What an awesome weekend. Sunday brought two more awesome photo shoots, and a lot of fun despite the heat. The constant flow of cute babies is probably the best thing about this job.

Today was a scorcher. I'm not sure what the exact temperature was, but it was HOT. I met up with Cass, Brandon and their daughter, Charlie at Rotary Park in Stony Plain for some photos. It was a great location! It had bridges, a fountain in the middle of a pond, flowers, railroad tracks, etc. You couldn't ask for more all in one place. It was a great shoot, aside from being so hot. Charlie is a doll, and a big ham in front of the camera. Her parents are both quite photogenic as well so all in all it was a very easy shoot, and a lot of fun. Cass was kind enough to deliver one of her Fluffy Hooded Towels. Seville got to use it after her bath tonight. This thing is amazing! It's so well made, of course, and thoughtfully designed, and adorable of course, AND I didn't get wet! I will get a photo of Seville wrapped in it soon - the flower gives it this awesome 20's vibe that I'm totally digging.

Tomorrow morning I have a a photo shoot with Kristin from Doula Twins. Her newest, Nolan, is 7 weeks, and he will be the first official user of my downstairs studio, along with big sister Isla (I love the name). I couldn't be more excited.

In the afternoon I get to go visit my longtime friend Roxy. Roxy and I used to work together, until she went on maternity leave to have her daughter, Sophie. VERY shortly before she returned, I went on mat leave, and then she'd given birth to Thomas before I got back to work this June. I met Sophie once when she was new but this will be my first time meeting Thomas. So look out for tonnes more cuteness very soon here!

I love getting parsels in the mail - who doesn't? Today I went to the post office to pick up the TOMS Layton and I ordered just three days ago. TOMS is a great cause. For every pair of shoes they sell, they give a pair to a child in need. Layton and I each got a pair - mine are red with a floral pattern and his are charcoal-grey. They're amazing. They're beautifully crafted, stylish and comfortable (SO comfortable).
The only thing I'm not too keen about, when it comes to TOMS, is the fact that they do not sell their "Tiny TOMS" or youth sizes in Canada. I want my kid to weear these! I want everyone's kid to wear them. I sent off an email this evening to see if they have any plans to introduce them in Canada any time soon.
Tomorrow I have a photo shoot with Miss Charlie and her parents!

What a wonderful day! After a week of sick baby who can't sleep, I actually got 12 solid hours of sleep last night, and so did she. We all got up, well rested, in the morning and headed off to vistek to get some equipment for my new studio (lighting, backdrop, reflectors). Then, Princess Ryley came over to have her picture taken. She was an amazing model, and again we lucked out with a beautiful day (who can take all this rain!?) so, yes, it was the best day ever.

I traded up today. No, no, not Layton - he's not going anywhere; I traded up camera bodies. Yes, I only just got my D3000 for Christmas (and it was my first digital SLR and I will always hold it in the same esteem as my first film SLR, which was a Pentax Spotmatic) and it's a great camera, certainly good enough for what I've been doing, but I had the opportunity to move into an incredible camera and I took it. I'm still a bit in awe of it. The wait time for the battery to charge was absolute torture, and it was dark by the time I got a chance to shoot with it, but, as I said, the Nikon D300S is an incredible camera. This picture didn't turn out half bad, especially considering I used the built-in flash and it's kind of dark in here. I know digital will never compare to film in quality, but really, who needs film when you have digital like this?

I remember my first digital camera. Well, it wasn't really "mine" so much as it was "the family's". I was probably 17 or 18 and living at home with my parents and they bought some generically-named little 0.3 Megapixel "camera". It took the worst pictures I've ever seen. My eyes showed up blue in pictures taken by that camera. My eyes are hazel/green. The camera did not operate at all if it was not plugged into a USB port. But it was good in theory - digital photography was genius, in my opinion. I was amazed that no one had thought of it earlier.

Throughout the years, I had several terrible digital cameras, most of which can now be found in my camera collection alongside my Baby Brownie and Fed 5 and Lomo SuperSampler. The second digital camera I ever had was a Sony number that I won in a draw at work. It was total garbage. It worked for a week or so and then died, and I had no way to remediate the issue so I ended up throwing it away. After that I had a Panasonic which came from god-knows-where that actually lasted me a couple years before the lens became stuck open (a week before my trip to Cancun, of course) and I ended up spending my Airmiles on a little blue Pentax point-and-shoot that came too late to save my vacation, but which I still actually love. It takes pretty good pictures. After that, a friend recommended I buy a Canon, so I went out and got a Canon powershot or something, which was, again, total garbage. I ended up sticking with the Pentax for quite a while.

I still used a film SLR up until a few years ago. My Spotmatic was stolen, but I had a Nikon N2020 as well, and eventually even replaced the Spotmatic. But, it was hard to know the freedom of digital and still use film. Film requires either a lot of planning or a lot of money, and I obviously didn't have the money. I couldn't justify buying a dSLR (I wanted a Nikon D90). I suffered.

