Tag Archives: Child Portraits

Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures…

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December 2012

New Years resolutions made in haste (or even carefully thought out for that matter) are challenging to keep; so I’ve decided to continue eating too much salt, drinking too much wine and under-utilizing my pass to the state-of-the-art YMCA pool & gym facility (2 blocks away!).   Instead, I’ve resolved to put more energy into a few things I already enjoy, including the improvement of my photography skills, and thus I’m sure my chances of succeeding will be significantly increased.

This said, I’ll be participating in a weekly photo challenge and I’m already signed up and eagerly awaiting the ‘inspirational’ emails from the good people at WordPress, who will provide weekly topics to focus on…no pun intended!

In the meantime however, I think I’ve just slipped-in ahead of the 2012 deadline for posting a few of my favourite images of people, places and things from this past year.  I’ve limited it to (12) shots, although this doesn’t mean (1) per month, but this time next year (and that had better be a long time coming!), the images will “hopefully” correspond to the month they were taken.

All the very best for 2013 and I hope you keep your own goals within reach too!  ;o)

(click on image to enlarge and scroll through set)

Winter Solitude

Floating Tulip

Heidi's Bump

Broken Barn

Love Nature

Heidi's Boy

From Farm to Fork

Emmy's Eyes

The Pigeon Chaser

Water for Elephants

Keep trekking

Ginger Lights

“run, run as fast as you can…

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December 2012

…YOU CAN’T CATCH ME, I’M THE GINGERBREAD MAN!”

I rarely bake sweet goods, likely because – 1) my palate naturally gravitates to savoury; 2) inevitably, with me, it turns out to be a hugely messy event and 3) I have a hard time following rules generally, and in particular the precise rules (recipes) required for successful cake, cookie and any other kind of sweet baking.  When I cook I like to pull out the thoughtful guideline prepared by someone knowledgeable in these things, usually in the form of a cook book, and for the most part one of my favourite chef ‘Jamie Oliver’s’ books, and then add or take away ingredients on a whim or as needed to cover-up mistakes as I go.  This approach to cooking is much easier accommodated using herb & spices I find.

Notwithstanding my aversion to baking sweet stuff, I make an effort now and again when there’s good reason, and what better than an afternoon’s holiday season entertainment for ‘Little Sister’ (Sallee) and I.  So we donned our aprons, lined up the required ingredients and having completed all the pre-prep organization, we finally read the recipe.  Minor glitch, as always with baking, the recipe was in fact a 2-stage jobbie, requiring the cookie dough to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours after making it, before finally creating and baking a small army of Gingerbread Men.

Fortunately ‘The Sound of Music’ was close to hand to fill the void, and so as we watched and waited for the dough to do its thing (whatever that is) and ‘Little Sister’ teased ‘Big Sister’ about her “leaky eyes” during a number of the movies scenes (starting with the Captain’s response when he hears his kids singing ‘The hills are alive with the Sound of Music’ for the first time, and ultimately joins in…sniff, sniff!)…sorry I digress, but the point is…, it really was starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

A few images below of my beautiful and talented ‘Little Sister’, who diligently followed the recipe, while I diligently documented the exercise for posterity (it may be the last batch to come out of Chez Gale’s kitchen!).

Ginger-10

Ginger-7

merry1

merry2

merry4

merry5

merry6

merry3

merry7

fall family fun…

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October 2012

Let me introduce you to Laura (my fabulous hairdresser), her husband Andrew and their darling daughter Isla… &… Laura’s sister, Ann-Marie, and her little princess Sarah…

I see Laura on a fairly regular basis, not only to prevent me from developing that not so desirable ‘Wild Woman of Borneo’ look, but also because with common friends, it’s a perfect opportunity for the gals to get together for a post coiffure cocktail and dinner from time to time.  On a recent visit to the salon for this very purpose, Laura mentioned she would love to have some family photos taken and asked if I could accommodate. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, and I think we may have scored one of the last few sunny, warm weekends of the year to do it!   With this, we took the kiddos to the park and let them do their thing, while we amused ourselves with their antics and caught up on news.  A couple of hours and many smiles later, we said our farewells and below are a few keepers for this dear family’s photo album.

