Christine & John: Married! July 26, 2008!

When we met it was one of those things... Love at first laugh...

We connected and we "fell in love". As in love as clients and their photographers get, I guess... When you think of it, it really is a love story... I'm there ALL DAY! I see you get dressed, meet up for the first time, I see his tears when you're walking down the aisle...

I'm essentially involved in your most intimate moments of the day!

Nope, not THOSE moments... But everything before that!

I remember Christine and John had come to see me right before The Wonderful Wedding Show in 2007 and then they ran up to me at the show and told me that they would like to book me for their wedding.

Good thing too. A million other people (I'm soooo exaggerated!) called me for their date after that and when I told Christine, she said: "A-ha! She's all mine!"

I LOVE that reaction! I told her I'd post that on my blog!

Anywho, onto the pictures! These two really hammed it up for the camera and we spent most of the day at The Forks enjoying the crazy heat!


Here they are, Christine and John, madly in love...




Sassy...


They actually got married at The St Boniface Cathedral. I've shot there MANY times, but have never been in a wedding there...

And this is the spot at The Forks where John got down on one knee...


Hot Stuff here:


The boys called this The Cover shot: (for their "Rock Band" band)








I love this one: The sun makes them squinty, I know... but this is the story of their day: It was hot and we were at the Bridge.


What a pretty pretty girl!


Lovely!


Christine, I'm glad you got me too!

Happy Marriage honey! Make the best of every single day!

The Assistant

Stephanie J has been assisting me for two years on and off now... I can't believe it's been that long!

She makes me laugh... She holds all my gear... She carries "The Blanket"... The Water... The Tripod... AND gets alternate angle shots here and there when I let her ;)

This past weekend she came out to John & Christine's wedding (stay tuned for that post next!) after having worked her "real" job all week, running camps at Prov, and doing whatever else she does...

So I thought it might be a good idea to do a little tribute to her...


Here she is carrying my gear:


Doing a one person dip while I test light and depth of field.


Doing the SJ land surf!


Regular SJ:


So I did some "headshots" for her in the end of the day...


LOVE that crazy hair!


Thanks SJ! You're awesome!

Deanna & Drayton Slideshow

Here's the slideshow for Deanna & Drayton's wedding!

Enjoy!


www.offthepage.ca/slideshows/cook_wedding

Melodie & TJ's Slideshow!

Hey TJ & Melodie!!! Your slideshow is up and running!

Check it out here but don't forget to press play!!!

http://offthepage.ca/slideshows/michalchukwedding/

A post on taking time off and taking the camera wherever I go...

All photographers would agree with me that it takes discipline to take your camera with you wherever you go. After all, when work is done, we like to leave our tools at home... My camera is my tool... Like a bobcat to a contractor, a wrench to a plumber... (you can tell my husband is in construction - that's all the parallels that I can draw...)

So when I'm off, I usually leave her at home (yes, it's a she and her name is ... never mind). But then a whole year can go by and I have no pictures of my kids to show for it...

So last year I made a conscious decision that I need to photograph my days off so they don't go by unnoticed (they are few and far between after all).

So here it is: last night after I photographed John & Christine's wedding, I set off to the lake where my sweet Mother in Law, Hildi, watched the kids for me while I worked. Both our husbands are working out of town somewhere up North, I'm not sure where... So we banded together...

When I got there, the girls were enjoying the new trampoline and were eager to show me their new moves that Uncle Jamie taught them (thanks a lot Uncle Jamie... my turn will come).

This morning after we left the lake we went to celebrate Tante Krista's 30th birthday at the horse tracks - they had a petting zoo and pony rides there today...

Here's some images:

Sabrina being cautious...


But not Gabriela...






Oops, here she goes...


Scary stuff if you're a mom...


Off to the races!




Pony rides.





My little Gabster has a serious obsession with animals of all kinds...



Sabrina got to hold a fresh egg... I also shot this with my super wide angle which made her head look like an egg too... I know, not good...









My niece Arabella, suntanned and freck-ly





Then it was time for the bbq and hoola hoops!






Even the preggo birthday girl gave it a try...



While some others (Jamie) just relaxed...





Below is Hildi... See what you're missing Dad? She's looking hot!



Austin looks so angelic here, but watch out! He can take anyone out in two seconds flat!



Here's his mom, one of my faithful Blog Stalkers... Looking good Bronwyn...



Uncle Eddie giving the instructions on the water balloon fight...



Sebastian was hiding balls in the garden...


Here's proof:


One more:


Lisa and Christopher smooching:


Look at those teeth!




Braeden:


The birthday girls and some of the nieces: there's one missing, she was recovering from an "Austin" wound...


Happy Birthday Krista! Enjoy this summer and I can't wait to do your maternity shoot!


Ghislaine and Bronwyn, don't even think about leaving this post without commenting...