Monday

Edmonton Wedding Photographers

alligator pie

Adam and I were driving home from a fantastic date at the batting cages & go carts (and yes, bumper boats. I made him get into the bumper boats while I rocked out any road/boat rage ive ever had) and we got talking.
me: "have I ever told you abour the poem I performed in grade one?"
Adam: (fibbing) "no"
me: "it was called Alligator Pie, and I practiced for weeks. Shall I perform it now?"Adam: "sure honey"
me: "alligator pie, alligator pie, if i dont get some i think im gonna die. give away my hockey stick, give away the sky, but don't give away my alligator pie. Alligator soup, alligator soup, if i dont get some i think im going to droop....(etc) " (yes I performed the whole thing). (in a very monotone-im 6 years old and scared way)
Adam: "so cute honey! Did I ever tell you that by grade 4 I had all the verses of in Flanders Field Memorized"
me: (fibbing) no.
Adam: ...(performs it perfectly)
me: "you know, I think we've had this exact conversation before"
Adam: "me too"
me: Are we getting stale? no new stories? is that bad do ya think?
Adam: "No honey, that is the thing about Love. We've shared all of our stories from the past, and now all of the new exciting stories are together. We are making the new stories, now"
me: " I could die you are so perfect, thats exactly right. Not only do we have the safety & security of knowing each others past & all the charming stories, but we are making a million new ones together. Hand in Hand.
Isnt Love Grand? (that is why he's my best friend. He's so smart.)
(.. and makes great cookies.)


--------------- in about a weeks time, this blog will be so full with wedding photos it will make your eyes hurt (but in a seriously good way). At the moment we are just finishing up a gazillion orders and what not, and enjoying every moment.------------------------- sneak peek of what is to come.....




Friday

Rollerblading Hotshot - Kari-

The other day my hubby, Matthew, came home from work... I felt like I needed to stretch my legs and I told him that I wanted to go running (which shocked him, because he knows I am not a runner...at all..), however, once I explained that I want to put on my rollerblades and have him run while I hang on to the back of his shirt, it all made sense to him ;) Now, let me just say... I am terrible at rollerblading. No really. I haven't busted those sweet puppies out since last year (i rode them once last year- so no improvement to be had).
But I wanted to start it up again and have it as my new primary form of exercise. Sitting on our front step I laced up those rollerblades perfectly- stood up on my wobbly legs and I clung onto Matt's arm.
O Heavens.. what have i gotten into!
Any little twig or small pebble on the sidewalk made me nervous and I told Matt to slow this action down just a little bit and I woiuld proceed very cautiously and 'step over' the obstacles. 20 minutes goes by and Matt is still my main support... In a rash decision I decided to venture away from the womb- I let go of my safety hold. I was building up speed on the smooth sidewalk...
I felt the wind through my ..err...hair...extensions..
I turn my head around to give my hubby a 'Look at me!' smile,
and as I was turning my head back to 'starting' position...
I saw it..
I saw the curb...
I saw the curb that could cause my death...ok, I am being dramatic, but still.

Not knowing how to slow down...
I looked back at Matt and give him this look as if 'oh sweet mother of mercy..what have I done..?? HELP ME!!!'
but I knew there was not enough time...
Matt see's my dilema
and he yells in a concerned voice
'Jump the curb!!'
and I had no choice...time was up..
So I did what I had to
I jumped.

and I landed..

now, it didnt look glamerous, or professional by any means but the fact still remains- I cleared a 4 inch jump...
and landed on my very first run of the season!

As I laid my head on my pillow that night... I looked over at Matt and said in all seriousness... " I bet you didnt know you married a 'rollerblading hotshot' " He chuckled to himself and said

'Goodnight Babe'

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Since we all know that blogs posts are boring without pictures... here are a few from a recent wedding I shot.

