What can I say…taking some time away has just been what I needed after a busy first half of the year. My husband and daughter and I have made use of our time together as a family and enjoyed all sorts of great things together.

My sweet husband is also a budding photographer, and we took a hike up a mountain on Thursday to capture some scenics. Taking photos of landscapes is so totally different in many ways than taking portraits of people. The settings on the camera go from f/4 to f/22, and that allows me to capture MORE detail in focus. In portraits, you actually want the background all soft and blurry, but in landscapes you want it sharp from front to back. Here’s just a sampling of what I saw…keep in mind I don’t have any photo editing software with me while on vacation, so these are pretty much out of the camera as is.

Here’s something fun taken with our new fisheye lens.  There’s some bend in the trees, but it gives a really great super wide view.

This is the Lake Okanagan…and like the Loch Ness, there’s rumoured to be a sea monster living here called the Ogopogo.  Look at the cool pattern in the water…don’t you think that must be caused from a swirling sea serpant?

I’ve really been enjoying putting together some album designs lately.  I know that sometimes clients have a hard time choosing which images to print because, let’s face it, there’s only so much space to put up framed photos!

Custom albums or hardbound coffee table books are a great solution.  They look gorgeous, and can tell a better story than any solitary print.  I’m putting together a few different samples to make it easier to order.  You’ll see them as I add them to my main website  galleries.  So far, I have two different albums posted, and more to come.  I’d love to know what you think!

Here’s a sample of the Zoe Album.  These are single 12×12 pages.

And here is a sample from the Vivian Album.  These are show in double layouts, so as if you’re looking at an open book.

I’m SO excited to be able to offer this right now.

If you’ve EVER dreamed of getting one of your portraits printed on canvas, then NOW is the time to order! I love love love how these canvas prints turn out. In fact, since I started offering them I’ve given many as gifts to my family. They’re really beautiful, and it’s so gratifying to see your portrait LARGE on the wall in such a dramatic way.  Canvas wraps don’t need to be framed, and they’re ready to hang.

If you think an 8×10 is a big print, well how does 16×20 sound?

Starting tonight until March 13th, I am offering major discounts on canvas wraps.

11×14 $180    Now $120

16×20  $260  Now 180

This offer is valid for any previous client who wants one of their images enlarged, OR for any clients booked with a future session for 2009.  You can pre-order your canvas and we’ll decide on the image after your session.

And in case you need help imagining what those sizes might look like…

 Yup, we did my family portrait on canvas!!  It makes a dramatic statement in our entrance. 

 The colours look a little funky here, but they are accurate and true in person.

Detailed view of how tidy the corners are wrapped.

You may already know that I have a 3 year old daughter.  She loves to sing, and often requests I make up songs to sing to her…usually involving princesses.  But when I’m stumped for something to rhyme with “tiara”, I know I can count on My Princess in a rousing rendition of the ABC song.

As a photographer, and even as a television producer (my day job), I’m always on the lookout for the small details in life.  The hidden imagery.  The looks-like-one-thing-but-could-be-another things.  Like my ABCs.  Once you start looking for them, you’ll start seeing them everywhere.  In brick work, cracks, fallen branches, wrinkles, etc.  Letters start showing up everywhere you’d least expect them.

So I’ve gathered a collection of letters, and loved them so much I even gave a letter set to my sister for Christmas spelling her name.  Here’s just a simple collection of what I have collected.

Just a sampling of letters

To see more, visit my Alphabet Gallery on my website.  Click on Clients in the top menu, and then enter the password: sing  

If you wish, build your own names, words, and phrases for your home in one of a kind alphabet photos.  All are 5×7, in black & white, and I do have some white mattes available for those interested.