On June 25th, Beans was still in Toronto working on leg #2 of the CA exams, and I wasn't a huge fan of not being around for his birthday...so we postponed it.

June 25th came on June 29th this year lol, and started off right with some banana nut pancakes. After that, I told him that we kinda sorta had plans for the afternoon. Oh, and his best friends were kinda sorta in on it.

You see, a couple months ago, I signed the three musketeers up for an afternoon at Calabogie Motor Sports. The guy on the phone ensured me it would be a hit gift. "Dude's gonna love it," he said.

So with fingers crossed, not knowing at all what they should expect, the boys and I drove into the boonies...

And I'm happy to report, it was pretty freakin' cool.

They boys spent 15 minutes in the classroom going over the course, including how to pass each other, what turns were sketchy, when to go from 3rd gear to 4th... I sat in on the course just to hear about what they'd be doing. All I could think was...THANK GODDDD I didn't sign up for this.

So I give you...the course of death:

Our leader, Glen, fit each of the boys into their cars...

And I made each of them show me their patented race face.

My fave, obviously... the birthday boy ♥

Oh, and did I mention I got to ride shotgun? Glen let me ride with him, so I had the BEST view of all 3 cars for the entire race. I also got to hear Glen's commentary on each of the drivers.

He would ask me things like "what's the dynamic between these guys, who busts each other's balls the most?" and we used my knowledge of their personalities to push their speeds to the limit.

I think they had a good time...

They told me they weren't very serious people. I took it with a grain of salt, thinking that as soon as I'd put up my camera, they'd start to freeze up just a tad, feel awkward, and eventually...get serious.

I hoped it wasn't true, but like I said, I took their response with a grain of salt. 

But then this magical thing happened...I put up my camera, and they thrived on it. Their laughter didn't stop for more than a minute during our session. I don't think I needed to say "closer! closer!" even once...

If anything, they became MORE into each other, and more like kids running around at recess. 

I loved every. single. second.

It was the longest session I've ever had (truth), and yet I couldn't seem to get enough of Liz and Zach.

So I'm going to start off by saying, Zach...where's the beach?

Hahaha YES...this was our take on bad family photos.

Liz and Zach's friends had some champagne made up for their engagement party! Way too adorable that they brought some to their engagement shoot :)

Aaaand their true colours are revealed once more...

Liz, Zach...thank you for being wonderful, amazing, fun-loving clients. I adore you to pieces, and I hope you look at these photos and think "oh my god...that is SO us."

The Mac makes me slightly uncomfortable.

It has so much power (compared to my crappy $300 laptop), that if I sit near it and don't do anything productive, I feel guilty. 

It is because of this, that I view this lovely, gorgeous Mac as the holy grail of hard work. Whenever I sit near it, I get the urge to cross a bazillion things off my to-do list, and somehow the hours pass by like minutes.

Today I sat at the Mac and transferred the next 6 episodes of LOST onto the memory card, so that I could bring them downstairs and watch them on the big screen for the rest of the evening. Those 6 episodes needed approximately 9 minutes to transfer. 

So I decided to make myself useful for 9 minutes. 

That was precisely 4 and a half hours ago. 

Like I said, the holy grail of hard work. 

Somehow 4 and a half hours slipped through my fingers, all while I was diligently typing out countless blog entries, answering emails that needed complicated answers, and moving things from my desktop into their proper folders. Yes, it feels freakin' amazing that all of that work is now behind me, but part of me wishes I was 6 episodes further into LOST Season 4 (obviously so I could find out if Daniel really is a good guy, and wait for Juliette to die a slow, painful death). 

But what can I say, the Mac is a force to be reckoned with, and I am leaving the den tonight the way I usually do... 

One of the very first things I read on the day I started my business, was that there are only so many different types of cameras. There are only so many lenses, or places to order your business cards from, or ways to pose two people in love.

I learned early on that you can't base your business off what type of gear you use and how much you paid for it. Nor can you base your business off the award winning photos you've submitted, or the workshops you've attended. 

