I posted a teaser image of Trinity last week… and then with the rush of the wedding and heading out on the road it’s been a week long tease! Let’s see a few more!

Meet Jeremiah…

Here’s little Mattias – or Matty – so sweet!

And let me re-acquaint you with little Trinity…

A great family!

These kids are so cute!

Love how the boys dote on their little sister

I shouldn’t post this but… it depicts what I remember of my relationship with my brotehr growing up. So this is for brothers everywhere…

And mom always there to save the day….

Trinity has definitely charmed them all!

Boys are full of energy!

And Trinity is full of beauty…

And the whole family!

Always nice to get some photos of mom and dad together…

When Katie was pregnant with her second child, she had a vision of her family standing looking out at a lake – and she was holding hands with two sons and a little daughter. Fast forward a few years – and here she is explaining her vision to her family and then re-living her dream.

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

Dawn has been my sister’s best friend since grade nine… having moved out West years ago I haven’t seen her in close to 15 years! When she heard we were coming to Kelowna she opened up her home to us – and our only regret (and it’s a big one!) is wishing we had more time to spend with her family. They’re amazing. This morning before we hit the road we did a quick shoot in their neighbourhood….

First off – best wall art EVER is in Dawn’s laundry room. Dawn has an amazing sense of humour….

And the family….

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

I will do a full blog post soon… so much to post!… but had to share a couple of teasers in the meantime! Two serious… one goofy! Enjoy!

And the goofy….

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

I won’t have time to blog Jason and Katie’s family today… but had to share one teaser from yesterday’s portrait session here inKelowna. Meet Trinity.Munchkin extraordinaire.

Come back to meet her cute older brothers and mom and dad!

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

I got into Kelowna, BC yesterday morning – what a gorgeous city! Everywhere we look is a lake or a mountain or orchard or vineyard or….something absolutely breathtaking!

Last night I met up with Kent & Chantelle. Kent is my little, mischevious cousin… well, that’s how I remember him. He towers over me now. I think I have only seen Kent twice in the last 15 years or more… and had only met Chantelle very briefly once. So it was great to get to know these two – what a great couple! Chantelle is a mix of everything pink and girly… and a love of nature. Kent can do anything… when I got there he was ironing Chantelle’s dress, and was involved in every wedding discussion about details just as excited and into it as Chantelle. Then he showed off the bowler trailer he finally tracked down after a long search – that he gutted and painted and made into a perfect Honeymoon mobile! We had to use it for the photos!

Chantelle told me a great story how one day Kent picked her up at College and told her it was “present day”. He gave her a dozen roses and each one had an obscure clue like “Don’t hold it upside down” or “Does not fly”. Finally the last rose directed her to a box and inside was….

Yep. Cutest little Yorkie ever! Meet Dolce.

We had no plan as to “where” we were doing photos… but in Kelowna I think you could go anywhere and find locations. We drove two minutes and found an apple orchard with mountains all around. Perfect!

I think Kent did a pretty amazing job of designing this ring!

Someone asked Kent what he loved most about Chantelle, and his response was her “childlike” enthusiasm. So true! I fell in love with Chantelle and her bubbly personality just through her emails!

They’re just so cute together!

And then as the sun went down we played with the headlights of the jeep… notice the initials on them? KC… Kent and Chantelle. Too cute!

And one more shout out to the bowler trailer – I love it!! Here’s a hot of the two of them inside… where they’ll be honeymooning for 3 weeks going wherever the road leads…

Can’t wait for their wedding tomorrow! The details and locations are phenomenal!

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

A few months ago after booking weddings in BC and Cape Breton two weeks apart, I asked the question – which of these locations should our family vacation in? And someone suggested both. We liked the idea. And here we are embarking on the journey…..

The trip in a nutshell is we are flying to Kelowna, BC and after photographing the wedding there we are heading in the opposite direction first so we can dip our feet in the ocean. We want to dip our feet in both oceans. Then we will begin our venture east to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Friends of ours drove the car to Kelowna for us as they had family there to visit. So, we’ll pick up our car tomorrow form them and the adventure begins!

I’ll be away until August 11th – but watch for blog posts as we find internet to share our adventures and the weddings and portrait sessions I’ll be photographing throughout Canada.

Because every post needs a photo – here’s one of my munchkins how I found them last night… (note the dog is also at the end of the bed!)

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

Last night as I hugged Eden good night, I reminded her it was my last night of hugging a 5 year old daughter. She reassured me “Don’t worry mom, I’ll still be the same Eden when I’m 6!” I sure hope she’ll be the same Eden.

The same Eden who thinks she has fairy wings growing (at what point do I tell her they’re shoulder blades?)…. the same Eden who lavishes hugs and compliments on all who are near… the same Eden who can make me laugh with a witty comment or joke… the same Eden who gives generously without holding back… the same Eden who wears costumes and pink cowgirl boots as everyday clothing choices… the same Eden who loves to cuddle… the same Eden who asks perfect strangers if they love Jesus, because she sure does… the same Eden who is happy to sit at the kitchen table and colour and colour and colour and colour… the same Eden I delight in.

