The Gaudet Family are fellow Maritimers…need I say more? I’ve known John and Lori for a long, long time…way back from the days when they ran The Jervis Bay (Memorial) Pipe Band. They moved from the Maritimes to Dundas, ON and raised their kids to be involved in hockey and pipe bands, and have stayed active members of pipe bands themselves. We went across the road from their new house for their session, had an dry land hockey brawl, and heard some pipes in the park….then scooted back across the road to start the shindig at their house for the pipe band folks in the area.

When you look back and reflect, each year seems like a whirlwind. Many thanks to my clients who have been wonderful and trusting folks…humouring my whims during sessions. To my family and friends, thanks for your patience when I was behind my computer editing for weeks at a time. Most of all, to my Jamie…even with his busy schedule, he’d still make a point to invite me on afternoon coffee dates during the busiest part of the year so that my eyeballs wouldn’t fall out from the editing. I am the luckiest.

I’ve put together a slideshow of some of my favourite images from the year as a recap of the places and faces I’ve seen (the soundtrack is provided by my dear and talented fiddling friend, Ivonne Hernandez). Enjoy, thanks again for your ongoing support and encouragement, and all the best for 2011!

The third installment of images of pipers and drummers for pipes|drums is online for subscribers. I’m currently working on the fourth part of the series with exciting plans for the project in the New Year. Many thanks to pipes|drums editor Andrew Berthoff, for allowing me to showcase these images. He invited me to start this project with the only guideline being that the images focused on piping and drumming subjects…pretty much a dream assignment for me! To see images from the previous two installments, head to pipes|drums (for subscribers), or check out my site for a few samples.

On my first day in Halifax, I did a shoot for Veronica MacIsaac’s new bamboo knitwear line of clothing. She was headlining at Atlantic Fashion Week and multi-tasked her week with photo shoots, finishing her line, and doing interviews. Her parents, Rosemary and Mac, own and operate MacIsaac Kiltmakers in St. Peter’s, where Veronica learned her sewing skills, and since then, she has taken her talents and designed her own line of fresh and fabulous ways to wear tartan. Highland dancer Sarah McKenna and drummer Matt Carter were models on the day for the Fall/Winter 2009 Knitwear Line and we ended up using her back step and a neighbour’s veranda for the two different looks.

After the Sound Advice school in Regina this July, I stayed a few extra days and spent the weekend with the MacDonald Family. I’ve already taken photos of Barb and Eilidh during their time in Victoria at the Canadian Highland Dancing Championships, but it was time to take some photos of the whole family together. Iain organizes the Sound Advice school and Eilidh (also a piper) and Ruaridh (a tenor drummer) both attended. After catching up on some much needed sleep, we had a quick visit with Iain’s mother then made our way out to a great red barn for the rest of the session (as recommended by Eilidh).

I was hoping to get these images edited for this week as Iain and Eilidh are over in Scotland to attend the World Highland Dancing Championships in Cowal where Eilidh will be competing…best of luck!! You may recognize superhero expert Duncan from my blog post a few weeks ago over on the Photographer Network blog. The entire family plays in the City of Regina Pipe Band, and they’ll also be part of the upcoming installment of Photographing the Art for pipes|drums. Stay tuned!