Really, do I need to say anything more?
Oh autumn, you are so brief, and so blazingly beautiful…
Photo of the day: Autumn glory on the Rideau Canal
A few days ago, I posted a beautiful (if I do say so!) image of autumn leaves reflected in my end of the Rideau River, up near Watson’s Mill. Here’s a shot of the downtown end of the river, or more specifically, the Rideau Canal.
Golden and amazing, right? It’s like a parting gift from summer, bidding us adieu until the yellows of April’s flowers.
Photo(s) of the day: Matt and Jasmine got married!
Even though I’m a hopeless romantic and love everything about weddings, I don’t photograph too many of them. Weddings, especially big weddings, are terribly intimitading – long, elaborate and stressful affairs that tend to go on long into the night. However, when Matt and Jasmine asked me to take pictures at their courthouse wedding, I was charmed and intrigued. They simply wanted someone to capture the ceremony and a few candid photos afterward, and asked me simply “to get the stuff that you think is amazing and beautiful.”
How could I resist an offer like that? Things that are amazing and beautiful are my very favourite things to photograph. Here’s a little taste of their day:
This is J.He’s Matt and Jasmine’s son and he wasn’t feeling too well, so he’s looking a little peaked. Is he not adorable, though?
There were shots of the kiss, but I personally love a wedding that seals the deal with a high five.
What, you don’t have pictures of you playing in the leaves in your wedding finery? I thought that’s why people got married in October!
I just had a feeling when I first heard from Matt and Jasmine that they would be a fun couple to work with, and I was totally right.
Short and sweet, with family and friends and sunshine and autumn leaves – what a perfect wedding. It was truly an honour to be a part of your day, Matt and Jasmine, and I wish you and your beautiful family years of joy and laughter together.
Photo of the day: A rainbow over the Rideau Canal
It’s dark this time of year when I leave for work, but light creeps into the sky as I make my way downtown. On this particular morning, I had a feeling that sunrise would be spectacular – even before the sun broke the horizon, I was intrigued by the textures of the clouds that mostly covered the deep gray sky.
By the time I’d parked and was walking to the office, the clouds were afire with pink and orange. I had my camera with me, as I’d been thinking of shooting some pretty leaf shots on my lunch break, and I started looking for a good spot with an open sky and interesting downtown skyline for the foreground.
Instead, to my delight, I found this!
Look at the light on those Gatineau hills in the background! I actually kept walking, after fawning over the rainbow for a while and actually stopping passers-by to point it out to them, and tried to get a better vantage spot to photograph the hills. Hmmm, where near the Canal and downtown can I get a clear shot of the Gatineau Hills? And off I ran to Parliament Hill. Like, RUNNING, because that light was not going to last. And to my great dismay, the construction on the Hill had completely blocked off all access to the view across the river and on to Quebec. Boo!
Also, more than one person has asked me if I’d ever consider giving up my dSLR now that camera phones are so sophisticated. It’s true, the iPhone 6S has 12 megapixels, same as my trusty old D40 starter dSLR. I would never rely solely on an iPhone, unless it was the only camera I had with me, no matter how big the sensor – here’s why:
It looks a little bit like the fountain at the Lac Leamy casino has gone nuclear, doesn’t it?
The dynamic range, the subtle variation from one tone to the next, is just non-existent in low light for the iPhone, as compared to what my D600 can do. But you sure can’t beat it for instant gratification! I had to download the “good” photos from my camera to my computer, edit them and then upload them, so it took more than 24 hours so I could share them with you.
And rainbows at sunrise are definitely worth sharing, right? 🙂
Big announcement: Holiday Photo Mini-Sessions!
I am so excited! After years of contemplating holiday mini-sessions, I’m finally organized enough and out ahead of the season enough to be able to offer them. This is going to be so fun!
Fun, right? These photo sessions will be perfect for families looking for quick and fun portraits for holiday cards and seasonal newsletters. Sessions will be held outdoors here at my home in Manotick. They will be short and sweet, with holiday-themed props available like a vintage sled, decorations, holiday lights and cozy blankets, so our autumn backdrop will have a festive holiday feeling. Bring red mittens, scarves and toques to really bring on the festive spirit and make your photos pop!
If you’re feeling especially fun, let me use the magic of photoshop to add a reindeer to your photos! No extra charge for reindeer. 🙂 Remember this?
This is a shorter and more streamlined version of my popular porch portrait package, with fewer poses but a few extra downloadable files. Your package includes a 20-minute outdoor photo session, an online proof gallery from which to choose your favourites, and FOUR downloadable digital images. All that for only $150! And you can add 25 custom-made premium two-sided holiday cards for an additional $50 per package.
For more details, please visit my holiday mini-session page on Mothership Photography. There are only a few sessions available, and since I rarely offer discounted packages like this, I think they will book up quickly. Also – they start NEXT WEEK! *gulp!*
If you’d like to book or would like more information, please get in touch soon!
Photo of the day: Watson’s Mill in autumn splendor
I have a lot of photos of Watson’s Mill in Manotick. No really – a LOT! And yet, this might be my favouritest one yet:
Bright autumn colours, brilliant cyan sky, calm reflections on the Rideau River, and all those converging diagonal lines drawing your eye right back to the beautiful mill. I don’t think it gets any better than this! (Heh, but that won’t stop me from trying.)
I like having photos like this one in my collection, because people have been asking me for gift prints they can frame and give as gifts for retirements, congratulations, thank you gifts, etc. If you’re interested in purchasing a framed gift print, please get in touch. I’m building a gallery of photos I think will work especially well for this purpose. Stay tuned!