Layton bought me the D3000 for Christmas. I had no idea, and I cried when I opened it. I took it everywhere with me. I took pictures of everything. I decided to follow my longtime dream and go professional with that camera. That camera made my dreams come true. That camera gave me the means to pursue career happiness. I owe huge life changes to it. I owe quitting my longtime job to that camera.

So how can I give it up so easily? Well, if you met my D300S, you'd understand!

I had a lovely weekend. I got to attend a 1st birthday party for an adorable little girl named Parker, then had a really fun maternity photo session with Bailey and her daughter Grier. The weather was nice - it's too bad it didn't hold on today. It POURED today, and it's pretty cold. We can only hope for better weather come the weekend.

My next photo session isn't coming up until the 24th! If anyone is in need, I've plenty of time.

My modem died (yes, died!) on Tuesday night, right in the middle of me trying to do something highly unimportant (read: Family Feud) and so my whole family suffered through a whole day sans internet!!! Ok, yes, I had my iPhone, but mostly we were without internet (or tv for that matter). The nice repairman came early this morning, however, and corrected the problem. The worst part was that I was unable to share this adorable picture of Robyn with you all. I managed to get her photos up on Snow Pea Portraits' Facebook page, and on the domain, but I hadn't quite gotten here yet. Robyn was a great model - it was her half-birthday and she was happy about it. I know for a fact that Robyn is happy about most days, but who wouldn't be happy about having a half-birthday on a beautiful July day?
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting with Rae Fehr and Tyler Ristau of Rae Fehr Photography, along with all their kids. These two are AMAZING photographers (and great parents - 4 kids!!) and I suggest anyone up in Fort St John to check out their work.
Today, I did a lot of running around. I got the business name registered (yep, it's real now) and hung a few posters around Sherwood Park and did the regular domestic things like grocery shopping and coffee drinking. It was hot and tomorrow promises to be a scorcher as well. I think I'll take it easy by the kiddie pool with Prego.
We're attending yet another baby birthday party on Saturday for Miss Parker D, so look out for photos!

I finally got to meet baby Lyen this morning! It turns out that he is not only adorable but he's a great model as well - the shoot, quick though it was, yielded a shocking 28 photos! He was such a good model, in fact, that none of the photos really required any editing and I found that I was photoshopping just for fun - so I finished really really early. What an angel. It was good to see his parents too!

My business cards came this morning! I wasn't expecting them for another couple of weeks - I don't know whether to thank Canada Post or Vista Print.

Today I endulged in an afternoon nap, for the first time in...weeks? Months? At any rate, I was dead to the world for more than two hours and it was great! If the baby can nap like that daily, I figure I should try it once in a while too. There's a lot we can learn from our little ones, and our Eastern counterparts, and I think siesta is on top of the list!
I had the opportunity to have a photo shoot with the beautiful Shae McLaren yesterday. Shae is one of the most positively-minded people I know and it was a real treat to spend the afternoon in her company. We began with a tour of her townhouse ("this is the livingroom, it's messy, this is my craft room, it's messy" - Shae's definition of "messy" is VERY different from mine - her house is spotless) and I got a couple of shots of Pacha, her chihuahua. After that, Shae endulged my vision through a thistle-filled field, a subdivision where we were ogled by multiple teen boys in cars, and most of Rundle Park, before retiring for some tasty food at Earls.
Tomorrow, I finally get to meet young (very young!) Lyen Bullis and take his picture. I couldn't be more excited about this. Babies are only three-months-old for a very short period of time! Check back in the next couple days to see how that shoot goes. On Tuesday, six-month-old Robyn Taphorn!

I had a meeting with the Stollery Foundation this morning. I'm going to be doing some volunteer photography for them, and I'm SO excited about it. Not only is it a great opportunity to get some great experience under my belt, but I'll get to do some good. My kid hasn't been sick a day in her life, beyond a couple of colds and a stomach bug, but that doesn't mean it could never happen. I'm so blessed to have a healthy baby.

Well, I really did it. I quit my job. Yesterday was my last day; it was bittersweet. The people you spend 8 hours a day with become your family away from home, and I will miss those people like mad. On the other hand, it was time for me to move on with my life, and after 7 years, I am ready.
Layton and I loaded up the baby and took in this morning's Canada Day parade. It's another perfect day, and I could have laid in the sun forever. Seville was in awe of all the people, but by the end she was fussy and wanted only to get out and crawl around.
Can you really blame her? Anyway, now we're home and Seville's having a much needed nap and I'm working on Cass's website. She makes some really cool baby accessories (you can find Little Sprout Designs on Facebook) and seems to be coming up with new things all the time. She's also booked a photo shoot with her own sweet baby toward the end of the month, so check back for that.

Speaking of the end of the month, I'm having a half-price weekend July 24th and 25th, so BOOK NOW! (offer limited to regular portrait sessions only - no engagement sessions or ...birthday parties - and all sessions must be on-location in or around Sherwood Park)