upandaway

I love these two, and I love these photos. More than locations, more than wardrobes, more than looks, or even more than light, it is most important for my couples to feel that they can just be themselves with me.   When two people, this much in love let down their guards in front of me, I am a very lucky photographer. Graden and Chelseys’ pictures to me showcase honest, fun and passionate love. Just looking at these photos makes me emotional.  I hope that you too can feel the love captured in these pictures, reminding you that true love exists. 

Even though this wedding was a year and a half ago, there are still certain moments from this wedding that I remember vividly. Chantel is one of those people who is so beautiful and charming. You can’t help but like her. She was full of energy the whole day, making everyone her have a great time. I appreciated how Jeremy also had ideas of his own to bring to the table. Going the extra mile to bring a couch with us, and having the Trans ams as a part of our shoot. If I didn’t know better I would think they were a celebrity couple. 

A few things from this wedding that stood out for me:

a) Their vows. They were so sincere and full of wisdom beyond their years. The kind of vows that make you believe in marriage. We may have teared up :) 

b) Chantel’s beauty. Just glance at the pictures, and you will see for yourself.

c) Their families. They were all so warm and supportive of these two. And us for that matter. 

All and all another great wedding. 

I have wanted to write a blog about this family before I even photographed them. However, I don’t feel capable of fully writing anything that can do them justice. Kristen and Mike have been married for 8 years and cling to each other with a love that is beautiful to witness and rare to see. They have 3 handsome boys, Beckett age 3 1/2, Tayven 17months and Lincoln 7 months old.  Now that must be one busy household! Even without knowing their back story I would have loved working with them all. The boys funny, extremely cute, and amazing troopers on that brisk October morning. It was such a priviledge to spend time with this family, and a joy to watch them interact. 

The shoot took place at the family’s house so we were able to put the boys in the house for a bit to warm up and I got to do some alone shots of Kristen and Mike. I was happy that we got to take some time to celebrate their love, watching them interact was something precious. These two have been through more in their young lives than most too in a lifetime, but they have chosen to use their hardships to make them stronger and make their love for one another stronger. 

Kristen was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable cancer in August. Her doctor told her she has 1-2 years to live. Kristen is choosing to believe that this news is wrong, and that she is going to survive. She is a woman of faith, with a strength so rare. She is talented, caring, and full of life. Of course she has bad days but she chooses to rise above her circumstances. She chooses to see beauty in her darkness. I personally say that her honesty and courage has touched my life. I am challenged to tackle my own trials (trivial in comparison) with more optimism and perseverance. I am grateful to have had the chance to document this unbelievable woman, her cherishing husband, and their 3 gorgeous boys. Darryl and I continue to pray for you, believing for a miracle. 

I encourage you to read more about Kristen and her incredible journey at her blog http://4boysandi.wordpress.com

I am in the zone, and have more blogs in the pipeline. Here is a peak from one of the weddings I shot this past June. Beware, these two are beyond   classy and gorgeous. Check back here next week for the full post! 

Look at me, no posts for almost a year and two posts in a week! Well get used to it. I am very determined! I have so many posts from the last 2 years, so I might flip back and forth between past work and current work. This was a wedding we shot in 2010 in Mayerthorpe Alberta. I love small town weddings, I love the fields, the locations, and the people. So kind. Amy was the sweetest bride ever. Wade should get an award for being so laid back. They were clearly in love, and what is not to love about that? So I realize this is very overdue, but thanks again for having us be a part of your special day! 

I never imagined a year could fly by so quickly. I never imagined my heart could love so deeply, so completely. I also never imagined that it would take me so long to get back to my blog. Cosette has made this past year the best year of our lives, but also the busiest. I never thought balancing a business and family would be easy, and it certainly isn’t, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. So with that being said, I will do my best to really keep updating the blog now. I have so much work to share with you all. Over the past year I have created a lot of work that I am truly proud of. In 2011 I really felt more inspired than ever before, but on the flip side, I had never had so little time. I am excited for 2012 to be a year where I can continue to pursue my creative side, and take up and away to a new heights. 

