I had a very special Christmas with my best friends – I can smell the goose cooking in the oven.  I saw the delicious looking Trifle that is waiting to be eaten.  I am truly blessed with spending time with people I love at Christmastime.

One of the things that I have done this past month is think about my last Disney trip which was a year ago right before Christmas.  I’ll say it again – I love Disney and spending time at Walt Disney World in Florida.  Looking through my over 7,000 images taken while there I wanted to post some of my favorites and that was very difficult. So here is a small sampling.

One of the many beautiful decorated trees in Walt Disney World.  This one is in the foyer between The Boma and Jiko Restaurants at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Breathtaking – the tree at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is almost 4 stories high.  It definitely is worth walking through this beautiful resort just to see all the decorations and hear the small orchestra and pianist playing throughout the evening.

Christmas decorations – everywhere!   This “tree” was not the traditional kind – but beautiful!

A gorgeous garland in one of the many shops in the France Pavilion in Epcot.

Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom at dusk.  Probably my favorite time to photograph – the lights are all turned on and glowing warmly – but you still see detail everywhere!

Père Noël in the France Pavilion in Epcot.

Santa and Mrs. Claus at the American Pavilion.

At the American Pavilion they have a giant Gingerbread House.  Here is the recipe:

820 lbs of sugar
135 lbs of butter
1040 eggs
150 lbs. of chocolate chips
470 lbs of flour
2 lbs. of baking soda

All the ingredients are combined and baked in a very large oven. 

Now we’re back at the Magic Kingdom – this photo was taken in front of the Train Station looking up Main Street USA – you can see Cinderella Castle in the background!

I love the balloons!

City Hall, Main Street USA – Magic Kingdom … at dusk.

Our last evening at Epcot – just leaving when I turned around and saw Spaceship Earth in the background with ‘snowflake’ patterns on the ground.

Signs.  I love photographing signs!   This is the entry to the Africa portion of Animal Kingdom.  I think I love Africa as much as I do Disney.  I know – two total opposite destinations – but they’re both very special to me!

Another sign indicating where the telephones are located.  Probably will be a unique sign one of these days – since everyone carries a cell phone!

In Epcot – the entry between Future World and World Showcase this – this was displayed on one of the Gift Shops.  Very retro looking!

Another interesting sign – gorgeous artwork inside!

And then we come to Mickey’s House – love the tree outside!

For those of you who have been to Disney – you know there are ‘Hidden Mickeys’ found everywhere and part of the fun is finding as many as you can.  I love this quite obvious Mickey Ears on display at the Moroccan Pavilion.

So I decided to create my own Mickey Ears! 

But this probably my favorite ‘Hidden Mickey’ I saw!  I so tempted to do this for my next trip!

And, of course, you can’t forget the characters!  We found Alladin and Jasmine at Epcot near Morocco.

And Sleeping Beauty dazzled everyone in front of France.

We saw Mary Poppins in front of… you guessed it … the United Kingdom Pavilion!

And, Mickey Mouse himself – in the “Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade” at Animal Kingdom!

I just love photographing “Spaceship Earth” at Epcot.  One year I took over 250 photos just of the big ball!   This time I used a 16 mm lens to capture this image.

A 200 mm lens was used to photograph the dancing fountains behind Spaceship Earth.

More photos at dusk – taken at the Moroccan Pavilion once again…

And then there are the wonderful ‘Cast Members’ that work at WDW.  This is Nelson – who works at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  They are photographed so often – they pose as soon as you point a camera at them! 

Two very friendly waiters at Morocco.

One of the drummers in ‘Africa’.

And, our favorite Cast Member this trip was Mark!   This is a photo of my best friend, Inge, who accompanied me on this trip.  Mark was the host of the “Keys to the Kingdom” backstage tour that we took.  It was absolutely fascinating and I would recommend everyone that has never been to the Magic Kingdom to make sure they take this tour – it is well worth the $70 price – which includes a 5 hour tour plus lunch.

Okay – so we’re both photographers and wanted a photo of the two of us – so we cleverly improvised and found a mirror to do a photo of the two of us together! 

One of the Disney Photographers at Animal Kingdom saw my Nikon D700 camera and immediately came up to me to chat.  They’re assigned D90′s and he was drooling over my camera!  I asked him if he wanted to hold it and check it out and, of course, he jumped at the chance – and he took our photo!  How sweet!

Here is a photo of my friend Inge taken in the Magic Kingdom.

That’s me in Animal Kingdom!  One of my favorite parks!

Inge photographed me on the balcony of the Japan Pavilion – what a breathtaking view from there!

Gotta have fun – here I am riding Cinderella’s Golden Carousel – so much fun!

This was one of my first trips that I tried to photograph after dark – I love this shot taken in front of the France Pavilion!

And, to end it all – ‘Wishes’ fireworks over Cinderella Castle.  A MUST see.  It is breathtaking!

I’m hoping that next time we can convince Michael, Inge’s husband, to join us!

I would love to hear from you – which is your favorite image?  Any comments and questions are welcomed!

This one was taken of me peeking through Mickey’s front door to his house!   Taken by Inge!

Okay – I’m off for Day 2 – this time we’re going to Epcot!

