We were pleased to be invited to photograph the new Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre’s gala opening.

The facility is beautiful and can host 7,000 people for hockey games or up to 8,500 for concerts. It will be the home of the Abbotsford Heat and will also host concerts and other entertainment events throughout the year. Some of the concerts booked so far for this year are Monster Spectacular, Michael W. Smith + Stephen Curtis Chapman, Tragically Hip and Bachman Cummings. There are lots more already booked and in the process of being booked.

I am so proud to have a venue in Abbotsford that has attracted an AHL team and will host top performancers. I’ve been impressed by every person who works there. They are so friendly! Here are a few pictures from the gala opening …

We did photos of the attendees on the Zamboni. Here I am helping Jason test the lighting. What a tough job, eh?

The weather is beautiful now and is the greenest time of the year in the Fraser Valley to do photography. Jason met Erin + Jerome at Harrison Hot Springs for a relaxed and fun engagement session. We’re looking forward to photographing their wedding later on this year. Here are a few of our favorites from their engagement photography session …

Yesterday was our last class with The Cliq for spring. The Cliq is our hands-on, Abbotsford photography class that meets monthly. The last topic was motion. Here are a few pictures …

Sharalee capturing some motion.

We meet the most interesting people where ever we go with our cameras! This is Woody. He confidently informed me that for a long time he has been “clean and sober. Well as clean and sober as I can be.”

A poster in a video game store window. The motion was created by zooming the lens while the shutter was open to take the photo.

Our next Cliq class will be a week long format for youth age 14+ through The Reach. We will also be running an SLR Overview class in June which will demystify some of the settings and buttons on your camera and we’ll give you the knowledge you need to start shooting in manual mode.

Railroad Media has created a collection of musical education DVDs that are available on their websites. They recently stopped by the studio for some new photography to use on their websites. Here are a few samples …

Nate Savage of www.guitarlessons.com

Nate Bosch of www.pianolessons.com

Dean “Schroeder” Reimer of Drum Gear Buyers Guide

I’ll admit it. Sometimes I struggle to write blog posts. Each person we photograph has a unique and memorable story. This week we photographed our neighbor, Amber, in her cap and gown and now I’m struggling with the write up. How do we capture in a few sentences and pictures how amazing, courageous and beautiful this teenager is?

When Amber moved into our neighborhood, she was seriously deficient in the basketball skills department. Her free throw looked like a ballet dancer imitating someone throwing up using the basketball as a prop. After hours on the court, she can now hold her own at 21. Yay Amber!

Taken 4 years ago playing basketball with the neighborhood kids. They’re all twice as tall now so I’ve completely lost my height advantage.

Amber is amazing with children. She was pretty much the only babysitter that I felt comfortable leaving Lexi with when she was a screaming colicky baby and we had to go to photo sessions. Xander and Lexi both enjoy it when she babysits and have spent many hours piggy backing, rolling in the grass and hanging out with her.

Amber and Xander two years ago playing on the old mattress we used as a trampoline for a couple months.

Amber is beautiful and a great model. We’ve done photos for her modeling portfolio that Jason has used and won several awards with in PPABC competitions.

Amber has worked hard to complete her education. She has also shouldered more responsibility than the average teenager and demonstrated great dedication by helping to keep her home running as smoothly as possible since her Dad was diagnosed with MS. She also works several jobs and has a boyfriend.

She made arrangements so that we’d take pictures of her in her cap and gown with her parents before her convocation as her Dad was not able to make it to the ceremony. Here are a few …

Congratulations Amber! We’re so proud of you!

Congratulations to author Theresa Chevalier on a very exciting month! Her book, Shameful Innocence, is available in book stores and on Amazon. She also received an Arty Award from the Abbotsford Arts Council in recognition of her literary talents.

Jason did the photography for the cover in February this year. You can see our original blog post with the picture in sepia here.

As artists and entrepreneurs we feel that it’s important to give back. There are several non-profits that we regularly work with but we thought it was time for something new, so we’ve decided to give a day of free photography to a non-profit organization.

To nominate an organization, you must be a member of our Revival Arts Studio Facebook group and leave a simple post on the wall of the group.

So far the following have been nominated:
Semiahmoo House Society by Deb
Communitas Supportive Care Society by Tasha
Samuel’s Mantle Training Society by Trish and Adria
Seeds of Hope by Alec
Judi, the Manners Lady by Janice
New Generation Haiti Canada by Wendy
Caleb’s Hope by Monique
Autism Speaks Canada by Claire
Langley Montessori School by Laura
Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery by Justine
Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley by Jennifer
For Ones Coming After by Codilynn
Camp Kawkawa by Noreen
Fraser Valley Child Development Centre by Lauren
Vibrant Abbotsford by Julie

There’s still another week to nominate your favorite non-profit. All you need to do is post on our group wall by May 29th:
1. the name of the organization
2. their website (if they have one)
3. one or two sentences about them

I don’t to turn this into a battle of the sexes but I did happen to notice that all except one of the nominations are done by women. Guys, we need some posts from you as well!

Photographing Jane Webb’s Bra Bags and Panty Paks made me wish I traveled more. What a great innovation! Instead of stuffing your underwear in your shoes and hoping your bra doesn’t become permanently indented during travel, you can pack them in these nifty travel cases to protect and organize them.

The artist in me (Darcie) loves anything that looks nice and the Mennonite in me loves things that are functional. The Brag Company’s products meet both of these criteria.

Jane describes herself as an accidental entrepreneur who rather than having aspirations to start an business, came up with a great idea and made it happen. We’re excited to see what she comes up with next. Here are a few recent product photographs that we did …

Her products are available at Zammy’s in Abbotsford or to find a location near you, you can visit her store locator.

We’re teaching our first class at The Reach tonight at 6:30 and it’s an introduction to your SLR camera. It’s not too late to join. You can sign up by calling 604-864-8087.

More info here.

Update: Thanks for everyone who came out to our class! We have another one coming up in June at The Reach if you missed out this time around.

Jason Pohl is one of our original models when Jason was starting to explore photography. It was back in the pre-child era for both of us. He even rode a motorbike back then! Things have changed and he’s now a father of three beautiful girls and runs a business offering sales support strategy for businesses to generate sales ready leads. You can visit his website at Pohl Strategic Marketing to learn more about what he offers. Here are a few headshots Jason recently did of him …