Megan & Matt

I had such a wonderful time shooting at the Muttart Conservatory! It was my first time EVER visiting there, and I must say it is a very photogenic location indeed... but not quite as photogenic as this lovely couple, Matt and Megan. :) I had a blast with you guys! Thanks for a great time! ....But its just to bad that the tropical garden made our hair go flat :(

Borrow a cup of flour

Thanks Carrie for posting this.

I always click on what Carrie posts. always an interesting article . This particular one really spoke to me. So I thought I would share it with the rest of you. Most of you who know me, know how much I love food and how it is important to me. You also know how domestic I am, and how I like to wear aprons, and bake :) I like to grow things, and enjoy trying to make everything from scratch! I enjoy and value very much having connections with people, and developing meaningful relationships. I also value the connection I choose to have with the earth. If I could have my way, I would make everyone start from scratch again. And then everyone would remember what's most important. And what's most important its so very basic. And so very human. :)


http://sasquatchnews.com/borrow-a-cup-of-flour/

Borrow a cup of flour

"This issue’s column was originally going to be about sprouts—how to grow tiny, nutrient-rich green things in a jar during the final weeks of the long Saskatchewan winter, before the spinach, chives, rhubarb and asparagus begin to peek their heads out of the softening soil.

But the fact that this is my last opportunity to communicate with you, dear readers, makes my job feel urgent. I have one last chance to tell you something about food that sums up how central an issue it is. So what will it be?

It won’t be instructions on growing sprouts, making yogurt, or keeping chickens. If I can suggest only one thing, it is to talk to your neighbours.

Our society encourages us to live in isolation from one another. As a culture, we drive from our houses to our places of work, then to the grocery store and back home again. We take little time to talk to each other, especially people we don’t already know.

Our isolation chips away at our capacity to live in community: to live connected to one another, to the places we live and to the land that sustains us. We share less — fewer values and fewer resources. And as our connections decrease and our divisions increase, we forget what we once knew about the benefits of being accountable to our neighbours and to the planet.

If there is a single thing I would urge you to struggle against it is this division — the separation from your neighbour, your soil, your watershed.

Food is a simple and deeply powerful way to engage in this struggle. Growing food undermines isolation. It forces us to go outside and have a relationship with the earth, while creating opportunities for learning, teaching and sharing. Cooking and eating food together connects us across differences and creates opportunities for conversation and the sharing of ideas.

Food can also be a bridge across virtually any other issue. If you work towards ending poverty or war, then equitable access to food for all is a no-brainer. If you’re an environmentalist, sustainably managing the caloric needs of ballooning numbers of humans on finite planetary resources is a must. If anti-racism or anti-imperialism turns your crank, then understanding who has (or doesn’t have) access to the world’s resources is fundamental. If you’re a feminist or health activist, the relationship of food to healthy bodies and minds is key.

If you’re grappling with one or more of these issues, food can be an empowering and tangible way to make connections both within yourself and with the people around you. I recently heard food activist Wayne Roberts speak about what he termed “the 1,000 points of food.” The food movement, he argued, needs to be one of dialogue – not either/or – because people come to food issues from so many different perspectives. At the same time, food represents a universal need we all share. It creates unlimited potential to bridge people who have been separated. All we need to do is grow, cook and eat together."

http://sasquatchnews.com/borrow-a-cup-of-flour/

Dimensions of Genesis

My sister in law just recently wrote her first novel, "Dimensions of Genesis". And it looks like a publisher has shown interest in publishing it!! You'll see why after reading the sampler on her blog. Please check it out and be one of the first to catch a sneak peak before it becomes available on the shelves!!

The Art of Seeing

I never really clued in that my medium would be taking photographs. Although the signs were always there, without a camera in the early years, it was hard to know.

I have a vague memory of walking to the bus stop with my brother (he was the only one would ever wait for me). It was newly spring, you know, right when you notice that sometime within the last few days all the leaves grew and you didn't even notice? I was staring off in the distance at the tree line across the field and trying to describe what it was I saw (which was usually why the other sibling left me behind). No, it wasn't just trees I saw. It wasn't just green. No, its not JUST beautiful. I remember saying, "it just looks so... real...". He laughed and said, "it is real!" And I said, "NO! it looks so.... so.... so real....". haha. Maybe I meant surreal. Im not sure. But I can tell you now, with more descriptive words then and eight year old, what I saw. I thought it looked like a painting with beautifully contrasting colors three dimensionally popping off the canvas to lure you in to some sort of fantasy world. Like in the movie 'What Dreams May Come'! Only this painting looked so unbelievably real it was overwhelming. Haven't you ever seen a painting or drawing that looked so real you thought it was a photograph of something real until you looked closer and realized it was a painting? Thats what it looked like to me. It was something so beautiful it was hard to believe it was real. And here's the kicker folks, It WAS real! haha. Its amazing, I know, that everything natural came out perfectly perfect.

