I had a ‘just because’ session with Amel and Pierre this week! They’re celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary this year…well, their 3rd ‘Lebanese Anniversary’ and their 2nd ‘Canadian Anniversary’. I photographed their Canadian wedding in Victoria almost a year after they were married in Lebanon during the war and we patiently awaited Pierre’s arrival to Canada to have the celebration here! Talk about a beautiful couple!

A few month ago on a chilly November day, I had a session at the beach with Laura and her family. She contacted me a few weeks ago for another beach session with her parents and siblings and their spouses. Luckily it was a lot warmer this day and Laura chose a great location in Cordova Bay. I’ve posted one more photo over at Photographer Network for my Photo of the Week.

On 05.05.2009 Ashley, Sean and their daughter Gracie made it official at a small ceremony with family and friends at the Fairfield United Church! It was a very soggy Tuesday and we met up before their ceremony for some photos on the beach.

We’re posting our Photos of the Week over at Photographer Network! Check back every Monday!

I get many emails and comments about folks wanting to see an actual photo of me. Well, here’s one. Yesterday, we went to the beach after getting our favourite super-charged-hot-caffeinated-bevvies at Caffe Fantastico and a treat at the best bakery in town, Pure Vanilla. When I’m not shooting on the weekend it’s just part of our routine, and I love each and every second of it. We went to Willows Beach sipped our coffee, ate our snacks (truth be told, mine was finished by the time we even reached the beach) and I hauled out my camera to take a few photos in the wind. Jamie’s behind me standing on a piece of driftwood.

Kimberley Fraser and I go way back to the days when we were both instructors at the Gaelic College. She’s an outstanding Cape Breton fiddler and a student at the Berklee College of Music. While I was visiting in March, I met with Kimberley earlier in the week when we played together for Berklee’s International Folk Festival and we decided then and there that we’d spend an afternoon together to take some photos. She was playing tunes during our session and I was having a really hard time keeping still and not tapping my foot the whole time…she’s such a great player! If you’re a lover of Cape Breton fiddling check out this video of Kimberley playing at the Red Shoe Pub in Mabou, Cape Breton.

As promised, a few more photos from my ultra-entertaining shoot with the Spires family at their home in ‘sunny’ Tsawwassen. Well, except for the day of our shoot, Tsawwassen claims to be the sunniest area in Greater Vancouver. Ashley arranged the shoot as she’s following her heart and moving away and realized she didn’t have any family portraits to hang on her walls in Saskatchewan.

The Spires were comical and cracking jokes the whole shoot. Sarcasm is second nature to each family member, even Shortpants (aka Ethan, Ashley‘s nephew….always referred to as ‘Shortpants‘). I was certain Ashley‘s mom was part Maritimer when we arrived back to the house and within seconds she had a full spread of sweets and black as tar coffee on the table….it was like heaven.

Best of luck to Ashley on her move….for all of you that have kids or love kid’s books, Ashley is a talented illustrator and author. Her recent book, “Penguin and the Cupcake” is filled with humour and the illustrations are beyond beautiful. Don’t forget to check out her beautiful and unique finger puppets as well!