Edmonton Engagement Photography

technically negative space from the columns fill most the frame.  I love the foreground blur from the depth of field (F5 @190mm)

In Downtown Edmonton, Darren and Maryna met me near the north end of the high level bridge.  We took photos near the bridge as well as the Legislative grounds.  The area provided endless locations in sun or shade as well as the options to shoot with structural and architectural  backgrounds. Park-scape backdrops were also endless with flower gardens, fountains and even an infinity pool!  I can see now why we saw so many other photographers there:)  An excellent location if you are thinking of getting photos done in Edmonton.  Here are a bunch of favorites from this shoot.  It was hard to choose!

Sylvan Lake Family Photography

I met the Henry family in Sylvan Lake at a few new locations I had not used before.  I was always curious about using the rail bridge on 60th street but never ended up meeting anyone there in the past.  It turns out, it was a great location!  We met early, around 9 or 10 AM on short notice on the thanksgiving weekend.  It worked out perfect for everyone and the weather was excellent as it usually is in the fall ;)  After the bridge I was spoiled to take pictures of the family at the Sutter family farm on the outskirts of Sylvan.  A beautiful place to take pictures ;)  However, I cannot take anyone there... this family knew the Sutters.  As usual, here are my favorites from the shoot!

Alberta Family Farm Photography | Father and Son

Just outside of Sylvan Lake near Benalto, I visited the family farm of the Dussaults.  Their farm was beautiful and had an amazing space to walk around and take photographs.  I was like a kid in a candy store and had too many ideas for photo's in the area.  The sun was strong that day and we took photos in the mid afternoon.  I had to compensate a lot with an off camera flash or find creative locations that didn't cause too much squinting but also left me the opportunity to not overexpose the background and still capture the fall colors.  We have many photos from this shoot but here are a few of my favorites.

Edmonton Family and Child Photography

I was in Edmonton recently and took photos for the wonderful Heinz family;)  I have done family photos for them before in Sylvan Lake when their boy, Alex, was much younger.  We headed to a local park near their home and also took some pics in their yard at home.  Most of the time I have to adapt to the families needs and be able to shoot where is comfortable for the children. In this case, Alex had a cold and probably didn't have the energy to focus on pics and travel around too much.  In the end, Alex did awesome and we were able to capture some excellent photographs in various locations!  PS thanks to my Sis Savannah Stenberg who helped me out a great deal on this shoot!

Red Deer Family / Engagement Photography

with strong backlighting, I chose to create a near silhouette with an intense blue vignette.  Just something different ;)

Wow this fall has been busy!  I think the leaves on the trees and colors didn't last as long as they should have with a few early frosts and some strong winds.  I had to work quickly and squeeze many people into a short time frame to get everyone's photos complete.  Now I finally have an opportunity to post a few pics and share my favorites with you.  I hope you enjoy ;)

Red Deer Newborn Photography

I recently met with baby Emerick to take a few photos of him and his mom and dad.  Emerick had some really big super cute eyes that I was able to capture in a few of his photos while he was still curious about what I was doing.  Eventually he fell asleep and did his best to ignore me haha.  Here are a few pics from the shoot ;)

Red Deer Engagement Wedding Photography | Bower Ponds

Caitlin and Travis travelled from Rocky Mountain House to meet me at Bower Ponds in Red Deer for an engagement shoot.  I am photographing their wedding in June 2013.  Getting together for an engagement session allows for the couple to meet me and get comfortable in front of the camera.  It also provides them with a lot of photographs to choose from that they can use for invitations or even an online wedding website ;)

Caitlin and Travis were very easy to work with since they had no problem goofing around, staying relaxed and just having fun with the photo shoot.  In the end, it pays off because they have many great pictures with genuine expressions and interaction....

Lightning Storm Photography explained and "How To"

Last night there was one of the most intense lightning storms I have ever seen.  However it's hard to remember the others since they were so long ago.  It didn't dawn on me until it was almost too late that there were intense lighting strikes happening about every 2-10 seconds right outside my backyard.  I ran for my camera and without a tripod, I shot some handheld exposures up to 30 seconds.  I quickly ran out of time and had to retreat as the hail was soaking me and my camera!  In the end I love the few photographs I obtained and wanted to share them with you and explain how you can do it yourself!

PHOTO #1:   F11, ISO 500,  30sec exposure

Notice the blurry alley and definition of the houses?  Or how about the squiggly looking yellow lights along the bottom of the photograph?  This is because I hand held the camera (without a tripod) to create this effect.  Ideally if I had more time I would have tried both methods but I knew in advance that the lightning strikes would freeze everything from it's "flash" like qualities.  The blur in the houses is as a result of multiple strikes in the same photo.  The "squiggly lines" are street and solar lights in peoples backyards that slowly burned their image into the frame as I tried to hold the camera still.  However I knew that a bit of motion is almost better and adds a cool artistic effect that you cannot achieve with a tripod.