(Click on image to enlarge)

the family gale…

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August 2012

“Benjamen, Jaxx, Karter, Rylann, Emmy, Vivi-Lu…..Benjamen, Jaxx, Karter, Rylann, Emmy, Vivi-Lu”.  This was the mantra-like approach darling husband took in order to learn the names of our six nephews and nieces, who we were seeing as an intact family for the first time this summer during their visit to Whistler.   Well almost all, grown-up big sisters Jori & Sydnee have long since opted out of family road trips, and having witnessed the energy this endeavour involves, quite honestly, I’m not surprised!

Hats off to Pete’s brother Jamie (commonly known as ‘Bing’ because he thinks he can sing!), and his beautiful, quick-witted wife Tara (we shared a few sis-in-law chuckles!).  You really have to see these two in action to appreciate the military-style organization skills required to keep six youngsters (between the ages of 2 and 11), not only safe, happy and engaged, but moving in generally the right direction in terms of learning life’s little lessons.  I imagine it’s not only the developmental side of wrangling the bunch that must be a challenge, but from personal experience, I witnessed the struggle to physically get them from one place to the next on foot, it was like trying to herd cats!

We had plans to join the tribe for a couple of days in Whistler, and this had me wondering how on earth we were going to give the required Aunt and Uncle attention to them all, particularly as there would be a couple of new family members we’d be meeting for the first time.  There was no need to fret however, Mom and Dad had it all planned out…..boys will take mountain bike lessons on Whistler (Crankwerks week!), Mom and Auntie Deb will take the girls to the splash park, and Uncle Pete and daddy (Bro Bing) would go play golf on one of the most prestigious courses in the area!!!?  OK, I’ll admit it, divide and conquer was a great strategy, however, in future visits Tara and I really need to strategize ahead of time… so the bros divvy up the kids, and we hit the spa!

A few shots follow of our hectic, but really enjoyable visit, with a note to self for next time…..take tripod and jump into a few pics too!!!

here’s henry…!

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June 2012

A few months ago I had the pleasure of photographing expectant mom Heidi and husband Dan (see ‘heidi, dan & baby bump’) who as you can imagine, were extremely excited at the prospect of welcoming their new baby.  I think (hope) the exercise was mutually beneficial, because I came out of it with material to submit as homework for the photography course I was taking at the time, and Heidi & Dan were pleased with the results and have a few nice maternity photos for their album.

I don’t think it’s possible, for me anyhow, to be around that kind of positive energy without absorbing some of it in the process, and after the shoot, I was eagerly awaiting the news of the birth.  This finally came on May 4th, 2012  when little ‘Henry James’ made an appearance, and as you will see below, he is just adorable!  A few weeks later after baby and parents had a chance to settle into their new routine, I spent some time with Heidi, Henry and grandma, with a view to capturing some newborn memories.  Henry was a very accommodating little model, and having done the ‘before’ shots for my course, I really appreciated the opportunity to take the ‘after’ shots, just for the fun of it.  My personal favourite is the very last image, and although it isn’t tac sharp, if you look really hard you can just make out the reflection of Heidi in her new son’s eye – smiling proudly….!