It has to be something bigger than that...

It has to come down to the reason WHY you do what you do, and for me, this comes down to two things.

My brother's wedding, and my Beans.

I'm going to flash back to seven years ago...June 25th, 2005. It was the hottest day I think I've ever encountered (yes, even after last week!), but also one of the happiest. My brother was FINALLY getting married to his perfect match, after something like NINE YEARS of dating. 

I was just a little nugget at the time, but I remember their wedding like it was yesterday. It was a loooong day filled with amazing memories, from the time we woke up, until the very last dance. 

The only downer, was that their photographer had us doing formal shots for close to 2 hours, in the bright sun, in the scorching heat. It was painful. It was very "Okay now let's add so-and-so. Smile! Now let's remove so-and-so. Smile! Okay now let's have you and so-and-so switch sides. SMILE!"

Those two hours were the least enjoyable two hours of the wedding day, and yet...those formal photos were close to 75% of what Scott and Rebecca received after their wedding day.

When I close my eyes and think of what their wedding day looked like, it looks absolutely nothing like their photos. 

Oh yeah, and did I mention they received their photos in 4x6 PRINTS?!?! Which means anytime they wanted to share a photo they had to scan it, further reducing its quality... Just stop me before this turns into a full on rant about 4x6 prints.

Now, onto my second thing. My Beans.

He's a very happy person as long as he's well-fed, and no one is pointing a camera at him. 

During our six years together, I became quite skilled at the art of candid photographs because, well...I needed to:

This deep-rooted-photo-hatred became the norm. My default. Unless otherwise told, I believed that every male hated having his photo taken, and would rather be doing ANYTHING else, even if the alternative was something gross or painful.

Now, if you combine my experience at Scott and Rebecca's wedding with my life with Mr. Don't-Take-My-Picture, you'll get a pretty good idea of what the foundation of my business is:

Beautiful photographs, 100% pain free.

And so, I created a business that centres around happy brides and grooms, who actually get to EAT their hors d'oeuvres and DRINK the cocktails at their cocktail hour. Brides and grooms who end up with photographs that reflect what actually went down on their wedding day, from beginning to end.

And because this day marks Scott and Rebecca's 7th wedding anniversary and Beans' 23rd birthday, I figured it was only fair to thank them for their contributions to my business (since they already know how much they have contributed to my life in every other way).  

Happy Anniversary you crazy kids <3 

And happy Birthday, Beans. There are simply no words to say 

how much I truly love you. And your camera faces.

1. Aubrey Plaza.Can't handle how much I enjoy this person... Ever since I saw her interview on Chelsea Lately, I've been youtubing her like crazy!

Also [and this is more of a mental note for selfish reasons], I need to remember to download Parks and Recreation. And every single TV show and movie this girl has ever been in.

2. Wine detoxing.

So this was the plan...stop drinking completely, and then by the time our Punta Cana wedding rolls around, I'll have the tolerance of a 15 year old girl who gets giddy after one shot of Sour Puss. Turns out this really works, and now when I'm stressed, one glass of wine does just the trick!

3. Driving through Gatineau Park.Recently, I drove up to Gatineau Park for an engagement session, and I was so taken with its beauty that I risked my life to take an instagram while driving. Oopsie.

The beauty of the drive aside, Gatineau Park is not one of my favourite places to shoot... I much prefer urban spots for engagement sessions, like this one that I posted earlier this week. Just in case you were wondering ;)

And, as always, here's a tune I'm loving lately:

The Veldt - deadmau5 ft. Chris James

That's what I thought right before I grabbed all my gear and hit the road, but unfortunately...I didn't get very far. Although it was a slightly less dramatic flat tire than last time, it was still a pretty major setback.

Lucky for me, Maria and Trevor are unbelievably sweet, and forgave me for having to postpone our session for three hours later. And I firmly believe that they were rewarded for their patience with this FANTASTIC early-evening light!

Here are some of my faves from our downtown engagement session :)

BAM. Now that's a ring!

Two of my faves ♥