I have to admit that I enjoy Jason and Xander’s slightly dark, warped senses of humor. We went for a family walk in the park and this is what they photographed and later photoshopped. It is Xander’s hand coming up from a drainage grate. It’s hanging on our fridge and Xander shows it to everyone who comes over …

One great thing about being a professional photographer in the Fraser Valley is all the great barns we get to use for portrait sessions. We met the Bergen family at the family farm on the Matsqui Prairie on a chilly day last week. The barn was great for shelter from the wind and was full of texture, beautiful light and wonderful old junk. We had fun doing family portraits and then individuals of the kids where their personalities came through. We then had some time just with Tim + Charmaine to do some couple portraits. Here are a few favorites …

Thanks to Su Casa Design for giving the Bergen family a gift certificate.

We photographed Jason + Connie and their kids at their place in Abbotsford. It was a typical BC spring day (rainy) so we were glad to use their newly remodeled home. The kids were adorable and Grover, their dog, even joined them for a few photographs. Here are a few of our favorites …

Thank you to Su Casa Design for giving the Tiegen family a gift certificate to our studio.

Go Fusion Fitness and Health, Abbotsford’s only shabby chic gym for the gals, invited us to be the official photographers for their first annual Take the Challenge makeover contest. They had approximately 100 women apply for 2009 and chose 20 to compete. The contestants have been on a whirlwind 6 weeks of health, fitness and beauty makeover so far.

They are working hard and you can tell when you compare their before and after pictures! We had a great time photographing 17 of the contestants after they had had their hair styled and make up applied at Speranza. The biggest losers so far have lost 19 inches and 21.8 pounds.

It is voting time. Only 10 contestants will carry on to the next phase. You get only get one vote so use it wisely! Here is the voting page complete with the before and after 6 weeks pictures. Their headshots aren’t on the website yet, so here’s a sneak peek …

If any family can bring 4 kids, 6 years and younger into our studio and end up with creative, fun portraits, it’s this family! Selah, Zeke, Jude and Zion sat on the couch and calmly stared at the camera as they appeared to be immune to my usual repertoire of funny faces, peek-a-boo, and songs. They did eventually warm up and took turns hamming it up for the camera.

During their session, Natalie, the mother of these four adorable kids, reminded me of a time that I brought baby Xander to a “play group” with Selah. She remembers laughing after I lifted Xander out of his car seat and we all noticed that the feet on his sleeper were poking out of his heels … Daddy had dressed him. I give Jason credit though as some of those sleepers with snaps are like an IQ test that no normal sleep deprived parent can pass at 3:00am!

Here are a few of our favorites of the kids …

If you want to see how much these kids have grown, you can check out their last session in September 2007. Thank you to Su Casa Design for giving the Nicholson family a gift certificate to our studio.

Cheryl and Kenton called us up and booked a session after seeing our photography on their friend’s wall. As much as we love photographing kids, we look forward to couple sessions as we know couples allow us more time to experiment than 2 year olds.

We were extra excited for this session as Cheryl and Kenton live in my favorite part of Abbotsford … waaay down Mt. Lehman Road. The area is now an eclectic mix of rolling farm land, old barns and huge executive homes. Jason’s been eyeing the hazelnut farm for years and finally got to use it. Here are a few of our favorite photographs from the session …

Kianna, Jenaya + Summer met us at Matsqui Trail Regional Park for their portrait session. They were definitely thinking warm thoughts as the weather was c-c-cold out.

I love watching siblings at our portrait sessions. Of course there are always age differences that have them behave differently, but often their personalities come out in the way they respond to the camera. We embrace the challenge of drawing out and capturing those personalities in our photography. These girls have lots of personality …

Thank you to Su Casa Design for giving this family a gift certificate to our studio.

We met Kianna, Jenaya and Summer for a portrait session earlier this week. We’re in the middle of a bunch of sessions and won’t have time to work on their blog pictures until next week but we didn’t want to make their mom wait that long to get a sneak peek. So here’s a before and after of one picture of Kianna that Jason’s spent some time with.

AFTER:

BEFORE:

Before we even went into this session, Jason had the final image in mind. We work hard to create unique images for each of our clients by using our expertise and experience in the pre-planning, shooting and post production phases of creating a portrait. If you find the before / after image interesting, please leave a comment and we might make it a regular feature on our blog.

Here’s some good news for Abbotsford shoppers who are looking for something new and unique for their babies and children … there are two new stores opening in Abbotsford this spring!

Westcoast Baby is opening a store on Montrose Avenue, right beside House of Fine Art (HOFA) and Mad Dog’s. I stopped in this week while Nicole and Amanda were busy painting and preparing their displays for their April 1st grand opening. We love photographing newborns in Westcoast Baby infant kimono wraps as they actually fit newborns. They also make excellent gifts. Nicole + Amanda are offering a grand opening special of 40% off one item. We have promotional cards in the studio if you’d like to pick one up.

Mally Bibs Factory Boutique will be opening directly below our studio soon. Their store is taking shape and we can’t wait to see how it will look when it’s finished. We will be hosting a spring party with them and will be sending out more information in the next few weeks.

We are very excited that there will be more quality baby and kids products available in Abbotsford! We are the exclusive photographers for both businesses and will have photography on display in their stores.

Vin 65 contacted us to do wine photography for one of their clients, Silver Horse in California. Silver Horse specializes in Bordeaux and Spanish varietal wines and while we haven’t tried the wine yet, we think the bottle and logo are stunning. Here are a few favorites …