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The question of whether or not to change your name is always one that brides ask themselves. After giving this some thought I have decided that I will change mine, so I will be Christina Kaye in the near future and I might change the name of my website. I’m looking at ckphotos or chriskayephotography or some variation of that. I will let you know when this happens. It won’t be in the next couple of months.
We are also looking to buy a place just North of the city that will hold my studio and also have a workshop for John. I don’t want to lose you, my clients, so we won’t be going too far. We both have work to do on our houses before that happens, so in the meantime, my studio will remain at 86 Taunus Dr.
Here are a few images from our wedding.
It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over! July has been a whirlwind for John and I. We spent a lot of time getting the cabin ready for our wedding and planning our special day. Right after that, we spent 11 amazing days in Newfoundland and then I spent a week in Calgary with my grandson.
Now here we are, at the end of August, with fall coming along very soon.
Fall is the perfect time to update your family portrait. The days are cooler and the colours of the trees make an amazing backdrop. The best time of day for doing your family picture is at the end of the day about an hour or 2 before sunset. Sunset is around 6:30 or 7:00 pm in Oct, therefore the best time for your family session is around 5:00. Mornings around 9:30 or 10:00 is also an option but mornings tend to be quite cool in Oct.
We can, of course do sessions at other times if your schedule won’t accommodate those times.
I am usually at Victoria Beach on the weekends, which is so beautiful in the fall. I would be happy to do your session there. Let me know if that is an option for you.
I will stay in the city for the weekend of Sept. 22nd, so let me know if that weekend works for you.
I am going to waive the session fee for the first 4 families that book a family session in the fall. So don’t delay booking your session. I will need a $50 deposit to secure your session. You can use that deposit towards your purchase of prints after the session. Regular session fees are $80, so it is quite a savings!
People often ask me which camera to buy. There is no easy answer to that question because there are a lot of factors to consider; like what you plan on using it for, what your budget is and how much knowledge you have about photography. The short answer is that the best camera to use is the one you have with you. I would look at a site such as this one https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369450,00.asp to see what the experts think. I have a couple of Canon SLRs but I also have the Canon G5X, which is a point and shoot camera that also shoots in RAW. I use my iPhone for a lot of pictures and it really is amazing. I don't think smart phones will ever replace SLRs or mirrorless cameras but they have improved dramatically in recent years. These are images that I took with my iPhone 6Plus. I took this first one at Victoria Beach. I had my SLR with me but I had a dead battery and I also had my G5X with me but no cards, so I used my iPhone to capture this amazing scene. I edited the image with Snapseed and only used Photoshop to change the DPI to 300. I blew this up to 24x36 and it looks amazing!I took this one while walking on a trail in Newfoundland. Again, it was the only camera I had with me and again I only used Photoshop to change the DPI to 300.
So take a lot of pictures, using whatever you have with you, use editing software and print the ones you like best. My favourite software for my phone is Snapseed. It does pretty much anything! Have fun and let me know if you need any help.
I recently came across this poem by Spike Milligan and wanted to share it with you today.
Yours in Photography,
Christina
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Here are some of the stats in the report:
138 posts in 2013
728 posts in total
743 photographs uploaded!
Click on the link above to see the full report!
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“Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive”
(according to wikipedia)
I sometimes wonder if it is our basic human nature to complain and have negative thoughts. I know that it’s hard not to. Sometimes it takes more effort to remain positive, especially when life sends us lemons. There are many books on this subject and I don’t plan to get into it here, except to say that I try to live my life by the Law of Attraction(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction). I believe that what I put out there (into the world) comes back to me. If I put out negativity, I will get negativity back. I think the things we read and watch also influence our world and so I do not watch the news or read articles about crime in the newspaper. There is no need to. And if the Apocalypse does come, someone will tell me and I will find a way to get to my friend Andrea’s house, who is prepared for it.
There is a lot of goodness in the world and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to think about the good things in our lives. I have so many and want to share a few:
First, I found a couple of quotes that rang true for me.
Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.
And with winter coming and with it the brutal temperatures and wind and cold and icy roads and snow. But in the meantime, we have had October and it has been glorious!
