I Won!

Well, it turns out that a photo I submitted for a photo display/contest at work over a year ago has won me some accolades! No big monetary prizes, but just a name to a photo. I did not even know there was a new"contest" at work for these submitted photos! From what my boss has told me is that the submissions were narrowed down to 8 photos & my church photo (below) came out on top. Yay!!

The church is an old United Church near Cochrane, Alberta. Photo taken in 2007 or 2008.

The photo below is copied from the email I received from work informing me that my entry will be used as an e-card.

I'll have to find the original church file as I just cleared thousands of photos off my computer recently.

In Memory of Baby Landyn

Sunday, May 2, I was called to take photographs of Baby Landyn. He arrived in this world 6 weeks early and for 3 days he was a little fighter. What a precious, beautiful little baby he was! My heart goes out to his parents & big brother during this difficult time.

It is such an honour to be a part of the organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

If you would like more information, or if you would like to make donations, please contact Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

I Heart Faces: Fix-It Friday

It's Fix-It Friday at I Heart Faces, and it's time to have fun again!

Here's the BEFORE photo of Angie's daughter:

My "AFTER" edit:

Here's what I did:

- cloned out the signs

- changed the background to B&W

- added 3 texture layers

- added a vignette

- added a black frame

Check out more "fix-it" photos here.

I Heart Faces: Smiles

Boy + First Swing Ride = All Smiles!

Check out other "Smiles at I Heart Faces.

Introducing Baby Sofia

It was very exciting to meet Sarath & Julie's 2nd daughter, Sofia. She is just so sweet & adorable, and, at 4 weeks old, she was a star throughout the photo session.

A warm-up photo:

Sofia was wide awake for most of the session:

Photo sitting with mom Julie & big sister Amara:

My mother knitted this cute little peapod outfit, and it was exciting to use it in a photo shoot for the first time:

What a cutie:

And... Sleeping Beauty:

Gotta love the pink fur shoes!

A blissful sleep... accompanied by a dreamy smile.

Thanks again, Julie, for coming out for some photos. I'm looking forward to watching these 2 gals of yours growing up!!

I Heart Faces: Fix-It Friday

The original:

My fix-it attempt:

Head over to I Heart Faces to check out the other contributors' great fix-it photos!

The "C" Family

Patricia & Manoel came out to the photo studio last week with their beautiful daughter Alice. We have known this family since we met in "birth and baby" class last summer. Alice is 1 day older than our son Nathan. It was so fun to take photos of this lovely family & their big-blue-eyed daughter!!

I just love watching growing babies grabbing their toes!

Isn't Alice just so adorable??!!

Thanks, Patricia & Manoel & Alice for this fun photo session!!

I Heart Faces: Chocolate Pudding Delight

This week's photo challenge for "i Heart Faces" is Desserts.

I love to cook, and baking is low on the to-do lists! Admittedly, I'm not really a dessert fan, and I don't take photos of desserts.

This past Saturday, we let our 7-month-old son have his first taste-test of a dessert: Chocolate Pudding. Oh, how he loved it... & he made a scrumptious mess! Life's too short not to have fun!

So here's my son after he tackled & enjoyed Chocolate Pudding!! What a treat! Yum!!

Check out other great dessert photos here.

I Heart Faces: Fix-It Friday

This is my first entry for iheartfaces "Fix-It Friday" in which we attempt to fix a photo taken by another member on this website. This was fun, playing around with photoshop & trying to "fix" another person's photo.

This photo of Violet is from Jessie at The Lucas Zoo. Isn't she just darling?!!

The Original:

Fix-It #1: I added a vintage action; adjusted vibrance, levels & curves; added a texture, vignette then a frame.

Fix-It #2: This is a less-dramatic fix... brightened, increased colour with actions; dodge/burn; soften skin, add vignette then frame.

Check out this week's challenge & other edits here.

Beggar Lady Photo: Before & After

As I can only add 1 photo for every "I Heart Faces" photo challenge, this is a separate blog entry for those interested in my "before" & "after" photo composites of the "Beggar Lady."

I Heart Faces: Dramatic Black & White

This is my second "I Heart Faces" photo challenge, and I wanted to challenge myself by venturing onto new learning paths.

There were so many photos to consider, but I liked this photo of the blind beggar lady that I encountered during my travels in India in 2005. This lady was standing outside the gated area where a wedding was taking place. It was very interesting for me to watch part of the Indian wedding ceremony. Guests were coming & going; a beautiful white cart decorated with flowers and 2 horses were at the ready to whisk the bridal couple away. There was such a contrast of colour & festivities vs the lone woman in drab clothing begging for a few rupees.

The original colour photo was quite drab looking and I just "didn't know what to do" with that photo. (If you would like to see the original photo, I've added it on my blog after this entry.) Thanks to this photo challenge, here's what I did to create the finished "dramatic" look:

• convert photo to B&W
• run a portrait action
• add vibrance
• add 2 textures
• make needed adjustments (levels, curves)
• burn around the edges
• add a vignette
• frame

Check out some of the other participants photos here.

"Beautiful Sky"

In addition to the weekly photo challenges on "I Heart Faces" there are also different photo themes on this website's free Community Network.

Last summer the smoke from the mountain forest fires cast these interesting rich hues on the sky above Calgary.

I submitted the above photo to the website, but the 2 photos below weren't not submitted... I have added them to this blog for interest's sake.

The sky above Lighting Lake, Alberta.

Summer 2009: I looked out the window at home & saw this very interesting cloud formation.

I Heart Faces: Focusing on Angles

This is my first entry for "i heart faces" (www.iheartfaces.com) and this week's challenge is Focusing on Angles. The weather has not been conducive for venturing outside today, so I tried a new angle while indoors.

Before my son settled down to sleep, I took this photo.

Remembering Emily

Love cannot be measured by increments of time...

An entire lifetime of love can be squeezed into a few brief miraculous moments when necessary.

~ Author Unknown

It was a year ago that little Emily & her twin sister Caidance entered this world. As a photographer for "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep," I had the opportunity to meet these 2 beautiful little girls.

Emily only lived for 12 hours, but I was able to photograph her for 3 hours of those precious 12 hours. I think of Emily so often... she was so beautiful, and she captured my heart.

Today I'm thinking of Emily on her 1 year Angelversary, and Caidance on her first birthday.

I just love this photo: Emily & Caidance are each holding onto their mother's hand.

I am honoured to have been a part of Emily's short life here on earth and to have the opportunity to allow Mom Deborah to always remember her one little angel that left all too soon.

If you would like more information about NILMDTS or if you would like to donate to this wonderful non-profit organization, please go to www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org

Julie, Sarath & Amara

Julie & Sarath and 2 year old Amara came out to the studio last Saturday to have some photos done.

The first time I took photos of Amara was when she was just 13 days old; the last time I took this family's photos was when Amara was just under 1 year old; it is so fun to watch this little gal grow up!

Jules is only 12 days away from delivering Baby Sofia!

Amara was pleased with her reward from her parents for being so good!

Here is just one of the bunch of maternity photos that I took of Julie:

Amara liked climbing on the ladder :)

Sarath & his girls

Thanks for coming over, Jules, Sarath & Amara!! Looking forward to meeting baby Sofia!