sweet sisters…

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May 2012

We recently took some vacation time and spent the first 4 days doing an extremely challenging hike on the ‘Juan da Fuca Trail, BC’ – (no physical capacity to carrymycamera on this one – just about managed to carry self and fully loaded backpack!).  To this end, you’ll  have to trust me that the landscape and views of the pacific west coast of Vancouver Island were, as always, spectacular.  Having completed this challenge we were ready for a few days rest and relaxation, and what better way do to this than catching up with friends in Victoria.  A window opened for a visit with our good friends Gary & Tara and their beautiful daughters, Ellen and Kate.  I have to say… these are two of the closest young sisters I know (aside from our nieces Jade & Paris), and although I’m sure they have their “moments”, like any youth, it wasn’t apparent in the brief time we were there.  In fact, what I saw (through my lens), were two sweet and fun-loving sisters who genuinely seem to appreciate each others’ company; and who share a love for their trampoline, musical instruments, and of course their mom, dad and each other…wonderful!

studio madness…

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March 2012

It’s studio photography….it’s madness…..it’s studio madness!!!   That’s what you get when 5 families are jammed into 2 small adjoining studios with 6 students and an instructor.

Take aways:-

  • never try to photograph more than one family at a time
  • high energy kids with props do not like to pose for photos for more than 10 seconds (and can be hazardous to a photographer’s health!)
  • studio photography makes my head hurt
  • give me a playground or beach location any day over a studio
  • if it isn’t apparent yet…I don’t like studio photography
  • always have a nice bottle of wine waiting at home after a studio shoot with multiple children

I clearly haven’t developed a passion for studio photography but nevertheless below is the payoff for a royal headache!

jordie girl…

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February 2012

Given that I love to take photos of people, and the most accommodating subjects I’ve had to date have been my nieces, nephews and friend’s kids, I decided earlier this year to take a photography class with a child portraiture and maternity focus.   Like most school kids, when I was going through high school I begrudged every minute of my free time that I had to surrender for homework, and looking back I have to wonder whether photography homework would have been one more chore that prevented me from hanging out with friends!  Fortunately, one of the benefits I’ve found with acquiring more life experience (getting older!) and really knowing who I am and what I want from life, is the ability to make mindful decisions about how and where to spend my time and energy, outside of work that is!

This said, I gladly spent a couple of hours completing my photography homework assignment one bright Sunday afternoon in February, at the home of my good friend Jacqui and with the help of her beautiful teenage daughter Jordanna below (Jordie to Auntie Deb!).  I’ve also slipped in a shot I took of Jordie and her friend Ariel last summer that I like. The goal was to capture child portraits in natural light.  I think I’m pretty good at seeking feedback on my work because I know that critiquing is one of the most effective ways of improving, however, there’s no doubt I’m my own best (worst) critic.  I didn’t receive any constructive feedback during class when I presented the shots below, which is unfortunate, but looking over them again as I was uploading to the blog here, I can see that some of these images would have been greatly improved with the use of a reflector disc.  I guess the take-away for me is to put some more thought into what I want to achieve before hitting the shutter release, and/or try to slow down and have a hard look at the images in camera.  It’s all a good learning experience though!

If you have any thoughts on these or any other images I post, I’d welcome your feedback too.

i’m one (1) already!…

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January 2012

Although I don’t have any kiddie winks myself, I do receive great pleasure from being around the many children that have come into my life through dear family and friends, and take every opportunity to visit with them.  I remember as a child my parents taking me (and my siblings) for visits with their friends and often hearing comments, accompanied by a surprised expression, like – “it’s only been a year since we last saw you and look how much you’ve grown!”.  Of course, as a child this was always taken proudly as a compliment, but this type of greeting is now in my own repertoire and comes with a realization of how just how quickly time passes by….aargh!

You may recall a few posts ago I introduced Wayne, Chad & Baby Grayson and shared some of their wonderful, brave story.  Well now, Little Grayson below is a perfect example of a year going by in what feels like the blink of an eye, and Pete and I were happy to be part of his 1st birthday celebration.  For me, it was also a good measure of how my photography skills are progressing and the first time I’ve really given my SB600 flash a whirl.  I’ve been quite apprehensive about using flash (mostly because I haven’t mastered how to use it yet!) and haven’t pushed myself in this respect because I much prefer natural light in any case.  However, on this occasion the party venue wasn’t adequately lit for some of the shots I wanted to capture, so I had no choice but to move out of my comfort zone, and with the results below, I’m glad I tried!

