A few for the family.. | Chilliwack Family Photographer

With Christmas fast approaching, Photographers everywhere are finding themselves firmly in the midst of "Family Portrait Season" (kinda like Duck Season, but our shooting is a little safer for the targets!). I have had the pleasure to shoot a couple of awesome families lately, who are not only great friends, but are fantastic models at the same time!

Of course, this time of the year can present some challenges weather-wise, and these shoots were no exception... the first was pouring with rain, the second was freezing cold. But, I have to salute both families for braving the elements with no complaints and "turning it on" at the right moment!

 I'm now kinda scared to see what Mother Nature intends to throw at me for the next session!

When a Wedding becomes my Birthday...

I had the great pleasure of being invited to second-shoot a wedding with Lori, of Lori Johnson Photography, in August.... and I must say that this gig kind-of became a bit of a birthday for me. Why? Because I was given the rare chance to shoot with lenses that I usually just drool over in my catalogues.

Shooting with Lori is always a pleasure anyway, and she is fantastic about giving constructive feedback in a way that doesn't crush my soul(!)... but on this occasion, since the results needed to be as tack sharp as possible for printing purposes, she allowed me to shoot with whatever lenses she wasn't using at the time. My inner voice was singing and whooping with every single lens change! (My outer shell remained calm and professional, of course!)

The 3 new lenses I shot with were the 105mm, 24-70mm f2.8 and the much coveted 70-200mm f2.8 (all Nikkor). My favourite? Well, I loved them all, and I am now definitely saving harder for that 24-70, but the clear winner had to be the 70-200. If this glass was a dessert, it would be a triple-chocolate & fudge death-by-chocolate layer cake, drizzled with chocolate & caramel sauce made with real Belgian chocolate. Mmmmm...

Here are a few of my favourite shots from that day...

Walking with Mr Kelby... and a few thousand others! | Chilliwack Photographer

The kids are in bed... and the rain kept away the over-estimated hoards of trick-or-treaters.... so I am sitting here, desperately looking for ways to occupy my hands in a way that doesn't involve the small pile of unwanted chocolate bars sitting a few feet away from me. It is to my blog that I turn! So... where has my camera taken me lately? A few places actually - and it's quite a relief after the little break I unwillingly took.

One of the recent highlights involved 2 hours of uninterrupted selfish shooting, courtesy of a guy called Scott Kelby. OK, he wasn't actually there, as such... but he is the brains behind a worldwide event, where groups of photographers gather together on one particular day, share their love of the lens and just shoot to their hearts' content.

It is called Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk, and our local meet was at the Blue Heron Reserve, just down the road from us. Now, many of the Walk Leaders chose urban (usually downtown) settings, so it was actually a really nice change to have a more rural location... and a chance to practice more of those bird shots that I have wanted to do, this year.

Here is a little taster of my day's efforts...

  So... what did I learn from my day?

1. Don't forget your coat on a rainy day! (Yes... I put mine out ready to take but it didn't make it to the car. Thankfully a VERY nice fellow shooter had a spare!)
2. Carry a waterproof camera cover in your bag. (Mine has sat in my bag unused for months... until this day. It was very wet and that $7 purchase probably saved me $$$ in repairs!)
3. Other photographers are not that scary! (Who knew?!)
4. Every photographer should give themselves a little "me and my camera time" occasionally. (Shooting 100% for yourself is the best therapy ever!)

Dear Santa - Add a D600 to my list please!

Dear Santa,

How are things "up North"? Hope the missus and team are all well.

I hate to bother you right at the time when you are "ramping up" for the season, but I have a conundrum, and wanted to get my letter in before the avalanche of kids' letters arrive. (Whilst I may consider my brain to still be kid-like, I do accept that I have not legally qualified as such for approx 20 years!) I was wondering if you would ever consider giving an "advance" on Christmas Gifts... and whether I could actually take advantage of such scheme by getting a 10 year advance?

You see, Nikon keep waving all these luscious shiny trinkets in front of my face. I've always been attracted to shiny in general, but you add the word Nikon and I'm putty. I had initially planned on asking for a 5 year advance to receive a 24-70 2.8 lens - something I feel would benefit me enormously during this sudden interest and multiple requests for my work. However, now these cheeky little Nikon monkeys have added a new body to the range that has almost made my brain explode in frustration - the new D600...

Yes... the rumours have finally been put to bed, as Nikon officially announced their new full frame baby for the avid enthusiast. For me, excitement was immediately followed by frustration and disappointment, when I found out that the price tag was going to be about $500 more than the rumoured estimate. (Of course, this comes in the same year that Tamron similarly disappointed me with the price for their new 24-70)

To rub salt in the wounds, this announcement also stated the ridiculously fast availability of this camera (especially in comparison to his slightly sexier cousins, D4 & D800) - with D600's hitting store shelves within just a week... and incidentally, a week and a half before my birthday!! (Bad timing, boys! How is any already-purchased gift going to compete?!)

So... not wanting to keep you from the festive preps any longer, I would really appreciate if you could consider adding the D600 to my stocking, this year... but I am not a greedy child (and still want to stay on the "Good Girl List"), so if both is pushing it, I will just settle for the afore-mentioned 24-70 lens...

Forever Your #1 Fan
Mandy Peacock (Aged 30-something)

A Little Variety Never Hurt...

I'm a bad blogger... a bad, bad blogger... I need to receive 5 lashes from the cat o' nine tails for blog negligence! But, hey, I'm back!

Various shots from the Leisure Centre Sessions

So, what has kept me so busy? Daily family life, for the most part... but, a few fun wee photography projects have also contributed. I second shot at a wedding, for the first time in a couple of years. (I have already progressed a stack since the last wedding I shot, but I found that I still have so much to learn.)

My biggest recent project, though, was a great opportunity to put almost everything I have ever learned into practice... and that was when I was called in to shoot some promotional images for  local City-run leisure facilities. 

Those were, quite possibly, the most fun I have had shooting in a while - based on the sheer range of things I was asked to shoot; from trainer head shots to figure skaters in action, senior social activities to pre- school playtimes... quite the variety!!! Of course, each activity was in a different area, with different lighting and very different movement... so each had to treated very differently in both the creative approach and the technicalities.

The only problem with a shoot like that? So many different scenarios meant a lot more equipment in tow! I need a rolling bag... or a burly man servant!! (Ah... yes... more to add to my wish list... will it ever stop?!)