the van der Bergs: family
March 21st, 2012 by sharaleep | No Comments »
i got to meet this family last year after doing an engagement session for joanna’s sister (only one of my favorite engagement sessions. ever.). i was so pleased when she contacted me about doing some pictures for their daughter who just turned one. she’s not walking yet, but boy could that girl move! she was pretty wary of me for the majority of the session, but i can tell you that she does like: 1. dogs 2. the wind 3.getting dirty and 4. her mom & dad.
music mondays: third edition
March 20th, 2012 by sharaleep | No Comments »
this week we’re coming at you with a throw back to my youth. picture me. fourth grade. working on a socials project with my best friend, stacey. i had a huge crush on a this boy named robbie who had those bangs that stuck up in front of the brim of his hat – you know what i’m talking about. we popped in this tape and recorded the timing so that we could rewind it to precisely the beginning of this song. over and over again. i think we listened to it 34 times in a row that day. you can understand why.
today was the first time i ever watched the video. my fourth grade self definitely didn’t sense the eastern european connection, but you know. i was young. song still gives me chills.
kevin & megan: married
March 16th, 2012 by sharaleep | 9 Comments »
family. a word with broad definition. a word that has incredible emotion attached to it. a word that cannot be summed up in one picture, or by one “make up”.
megan is part of a big, loving family. a mom, dad, 4 sisters and a brother. the driessens = a large family. megan has a baby. megan + dom = a little family. megan loses her mom which results in a large family with a big hole, yet still. a family. kevin comes along and asks if he can join the little family. with him, comes another large family that embraces the little family as if it were its own. and here we sit with one huge, beautiful family.
kevin and megan’s wedding day was full of life and remembrance and celebration of the hope that is their future together. now that is what i call family.
this fella got all up in our business and was pretty certain i wasn’t actually going to take a picture of him. he thought wrong.
The lovely wedding vendors:
Ceremony: Trinity Christian Reformed Church // Reception&Catering: Ramada Inn & Conference Centre // Bride’s boots: Hunter // Girls’ shoes: Aldo // Bride’s & Girls’ dresses: Champagne & Lace // Girls’ Hair: Transformations Hair Design // Girls’ Make-up: Chantelle Arends & Kelsea Tebrinke // Tuxes: Ronald Allan // Florist: vanDraager Nurseries // Wedding favors (cow candles): Wedding Star // Wedding sign: Love in Letters
music monday: second edition
March 12th, 2012 by sharaleep | 4 Comments »
for this instalment of music mondays, i would be remiss if i didn’t share my favorite band with you. you will likely see their names pop up again…they’re just that good.
my sister and i sang this at our eldest sister’s wedding as she walked down the aisle. not a dry eye in the place.
dedicated to my dear friends who were recently engaged (i know that’s kind of a cheesy dedication, but i’m excited, okay?!). i met with them about their wedding this morning and i gotta tell you, it’s going to off the hook. and i get to be there to document it all!! cutest ever? you tell me.
(picture from her sister hannah’s wedding)
alison & tim: engaged
March 8th, 2012 by sharaleep | 12 Comments »
to me, engagement pictures speak love. especially on the guy’s part. about 80% of the time (in my experience), the guy is less comfortable having his picture taken. they go along with it because it’s what their lady wants. most guys are okay on the wedding day, because it’s what they expect, but engagement pictures? “um, honey, you failed to mention that getting engaged meant we had to have our picture taken. more than once. on a weekend. when i would rather be fishing. or doing almost anything other than having to stand in front of a stranger in nice clothes in a field…smiling.”
so most of the time, i’m just really glad the guys show up. and usually once i mention that they’re going to get to cuddle up to their fiance and then i make fun of myself for using the word “cute” too often, they loosen up and we get great pictures. at any rate, i can tell these guys really love these girls just by their presence.
in this case, tim may have been feeling awkward, but he did a good job of hiding it. these two have been a couple for six years so they are really comfortable together. he and alison have such great chemistry and even put up with me making them traipse around a stranger’s farm in wintery cold conditions. don’t even get me started on the location…from the diversity in the pictures, it looks like we could have visited five different spots!
oh and p.s. these two could be models, could they not?
i’m delighted that i get to photograph your wedding in august – alison has a fun vision and great style, so you can bet it will be a beautiful one!
the barkmans: family
March 6th, 2012 by sharaleep | 4 Comments »
i met debbie last year at the old school market – she was looking for a photographer for the grand opening of her new art studio. this place is seriously amazing. an incredible environment for learning, creating…it’s beautiful. and debbie is a lovely woman, so kind and outgoing and great with the kids.
so it was my absolute privilege to take their family pictures, a first anniversary gift for their daughter and her husband. after a brief setback due to “movember”, we snagged a sunny but COLD february afternoon to document these four.
music mondays
March 5th, 2012 by sharaleep | 6 Comments »
i love music. i grew up surrounded by it. as a toddler, my parents led music and drama teams that traveled the world…i got to visit places like india and holland before i was even out of diapers. when we settled in at home, my mom taught piano lessons and us girls quickly followed suit, picking up instruments from the ukelele to the saxophone. we grew up listening to gospel on the record player and watching all the classic musicals, even getting to act in a few once i hit high school.
