I love our Smash the Cake sessions.  Have I said that before?  I am pretty sure that I have, but it is because every time that I see any of these images I smile.   I hope that you do too.  Some of the editors over at Done Brilliantly  smile too, and think that their readers will as well.  They have featured a selection of our images, all with cakes from Coastal Cake Company in their blog today.  You can see it here: http://donebrilliantly.com/2012/05/lifestyle-kids-smash-the-cake-session.  Thank you to all of our clients who played a part in these sessions – we are so thrilled to get to work with you and your beautiful children!  Here is a full session in one of our client galleries for those of you who want to see the entire process for a laugh.  

I almost never use our little blog to talk about things other than some of our recent clients but I’m going to make an exception today. I’ve been on a journey back to fitness after a battle with PTSD and depression left me over weight and out of shape. I have almost reached my personal goal of weighing 170 pounds and competing in my first triathlon. The jury is out as to whether I will compete in the sprint or olympic distance races but I’m feeling that it’s going to happen this year either way. I’ve already made huge progress in my fitness and weight loss. Last year I weighed as much as 225 lb. as of this week I’m tipping the scales at a little over 180 by the time I hit 170 I will have lost 55 lb. Yesterday I rode my bike for three hours and covered just over 80 km. When I started running again last year it was all I could do to be able to run 10 minutes without needing to catch my breath and now I’m running 15 km while pushing our double running stroller tipping the scales at about 70 lb. To top it off I’ve had to learn the front crawl because I’ve never been much of a swimmer. My road to fitness has paralleled my return to a healthy mental state in so many ways. In 2003 I ran the Vancouver Marathon in around four and a half hours and battled stress every day. I’m easily in better physical shape now and my mental state is much more relaxed as well. If there is one thing that I truly believe about the human condition is that we are stronger for the things we survive.

Last year I was asked by a friend to donate some photography to a team of cyclists participating in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, they called themselves Nanaimo Rides Again. When we took the shots of the team for the website I was probably close to my heaviest weight. I was uncomfortably over weight and pretty far removed from these people pledging to ride 100 km two days in a row to fundraise for cancer. Fast forward to last month and my same friend asked if I could join the team to replace a rider who could no longer attend. By then I wasn’t worried about being able to complete the ride but I was worried about raising the minimum $2500 required by each rider as the rest of the team had been fundraising for quite a while.

Yesterday I made the commitment to ride. I’ve committed the ride the challenge course that is a full 80 km longer than the classic ride. I’ll be riding 160 km two days in a row leaving from Vancouver and riding to Seattle. It will be by far the longest endurance event I’ve ever participated in. On top of that I’m pledging to raise more money than I’ve ever personally raised before. Both these challenges are things that will take a huge effort on my part but neither is close to the challenge that someone faces when they are diagnosed with cancer.

This is the part were I ask you to join me by joining the ride or by making a donation to show your support. It wouldn’t be fair for me to do that if I wasn’t willing to do the same myself so I’ve started the ball rolling by donating $100 personally on top of my entrance fees and time commitments. Please join me in working with this amazing community to help find a cure for cancer.

Greg

You two are great together. I hope your first Easter as husband and wife was magic.

Greg

I’m actually writing a blog! It was bound to happen one of these days. We’re pretty stoked for this year’s clients and there are a lot of beautiful images coming down the pipe that I’ll have for you here over the next year.

I’ve had some really amazing feedback from both past clients, future ones as well as some colleagues in the last few weeks. As an artist I sometime wonder if I’m happy with my style or if I need to evolve into something different. It’s been great to hear that my work is often singled out as having captured authentic moments in a way that is both beautiful and honest to the subject. It’s something different than photo journalism as a style because I foster relationships with my clients and try to find both the places and the moments that show them in a way that is both truthful and engaging. In a lot of ways I feel very affirmed that my style is recognizable and worth refining further. As we are clawing our way into spring I’m feeling really recharged and ready to work with this year’s list of amazing people and couples to make images of them that save that moment for the generations to come.