Cheers,
-Kari-











Thursday

Balance


Late last fall as wedding season was slowing down (that being said, we had more winter weddings then ever!), I said to Adam "I handled that awesome hey?" (I do most of the post processing, which means hours on the computer having a love affair with photoshop). To which he replied, "um, yah, not bad honey".
"WHAT??" Not bad? I thought? Every single bride received her images on time (if not early), every album was perfect, emails we answered the same day, I was on top of my game. A Olympian (you have no idea how many times I re-spelled that) of the computer. Before I stood on my coffee table and made myself a paper-chain faux medal, he replied "You just seemed a little frazzled. You needed more time for you".
"frazzled?!?"
I may or may not admit that tears welled up in my eyes (innocent until proved guilty of course).
Did he just call me out? Speak the truth, albeit in his every gentle & kind way....
I slowly got off my coffee table and said "your right. I needed balance"
So what did I learn? What did I do differently this year? Truth?
Lots.
I have learned (and am still perfecting) the art of balance. Editing images in the morning, and then if its an especially hot day, taking my son to the beach does not equal bad & unmotivated. No, it equals smart. I come back to my work, refreshed, renewed, fulfilled and with the energy of my toddler.
I shoot weddings because I love them. I edit the photos and love it.
But I also know that "we give our lives to that which we give our time".
Photoshop will never love me back.
Rockwell & Adam will.
Therefore, I have learned how to put myself & my little family first, take the odd bike ride (while brewing up new pose ideas!), and just love life.
Because in loving life, I am a better mother, wife, friend and photographer.
That happiness is contagious and as such, it shows in my clients images. and that makes me happy.
and once again, not a single bride has had to wait. In fact, most have had their photos early.
Funny how it all works out.
Peace = Beauty






Wednesday

Reaching Out...



This past sunday we had a Booth at Bridal Conference. It was a fantastic time! We are so incredibly excited for the upcoming season and are pretty sure we snagged all of the kind, lovely, sweetheart brides out there! Our inbox is already bursting at the seams with brides wanting to book us, and we feel such gratitude. Gratitude to be able to do something we love. Not everyone loves what they do, or is excited to go to work, but we are.


For that we are truly humbled and blessed.



At this fair, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to reach out and bridge gaps. There is nothing worse then snobiness, and we have found in the past, that bridal vendors (those in the same field) are often very standoff-ish and snobby to one another. Because of competition I assume. But, the fact is, if you are passionate about what you do, you will have clients, regardless of competition. We wanted the freedom to go walk past other photographer's booths as we were browsing the fair, without the panic of them "seeing us" and wondering if we were "scoping out the competition" :)
So, we did what we have always wanted to do. Make friends of our peers. Thats right Internet, we walked right up, introduced ourselves and said "hi"! We complimented their work and discussed photography-ish things (things that would put your average person to sleep) and it was fun! At first they looked at us like we were crazy (im sure thinking "dont they know competitors dont talk???"), but you know what? In no time at all, they came by our booth to chat & mingle some more.
We've always believed that being competitive and snobby just kills the soul and makes your photos ugly (because you are to busy being worried about everyone else, instead of loving your craft), and we were right, being friendly & kind really is the best. We made some fantastic friends of some talented photographers.




Friday

Answering some email questions!

We get a lot of emails from Brides & Photographers asking us questions! We have a very great FAQ section on our site, but its still nice to answer some on here. So here it goes!

For the Photographers
Q: How do you get such great expressions out of your clients?

A: Be ridiculously funny. We've been known to make total fools out of ourselves to get our couples to laugh! No but in all seriousness, whether its the laughing-having a great time expression or the really tender moments that we capture, we credit it to our love of love. We are genuinely so excited to go to "work" and love being at the wedding and seeing the bride & groom in love. If you feel "meh" towards weddings or wedding photography at all, do your self a favor and the brides a favor and specialize in something else. You should be there with your full heart, and then that is when you get those really fantastic images. When we first started up a gazillion years ago, we also did family & newborn portraiture. Our hearts were not in it. We did not feel that same excitement as we feel when we are photographing a wedding. So we followed our hearts and now we only photograph weddings. Find what you are passionate about and specialize in that. Not only will you naturally produce happy, emotion filled images of your couples, but you will become an industry leader because all your creative energy is in one area. So in summary, find what you love, love what you do, and the art will create itself!

Q: What are two things that help to make photographing a wedding easier?
A: We are in love with 2 things at the moment. Our GPS & our shootsac.

Q: Can I pick your brain?
A: Yes. We offer consulting & workshops.
For the Bride & Groom
Are you awesome? yes.
Can you prove it? yes.
Watch this
(video by Nostalgia Media)

Much Love,
Adam , Radelle & Kari

Edmonton Wedding Photographer. More to come soon!










Edmonton Wedding Photographer. Sneek Peak :)
























































Monday

The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald- Edmonton Photographer

Shane and Shellaine
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I had the absolute privilege of shooting this beautiful couples Engagement (this past July) and their wedding (this September)!

They were game to do anything-
and I mean anything...
From dirty back alleys (that were so dodgy)... to having to deal with the police (oh, dear!)...
I dont think I have ever laughed so much shooting a wedding- I mean, tears came to my eyes from laughing so much! They were really a Hoot to be with!

So eventful.
and So Memorable.

Cheers,
Kari

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Engagement Session
Shane and
Shellaine

{Sneak Peek}












The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald Wedding
Shellaine and Shane

{Sneak Peek}