New Exciting Products for 2021

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I’m so excited to share with you some gorgeous new products for 2021! The goal of these products are to help you display in print your beautiful photos in a practical, yet impactful way. Having your gorgeous photos in print is essential. There is little joy and appreciation that comes from a disk or USB stick with some digital files on them that get stuck in a drawer somewhere - likely to get lost of corrupted over time.

1.Premium Wood Window Folio Box

The first new product is the premium wood window folio box. It holds between 20 and 30 8X10 prints with premium 11X14 mats. This is important because the mats are of sufficient quality to allow you do display the photos without a frame and not have them warp or have the prints slip inside of the mats - which typically happens with standard matted photos. Mat colors come in white, cream and black.

These premium Walnut boxes are constructed using the finest materials. The base is made from MDF and is then veneered in American Walnut which is sourced from the Appalachian mountains – the best walnut growing district in the world. It's the same material that has been used for furniture in the Louvre, Palais de Versailles and Buckingham Palace! The box features a crystal clear tempered glass window in which your favourite image can be displayed. The crystal clear nature of the glass will ensure your work is always seen at is very best. Because it is tempered glass, it is extremely tough and durable. The beautifully crafted wooden box has a luxurious soft touch material on the interior and the gunmetal hinges are both practical and stylish.

It comes in 3 colors: black, white and walnut.

2. Premium Colors Photo Box

The second new product offering is a premium colored photo box. It is 8X10 in dimension and can hold 20 beautifully matted 5X7 prints. Like the premium wood window folio box, I use premium mats that lock the prints into place and are rigid enough to be used to display the prints.

The box is covered in a luxurious soft touch faux leather type material that comes in six beautiful colors. The interior is covered with a plush velvet. The Black and Red boxes have a black velvet interior. All other boxes have an ivory velvet interior. (Upgrade options: 30 matted 5X7 prints, 20 or 30 8X10 matted prints)

3. Diamond 5 Mat Folio Box

This 8X10 box is designed with a lift off lid and holds 5 matted 5X7 prints using the same premium mats as the previous products. It's covered in a classically designed diamond pattern with a very light sheen. The interior of the box is beautifully finished in a plush black velvet. The box itself can be used to display the matted photos. (Upgrade options: 10 matted 5X7 prints, Five 8X10 matted prints)

4. Folio Art Frame

This frame is the perfect compliment to any of the 3 folio boxes described above and allows you to display your matted photos easily and with style.

The base of the frame is made from a piano black acrylic as is the back panel of the frame. The front panel is made from a clear acrylic and there are 4 silver magnets, one in each corner which holds the panels securely together. The magnetic system makes it super quick and easy to change the image inside. The frame can be easily rotated to display in both landscape and portrait orientations. The frame itself comes in a beautiful box covered in a classically designed diamond pattern with a very light sheen. The interior of the box is beautifully finished in a plush black velvet. (options: 5X7 or 8X10 matted prints)

Winter Portraits

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When it comes to portraits, whether family, kids, or even high school seniors, many don’t consider the winter outdoors for their photos. This is a beautiful season to get beautiful photos for your walls.

Contrasting colors and earth tones work great against the snow and can add that color pop that can be more difficult to achieve in other seasons. As well, the reflected light off of the snow can bring a much needed fill light to remove the often unpleasant shadows on the face that occur without additional lighting.

Then of course, there is the “fun” aspect that snow can bring out of you… from all of the fun accessories like hats, scarves, hoods, sleds… and yes, even snow. All of this contributes to an infusion of joy in winter photography - something that l love to have my photos communicate.

Here is a short montage of some recent family photos in the wonderful winter outdoors.

3 Things to Spice Up a Photoshoot

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Without a doubt, there are a few things that can really spark creativity in a photoshoot - Location, Clothing, and Lighting. For Grace’s Class of 2020 senior photo session, we had all three going and it was a blast. Although it’s often doable taking photos with only natural light, that light needs to be pretty darn perfect to get good results. I love incorporating my lights into almost every photo session because it allows for so much more diversity and creativity, not to mention just getting the right amount of light in the right places.

With Grace, we shot both indoors and outdoors with a different outfit for each. She was awesome and wasn’t afraid to ham it up when necessary. It was a wonderful afternoon playing with poses and light. Here are a few highlights.

The High School Senior

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I have to admit, coming from Canada where the senior photo shoot is not a tradition, I have come to love this one! It gives the high school senior an opportunity to have captured the essence of who they have become after their many formative years of learning, experiences, successes, failure, discovery, and development - all culminating in this this very important year of the high school senior. Photographs have a unique way of capturing all of this. This is why I always take time to talk with the high school senior and the parents to figure out how they want to capture and celebrate all of this though photographs. It takes some thought and planning to pull it all off and I love being part of the consultation process. Everyone has a unique story to tell and a self to portray.

Ben was no exception. After some thinking and discussion, he decided that his passion for aviation would be central to his story. While natural light photography is beautiful, sometimes certain ideas, contexts, weather and available light require a solid handle on using off-camera lighting to pull everything together. Ben’s idea was one of those times and I was thrilled to be able to deliver on that. When we arrived at the airport, it was quite windy. Thankfully, mom was there and was more than willing to help out with the lighting, keeping it from going airborne in the wind! It’s great when family or friends attend a photo shoot. They can serve a variety of very important purposes, from helping with lighting (as in this case), providing emotional support, smiles and laughter, and even being in some of the photos just for the fun of it!

So, don’t limit your ideas. Sports? Pets? Music? Adventure? Fantasy? Here’s to a great senior year and new adventures!

Here are a few highlights from Ben’s senior photo shoot.

Inaugural Post

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Welcome to the inaugural post of my photography blog. I hope to share many posts dealing with lots of photography topics of interest to you, the client. There is so much misinformation and poor quality information out there that it can make it difficult to navigate all of the photography services available to you. My goal is always to provide a high quality photo session experience and photography products that will commemorate your special moments and special people (and pets!) for a lifetime. I also always encourage clients to invest in wall art of some type to serve as home decor. When you have beautiful moments that get captured, they deserves to be displayed on your walls, not sitting on a computer somewhere never to be printed or displayed. I make the extra effort in photographing and editing to ensure that your moments have high visual appeal and interest.

I love a challenge. Do you have a unique interest, sport, hobby, passion,..? Do you have a unique location in mind? Do you want something produced that adds a fantastical element that otherwise couldn’t be incorporated? These are all reasons to use a professional photographer to take these moments from concept to art in your home.

Whether it’s a band that wants a photo captured in a dingy basement with that grunge look…

or the dancer who wants to make a statement…

Or the high school senior who is ready to spread his wings and fly…

Or, even if it is simply a family photo taken right in your own home… you can feel confident that together we can make it happen.

Here’s to capturing the special moments in our lives!

Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.
— Matt Hardy