And I didn't just see it either. I could feel it. I can feel it. Its a breath of pure, natural, God given beauty. And each leaf and branch and blade of grass had a sort of light, a warming glow radiating off of it. Another alluring feature of this "picture" I saw. You could only imagine my frustration by not being able to communicate this to my brother. And everyone! Its never left me. Everywhere I go, I say "look" and they say, "uh huh. very nice". "no LOOK!". "yeah its nice!" .... No.. Don't look. See.

This is the same when I look at people. Sometimes I feel like Im looking at an angel. Or other things, but it can be overwhelming at times. And I want for other people to see this too. To not only understand what I see, but to be able to see it too. Which is how I came to do photography. I learned how to capture what I saw, so that other could see. How I feel when I take a photograph, its like being able to describe something using lots of fancy descriptive words.(Which clearly wasn't a whole lot more from when I was eight) And now, do you see what I see? Its so very satisfying for me.

You are beautiful, do you see? The sky is beautiful. The water is beautiful. Your child is beautiful, your smile is beautiful, your eyes are beautiful! This mess is beautiful, these colors are beautiful, the trees are beautiful, and all your perfect imperfections are beautiful!!

See?

Dani And Kallie

Danielle and Kallie are two musicians from the music program at Red Deer College. I was thrilled to do photos for them for their concert poster when they asked me! We had so much fun with hats, gloves, and gowns and these are a few of the photos from the session.

















Dani and Kallie will be performing on March 14th at 2:00pm on Mainstage at the Red Deer College arts center. Come down and show your support for these two beautiful, and talented ladies and enjoy an afternoon as they sing classic music. The show is free and there will be a reception in the lobby to follow!

The year of yes

2009 was the year of yes. I was sick and tired of saying no. Turning down opportunity, turning down fun, and not making anything happen for myself. I needed to change my thinking from, "no I can't" to "yes, I can!". My no's were almost always for one of two reasons- I couldn't afford it, or I had no one to go with. I decided that to make things happen for myself, I needed to start believing that I HAD enough money, and I CAN do it. And I wasn't going to wait for people anymore, it would be just ME. I really needed to focus on myself, clear my head and get to know myself again. There were so many thing I had been wanting to do, so many things to learn and places I wanted to visit . My 2009 brought me so much goodness!! I said yes to my health being first, I went for steams and the rec center and tried out a far infrared sauna. I did a lot more meditation. I bought a bike and took long bike rides, I started taking yoga classes, I took spontaneous road trips by myself, had a picnic and ran around in my underwear at Dry Island Buffalo Jump! went to a props workshop in Calgary, met some amazing people with my amazing friend Mandy and learned hula hooping and poi!! well... kinda learned poi.. But I learned hula hooping!! I took a spanish class, attended a sweat lodge, a photography retreat, a music festival where I slept in my van and took a mud bath by the river! I took a leave from my job and spent my time chilling at the farmers markets as a vender selling Cloud 9 for a friend. It was relaxing, fun, and I still managed to bring in some cash! The best part of the year was, my amazing 25th birthday party! All I wanted was a fire in the backyard, great food, sangria, and all the people I love the most!! To top it off I planned some live entertainment by my ever so talented friends and family! Mandy sang a song just for me :) Jared and Oksana danced. Tess did some poi, and we all hula hooped! It was a fabulous evening, and I couldn't have imagined it better! The only thing I would've changed was, my brother, sister in law and niece and nephew weren't able to make it :( It was a fantastic year and I will continue to say yes! I will not wait around for people. I will go places by myself, and do things by myself and ALWAYS have the money to do so!

What I hope 2010 brings for me is more yes!! And a continuing transformation in my life. My head is clear and focussed and I feel Im becoming more and more me :) I hope this year bring the opportunity to make more changes in the way I wish to live. I hope to wear more natural fibers and support MORE local MORE often. Try to switch over ALL, not just some of my food. I want to grow things! wonderful things in my garden! More yoga, more meditation, more bike rides! more spontaneous roadtrips, I want to go to powpows, listen to singing and dancing and drumming. I want to learn how to make a drum, and moccasins, and bannock! And maybe, just maybe, I can take a trip this year :) And so with that, I say goodbye year of yes, and bring on year of me! Thank you to everyone who helped me along this year in one way or another! Love you all and happy new year!!!

Mackenzie

Congratulations 'D' family! Yet another beautiful little girl to model for me!