Erin Wallis Photography Blog

**Photographic Disclaimer… this photo was taken as an impromptu iphone image.. and yes, I am a huge nerd. For life, and not even remotely ashamed of it!

On December 1st I decided to join in on an amazing adventure.

For every comment my fabulous blog visitors would leave, I would donate one canned item to our local food bank. I just have to say, that 203 comments graced the pages of my blog in ten days. That is incredible.

Your comments filled my heart with all kinds of warm and fuzzy love and just spread all sorts of love around. The other night, we went to the food bank here in Campbell River and asked what they specifically were in need of. “Groceries” the sweet volunteer fella told us.. “This has been a particularly bad year, we need everything”. So, off we went. Filling our buggies up and walking away with over 203 items.. (I got swept up in the spirit of it all)

So, not only were 203 cans donated by Erin Wallis Photography, but Simone and her mom Susan and Tara from Undersea Gardens in Victoria also are matching my donations. SO SO SO AWESOME. Folks, because of your comments and the generosity of Simone, Susan and Tara… a total of 609 cans will be donated, all because of this little blog! Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment, look what we’ve done!

So, now… have you donated to the food bank???

At Thrifty’s you can simply purchase for either $10 or $20 a bag of pre packed goods, and they will deliver it for you. At Superstore, you add some extra cans to your grocery order and drop it in the box on your way out. So simple. So necessary. So helpful. In Campbell River there is also a Wish Tree @ Zellers and another at the Discovery Inn. With heartbreaking things on each item on the tree saying “newborn baby warm clothes” , “one year old boy warm clothes”, “5 year old girl” etc… you pick a name off the tree and then buy them the appropriate gift… give it to the customer service folks at voila.. you have just made magic happen for someone in your very own community. You will not regret getting involved. In fact, you will likely want to find ways to do more. Do it. Today.

So awesome! Thank you Chris plus Lynn for coming up with such a meaningful and wonderful way to spend some time on the blog, and help out the food bank. YES!

*** AWESOME NEWSFLASH… make that 812 cans in total.. as awesome Tom has also matched my cans!!! Yahoo, this is super super awesome!!!******

Last year the amazing photographic gurus in Vancouver BC, Chris+Lynn came up with a concept that has spread like wildfire through the photographic community. One that I am THRILLED to get on board with!

Something so simple and wonderful! Its such a magic time of year for so many people, and then so incredibly hard for others. Something as simple as giving to the food bank can help so much. So…

It’s called cans for comments! Heres the scoop!

For the next 10 days I will be blogging up a storm and all that you have to do to make me donate to the local food bank, is leave a comment. No really. Thats it.
You comment… I purchase a canned good to donate to the local food bank. How awesome is that!

How can you comment? At the bottom of every post is a little note that says No Comments or 2 comments etc, all you do is click on that and enter a comment. Simple. Easy. Great!

There aren’t too many rules here.. you can comment on current posts, or have fun with it and comment on posts from the past. Whatever you are inspired to say, wherever you are wanting to comment… go for it. In this process, your kind words on the blog (not on facebook or anywhere else) will translate into food bank donations.
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. You can comment on as many posts as you’d like, as often as you’d like!!! Isn’t that awesome!

If you are another photographer doing the same, email me your details and I’ll add you to this post as well and we’ll share the love, the food and the all around good vibes!
Here are a few images from a series of seriously sweet moments with my new little buddy, James.

To spread the cans for comments love… leave a comment for any of the following photographers blogs too!!!
KIM KALYN
BLUE OLIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
KATHY PATON
KAREN MCKINNON
MICHAEL WACHNIAK
JOHN HEIL
(P.S.. the sun is shining in Campbell River! I’m off to enjoy a bit of it!)

A fellow photographer emailed me yesterday to ask me a few questions about my business, my clients and how I go about my everyday bookings, and essentially how I got to be where I am today. Answering her, I was struck by how much my business has grown and flourished in the past three years. Humbled, and as always grateful. One of the questions she asked was…

When do you feel most successful as a photographer?

My instant reaction and immediate response was “When my clients see their images, and cry.” Thats how I measure success. Honestly. I love nothing more, than when those who have chosen me to capture their treasured memories for them, are speechless, are happy, are thrilled. That means more to me than anything. So in thinking about it, I realized I may need to share with you some of the heartbreakingly beautiful testimonials from a few of my 2009 wedding clients. I am so honored they chose me to photograph their weddings, and so terribly happy that they love their time with me, and their images.
Wanna see what they had to say? CLICK HERE CLICK HERE CLICK HERE to see what I mean.

Well, I suppose it’s about time to reveal my current achievement. In the September issue of Photo Life magazine. I was named one of their ‘Emerging Photographers’ of 2009. I am deeply honored and excited all at the same time. It truly is incredible to have your work recognized by the photographic community. Being an artist, and one who profits from your art, is a profession clouded in self-doubt and intense self criticism. So, being chosen for this has helped to further affirm that I am, in deed, on the right path.

Thank you to Photo Life for such a fabulous opportunity! Congrats to all of the fellow ‘Emerging Photographers of 2009′ as well!

The image featured is one of my favorites, from a beautiful rainy wedding in 2007 at Strathcona Park Lodge.

Today, after much anticipation, I celebrate a facelift for my Vancouver Island Photography blog. I’ve had this look to the blog locked in my head for months, and I’m so happy it has now come together.

The header image and the ones here, was a vision I have had for ages. I wanted something that was different from a usual headshot of myself. I wanted to portray who I am, what I do, and how very precious my images are to me. To capture my photos, my canvases, my art, my soul, in amongst the natural beauty of Vancouver Island.

I conveyed my vision to the ever amazing Shannon Andrews, (my incredibly talented sidekick/graphic designer/artist). Unsure how to prop up all of the photos, I didn’t want real easels (however that was my original thought) So, Shannon proclaimed, ‘we can make driftwood easels’. Surely my crafting abilities would not create something like this? But of course, Shannon can do basically anything, and in one night with the help from her ‘crazy with a drill’ helper Ryan… they created me the most beautiful, rustic display easels made with driftwood from right here in Campbell River.

We were ready for action. These images were created near Oyster River in Campbell River. With my wild vision, and Shannon behind the camera. Here is what we created for my updated website and blog. Thank you Ryan and Shannon for all of your help!

All of the old post images will have to stay the same size, unfortunately I just can’t justify the millions of hours it would take to resize each and every one of the thousands of images that are already on here. But, all posts from here on in, will have these gloriously larger images. Fabulous.

Of course, as usual, none of this would be possible without Jeremy Latham Thank you for everything.