Mother's Day Pop Up Studio

I've decided to do a Pop-Up studio!!! Just for moms and their kids...or grandmas and their kids. Let's celebrate the special ladies in your life and get them in the pictures. 15 minutes to create fantastic portraits of moms with their kids(no family pictures...just moms and kids).

50% of all session fees raised will be donated to Jenn Unplugged's fundraiser for Gastrointestinal Cancer trials. I had the privilege of working with Jenn once and she was just amazing. I had to do something to honour her spirit.

Sooooo...can't think of something to get mom for Mother's day!! Here it is.

There are limited spots, so first come...first serve!

Thanks,

~ Dana

Personal Work

This is the time of year when I do a lot of personal work. It's a slower time of year for family portraits, so I try to tackle my long list of things I want to shoot for myself. This image came from some recent personal exploration and I just loved the light, so I thought I'd share it.  This year, I've also kept most of my personal work more to myself than ever before. Partially because it doesn't feel like it belongs here and I'm not sure where to put it, but also because it feels more like mine that way.

Since my dad passed away a year and a half ago, I haven't really made time for much personal work. There was a different kind of personal work that needed to be done. But, now I am diving in and enjoying it in a different way. If you are a photographer and you are reading this...I want to encourage you to do more of it. You can learn so much. For me, it has helped with my confidence...it helps make you realize what you are good at and what you need to work at. It gives you focus. It allows you to try something new....to make mistakes while trying something new and to learn from those mistakes. And, it really is your 'real work'...

For now...just a glimpse of some of my 'real work' ;) Because today I felt like sharing.

~ Dana

PS--thanks to Laura (and Nikki--not pictured here) for helping me with this. I have had the privilege of photographing Laura's maternity, newborn, engagement, wedding...after that many sessions working with her was like a fun afternoon hanging with an old girlfriend ;) And, there was Fresca(I LOVE FRESCA).

Norway Travel Tips

So, to be honest, I don't think we can really say that we've been to Norway. I mean, we were in a very small part of Norway and Norway is a VAST country. We were in the Stavanger area most of our time. We did travel to Røldal to see the Stave church there, and mostly to just get a taste of the countryside. It is a beautiful place that I am sure we will return to. Next time Oslo for sure, but I am also super interested in going to the very far north.

It is a very friendly country. We felt safe and welcome the entire time we were there. Stavanger is a quaint seaside town with a large collection of 18th and 19th century wooden structures. It used to be known for it's sardines, but is now the Petroleum capital of Northern Europe. Which is why we were there, really...since Bob was there for work.

I compiled a few tips. I didn't book much of the trip myself so I cannot comment on hotels/hostels, etc...but, here is some general advice.

1) There are a great many museums for such a small city. The Heritage Museum and the Canning Museum had a deal where you could buy one ticket and see both museums in the same day. So, give yourself enough time to see both in one day. The big bummer thing for me not being there in the peak season is that many attractions are not open year round. Some are open only on Sundays for most of the year. Make sure to plan your schedule around these limitations if you are not there in the summer. We did spend some time at the beautiful Petroleum Museum(given that Petroleum is the whole reason we were there really).

2) There are not really restaurants that serve breakfast there. Because of this, I believe most hotels have a nice breakfast buffet--far larger than we are used to in North America. For us, this was a money saver. I'm almost embarrassed to admit, but we took food for the day from there. Bananas, apples, bread, cheese...whatever we could sneak into our bag. I haven't done that since I was single...even then, only once or twice. Of course, we also bought some stuff at a grocery store, but here's the thing...restaurants are crazy expensive there. I grabbed my lunch from the breakfast buffet. Treated myself to an amazing coffee at lunch time and ate my snacks on the go. This allowed me to not worry so much about what I paid for dinner. Which was often $50-60 CDN an entree and $15-$20CDN for an alcoholic beverage. Pop was around $8CDN. Still water tastes unbelievable and is free.

3) If you are hoping to buy a SIM card for your phone or device instead of depending on a plan from your provider back home...don't count on it. It was really difficult to buy one as a foreigner. We just used hotel wifi. For that reason alone, a hotel with free wifi is a must.

4) For this north American driver, it is worth mentioning that the roads there are small. There is little to no shoulder and, in rural Norway, I found many two way, one lane stretches where I thought it was questionable to put such a road(around windy mountain bends, etc). I got used to it. But, I was happy when Bob finally finished work and could drive.

5) We took the Fjord tour and loved it...we even drank water right from a waterfall. We also drove around the fjords a lot and the views from the ferries are amazing, too. We highly recommend travelling the national tourist routes. Great views almost the entire way. We found when we abandoned the tourist routes, there were many tunnels. Travel was much faster that way, but not as scenic.

6) It really is as rainy as they say. Raincoats and waterproof boots are a must because much of the countryside is gorgeous, if not a wee bit muddy at times.

This was a lovely, unexpected trip this year. A nice break from the grind of regular life. I thought I'd share some of the images I took before I take off for our next adventure. As a family, we are headed to Honduras. We are excited to be staying at a friend's home there on the coast. Those images will have more people in them, I promise ;) And, I still have lots of cool Norway images that I could share...just keep checking the blog. The blog is where it's at ;)

~ Dana :)

PS--Just a reminder about my Photography Meetup  email me for details!!! Come join us and have fun!

Spring at Emerald Lake

It is spring apparently. At least, that is what the calendar says. Of course, spring in the mountains just means lots and lots of snow ;) Wet, snowball/snowman making snow. We walked on Emerald Lake this weekend. So pretty....