Stephanie and Ralph Engagement

I love whenever I am able to incorporate elements of a couples personality into a photo session! Stephanie and Ralph and Ralph are horse people through and through. Ralph grew up in the southern Alberta lifestyle while Stephanie, an recent transplant from out east, has been deeply converted (you would swear that she was born and raised from here laid back, happy personality!). Including their horses created a richer environment and gave me a fuller canvas to use to create their portraits. Their horses had as much personality as they did and seemed every bit a part of their family. Just to make things even sweeter, we were in my favourite place on earth, the Elbow Valley area of Kananaskis! Wherever I travel around the world, nothing speaks the quiet peace to my soul quite like this beautiful valley. I have spent countless days here exploring both the environment around me as well as the beauty within me. It is like photographing someone in my backyard here! I have to say that my favourite part of this session was watching how perfectly Stephanie and Ralph suit each other though. It was like spending an hour or two in a beautiful romantic comedy! What I really appreciated was the quiet adoration that have for each other. They were always so thoughtful and considerate of one another! Thank you Stephanie and Ralph, you are a shining example of true love!!

Bonita and Pat

I love photographing people in the mountains! There is a different feeling when people are out there. There is a higher level of comfort when you are in the mountains. Kananaskis is one of my favourite "locals only" spots. It is far removed from the tourist traps of it's bigger sister Banff. It has a more laid back, "down to earth" appeal to it. I loved being in this environment with Bonita and Pat. I related so much with them, I am a city boy who loves to explore the mountains and then return to my comfy home at the end of the day! Both Bonita and Pat were very comfortable in front of the camera during their engagement session and we all had a great time with a few laughs to boot. I also took the opportunity to experiment a little with slow shutter speeds and off camera strobes for some dramatic lighting.

Little Warriors Charity Auction 2011

I had the extreme pleasure last month to attend the Little Warriors charity auction at Calgary Bentley. I felt completely changed after listening to the guest speakers that bravely shared their personal stories about being sexually abused as children and the long reaching effects that these terrible events had in their lives. Glori Meldrum, founder of Little Warriors, is one of the most engaging personalities that I have ever met. I admire her tremendously for having the courage to talk about her own experiences in order to bring greater awareness to the public about child sexual abuse. I was particularly impacted when she warned against the attitude of blaming our government for not providing more resources to both prevent child sexual abuse, and to care for victims in the aftermath. She reminded us all that the responsibility lies squarely on our shoulders to pressure our elected representatives to do more than what is being done now. I urge all of you reading this to go to the Little Warriors website (http://littlewarriors.ca/) and find out how you can educate yourself on how to prevent child sexual abuse and how to reach out to those who have been abused. Thank you Glori for making a difference in the lives of those affected by sexual abuse!