Alisha and I somehow set this session up for one of the coldest days this winter. :) I was all for going back inside after the first 20 minutes, but Chris and Alisha were happy to brave the cold and get the photos they wanted. And I'm always up for chances at cool photos, so I didn't need any encouragement. However, I do think that's the first time I've politely offered to go somewhere out of the weather and really meant it. ;) But they were so easy-going that it was an enjoyable session, even with the cold.

We went to Henderson Lake and right after we got there it started to snow! But the snow really added a Canadian touch to the whole scene and even made things a bit more romantic, I think.

Alisha and Chris also were after some shots with their kids and so we did most of those inside where it was nice and warm. :)

At least their wedding in Cuba will be warmer than their engagement session! ;)

For those not in the know about today's topic, a 'trash the dress' session is basically a portrait session where the bride wears her wedding dress in conditions that may get it wet or dirty. That's the gist. It can be done on the wedding day or, more often, after the wedding day when you don't mind so much if the dress is no longer pristine.

Why would anyone do this? :) Good question. And I'm going to try to answer that in a minute. Firstly, I want to say that I've seen my fair share of TTD photos. Actually, I've seen more than my fair share. And a lot of them suck. No, really, they do. They have girls wallowing in mud or spilling food on their dress or whatever. Or the brides are just kind of sitting in water and looking awkward. See, that's the thing: when you look at those shots you think, "Why the heck are they doing that?" If you're thinking that then it's a bad TTD session.

For me, TTD sessions are all about creativity and romance. Creativity, because they allow you to really go all out and get wild shots that you'd never dream of doing on your wedding day otherwise. And as for romantic, do you remember those really old movie scenes where the couple would kiss at the beach and lie on the sand as the waves rolled over them, or movie scenes where the couple runs into each other's arms in the rain and kisses? You know the ones I'm talking about, right? The scenes where all the couple cares about is each other and whether they're getting wet, sandy, or whatever it doesn't matter to them. That's what a TTD session should be like! It should be about romance and creativity, not about getting dirty for the sake of getting dirty!

That's my version of it, anyways. :)

So, this is going to be a weird blog entry. :) I've been doing quite a few shoots lately and I can't show them to you. They're secret photo sessions! See, I said it was weird. The deal is that when you shoot for magazines you have to keep the images under wraps until after they go to publication. This is so that other publications don't pick up their stories and steal the images and stuff like that.

So, including the Lethbridge Living magazine articles, I've had eleven sessions scheduled in the past two weeks! I'll definitely be back with pics as soon as I get half a moment to edit them all. Stay tuned. :)

I drove up to Calgary on Monday and bought a few new bits of gear, including a second Nikon D300 camera. I have two now and the next stop is a D3. :)

But the main focus of my trip was to meet fellow photographer (and another Aussie) James Day and his lovely girlfriend Lauren. He's a great bloke, as we'd say down under, and it was a real pleasure meeting up.

We visited my favourite restaurant in Calgary, Manies, for a wonderful Greek lunch and probably bored Lauren half to death by talking about photography for nearly three hours. :) That is by far the longest I've ever taken to eat lunch! Then, since Lauren still had life left in her, we took her out on a photoshoot in below-below-below temperatures. ;) She was very patient with us crazy photographers and braved the cold until James could see that she was getting a bit too chilly and we called it quits. Actually, it was so cold for everyone that we only took a handful of shots, really.

Here are a couple of snaps I took while we were still setting up:

Hey, everyone! :) If you have checked out our wedding or our portrait sites lately you'll have seen a bit of a change. We're going back to black, baby! The colours have changed a bit and there are a few new photos, especially in the portraits.

This is part of our new look for everything this year. Also, while I was in Tampa I met the guy who owns Bibble, a software solution for photographers, and I've incorporated that into my workflow as well. I love it! It's faster and I'm getting awesome colours. Plus I discovered a new secret weapon for Photoshop. ;) If you thought our colours looked good last year, wait till you see them this year. :)

We are also creating a new client meeting area with more space and we're hanging up all kinds of images that previously we didn't have the room for.

It's an exciting time for our business! Some of these changes are pretty quick and the rest will develop as the year goes on; but the ball is rolling now.