Everyone loves Athena

****Remember until December 10th 2009, your comments= cans of food being donated to our local food bank... so be sure to leave a comment! Its an awesome way to give a little blog love and in return, I'll give a little food bank love. A wonderful thing!****

Great Dane puppies are sweet. They are adorable. They are ridiculously cute and incredibly deceiving. You see them and melt. But puppies grow up, don't they... And grow Athena has! Athena is already, in her few months in the world... has grown to around 50 pounds! Now thats crazy! (That is more than our Vizsla Frank weighs NOW at a year old) However, they are known to be big, beautiful, gentle and loving, and that they are. Somewhere along the way, I've become a hopeless dog lover. It hasn't happened overnight, but its happened! This little one is no exception.

Here are a few images of Athena when she came to visit us in October! Are you kidding me with this face???? You may recall images from a long time ago here of Athenas big sister Vala. (see below image) Vala is now weighing in at a whopping 135 pounds, and they suspect Athena will be bigger than her big sis! Wild!

****Remember until December 10th 2009, your comments= cans of food being donated to our local food bank... so be sure to leave a comment! Its an awesome way to give a little blog love and in return, I'll give a little food bank love. A wonderful thing!****

Cans for Comments!!!

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!)

On Being Gentle.

When I was editing these images the other day, an old favorite quote came to mind...

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something. -H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

So true, so powerful. If only we were to treat each other like that in every moment. It may make everyone a little more tolerable. Or at least in my mind, when I'm dealing with someone who is difficult, I try and remind myself that they are likely coming from somewhere that I may know nothing about. So, the moral of the story is, go easy on each other. We don't really know each others stories, what we've been through, what we are going through, who we are, who we've lost, what sadness grips our hearts, what joys... go easy on each other. Its not that easy to do, but its worth it. Not to mention be gentle with yourself as well. Be caring, be kind, be loving... to yourself.

With Chelsie's images, its all about celebrating Chelsie. Capturing her beauty, showing her inner smile.

What I love most about this style of session, is that we all carry our own light, our own beauty, and years down the road whatever circumstance or situations come later... these images remain. Forever capturing the beauty of right now. Life is beautiful.

On darkness and light.

When the weather is dark and gloomy, it doesn't mean everything has to be! If you are feeling glum, take a look around you, and figure out a way to see light. To create light. To spread light. To be awesome. There truly are no limits to what you can create. Seriously! I'll leave you with a favorite quote.

Better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness. -Chinese Proverb

More amazing families?!

Tis the season for fabulous families. It was cold, so cold that little Ayla wasn't having so much fun. Her little hands were so cold! Poor thing! Emmitt however, was all smiles! Such a great bunch and another fabulous addition to my last sessions in 2009. Enjoy the last few days of November, before you know it, it's Christmas... then New Years... then wedding season again... (oh wait... and NEW BABY somewhere in there too!) Here is a few of my favorites from such a sweet little session. Meet sweet Ayla And her poor little cold hands. Here's adorable Emmitt Look at these perfect colors! And these beautiful people! I'll leave you with this sweet little image.