Here are Jill and Reid. We shot their photos on the board walk and beach by the Beach Club Resort in Parksville and on the top of Little Mountain recently.

Take care and expect to start hearing more from me in the next little while,

Greg

Young children are interesting to photograph.  They seem to be completely unreserved in front of the camera or inherently shy.  Greg is wonderful at working with the kids to ensure that they are happy and excited to be photographed before trying to add in anyone else in to the photograph.  The portraits of Greg that came out of this session were made by their four year old daughter – nothing like giving the camera to a four year old and showing her how to do it to get her ‘on your side’.

And here are a few images of the beautiful girls!  Karen, Randy and family, we loved working with you.

Working in the wedding industry is a very magical job.  Greg and I get to meet with people who are in love, and learn about their plans for the wedding of their dreams.  That wedding may be small, large, DIY or have everything taken care of by trusted vendors…  We then get to be part of their wedding day.  We walk in when the girls are getting ready – watch (and photograph) the coffees, yawns, tears, giggles, gifts, the note from the groom (sometimes makes me teary too), and of course the dress!  Then off to the guys, sometimes we are lucky enough for a ‘First Look’  ceremony, bridal party portraits, family portraits, reception, speeches, laughs, more tears, more laughs, and all of the amazing details!  We are lucky enough to be a huge part of your wedding day – much more than most of your guests!

After your wedding we pack up, go home, unpack, clean gear, charge batteries (both ours and the cameras’), and then the editing begins.

We love all of the care and details that go into your day, but it is so cool when a national blog recognizes all of your work too!  Each wedding is so special and unique.  We submit some of our weddings to various blogs and magazines and we love to show off ‘our’ wedding couples’ work.  By the time we get to the point where we are sending out wedding images and details to blogs/magazines we feel a lot of pride in showing off all of your hard work.  National wedding blogs get thousands of submissions, from Brides and Grooms, Photographers, Venues, Event Planners; it is awesome to see all of Corrine and Fyfe’s work get recognized!  Here is the link to the WeddingBells blog of Corrine and Fyfe’s Parksville Wedding! 

Oh, and if you just can’t get enough of this amazing couple, you can see their Vancouver Engagement Session here.

So here we are in 2012 (already!!) with more work on the books than ever before and yet it all feels a little easier. Our kids are sometimes sleeping through the night (touching wood right now) and we are settling into the role of parenting two little human beings along with everything that entails. After a long break the studio is holding it’s own against the elements and we are gearing up for the next steps in construction. As we get a little closer to completion Vanessa and I get more and more excited as we are starting to realize all that it will mean to our business and our great clients.

This year has me excited to delve back into creating with new people. We’ve shot some great engagement sessions already and I’m really excited to be a part of some amazing weddings coming up this year.

I wanted to share a few of my favourites from 2011. First are some of the amazing weddings we’ve been to.

Here are a few of our amazing clients and the work we’ve done together in 2011.

She's got a new roof!

A huge thank you to everyone we’ve worked with in 2011. Each one of you is beautiful and amazing!
Greg

Here’s looking forward to an even better 2012!

Here’s a few shots from Hayley and Ty’s engagement shoot. We had some ideas for a themed shoot and we wanted to incorporate some Starbuck’s Cake Pops (vanessa’s idea) into a pastel coloured cherry blossom session for them. I can’t wait ’till the wedding in the fall!

I brought out the old film camera and did something I almost never do: shot colour film. There is something organic about film that I really love. See if you can guess which shots are on film and let me know if you like the look or could leave it by leaving a comment.

Cheers, Greg

I can’t begin to say how much fun I have shooting weddings. Dawn and Art have such and obvious love for each other they are just a joy to be around. I wanted to share some images from there wedding at the Tigh Na Mara and our favourite little photography beach nearby.