5 Minutes On Abraham Lake

I went to the infamous Abraham Lake on Valentine's day hoping to catch a few images of the methane bubbles that get trapped in the ice there. Sadly, the unusually warm weather meant that they only lasted for a very brief period of time this year. We were sad because it was something we all REALLY wanted to experience. Plus, I was doing a 5 Minute Project around the word 'capture' and I thought the bubbles would be perfect. Oh well...we made the best of it. Such a beautiful part of the rockies that we had never really explored before. So nice and QUIET...sometimes the mountains can be so crowded ;)

In the second last image, you can see the bubbles a bit, but they were too deep to photograph well. We clearly tried to break through the ice a bit...the top layers had melted and refroze a couple of times and were easy to break through, but still couldn't get close enough to the bubbles(don't worry, we saw an ice fisherman who showed us that the ice was 17" thick on that part of the lake). I am determined to go back next year in late January so as not to miss them. Who's with me? Shall we organize a group to go together?

~ Dana

Shooting With Friends

I have just returned from speaking at the NAPCP retreat in Whistler, BC. It was an awesome opportunity to share and learn and spend some time with old friends while making some new ones. I lead several activities while I was there. One of them was a family session in the snow. For this I recruited my friend, Robin Bonner and her family. Her children are just gorgeous(and Whistler is a pretty sweet backdrop). For me, a highlight of the trip was having the opportunity to invite Christine Pobke to come along with me for this. It is always super fun to photograph with other photographers you admire. Especially because you have someone else to talk with afterwards about the experience. How lucky am I that Christine is my friend? And, I don't just say that because she brought me Tim Tam's and Vegemite(it is good if you mix it with cream cheese).

Because I knew the sun would set as we started the part of the session where people would watch(yikes...not scary at all)...I arranged for sparklers and flashlights so that we could have some fun playing around. These are some of the images I created.

Much love to both Pobke and Robin ;) What a pleasure it was to play together.

~ Dana

First Session of the Year

I took this first image on New Year's Eve last year...this year the bride and groom were also my first session of the year(although not quite on New Year's for sure).

Seeing my families come back to me for milestone events truly means so very much to me. We snuggled inside on a cold winter day and wondered all about what the future held for this little guy. One things for certain....he is CURIOUS...he is a guy with his eyes WIDE OPEN ready to face the world. Love that. And, his hair...I know. It's kind of perfect.

This lovely mom is also my poster girl for my current sale...way back when she was pregnant. Seems like ages ago already ;)

I had already shared some of these on social media, but I figured it was time I shared them here.

~ Dana

A Favourite Series From 2014

I keep saying that I am going to share this series...look at me finally doing it ;) I was hired by one of my favourite families to document their grandmother's 90th birthday. The series of the candleblowing is one of my favourite series I've ever shot. There are probably 20 photos or more in total from the series, but I thought I'd share the highlights here today...but first...Granny great and one of the expressive kids who helped me get the amazing candle blowing series. Just to show you that I'm not all quirky documentary stuff. ;)

First, Granny Great blew out the candles with her kids and grand kids.

I love that she clapped for herself. She is such a character!

Then the great grandchildren were invited to help her blow out the candles. It went on for awhile ;)

Proof you can have your cake and eat it ;) In fact, if you are 90 years old, you get all the sweets you want!

Hoping to share some favourites from my archives more often.

~ Dana