And speaking of Watson’s Mill, did you know it’s hosting three “haunt nights” next week, on October 22, 23 and 24? Check out the Watson’s Mill event page for details.
Photo of the day: Thanksgiving trio
I have a lot to be thankful for, not least of which is the fact that I can occasionally still talk these guys into posing for my camera.
We took a Thanksgiving wander (calling it a hike would be a bit of an overstatement) through the trails at the Lime Kiln to feed the chickadees. The chickadees weren’t too interested (I’m guessing they were as stuffed as we were after turkey dinner at Granny’s house) but dang that is a beautiful place this time of year.
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for family and friends, for strong, healthy bodies and belly laughs, for beautiful places to walk and the gift of sharing them with you.
Happy Thanksgiving, my fine bloggy peeps! May you be overwhelmed with infinite wells of joy and turkey.
Photo of the day: A duck at Watson’s Mill
I wandered out to one of my favourite places, Watson’s Mill in Manotick, to check out the progress of the fall colours. I was taking pictures of the reflections of the leaves in the the water when this photogenic duck plunked herself on a rock about 15 feet in from of me and sat happily preening.
I took a few photos, and crept a little closer, and she still didn’t seem to mind me being there. In fact, I could almost hear her say, “I’m ready for my close-up, Miss DaniGirl!”
Just about a perfect autumn-in-Canada sort of scene, isn’t it?
Photo of the day: Autumn tableau
I picked up these sunflowers for my porch portraits earlier this week, and when I was cleaning up afterward I started playing with the placement of the sunflowers, a couple of pumpkins I also picked up for for porch decorations, and my little vintage step ladder. There’s nothing more fun than having a few minutes to play and work a scene.
It’s a lovely little Thanksgiving still life, isn’t it? I’m very thankful for pretty colours and fresh vegetables and happy sunflowers!
#TBT: These are the things I want to remember
One thing I really, really love about having had the blog all these years is finding these little morsels of joy. I wrote this for me six years ago, and I was right — I had forgotten almost all of these things, and each one of them is exquisite and worth remembering. For #TBT (throwback Thursday), here’s a treat from the archives – October 2009.
These are the things I want to remember about life with 20-month old Lucas. I write them here because they are ephermal, because they’ll disappear in the blink of an eye or the beat of a heart and I won’t even notice they’re gone, and someday I’ll be sad that I didn’t capture them a little bit better.
I want to remember how he says “Yeah!” with such enthusiasm when you ask him a question, like “Do you want to wear your Bob the Builder jammies tonight?” and he says it so that you cannot mistake the exclamation mark at the end.
I want to remember how he grabs me around the neck and squeezes hard when I pick him up, often crushing his face into mine in a sweetly aggressive sort of mashed-up kiss, as if he has just a little bit too much love for an ordinary hug and kiss to express.
I want to remember how even though he is perfectly capable of saying “Nimon” he calls both of his brothers “Tittan”. He started out calling them “Ninon” and “Ninnan”; now, they are the two-headed brother monster with one name.
I want to remember how he begs for whatever bit of tasty treat you’ve got not unlike a labrador puppy might, by standing as close to you as he can making obvious eye contact with you, all the while encouraging you to share with a musical “Mmm hmmm! Mmm hmmm!”
I want to remember how he must be just like his big brothers in all things, and how he loves to draw when they draw and play with lego when they play with lego. I really don’t think it’s occured to him that they are any older or any different than he is.
I want to remember how he loves certain videos and how he asks for them by ‘name’. Bob the Builder is of course “Bob!” (always with the audible exclamation mark) and Blues Clues is “Puppy!” The Muppets episode with Mark Hamill is less easy to convey; he gargles in the fashion of Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle who gargles Gershwin. I’ll need to get the new Flip video camera out for that one, I think.
I want to remember how he loves for us to sing “Old Macdonald” in the car, and how when we pause to allow him to name an animal, he says “Cow!” each and every time, over and over again. (And yes, the exclamation mark is audible on that one, too. I think like any new skill that gets acquired by a toddler, he’s busy incorporating the exclamation into his repetoire through fierce and constant repetition.)
I want to remember how hard it is not to laugh when he is vexed and falls to the floor in a disappointed heap, not exactly throwing a tantrum but utterly exasperated by being denied the whimsy of his desire.
I want to remember his good ear for mimicry, and how he can repeat several words in a sing-song of sounds even though he’s only stringing together a word or two at a time. He will stack up a couple of blocks and then look at me and say, “Don’t you do it!” daring me not to knock over his tower the way he knocks down the ones I build for him. And he is pitch-perfect in capturing my tone as he climbs up onto the table and then scolds himself: “Git DOWN!”
I want to remember the way he chortles with glee and relief when we say it’s time for “Blankey and Soo” the bedtime duo. “Banky Sooooooo” he repeats.
I want to remember the way he looks solemnly into my eyes each night as I tell him the story of his day, agreeing with “Mmm hmm” to the key points, around his mouthful of soother.
I want to remember how utterly beautiful, and exasperating, and exhausting, and fulfilling it can be to parent the ball of curious and relentless and lovingly adorable energy that is Lucas at 20 months. It’s so hard to believe some days that it won’t be like this forever, that it might not be like this next month…
I cried when I read this again. Wasn’t this just yesterday? And how, how, HOW had I ever forgotten how he called both brothers by the same name? Even now, he refers to them as “the brudders.” And how he used to gargle when he wanted that Muppets movie – priceless.
I think maybe I’d better get to work writing a post that captures the boys at 7, 11 and 13, before the wonder of now is lost to the rushing sea of time.