Marlene's Designer Portraits » Manitoba

Ooh La La! Check out Kait!!!!

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:58:57 +0000

“Thank you Marlene for the amazing photo session! I loved watching you interact with Kait and have fun with her. She really felt like a princess and looked like one too ! I can always count on you to give us not only great portraits that capture the important stages in our lives. You never disappoint us!” Cathy & Tim Friesen, Steinbach, Manitoba

This blog post is so much fun for me. I had the real pleasure of photographing Kaitlyn for her high school senior grad portraits on June 8th. I was pleased she had decided to do some casual portraits as well as photographs in her grad dress. And even more pleased knowing that her dress was lilac colored and my lilacs were still in bloom!

Kaitlyn’s family has been in before. In fact, I photographed her parent’s wedding in 1988! I’ve seen Kait and her sisters grow up. In 2000 I photographed the three girls when they were just 7, 5 and 2 years old. In 2008 the family came in for photographs and I was happy to see the bright red scarves that the girls were wearing.

portrait taken in 2008

Cathy, Kait’s mom, called me on March 23d and said that there was an important time in their life and who do they call? Me! She went on to say that Kaitlyn was going to be graduating this year. They came in for a consult in April and I was amazed at how mature Kait was and I couldn’t wait to photograph her. She came in for her session full of energy and enthusiasm. This is key in getting some fabulous photos.

After the session she wrote:

“I had a great time being photographed by you. I was definitely the princess of the day. I love your way of seeing things and then making them happen in the perfect way. It was very hard to choose just a few pictures, I wanted them all! You captured my fun side, especially when I created the perfect bird shadow upon the wall. The entire experience was fun, pleasant and overall very enjoyable.” Kaitlyn Friesen, Steinbach, Manitoba

I couldn’t just show a few as there were so many great images!

Kaitlyn has a love of books and globes, so she brought these items in to personalize her portraits.

and she LOVES shoes - aren't these fabulous?

Her beautiful lilac colored dress in front of my lupins…

do you see her reflection in the window?

the scent of the lilacs made both of us smile!

I had such a great time with Kait – I love photographing grads!

Man with Fedora

admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:18:59 +0000

“This was my first time getting photographs professionally taken and was very impressed with the quality and variety!! You Rock, Marlene!!” Daniel Alexander, Steinbach, Manitoba

Daniel first called me on the 6th of December. He wanted a portrait taken as a gift for his Mom’s birthday the following week. I told him that we wouldn’t get it done in time, but to come in for a chat so we could discuss what he was looking for. When he came by a few days later, he told me he wanted to wear his suit and fedora. I had visions of a very formal portrait – but convinced him to also wear some casual clothes. We booked the session, but had to reschedule due to previous commitments.

The session finally happened on the 17th of January. Daniel was easy to work with and I had a blast and I tried several different lighting styles and poses. He was in today to view his images and loved them! Yay. I love it when people love their photos! The first image was the portrait he chose for his mom. Following are others he chose as well as some of my favorites. How do you choose? Thanks Daniel – hope your Mom loves her portrait!

The arrival of baby number three!

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:40:08 +0000

Today I had the pleasure of photographing a 21 day old little baby boy! We got some great images of the family and of the 3 children together and then he started fussing! I suggested that perhaps the wee one needed some nourishment and Mom said he had just eaten less than an hour earlier! Well after a bit more fussing, she fed him and he calmed right down!

I don’t know why it is, but newborns always seem to need to nurse!

Here is the Lexa Vignette Portrait they ordered…

Two years earlier I photographed his big brother at 6 weeks of age …

And two years before that, I photographed their sister at 7 weeks of age!!

I’ve had the opportunity to see these children grow!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:07:31 +0000

This fabulous autumn weather has been great! I had a chance to photograph outdoors a couple of days ago. I don’t ever recall doing that in November!! These sisters came in to have a portrait taken for their Mom – they were a blast to photograph – they were having so much fun! Don’t you just love this?

Finalist for Manitoba Photographer of the Year!

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:12:44 +0000

Last weekend, the Professional Photographers of Canada – Manitoba held their annual convention and image salon. The judging took place at Tec Voc High School in Winnipeg with judges from across Canada. The rest of the convention took place at the Hitch N Post Rance just off Highway 6 north of Winnipeg. Our speakers, Michael Redford and Shannon Brunner, were both very different, but I enjoyed them both immensely! Shannon’s topic was “Keep the Change” and was thought-provoking and insightful! Michael Redford – wow – what can I say? Inspiring in his marketing and great with the little details!

On Sunday evening, we had the Awards Banquet. In my capacity as Merit Chair, I was pleased to present two photographers with their Honour of Fellowship Certificates and two others that had achieved the Emerald and Sapphire levels of the Honour of Fellowship.

Also that evening the awards were presented. When it came time to announce the Finalists for Photographer of the Year I was shocked to hear my name called – along with Fred Elcheshen, Bruce Hendricks and Jeremy Hiebert! These were my winning entries…

This image is titled “Follow Me” and was taken in Africa a year ago while canoeing on the Zambezi River…

This one is titled “Lone Tree” – also taken on the Zambezi River with a view of the Zambian hills on the opposite shore.

The other image was taken at a session last September and I titled it “Vintage Look”…

Congratulations to Fred Elcheshen who was chosen as Photographer of the Year 2009!