all that to say, i didn’t have much of a chance NOT to love music. and though i never lived out my secret ambition of playing in a band, i am still so inspired by those who write and create and bring the rest of us along with them on their musical journey.
my photography is also hugely inspired by music, so i thought i’d start a little weekly “segment” where i can share some music that i love in the hopes that it inspires you too!
to kick it off, i thought there was no better way to begin a monday than with a peppy little tune by this fellow i was first introduced to through a project he did with the st. james music academy.
enjoy!
now it’s your turn – what inspires you?
feed hungry people+win stuff= awesome
February 25th, 2012 by sharaleep | 1 Comment »
here’s the deal. i love abbotsford. we don’t technically live there anymore, but we both work there and that’s where our “community” is. there are a lot of people in that city that need help. the abbotsford food bank is serving those people and doing their best to bring hope into their lives by providing for some of their most basic needs. they offer more than just a hamper; some of their services include dental care, mentoring, a breakfast program and education about healthy eating habits. the food bank was hoping to reach their goal for covering the year’s expenses over the christmas season. that didn’t happen. so they are trying to raise it in a fun and innovative way.
enter the “No Show Family Fun Fest“. normally, charitable organizations hold annual galas and host dinners or dessert nights with live entertainment in conference halls or hotels (these are amazing events and i am by no means knocking them). you pay a sizeable ticket price to get in the door, most of which goes to cover the costs of putting on an event like that. usually, very little of that money actually makes it to the organization.
the food bank had the idea to host an event like that, but make it so that you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to enjoy it! you pay a ticket price ($20 which ALL goes to the food bank…even the website was donated by these amazing people) and get to enjoy entertainment while you browse silent auction items. there are tons of great prizes to be won in the auction: furniture, hotel stays, haircuts for the whole family, lunch with the mayor, a diamond ring, fine art and even a little something from me 🙂 not to mention the fact that when you log in and pay the entry fee, you automatically receive a raffle ticket and a chance to win a ton of other great prizes including two tickets anywhere westjet flies!! in addition to that, the people who buy the most raffle tickets will win other prizes (luggage, jewelry, etc.).
so just to reiterate: you give back to your community by supporting the food bank and helping those in need in our city. and not only do you get the warm fuzzy feelings that go along with helping others, you could also possibly be experiencing those warm and fuzzy feelings while lying on a beach in hawaii next christmas. can i get a what what? i thought so.
want to sweeten the deal? if you log in from this moment on, shoot me an e-mail to let me know you did and i’ll be giving away a free 30 minute session.
ok, go now! draws start march 1st!!
oh, the dutch: a story
February 23rd, 2012 by sharaleep | 5 Comments »
once upon a time there were two dutch boys. they both met non-dutch girls in college and married them on august 7, 1999 on opposite ends of canada. 12 and a half years later they, with the support of the motherland, decided to celebrate their “halfway to 25 anniversary” together (it’s the real deal. just ask yahoo).
having never been to a 12 and a half year anniversary and having no idea how to actually celebrate one, they did what any good dutchman would do: hired a square dance caller. his name was jerry and in his own words, all he needed was an outlet. he came with his own sound system and a 100 foot extension cord. and a license plate cover that said “i’d rather be square dancing”. and a cute little wife who he called on to demonstrate anytime the guests couldn’t quite understand the steps (which was about every two minutes).
and there was food and drink (too much, in fact), family and friends (the best kind) and a little hall in the middle of the woods (complete with a windy road, light fog and possibly a sasquatch or two).
and so the dutch boys and their non-dutch wives danced the night away, feeling kind of like the years had passed in a blink, forgetting for a moment that their were sleeping children and weary babysitters awaiting their return home (and forgetting they would be waking up with those sleeping children at the crack of dawn the next morning).
thank you to all our friends who braved the trek into the wilderness and sorry to those who got lost along the way. what a fun night!
love day
February 15th, 2012 by sharaleep | 5 Comments »
as i get older, i feel like i’m becoming more flexible, but sometimes the reality is quite the opposite. thankfully last night, as our plan was turned on its head and the evening had the potential to leave me wallowing, i just said “no. let’s pump up this blood sugar of mine and go where the wind takes us”.
and that we did. from a stop for coffee and chocolate to a walk along the river in fort langley and a stone cold steve austin spotting. there was a trip to the toy store to buy jojo’s best friend a birthday gift (we were strictly instructed as to what she would want. yes, i said she) and left the sea of pink baffled by the mini skirt wearing “i wanna be a doctor” barbie. once my blood sugar started to dip again, we headed to the most romantic international dining destination. a place that also conveniently sells cork trivets, which we bought to replace the ones at my mom’s that now bear the distinct teeth marks of our youngest. we considered a movie but when we discovered our only option would be a horror starring harry potter, we went for the win and washed down old people pills with a peanut butter chocolate shake while looking into our future which was sitting two booths away.
done and done. throw whatever you like at me world, cause i’m flexible!! until tomorrow…
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