To know Eden is to love her. No – adore her. Eden’s name means “Delightful”… the first 6 years of knowing Eden have been an absolute delight. I am curious to see how this wild child grows and changes this coming year.

I love you Eden…

Each year we let our girl’s choose the theme of their birthday. This year Eden wanted a “masquerade ball”… she counted down the days and prayed for nice weather for weeks before the party. It was a fun day! Here’s a few images of our little one at her party!

The thing Eden was most excited about was the pinata!

Happy birthday, Delight!

Celebrating life, love and Eden,

Krista

When we got to Alison’s parent’s home to photograph her and the girls, Alison took me upstairs to see her dress. I love this moment of reveal at each and every wedding. I usually try to guess a style or look I think the dress would be like. I guessed a timeless elegance for Alison – so right. It was the perfect dress. But what I wasn’t expecting was the room.

As I stepped on the dusty rose carpet – I entered Alison’s childhood. It was the perfect girl’s room – you could tell much had been untouched since her days there. Beatrix Potter books on the shelves. Family photos on the walls. And pink. Any girl would love this room. I could picture my girls in here… it’s the sort of room you would want to spend time in dreaming. Dreaming of who you would become, what you would be when you grow up and who you would marry.

I can’t help but imagine the Alison of her childhood smiling upon the Alison of today – a beautiful bride completely in love with her groom. The sort of day little girls dream of.

Let’s back up the day though…..

We started with the groom, Wes, and the boys. Loved the front entrance of Wes & Alison’s place.

You may remember Wes and Alison’s love of birds from their engagement shoot… so had to sneak this bird into the wedding day photos!

Then over to Alison’s – for Alison and the girls. I wrote a bit about her room above – what I didn’t mention was her parents are downsizing next month – so I really wanted to capture some of Alison’s room and the details for her to remember her family home growing up.

Love this image of Alison’s parent wedding photo along with her wedding dress in behind.

Loved her bouquet! (And this window)

A couple years ago I photographed Nicola’s wedding where Alison was a bridesmaid – now the roles were reversed. So fun to catch up with Nicola and her husband Neil!

Such a beautiful bride! Love this shot Carolynn captured of the girls peeking in….

And Alison was simply beautiful.

The ceremony was beautiful – with the choir singing (loved the harmonies!!) and Alison’s brother playing a “Vibraphone”. So cool. And these two just beaming at each other.

Then we played a little game called “dodge the rain” – we won.

Looking good, Wes!

And not only do I love Alison’s dress… I adore the fact it has pockets!

All girls like bling.

A little Abbey Road to cross the street over to the Art Gallery of Hamilton for the reception.

And Alison had so much fun as all the cars honked and waved. Being a princess is fun.

One thing I always tell my assistants or second shooters is to get a different angle than me and use a different lens. Makes no sense for us to shoot the very same thing. I love this example of Carolynn’s angle and mine. Got to say – I may be a bit jealous of her angle on this one. Thanks Carolynn!

Here’s my close up angle….

And Carolynn’s full body version….

I’ll sign off this post with this image of Alison beaming at her groom…. stay tuned for the slideshow soon!

Oh – and for all you “techies” out there – this is one of my first weddings I’ve ever shot entirely in RAW. Verdict is still undecided. But man you use a lot of memory cards!!

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

Had a great day yesterday with Wes & Alison…. can’t wait to share – but for now – I’ll leave you with one teaser image!

Celebrating life and love,

Krista

Last year (almost a year exactly!) I photographed Mike and Christa’s wedding (you can see them here, here and here). Christa and I have spent lots of time chatting on Facebook and I feel like I’ve really gotten to know her as not just a client, but a friend. I remember when I last saw her she had big news. Really big news. News that I now get the honour of documenting. A baby growing inside her! I’ve enjoyed chatting online with Christa about pregnancy and kids. When they got to our place (with cupcakes for my girls – so thoughtful!!) Madison and Eden performed for them – literally. Singing and dancing and being noisy and loud…. good preview for Mike and Christa of things to come in their lives!

I debated including this photo – but it cracks me up. This is how Christa is feeling right about now….

BUT – this is how she actually looks right now…. stunning!

But, Mike was looking fairly GQ himself….

Whenever people ask me what time of day we should do a photo shoot – I always aim for 6:30 or 7pm… and these next few show you why. That light!

The light here seems so symbolic as it appears to be coming right from baby itself… love these ones!

When planning for this shoot… I knew I didn’t want the typical maternity poses… I wanted to show Mike and Christa’s relationship and love. So instead of coming at it like a maternity shoot – I treated it more like an engagement session. Showing the love and connection… I think these next three show just that!

I’ve heard it said that the first year is one of the hardest in a marriage… makes me happy to see these two just beam at each other after the first year!

And we finished up inside for a couple… I loved this one I’ll leave you with.

It was so good to see you both again! Can’t wait for the news next month about your addition!

Celebrating life and love,

Krista