little sister…

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Spring 2011

I had contemplated becoming a ‘Big Sister’ for a number of years but life, and particularly work travel, always seemed to get in the way, so I delayed and talked about doing it “next year!”.  After returning from a 6 month backpacking trip through a number of countries in Southern Africa in 2008, I realized there really is no time like the present to do the things you want to do.  With this revelation fresh in mind, I contacted Big Sisters of BC and signed up.  I knew it might be a number of months before the screening process was completed and I had a’ Little Sister’ match and that was OK, I was willing to wait.  Lucky for me though, I didn’t have to wait too long before my Little Sister, (Sallee) – 7 yrs old, was matched with me.  I met Sallee and her mom, Bernice, for introductions at the Big Sister’s house in Vancouver and I think we were all a little apprehensive, while at the same time excited.   That first meeting seems so long ago now and we’ve since shared many fun times and learning opportunties (from both our perspectives), that I feel like I’ve known her “for-ever”!  My Little Sis’ is going to be 11 yrs old this year and I’m constantly amazed at her intelligence, inquisitive nature and tenacious character.  I look forward to and value the time we spend together and this will likely be one of many posts depicting our adventures.

I have many memories and photographs to date, but I’m including here just a few from the last year while I’ve been carrying my new camera on our visits.  Interestingly enough, Little Sister joined the ’4H Camera Club’ last year and has been taking some great photographs while she’s been learning, so a future post will surely be a joint ‘Big/Little Sister’ effort!

Vancouver Aquarium, fun at the beach with puppy ‘Nicola’ and Mom & Tony’s marriage

my two dads…

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April 2011

I first met Wayne (below left) about 15 yrs ago when I moved to Vancouver from the UK.   Needless to say, being new in town and already a couple of months since my last haircut, it was a top priority to find a great hairdresser before I started to look like the ‘wild woman of Borneo’, and I did, in Wayne.  I visited Wayne regularly at the little salon (Strutters) where he worked and we hit it off from the start with lots of chuckles along the way… and then one day, he informed me he was giving up his ‘chair’, moving into the world of high end retail, as well as starting up a design business with partner Chad (below right).  I was a tad distraught at the prospect of finding another stylist as good!  Looking back I don’t know whether or not he noticed my bottom lip quivering and perhaps felt sorry for the little English girl…but he assured me he would continue to cut my hair, it would just mean me going over to his apartment  - “not a problem” I replied.  With that, I met and came to know his awesome partner Chad through my visits to their home over the years, and I’ve followed their story through marriage, travel tales, career events and home purchases, and of course their most recent and wonderful life change….. adopting their son Grayson and becoming parents.

Below are a few shots I’ve taken over the last year and we recently celebrated Grayson’s 1st birthday which is captured in a later post.

I should mention this little guy is a true fighter…born with a heart defect, he underwent successful corrective surgery within 24 hrs of coming into the world, only for doctors to discover thereafter he has a rare condition called Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), and without very careful monitoring of the amount of protein in his diet, it could have very serious, even fatal, consequences.  Regular trips to Children’s Hospital (where Grayson has developed a bit of a fan club I hear!)….are, and will continue to be, a normal part of the family’s routine.   This being said, Wayne and Chad have made it their business to know everything there is to know about MSUD, so they can care for Grayson and teach him the skills to care for himself as he grows.

Alas….due to conflicting work schedules etc., Wayne stopped cutting my hair a few years ago, but I’m glad to say we’ve remained friends and it’s been such a pleasure for Pete and I to see little Grayson come into his and Chad’s life…..they so wanted a child, and after a number of disappointments, he’s definitely been worth the wait.  I’m sure you’ll agree he looks like the healthy and happy boy we know he is and this can only be attributed to his courageous spirit, and the love and devotion of his two dads!