Day in the Life Session | Calgary Documentary Family Photographer
Years ago, when I first started out, my goal was to move towards a more documentary approach to family portraiture that was called ‘Day in the Life’ Sessions. Over the years, those sessions morphed into a combination of portraits and documentary that I began to call ‘Adventure Sessions’. Every now and then, I still get asked to do a true Day in the Life session. I did one recently and wanted to share a sampling of the images with you. This is a half day in the life session where we focused on the morning in a very special house that they were about to say goodbye to…
A few years ago, I spent a lot of time purposely seeking out critique in an attempt to become a better photographer, but I really discovered that so many photographers wanted to fit you in a box with their critique…one of their own making. For me, it felt stifling from a creative perspective…I felt like I was losing confidence in my own vision…not my abilities, but my vision…which in the end is the only thing I have that can differentiate me from others. The last two years, I have really stepped back from the industry and it has been AMAZING. I feel like I’m coming back into myself. I’m listening to my inner voice and creating the images that speak to me. Whether they speak to other people is not something I can control…but, when I look at this collection of images, I see my humor, my tenderness, my voice again and it makes me so happy. I want to see more of this.
Enjoy…
Too Cool For School Portraits 2020
Every year, I have a special event in my studio called Too Cool for School Portraits! These portrait events are designed to create a back to school portrait that truly shows us your child’s personality. It is a relaxed setting where I let the child lead. A quick portrait experience with 5-10 minutes per child. This year, school is looking different than ever before, so I wanted to offer these portrait sessions in a different way than ever before.
For the month of September, you can book one of these sessions in studio Monday-Friday for $99/family. This will get you a session that includes 5-10 minutes plus one digital file per child. The session can include up to 3 children from the same immediate family. Each additional child is $49. Additional digital files, prints and other products can be purchased as well. There will be a limited number of sessions available so that I can allow for social distancing and sanitizing of all surfaces in between sessions.
I will also be making space for the children of 4 families on Saturday, October 3rd(this is available for children only). I believe that is the most number of families I can manage in the studio and still maintain a high level of sanitization. Same deal—just one session per hour from 10:00am-2:00pm. First come, first served. This truly is the portrait event with the best prices of the year!! Act fast as I have limited availability.
So, for all of you folks out there that find yourself homeschooling this year. Or, for all of the people who are truly just too cool for school portraits…this is the portrait event for you!! Contact me now to grab your spot.
And—I still have space for a few more family sessions this fall season, but I’m booking fast…don’t miss those fall colours this year and book your family session today. Contact me for more information.
Exploring Niagara on the Lake
In late September, I travelled to beautiful Niagara on the Lake to teach at The Uncommon Creative photography conference. More and more, my career has veered towards mentoring and teaching—which is something I enjoy more than I would have guessed if you had told me this is where I’d be 10 years ago. Often when you teach at a conference or workshop, you are required to shoot a ‘mock session’ while students watch. This will never NOT be awkward. hahahahahahaha…true story. As someone who is concerned about what my students are(or are not) learning, I worry that they will be inevitably disappointed when they learn that mostly I am just a total spaz—whether people are watching or not(ha).
So, here is an example of a ‘fishbowl’ session where there were about a dozen people watching me as I got lost(true story) and then laid on the ground in the dirt so I could shoot through some weird portal thingy. All the while, they would take the most unflattering images of me (man, it is DECIDEDLY NOT pretty to watch me work), but these kids were AMAZING!! They handled it like pros.
These kids belong to one of the women who run the conference, Miss Stephanie Robin, an award winning newborn photographer from Ontario. We have met before a couple of other times at conferences where we were both teaching. It was super cool to meet her kids! Her and her partner, Tessa, did such an incredible job on the conference. It was their FIRST EVER event and it was so well run—I mean, I knew that Stephanie was organized, but WOW…she is crazy organized and it was so lovely to work with someone who was so prepared and dedicated to making it a wonderful experience for both the speakers and the attendees. I got to take classes taught by the amazing Lisa from The Milky Way (she really is as sweet as she seems online) and Ali Peck from Glow Maternity and the amazing Heidi Hope. Stephanie and Tessa tell me that they are planning on another conference in 2020 and I can’t wait to hear who they have in their line up!! Sooooo…on to the images:
Thanks,
~ Dana
