I was the winner of a draw  for a free photo session & a 12″ framed portrait @ Marlene’s studio.  This came at a perfect timing, as we have just adopted a baby and wanted to take family pictures!  Thank you Marlene for a wonderful job!!  Great Pictures!! Erika, Marlin & Justin Penner  Steinbach, Manitoba

On Tuesday, October 25th, I had the pleasure of speaking to about 30 moms at the local MOPS group.  (MOPS – Mothers of Preschoolers)    I touched a bit on “Tips to Shoot Like a Pro” – but mostly I spoke on the legacy of photographs.   How often is the Mom the photographer in the family – and rarely on family photos?   Make sure you have photographs of you in the photos – your children will appreciate and value that in years to come.   I also stressed the importance of backing up your digital files.  In this era of digital cameras – I have heard from quite a few people that their computer crashed and ALL their photos were gone!   So I hope I made it clear to everyone that they need to PRINT up their favorite photos – you will always have a memory and you can always scan the snapshots and make more prints – but if you just keep them on your flash card, or memory stick – be prepared for your photos not to be permanent!    It frightens me how there will probably be huge gaps in your children’s ‘history’.  There are too many people that take thousands of photos and never back them up or store them off site for safekeeping.  There are many photographers who hand over a CD of images these days – but my question is, do they keep a copy for themselves if the CD the client purchased can’t be accessed one day – or if it is lost and or damaged.  If you get a CD – make a duplicate – store it on an external drive – have multiple copies!!!!   I always look back through the photos that were taken when I was growing up – and it is these photos that stir my memories of my childhood.  I am such a visual person that I need a photo to trigger my memory.  If I wouldn’t have these photos, much of my childhood would be lost.

Okay – enough of my little story… here are the lovely portraits taken of Erika and her family…

Isn’t this next image just adorable?   Children have a mind of their own – and they often dictate the way the session is going!   Justin wanted to explore and be independent as many young children his age tend to be!

“My husband would be the first to tell you he hates to have his picture taken.  He told me after our last session with Marlene that she is the only one that is allowed to photograph him.  Marlene’s ability to make him feel at ease and capture his character is truly a gift.

One of the only requests Elma made was that we photograph in front of their special tree…

And then we used the little playhouse that the girls have (almost) outgrown…

These girls look like models!!

Very hard to pick a favorite… but I’d say the following photo is probably my favorite!  I love the mystical feeling that the sun through the trees gives to the quality of this photograph.

And then the light was just right to use the fence – gorgeous lighting, once again!

And, of course, with a beautiful, winding road, we had to end the session there!  :)

Thank you Elma and family for giving me the opportunity to spend some time with you and your family on such a lovely property!

“Marlene did my son’s Grad portraits 3 years ago and I knew she was the one to do my daughter’s.  Louise is not the easiest to photograph, but Marlene knows how to get the best out of her.  We brought all things precious to her and the portraits turned out fabulous.  We are so glad we had them done at Marlene’s.  They are photographs we will cherish forever.  Louise says she is glad Marlene put all her stuff in her photos.” Carolle Beaudry, St. Pierre, Manitoba

Louise’s mom came by today to pick up the grad portraits.  She went on to say that the grad ceremony happened yesterday and it was a perfect day!   Louise had been ecstatic to receive her diploma and go onstage – with all the parents in the audience watching.   During the ceremonies, Louise sang “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus and apparently there wasn’t a dry eye in the church.  How wonderful – I wish I could have been there to see that.

Louise has been coming in for a few years now and, of course, when it came time for her graduation – she had to come back!  :-)

Louise looked gorgeous in her pink dress.   But we didn’t just photograph her in her grad dress – we also did some casual photos and we used a basketball – pink, of course!   She’s really a great basketball player I’m told!

Here are some photos taken at her portrait session.

Louise is really close to her brother, Chris, and so we photographed the two of them together as well.

Chris came in for his grad portraits in 2008 – here is my favorite from his session.

We weren’t sure what to expect when we asked Marlene if we could bring our dog to our family portrait session.  He is, after all, an 85 lb ball of white fur, and not exactly well trained.  In fact, we weren’t sure we wanted to try having him in the photo’s, but Marlene was enthusiastic about including him.

After a few minutes of ear scratches, she quickly became his new BFF.  Marlene graciously allowed him to sniff the place over, making himself quite at home.

The shoot itself was wonderful!  Marlene knew how to make sure we were all, dog included, relaxed and having fun.  She treated Shammey like a member of our family (although he did get more pats and rubs than the rest of us LOL).

PS – Shammey wants to know when he can come over to play…..

Lauren, Rob, Jessie & Jamie Bilbey (and Shammey)  Mitchell, Manitoba

I can’t understand why more people don’t bring in their pets to be included in their photographs!   Like a good friend keeps saying “Pets are People, Too!” I used to be a pet owner – I’ve had several cats throughout the years.  I am an ‘auntie’ to two beautiful Hungarian Vizsla dogs by the name of Hunter and Grissom.  I have come to realize how much personality each and every animal has!  Their lovely features are so unique, their mannerisms and little quirks are endearing – they give you their unconditional love.  I’ll say it again – Pets are People too!

This is not the first time that I have photographed the Bilbey Family.   In 2000 I started offering “Back to School” photos, and Jessie and Jamie were one of my very first school kids that I photographed!   They came in each and every year for an update and I had a chance to see them grow and got to know their personalities as well.

I had the pleasure of photographing the family in 2003.

Then in 2004, Jessie graduated!

And in 2007 Jamie came in for his grad photos…

I feel lucky to be able to photograph families as they change and grow!