Cosette is now a year old, and I really can’t believe it. She is our precious little star. She makes every day new and fresh. We wake up every day excited to see her face again, and to try to see the world through her eyes. She is filled with so much wonder and I can’t help but feel the dreamer within me grow as I explore life with her. We are so thrilled that she loves people, and that she is an easy going, happy baby. Everywhere we go people say “What a smiley baby, is she always that happy?”. The answer is yes! We are so lucky. When we are out, she smiles at people until they smile back. Her smile is contagious and it seems that with every smile she is spreading a little bit of colour to a world that can often seem dark and grey. She has had a pretty eventful first year we travelled to South Africa when she was 6 weeks old to visit Darryl’s family. We also travelled to Phoenix to see my family. We have another trip planned to South Africa in March and I sure hope that 25+hour journey goes ok. I am sure it will, she will enjoy making friends with all the other passengers and flight attendants. Cosette is now walking, and learning new tricks (yes I know she isn’t a dog) everyday. It is just so fun watching her develop. 

She is a well photographed child, and if you ever want to see more photos of her adventures you should be my friend on facebook. I have tons of photos of her there in my daily dose files. I think if Cosette is a bit famous as wherever we go people say they adore the photos of her. Hope I can keep that girl humble. 

Thank you to all of our clients and followers, who allow us to do what we love.  

Kristy-Anne (and Darryl)

We have a new addition here in up and away land, her name is Cosette Noelle. She currently weighs in at around 11.5pounds, is 25 inches long and smiles a lot. Things have changed a lot since she has come a long, but Darryl and I both agree, we couldn’t be happier. Nothing could have prepared us for this new level of love. She has stolen our hearts and melts us with her larger than life smile. If you don’t think she is cute, we can’t be friends (ok well maybe we can, but seriously she is sooo cute). More photos, and a longer post about our precious Cosette very soon. 

I am 2 days overdue now, and getting anxious! Hoping Popcorn comes soon. So I suppose I should continue to try and get caught up! Here is a post from a wedding we shot way back on July 2, 2010, in Camrose, Alberta. I absolutely love small town weddings! Everything is so close together that you can usually hit up a lot more locations, plus you are never worried about parking and traffic. We enjoyed working with Jessi & Matt so much! Not only are they both GORGEOUS, they are also way too nice and super fun. It did not feel like we were working, it felt like we were a part of the festivities. 

Their love for each other was touching, and their words were so deep and sincere. Matt’s absolute infatuation with Jessi was so cute to watch! The whole wedding party was so fun and chill making our job easy. For us photographers it was a perfect day, everything ran smoothly and we hit up all the locations we had on the list (which surprised me). At the end of our day, it was a bit hard to say goodbye. Matt gave us a big compliment. He told us that at first he didn’t understand the value of hiring high end photographers, but by the end of the day he did.  He told us that not only did he know the photographs would be great, but that he also had so much fun on our photographic adventures. We loved hearing that, as we always hope that the photos don’t end up being a chore, but rather can be a highlight of the day. 

Thanks again Matt and Jessi for choosing us for your wedding, it really was an honour. Wishing you guys all the best, and we hope to run into you guys sometime soon! 

So after a very full year of weddings (and other adventures), I am finally caught up and 3 days before my due date. So now it is time to blog! I have probably over 20 shoots I need to blog! Yikes. My plan is to try and blog a whole bunch today, but stockpile them so that when baby comes I have stuff already prepared to post. I hear that having a baby changes a few things, so I am trying to plan ahead! To start, I figured I should go back, way back, to my first wedding of the summer.

If I had to describe Renee and Tyler’s wedding in one word, it would be elegant. From the people involved, right down to the locations, everything was just so lovely. When I was shooting the getting ready shots, I was reminded of what a great honour it is to be able to sit in on a couples intimate day. Hearing the stories the girls were sharing that morning, and sensing overwhelming feelings of excitement, my heart was just brimming full of happiness for Renee and Tyler. The day went by so quickly, but couldn’t have been more perfect. I hope that Renee and Tyler will be able to look back on their wedding day for years to come as perfect. Thanks for letting Darryl and I be a part of your wedding day! 

Life has been super busy lately as we are right in the middle of wedding crazines. We get to be a part of so many intimate moments week after week. We get to hang out with people on one of the most important days of their lives, and that really is something special and an honour.  These days when we are not out shooting I can be found sitting in my basement at the computer editing, and Darryl can be found at his recording studio, mixing, editing or producing music. 

I have so many great photos to share from the all the weddings we have been shooting, but the whole processing aspect takes me awhile. So basically to tie myself over (because I am bursting with excitement over some of these shots) I thought I would post a little preview of the wedding I am working on now. 

There is much to be said about Jessie and Matt, but I will leave that for the full post. I hope you like this teaser, and are experiencing a lot more sun than we are.