May Long Fun

Over the May Long Weekend, we went to visit Erik, Jete and Blake up at their campsite at Cultus Lake.  We had a great evening, perfect weather, great company, tons of laughs, good food, and a cozy campfire.  The highlight for the boys was walking down to the waters edge where they could throw rocks in the lake.  Here's a few pics:

Persistence.

When I get something in my head, I just won't stop until i "get it".  The other day I was having major issues with Adobe Lightroom.  I had completed editing a Senior session all in LR (my first time ever using LR from start to finish), attempted to upload them to my flickr account and here on typepad, and they looked absolutely horrible.  The colors were washed out, and my subject looked bluish.  It turned out to be a setting that needed to be changed with my calibrating software, as well as aligning my colorspaces in both LR and Photoshop CS4.  Thankfully the time spent editing wasn't wasted (which was my biggest fear).  The point is, it took me 4 hours one night to try figure it out, and when i still didn't get it that night, (and then couldn't sleep that night b/c i was thinking about how to fix it), i had to go straight back at it the next morning until finally it all worked.  One thing I don't lack is persistence.

I've been noticing I could streamline things a bit better between here and my website, so I'll be making a few changes to hopefully make things easier to navigate between the two sites.  The new blog header was the first step in the process.  I also have some pictures to share with you in the coming days from a recent Senior session (the one i was talking about before).  I'm so excited about these pics and can't wait to post them.  Also, check out my "Senior Special" on my website (under Pricing), if you are interested in having some casual Senior pics done, there is still time. :)

Death is not Dying

You just have to watch or listen to this.  It is a presentation given by a young woman named Rachel, on March 9 of this year, who is dying of cancer at the age of 37.  It holds the most amazing testimony and key truths of what it is to be a Christian.  Ever since I watched it 3 days ago, I just can't help telling everyone I know about it.  It shook me up in the best way possible.  In fact, I believe God has opened my eyes through it and as a result, it has changed my life.  Please watch, it may just change yours too.
ETA: The video is 55 minutes in length, I encourage you to make some time to watch the whole video in its entirety.

Smooooch

I was looking through some photos I took awhile back, when i came across this set of Luke and Nate hanging out in the kitchen.  I just had to share.  :) Those puckered lips are so typical of Nathan!

Time to Scrapbook

Since it seems like all i do these days is take pictures, i thought i would change it up and do a scrapbooking post..  i think about scrapbooking all the time, but don't always have time/energy to do it.   Just recently I enjoyed a weekend scrapbook retreat along with some really great ladies.  I was so happy to finally have the opportunity to scrapbook (un-interrupted) once again. 

I don' t know how other moms do it, but for me getting pages done during the day is out of the question.  As soon as my boys see the paper and glue come out they think it's some kind of free for all, and things can turn pretty ugly.  So.. that leaves evenings but honestly, it seems I never have a free and quiet evening.. and by the time i get started I'm too tired to get very far... so a scrapbook retreat is definitely the ticket for me.  Here's a few of the pages i completed at a recent April Scrapbook retreat.
    

Second Shooting for Karin Louwerse

Awhile back in January I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding alongside Karin, of
Karin Louwerse Photography.  It was amazing to say the least.  Karin is
such a great photographer, incredibly organized and her creativity is
such an inspiration.  I'm grateful to you Karin for the opportunity, I especially loved being able to "talk shop" all day long.  It was my first time "second shooting" and I loved every second of it.  I'm sure glad the rain held off that cold January day, here are a few of my favorite photos.
     

Amanda & Bryan: Engagement Session

Well, here it is - the official sneak peek! 
I spent this past Saturday morning trekking around downtown Chilliwack with these two, Amanda & Bryan.  They were so much fun to photograph.  Having a camera in their faces didn't seem to bother them one bit, and I was so excited to get some cool shots of this fun couple.   And isn't her coat just gorgeous?  Thanks for the opportunity to take engagement pics, I'm looking forward to the wedding in July!

This is one of my favorites:


And this one.. love the blue wall.
I just love how comfortable they are with eachother.  So obviously in love.