May 5th = Roksana & Greg Wedding Day

It's a small world.  In 1976, my family moved to Pembroke and moved to Cecille Street.  There were lots of kids in the neighbourhood and met some of my good childhood friends on this street including Greg. We went through junior grades together but different high schools later on but as life happens, we lost touch.

Flash forward 20+ years and I was working on a project in Kingston and while having breakfast a gentleman in uniform stops and asks, "Barbara? Barbara Kato?"  I look up and didn't recongize him at first then realized it was my childhood friend Greg...all grown up.  We started to keep in touch and a number of months ago, he told me that he met a wonderful woman and they were getting married and wanted me to do the wedding photos.  No way I was going to miss this special event.

I got to meet the Bride-to-Be, Roksana and right away thought she was a spectacular person and a great match for Greg.

May 5th, came and with the help of fellow photographer John Rathwell, we captured all the special moments of this wonderful couple's wedding day.

Wishing this couple all the happiness in the world and thank you for letting me part of this day!

Waiting for Baby Keegan

This was a great photo session for me.  10 years ago, a very young Natasha and I (slighlty older!) started working at the same company, in the same department, 1 day apart from each other. Flash forward 10 years, Natasha and I are still at the same company but in different deparment.

When Natasha and I started working together, she was dating Darren.  A few years ago, this wonderful couple was married and now Natasha and her husband are expecting the arrival of Baby Keegan.

After a few false starts due to cold, wet weather, we finally got together at Andrew Hayden Park to take some baby bump photos.  I was thrilled to be part of the special time for Natasha and Darren and can't wait to see Baby Keegan

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April 7th = Meiko and Ryan's Wedding Day

I was working with John Rathwell Photography and got to help photograph Meiko and Ryan's wedding day.  I started photographing Ryan and his boys at the Brookstreet Hotel and had a lot of fun with these good looking gentlemen.  We then moved to the wedding venue where I got to spend some time with beautiful Meiko and her ladies. 

Meiko and Ryan....congratulations.  Thank you for letting me be part of capturing your special day.

Woof!

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Gilbert Family.  This is Dallas.  With a face like this....I'm sure Dallas get's away with alot.  I know, I wasn't able to resist him!

Teetu

Everybody...this is Teetu.  A beautiful Husky that belongs to my nephew. I did these photos back in the beginning of November but I couldn't post them because these photos were a Christmas gift for my nephew from his Mom.  Teetu was so much fun to photograph and he loved to pose for me.  I'm glad Teetu's Dad loved the photos.

Going to the Dogs...and the Cats...and the Pig?

With the festive season almost here, it's only right that Fluffy, Fido and Einstein the Pig get their photo's taken with Santa.  The SPCA in Chelsea had their Open House which allowed our furry friends to tell Santa what they would like for Christmas.  We had lots of dogs, a couple of cat's and one special visitor....Einstein the Pig.

My photo instructor, Harry Nowell, http://www.harrynowell.com/ volunteers to take photos and open's up this opportunity to one of his students.  I jumped at the chance to do this.  I believe I put my name in for this over a year ago when I signed up for the ProProgram Course.

Most of the pet's coming in to get their photo taken, adopted their new families at the SPCA in Chelsea.  The volunteers here are the most wonderful, amazing people and I was thrilled to be part of this special day.  The Open House and Photo's With Santa raised about $2000.00. I know all the animals that have passed through this shelter say Thank You.  Woof!  Meow!  Oink!

Here are a few photos of this wonderful day.

Fluffy here was all decked out for it's photo with Santa.  It came in with bells on!



How cute am I?



Our beloved Maxwell, passed away almost 4 years and I have been trying to get my husband to agree on adopting another dog but I haven't had any luck.  This little guy was looking for a new home so I took him to Santa, took his photo and was hoping to show this little face to my husband and maybe adopt him.  No luck but I think he's starting to think about it.  Fingers crossed.

This handsome fellow with Santa is Biscuit.

Einstein The Pig made me laugh.  I've never been near a real pig before.  Einstein was so cute with his top hat and coat.

Smile for the camera Einstein.

Let's Dance - Part 2

This photo session was a little warmer than the one we did with the first set of dance instructors from Dance With Alana.  http://www.dancewithalana.com/ (see Let's Dance on earlier blog)  Lou Truss, http://www.loutrussphotography.com/ was my partner in crime for this photo session.  We got to photograph some amazing dancers.  Hope you enjoy some of the photos from our session.  Thanks again to all the dancers!

More Dancing Fun - Sneak Peak

Back in October I had an amazing photo session with some dance instructors from Dance With Alana. http://www.dancewithalana.com/  We had so much fun, we decided to do it again.  My partner in crime for this shoot was Lou Truss.  http://www.loutrussphotography.ca/   Here are a few of the shots I took.  Stay tuned for more photos!

Let's Dance!!

On a beautiful, slightly cool October day, I had a the opportunity to photograph some wonderful dancers from a local dance school in Ottawa, Dance With Alana.  http://www.dancewithalana.com/  With the help of two of my photography friends, Lou and Hagen, we had a blast working with Caroline, Rafeek, Joseé and Ben Jammin.

Enjoy!

Jackie & Adam

On a beautiful, sunny October day, Jackie and Adam allowed me to share in their special day and photograph my very first solo wedding.  It was an amazing opportunity and I had such a wonderful experience working with this couple and their wonderful family and friends.

Here is a video of some the photos from their special day.  Congratulations Jackie and Adam.  Wishing you all the best in this new adventure in your lives.

Sneak Peak - Dancing in Ottawa

Here is a sneak peak of some amazing dancers we had the opportunity to photograph today.  We started and 1:00PM and stopped at 5:30PM and really only stopped because the sun was starting to go down.  Thanks so much to the wonderful dancers and to my photo partners, Lou and Hagen...thanks for helping make this such a great day.

Ben Jammin

Joseé

Caroline

Salsa Dancing

Night Lights Workshop - Day Two

Mother Nature wasn't happy on Saturday for Day Two of my Night Lights Workshop with Harry Nowell.  http://www.harrynowell.com/  The wind was howling and the rain was pouring but we were a hardy bunch and we didn't let it cut our night short.  We had our heavy coats, hats and mitts so we were all set.

I picked this because of the "starburst" effect coming off the street lamp.  Thanks for the tip Harry!

Having some with blur.  Love the reflection on the road and the Chateau Laurier in the back.  My "starburst" effect is back.



This statue was on the University of Ottawa campus.



Wanted to try something different.  Put this on a slow shutter speed and zoomed in and out slowly.  Kinda cool.

Night Lights Workshop - Night One

On Friday, October 14th, I particiapted in the Night Lights Photo Workshop with Harry Nowell http://www.harrynowell.com/   The course is designed to teach new photo techniques at night and I must say, this the most fun I've ever had in a photo workshop.  Some of the techniques were so much to learn and develop.  Below are a few pictures I took last night using some of the new techniques.



Our first assignment was to pick one location and photograph it over the course of a 1/2 hour.  Taken at 6:37PM 




Taken at 6:41 PM




Taken at 6:47 PM



Taken at 6:57 PM

Using a flashlight to highligh the building. I love the sky.  No editing involved.

This exercise we were painting the statue with light.  I highlighted the left side of the statue.  The tree and the sky really add to the picture.  Again, no editing.

In Ottawa, there is a company that does Ghost Walks.  They tell people the local Ottawa ghost stories.  Very rarely to you actually see one, but last night while photographing in The Courtyard downtown, my camera picked up a ghostly image.   That image is actually me using my external flash.  I think it's pretty cool.