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
So my main list goes something like this:
I am so very thankful for:
Those are the big things but there are a million other things that I am grateful for:
I could probably go on but you get the idea.
Be grateful. Spread the positive. Give someone a hug today or say a kind word to a stranger.
Be Positive and be Grateful.
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Christmas Gift Ideas
Do you enjoy shopping in the malls at Christmas? I don’t. I am not patient waiting in lines or battling crowds of people. I won’t be one of the shoppers at the new Ikea store the week that it opens. I’m excited for Ikea coming to Winnipeg and am looking forward to my first shopping trip there, but I’ll wait a couple of weeks and then avoid the weekend crowds.
Lately, my favorite way to shop is online. Just this last weekend, with the Black Friday sales, I bought: a hoodie, a jacket and boots for my dog, boots for me, a clamp for my flash and a beautiful top online. It was so easy and quick. I know that if I want to return any of these items I can and it will be a bit of a pain to mail them back, but in the end, I think I saved time and money and it was FUN! And after I made the first purchase at one store, I got free shipping for the next purchase!!
Why am I telling you this?
I have some gift ideas to share with you that you don’t even need to leave your house to purchase. Sound good? Well here they are:
Why not get that special someone the gift of a photography session? And to make the deal sweeter, I am offering anyone who purchases a gift certificate for someone else, a session for themselves at half price. In other words, you pay the regular price for the gift certificate session and then you can come for your own session and have it for half price! Or why not buy 2 gift certificates and get the second one at half price?
You can purchase a gift certificate for any amount that you like. A session fee is $125 (plus tax) and you can always add onto that to enable the receiver to also get some prints of digital images. If that amount is too much, make it for less, or go together with someone else. It’s a gift will be appreciated. If you want to make it more special, you can always buy a frame, put the gift certificate into the frame and wrap that! Then later, the frame can be used for a photo from the session.
Did you know that there is a large variety of merchandise available on SmugMug, my website host? There are t-shirts, aprons, fridge magnets, photo playing cards, photo puzzles, mugs etc, etc. You can have your own image mounted right on an item and have it delivered to your door. How easy is that? Perfect stocking stuffers for that special person on your list!
Here are some of the items. Please note that these are not my images but are from the Smugmug website.
The Coupon
I saved the best part for last.
Did any of you watch Oprah’s Favorite Things this year? I watched it last night and it brought tears to my eyes. This year Oprah decided to honour military families and give her favorite things to the wives (and one husband) of soldiers that are deployed overseas. I can’t do what Oprah does and give things away but my favorite things are photos. Preserving our family memories is so hugely important and I love being a part of that.
So to make it easier on your pocketbook, I am offering a coupon that will save you 20% off any purchase on my website. The code is CMPHOTO. It is valid until Dec. 23rd.
It is valid on merchandise, digital downloads and prints. Don’t delay. I’m excited to offer you this special.
If you have a gallery that is no longer listed, but you would like to order something from it, just send me an email and I can relist it.
And Finally
Gratitude: Something that I think a lot of us forget about. I am grateful for so many things: for all the interesting people who I meet, for the way in which I smile when I am editing your photos even though nobody is around. For my dog, who is always there for hugs and cuddles, for the way in which I have managed to have a second career that I Iove. For all of my friends who are so precious to me and for my family who I can always count on. For good health (being sick in the last 2 weeks made me realize how important that is) and of course for red wine and chocolate.
I love this image. No, it isn’t mine, but it’s precious and so funny!
Yours in Photography,
Christina
I’ve been thinking of trying a new look to my website and blog for a while but never got around to making any changes until yesterday. Right now, I’m loving it. What do you think?
For a limited time, I’m bringing back the Refer a Friend program. It’s a “win-win” deal. All you have to do is refer a friend to me. You and your friend win because you both get a $59 credit that you can use for your session fee, digital images or prints. I win because I get new clients!
What have you got to lose? Isn’t it time to update those family pictures anyway?
There was a fire on Springfield Rd yesterday. I went over to Kilcona with my dog and got some shots of the smoke. This first image is actually 3 photos stitched together in Photoshop.