Here is a photo taken of the daytime fireworks over Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom.

More shots of Cinderella Castle at night.  The lights on the castle kept changing colour and here are just a few images.

Oh yes – and some of fireworks at night!

We stayed to watch the Spectromagic parade one evening…

Some of the gorgeous poinsettias taken in the United Kingdom pavillion in Epcot.

One of many Christmas displays at the Pop Century Resort where we stayed.

And this was seen in a shop window in Disney MGM Studios (now called Disney Hollywood Studios).  This was in a jewelry display – I love the ornaments shaped like Mickey!

This is a photo taken of Inge and me by one of the Disney Photographers in Italy (Epcot).

And lastly – one of my favorite sights – Main Street in the Magic Kingdom with Cinderella Castle in the background!  I can’t wait – just one more sleep!

When I arrived on Friday, Patty was working on cooking me a fabulous lunch!

She asked me to help and before I knew it – lunch was ready.   Delicious!  On the menu “Joe’s Tuna/Pea Pasta” and some wonderful red wine…

And yes – it was as delicious as it looks (thanks for the recipe, Patty!).

After the wonderful lunch, we started off with photographing each other with window light.  Patty picked up my camera and actually got some very nice images of me!  I was quite pleased…

We discussed window lighting and a whole lot of other topics… we’re both talkers – it’s amazing we let each other talk! 

Patty’s daugthers came home from school while Patty was cooking supper and Sabrina had to share with Mom about the happenings at school that day.  I love this image!

Then I helped Patty with supper.  On the menu was a salad of cherry tomatoes, onions, cilantro and an olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing; steamed Basmati rice, slow cooked Black Beans with bacon and a fabulous dish with Italian sausage, celery, onions and kale.   This is a photo of the last dish steaming on the stove!

At dinner Patty insisted on filling my plate – apparently there is an order in which these different foods need to be presented.  Yum – it was outstanding!

As I’ve mentioned before – Patty loves to cook and she is a great cook.  Patty and hubby, Jascha have a wonderful relationship – it was a joy watching them together.  In their household, Patty is the cook and Jascha does the clean-up.  What a wondeful man!   And Patty definitely appreciates him!  Another photograph that I love…

Patty’s mom and dad were also invited for dinner and we had a very nice evening – they’re wonderful people!

After they left, Jascha left to watch curling with a friend and Patty and I had a typical Brazilian cocktail – Caipirinha.   Nummmmy – this is now my favorite drink! Very refreshing.  Before I knew it it was close to midnight and time for bed.  Sabrina gave me her room for the night.  A typical little girl’s room – what fun – thank you Sabrina!

The lifesize cutout of Hannah Montana at the foot of the bed was a bit overwhelming, but once my eyes were closed – not a problem.

The next morning Patty made some great “Black Pearl” coffee and she knew how much I loved Disney and she served the coffee in this mug.  The coffee tasted even better in this mug!

Sabrina is the ‘cuddly’ daughter according to Patty.  I often saw Sabrina in Patty’s arms or lap throughout the weekend.

Gabriela is a bit quieter, but gorgeous!   I learned that she’s very creative and it was so interesting watching her.  At the breakfast table she disappeared under the table and I grabbed my camera…

After breakfast and working on a slide show, I picked up my camera and proceeded to show Patty what fabulous window light opportunities she had in her home!  We never did use any studio lights – who needs them with such fabulous window lighting?!  I proceeded to photograph her alone throughout the home as well I got some great images of Patty and her daughters.  Here are the photos taken throughout the afternoon.

The first one is one of my favorites!

Patty loved this image.

Love the following images!!!!!!! 

Patty is as beautiful inside as she is outside!

Then we ended up upstairs and used the bedrooms and master bath for some photos.  Like I said – there were fabulous photo opportunities everywhere!   And this is the point were it hit me!   I have been wanting to introduce something new in my business – photographing in people’s homes – and viewing these images I realized that Patty had just given me the opportunity to do so – if you are reading this and like the idea of having me come into your home to photograph you and/or your family in your own environment – please give me a call!   204-326-1813

The next two images are so Patty – I love them, too!

At this point Gabriela got my attention sporting her shades and, of course, I had to get a photograph of her… she finally warmed up to me!

A few more shots before I had to leave…

Look at the fabulous lighting on this image!

Too soon it was time for me to leave.  Patty and I were arguing about who got the most out of our time together and we both agreed that we both benefited!  We both ended up being the teacher and the pupil!  I hope there will be another “Patty” day in the not too distant future.  To end, my very favorite image taken – doesn’t she look fantabulous?!???!!!!!!

Thank you Patty!!!!

One of my clients asked what I would be photographing and I told her that I will probably not take the usual Disney photos – but will try for something a bit different. Do you think I succeeded in some of these??

And, just as a reminder, we have over 60 clients that have their name in our draw for a Trip for 4 to Walt Disney World – some of them have 4 chances! You, too can enter this draw – call us to find out how. (204) 326-1813

Stay tuned for updates on dates for our Grads for 2008 as well as our January ‘Winter White’ portraits and February’s ‘Beautiful You’.

THANK YOU to all my wonderful clients who have made this truly a special year! I wish you all Peace, Joy and Happiness!