.
After we packed up the van, we drove over to the temple to walk around and take pictures. We took a family picture in front of the temple. We told the kids, “This is where it all began.” John also took pictures of the falls.
We were off and travelling again by 11am.
When we arrived in Idaho Falls last night, William wanted us to tell him the story of how we met and came to be married in the Idaho Falls Temple 19 years ago (on Valentines Day).
The kids weren’t impressed when John and I kissed for one of the pictures we took in front of the temple. They were smiling, so it must make them happy to know that we still like and love each other.
Yesterday, when we were in JCPenny, we saw a t-shirt in the baby section that read “Mom + Dad = Me!” We thought it was cute.
– Victoria
12:18 pm – Entered Montana and crossed the continental divide. Victoria is driving while I rest my eyes.
– John
2:15 pm – Crossed the Continental Divide again.
2:35 pm – Crossed the Continental Divide again.
I drove during a hailstorm. I didn’t like it. Entered Great Falls, Montana at 5:00 pm. We are headed for a mall. We shopped at a mall and shopped at Ross and JCPenny. William got a nice pair of dress shoes. It was raining when we left the mall, so we went to a chinese buffet for dinner. It wasn’t that good.
For lunch, I made sandwiches for everyone while we drove.
We are at the Sweet Grass border crossing at 10:20 pm. Didn’t have any problems getting across the border, but they made us feel guilty.
In Lethbridge at 11:30 pm – Need to get Gas.
– Victoria
I stopped in Claresholm to get something sweet to keep me awake. It’s just after 1 am. We’re not stopping.
– John
We arrived home at 2:30 am. It was nice to sleep in our own beds.
– Victoria
We woke up early, had showers, ate oatmeal for breakfast and broke camp at 9am. We left Salt Lake city and drove to Layton, Utah. We stopped and shopped at Target Superstore. The kids got clothes, we bought groceris for lunch, etc. We made sandwiches (deli-meat, lettuce, red onion, tomato, cheese), sugar peas, bananas, and cookies.
John and the boys quickly went into Barnes and Noble bookstore to get a book for William to read on the way home.
Then we found Layton Hills Mall and shopped at JCPenny. We even found 2 more pairs of size 16 slim jeans for William (which is hard to find in Calgary). William and Douglas got new suits. We finished our shopping trip at Deseret Books.
We started travelling again, but needed to stop in a few miles because we saw Hill Aerospace Museum right beside the Hil Air Force Base. William loves jets. So we didn’t start to actually travel until 4pm.
We entered Idaho at 4:46 pm.
We stopped at 6:20 pm at Hell’s Half Acre trail and walked the short trail. We saw lava flow formations. There is a thunder and lightning storm approaching.
We are sitting in the van at the Idaho Falls Temple (7:15 pm). It is raining very hard. John has run into the Visitor’s Center.
We are spending the night at a Super 8 motel. This motel is close to the Red Lion Hotel where John and I stayed the night after we were married in the Idaho Falls Temple. Tomorrow morning, John and I are going to attend a session at the temple.
At the motel, John, William, Douglas and Victoria went in the whirlpool and sauna. We ate dinner that night in the motel room, which was snap peas, carrots, grapes, Wheat Thins, and Triscuits. It the weather was nice, we would have been able to cook spaghetti outside on our camp stove.
We watched “Prince Caspian” using our portable DVD player.
– Victoria
We woke up early to have breakfast and catch the 9am shuttle bus to Temple Square. John made us pancakes for breakfast.
Temple Square was amazing. It is 35 acres. We had Sister missionaries give us a short tour. They took us to the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and the South Visitors Centre. In the Tabernacle, you can hear a pin drop. Amazing accoustics! Then we went on our own to the Church Office Building for a tour by someone else and went to the top floor to overlook Temple Square and the city. We also took pictures around Temple Square.
We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was very fancy. It used to be the Utah Hotel. We had lunch there at the Nauvoo Cafe, then we went to the 10th floor to get another view of the Temple. Then we went to the second floor to overlook the balcony and see the old ballroom (which is now being used as a church). Then we went to the Conference Centre and had a tour. This building seats 21,000. It is huge. We even saw the gardens on the top.
Next we went to the North Visitors Centre to see the Statue of the Christus. Very nice. We then rushed back to the Joseph Smith Memorial Bulding to see the 3 pm showing of the movie “Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration! It was a very good and moving account on the history of Joseph Smith’s life. It was the first time I’ve ever gone to a movie where the audience is silent at the end.
Next we went to the Family History Library. We saw a 9 minute video about the library. I didn’t have any time to do genealogy there, but I would like to someday.
There was an original pioneer house by the library that we peeked through the windows. By this time it was 5 pm and we took the shuttle bus back to KOA.
Once back at the campsite, we took our van to go shopping at an outside mall that was downtown. We weren’t impressed with it because it didn’t have the stores we were looking for (ZCMI, Chapters bookstore, 
a chuch bookstore or one of the modest clothing stores we’ve heard about). Anyways, John and Kristina bough sandals. Then we tried to find a normal mall that we were told was 20 minutes away. After a while, we gave up the search for the mall, got gasoline, and returned to the campsite.
We made dinner (tamales, mashed potatoes, and carrots). John, William, and Douglas went for a swim.
The whole day has ben raining, thundering and lightning sproradically throughout the day.
– Victoria
We woke up in the morning, and John, Victoria, William, and Douglas went swimming in the indoor pools. Yesterday the temperature was cool; it fluctuated between 18 C and 29 C. When we camped at Bluewater Lake State Park outside Mesita, New Mexico, it was cool also. We had to wear a light jacket while we set up the tent and we actually had to sleep in our sleeping bags.
After we had a swim, we all had showeres and then drove to Price, Utah to find a laundromat. It took a little over an hour to do our laundry. While our clothes washed and dried, we played Uno (card game) and updated our travel blog on the computer.
Then we made our lunch, using the topper on the trailer as our table and counter. We ate deli meat sandwiches with tomato, lettuce, cheese and green pepper and cookies and apples. We ate cheerios and grapes for breakfast in the motel. Now we are on our way to Salt Lake City at 1:00pm.
Entered Provo, Utah at 2:26pm. We walked around the Provo Temple. We saw the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and BYU. There were lots of missionaries around the MTC. And we saw a sign which read “The Mission Field is Open.” We looked across the street atnd there was a soccer field especially for missionaries. We walked around the block at the MTC and I ran into a metal pole that was collarbone height. I didn’t see it because I was looking at houses across the street.
After, we drove to Salt Lake City and drove around Temple Square. It was rush hour and the roads were crazy.
We stopped at an Information Centre across from the Utah State Capital Building (very impressive). William needed a bathroom, but the Info Centre was closed. Luckily there was a port-a-potty nearby. Someone in the Visitor’s Center recommented Little Cottonwood Canyon Campground. We started out and then realized it was too far away. We looked up a KOA and found it was close to Temple Square. We got the last tent site and rented it for 2 nights. It was also the smallest tent site and it was quite a challenge to fit our tent, the picnic table and van in the confined space.
The KOA also informed us there is a daily shuttle bus every half hour to Temple Square. We were happy about that so we wouldn’t have to deal with traffic and parking.
We made dinner at our campsite at 8pm. We had canned stew with instant potatoes on top, green beans and bread and butter. following dinner, John and Douglas went for a swim at the pool.
– Victoria