Baby G

One of my oldest and dearest friends has the most wonderful facial expressions. I never thought I'd meet anyone with more fantastic expressions than her... until recently I did. It turns out, it's her kid. Baby G delighted us during the entire shoot with a multitude of entertaining facial expressions and hilarious grunts and groans. With his dad's bright blue eyes and his mom's knack for making people laugh, spending the afternoon with the three of them was such fun.

CrossFit

What a treat to be able to shoot CrossFit athletes in their element! Their talent, hard work, and beautiful strong bodies were all on display during the shoot. One of my favourite parts of the morning was when anyone reached a new personal best, they'd go ring a big bell that would echo through the room. Everyone would pause briefly to give a cheer of acknowledgement, and then carry on with their own exercises. What a great environment!

Home Renovations

With my sister in town visiting, and a friend of mine currently renovating his house, it was a perfect opportunity for a DIY home-renovation shoot. The backdrop was perfect, and the two of them made the shoot a lot of fun. The actual renovations ended up taking weeks and weeks longer than planned (isn't that always the case?), but it looks awesome now that the place is finished, and these photos can serve as a nice memory of the process (...or maybe a reminder to think twice if he's thinking about renovating again in the future).

Cederberg

In my five years living in South Africa, I had always intended on going hiking in the Cederberg Mountains, but for some reason, I never got there. I finally got the chance this time around, and boy was it worth it. With some of the best company around, we drove the few hours out of Cape Town to the Sanddrif camping grounds and the next day, hiked up to the Wolfberg Cracks. The hike is pretty much straight upwards, but it goes by fairly quickly. I'm sure you could get there and back in just a few hours, but we took our time and spent hours exploring the spectacular towering rock formations around us.

A Perfect Pair

I had so much fun shooting with these two, and they sure put up with a lot from me: not only did I make them hike to our locations in the middle one of the hottest days in a while, but I made them run over and over and over again once we got there! These two know how to make each other laugh, and had me cracking up most of the time, too. I would hang out with these guys on the side of a mountain any day.

City of Light

A stopover in Paris led me to a fantastic afternoon with a gorgeous Minnesotan studying abroad. In fact, she and I have now shot together in nearly all of the seasons: Spring and Fall in Minnesota, and now Winter in Paris! Even in the middle of winter, and following the horrific November attacks, the charm and resilience of Paris can be felt everywhere you look. As usual, it was such a treat to shoot with this stunning lady, and being in the heart of such a romantic city was the cherry on top.

Six Months Young

This cutie had just turned six months old. And though she looks great on camera, she certainly made me work for it! The moment I'd put down the camera, she'd have the biggest grin on her face, and the instant I picked the camera back up, her smile immediately vanished. Taking on low light and a model who never sits still, we came on out top with some adorable shots. She's growing so quickly though, it's going to be hard to keep up!

Hurts So Good

With the end of her personal training course in sight, this motivating woman is putting together marketing materials for her final exams. Last time we shot together, we focused on photos for her blog, and this time is was more for her clients. And what a great idea! Wouldn't you rather see a real person showing you an exercise or stretch instead of trying to interpret it from a line drawing? I participated in one of her group sessions, and I also had a one-on-one with her (and hurt in an oh-so-good way the next day). If you're in the Vancouver area and looking to get in shape or take your fitness to the next level, be it in a park, on a trail, or at home, this is the trainer for you. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you in touch with her.

Turks and Caicos

What a way to spend Christmas! Well, I actually got quite sick on Christmas and was man-down for the following few days, but the scenery, weather, and company were fantastic. A few noteworthy things about Turks and Caicos:

• Yes, the water is really that colour. (I often found myself lifting my sunglasses to double check.)
• They drive on the left side of the road, but have both American and British cars, so which side of the vehicle the driver sits in depends on the make.
• They use the US dollar.
• The most touristy island is Providenciales. It's got major luxury resorts and seemingly endless white sand beaches.
• The other islands aren't very populated, and also much less frequented by tourists. They also have vast expanses of white sand beaches, but development seemed to have hit a standstill after the financial crisis of 2008.
• The people are really friendly. Really friendly. And not in a "you're a tourist so I have to be nice to you" kind of way. It seems genuine.
• On the island called North Caicos, it seemed to be custom to lightly honk when driving by the house of someone you know. With a population of 700, there was a lot of light honking going on. It was kind of neat.
• A thin layer of baby oil prevents no-see-ums from biting you, but not from landing on you and, because of the baby oil, sticking.