Sweet little Spolie was born the day after Christmas and was my first newborn of 2010.  This is also my first sneak peek in a long time, as most of my blog posts are coming long after the galleries have been seen.

Sophie’s momma received a gift certificate from her sister for Christmas, and she made her appearance the very next day.  Coincidence?  I think Sophie was just excited for her first session in front of the camera.  I would swear at times that she was posing for me. 

At four weeks old, Sophie was a dream to photograph.  She was pleasant while she was awake, and easily drifted off to sleep when the time was right (and when the temperature in my house went up to 25 degrees!)  I just loved her pouty little lips and her bright blue eyes, and she seemed to be right at home on my brand new, never been used beanbag.

It has been almost two years since I first met Carol Ann.  She had contacted me wanting a maternity session, and was living in St. John’s at the time.  I was travelling to Florida for my brother’s wedding and literally got off the plane and met up with her and her hubby for their session.  A short while after that we met again to photograph Jack as a baby.  When she contacted me earlier this year to plan this session, I was instantly intrigued.  With her husband away for training, she wanted to surprise him halfway through with photos of her and Jack.  I was instantly touched by this beautiful idea, and could not wait to hear about his reaction.  We planned this session for December as it was hoped that there would be some snow on the ground.  We actually carried this session over two days, as the first day we got perhaps a little too much snow, and I am not sure Jack was too happy about the millions of flakes that continued to fall down upon him.  The next day the snow was still around, but no longer falling and the temperatures were very agreeable, allowing Jack to have lots of fun with his mommy in the snow.

Speaking of snow, there are still a couple of availalbe sessions for next weeks Winter mini sessions.  Scroll down through the last couple of blog posts to see the details.  These sessions are an incredible value and will only be offered on a limited basis.

Just a quick entry with a photo taken from our only sliding excursion of the season, while we still had snow (even if it was just barely covering the ground).  I am thankful for the beautiful “Spring” day we had today, but would like to see at least some snow so that my kiddies can have some more winter fun.  Poor William hasn’t gone sliding yet as he was not feeling well on this day.

Winter is one of my four favourite seasons of the year.  Oh wait, there are only 4 seasons in a year.  Well, I guess you could say I love seasons, and winter is no exception.  To celebrate the New Year, and to welcome winter (hopefully we will see more snow soon)  I am happy to offer for one day only, winter mini sessions.

These sessions will be held on February 6 2010.   They will last about 15 minutes and you will receive 5-10 proofs in an online gallery.  Included in your mini session is your choice of 2 options: 

• 1 11×14 print (unmounted)
• 2 8×10 prints
• 2 5×7 prints
• 8 wallets

OR

• 1 5×7 spiral bound book with 5-10 bordered session prints, and a custom designed cover.

The fee for these mini sessions is $125 and is due at the time of booking. 

You may also choose both option 1 and option 2 for $225.

The alternate date for these sessions, in the event of poor weather is Feb. 20th.

For further information, or to book one of these limited sessions, please email me at:  dawn.oldford@nf.sympatico.ca  You will be notified of the location and your session time upon booking.

Please note, other special offers/coupon can not be combined with mini session.  If, for some reason, you have to cancel your mini session, you will be given a credit toward a future sesion or mini session.

And because I can not post without a photo…. this is from one of first sessions of 2010, where we were able to get outdoors for some winter fun.  I will also continue to update with sessions from 2009/2010, so if you haven’t seen your blog post yet, I promise it is coming.

Going back in time again to post a session from my trip in to the big city before Christmas.  The due date is drawing near for this baby boy, and I am sure big brother is getting very excited.  It was a litle chilly on this day, but we still mananged to get a few quick photos outdoors.  I find that I am really enjoying doing maternity photos outdoors, in addition to in the home, even during frosty winter weather.

I am about two months late in capturing Philip as a two year old, but I grabbed my camera on my way out to play with him this morning in the hopes that I would capture a few moments of him being himself.  I already attempted this once during Christmas while the kids were all decorating their gingerbread house.  I grabbed the camera in hopes i would catch Philip unaware.  Well, I am not sure that is possible with a large SLR in your hands, to go unnoticed that is, and as soon as he saw me he started yelling, “no take picture me mommy…. I mack you” .  Note that mack is not a typo, but smack in his two year old english.  And when I didn’t put down the camera, smack me he did.

Today he started to protest his picture being taken again, but I did what any good mother would do in that situation….. I promised him candy!

When I first got an inquiry for Renee and Adam’s wedding I was excited for two reasons.  First of all, I had once before driven through Laurenceton and knew what a beautiful community it was, and secondly, since I didn’t have any winter weddings booked for this year, I thought that there might be the possibility of some snow.  Although that makes for a cold photo shoot for the bride and bridesmaids, the scenery would be lovely.  To my surprise, when the morning of November 28th arrived I was very grateful that the temperature was forecast to go up to 14 degrees celsius.  It was a beautiful day, warmer than some of my summer weddings in fact.  The light was also gorgeous that day.  Renee could not have asked for   better weather that November afternoon.  Renee and Adam had started dating one year ago to the day of their wedding and the love they share for each other and their families was evident.  Their ceremony was beautiful, and this was one of those weddings where I found myself tearing up along with the family members.

Before the holidays began I had the pleasure of photographing baby Rylan as well as his big brother and sister.  I have photographed this family since big brother Nolan was all on his own, and have enjoyed watching this family grow.   I hope the sleepless nights don’t last too long for his momma!  Although I wouldn’t wish away the days when they are so tiny and precious…. they grow so quickly right before our eyes.

I have a student who I teach at school who has a wealth of knowledge about nature, wildlife and especially.  We get to talk about his hobby quite often, and Travis has been giving me tips for how to photograph  these feathered beauties.  He spends hours osberving, photographing and learning about all species of birds.  His photographs are quite lovely as well.  On a number of occasions he has carted his binder full of captures to show myself and some of the other teachers. 

As I was walking through the Corduroy Brook Nature Trail during Christmas with my family, I heard the call of this little guy, observed some seed that another trail user had left for the birds, and waited for him/her to land.  He/she was quite skittish, as I am told that birds need time to get use to your presence, and I was clearly an intruder, but for my first try, I am pretty pleased.  Now as soon as Travis reads this post, I can identify the species and perhaps the gender.  I still have a lot to learn about that sort of thing.

I hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful Christmas season.  After a week of pure relaxation I am popping back in to continue blogging sessions from before Christmas.

Casey’s mom and dad came to my home for her session.  Without batting an eyelash they entered into renovation chaos.  The few days prior to their session was spent watching my father and father in law lay hardwood floor and paint our family room, and when they arrived, my father in law was literally with paint brush in hand painting the baseboards.  And since that was the room with the best light (now that we were rid of the old dark blue carpet) I ushered him out so that we could have our session.  Thank you guys for your patience that day!

Two month old Casey was absoultely adorable and so pleasant.  Her momma brought along a few accessories and the cutest that I believe she purchased on etsy.com.  Casey didn’t even seem to mind her wardrobe changes, and was the perfect little model throughout the shoot.