After a long absence from wedding posts I truly have waited long enough to post this wonderful wedding. Lorie and Erik got married in the perfect little village of Santa Teresa in Costa Rica in such a cool setting. My wife and I were also married in Costa Rica over four years ago and this was my first trip back since and my first time in this region. I have to say that it is a gem and I’m so glad I was able to be there. Santa Teresa has a great vibe, great surf and so nicely tucked away from San Jose and some other tourist areas which can have that overwhelming feeling. Lorie and Erik live in Florida so I think they picked an equally nice wedding destination for all the guests.

With just family and close friends in attendance they truly had a perfect experience and something that we are all still raving about. Erik would surf in the morning and Lori and the girls would work-out and TRX during the days on the beach. I’d love to share the images we captured from their wedding and their trash the dress session on the beach and in town. Thanks so much Lorie and Erik!

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"Reflections #2" ~ Madagascar 5 feet wide on Fabric - and "Me and My Shadow" ~ India 30 inches on metal

"Red Ride" ~ Madagascar - 5 feet wide on Fabric

I’m so pleased and humbled to have my fine art on display and available to others at F2 Furnishings and fine art.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to stop in to see the new store on Gateway you really should.  Located on the south side of Edmonton near South Common and in Gateway Village it’s 40 000 square feet of unique and funky furniture and some of my pieces from around the world along with other talented artists.  I really hope these images give the store justice because it’s s such a special place.

I’ve attached a few images of some of the store but really you have to see it to believe it.  If you want to see more and check out their website and new Facebook fanpage you can find it here:

F2 Furnishings

Facebook Fanpage

Stop in, say hi to Shelley and the great staff and just mention my name and they’ll give you a 10% reduction on any purchase.

"The Blue Wall" ~ Madagascar - 6 feet on Fabric

"Whisp" ~ Ethiopia - 12x18 rag paper and framed

"Bosnia Train" ~ Bosnia - 5 feet on Fabric

"Kenya Tree" ~ Kenya 12x18 rag paper and framed - "Congo Eyes" ~ Congo 12x18 rag paper and framed

"The Orange Seller" ~ Peru - 5 feet wide on Fabric

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Backpacking in Romania

Bosnia with Children

Backpacking Croatia

Paris was our departure point after a long and amazing trip to Europe with our kids, nearly two months of planes, trains and automobiles. I can’t say that it was easy and in fact I can easily say that it was very difficult but so well worth it was truly an incredible family experience. I’ll do a complete follow up in a further post, filled with our best memories, worst memories and loaded with tips and advice that we can share with others ready to make the same leap. Until then let’s enjoy a few days in Paris!

This was my second time to Paris and I truly have to say that it was very different this time around. It was also very special to share these three days with our close friends from Belgium. We first met Frank and Meike in Madagascar years earlier when bumping around that amazing country. We have kept in close contact since then and have both enjoyed raising kids, which are very close in age.

We planned to meet up for three days of wandering (mostly chasing our kids) and exploring the beauty of Paris, this time as parents. It was entirely different like I said but still the city has so much energy and so many amazing sites to see.

We did our best to see as many sites in the short time we had but of course the kids tire out quickly and we tire out usually as soon as they are sleeping but it didn’t stop us from sipping on some wine outside our hotel at a street cafe while we listened through a baby monitor for the rugrats. It was so nice to catch up and share another trip with them and their amazing kids. It was also very comforting to know that every parent who travels with children experiences the same issues. It’s hard work to tell your daughter that you can’t go sit with that stranger on the Metro, or that just because Daddy wants to race across the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe it’s not a good idea. (yes I did that years earlier, not smart) One thing that does remain constant though, we all like Ice cream on a hot day so there was no denying them that!

I really want you to enjoy the images below. I wish I had more time to shoot but of course like the rest of the trip I really only had a few minutes to myself and the majority was spent with family, as it should be.

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Here is Milan and Elizabeths wedding from October this year. It was an amazing day and I can’t thank the two of them enough. You and your families treated so well and it was such a treat for Jesse and I to experience a Serbian wedding for the first time.

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It’s usually this time of year that I reflect on the past 12 months (2011 YEAR IN REVIEW) and look back at what work and family events are shaping my life and bringing me into the new year. However I also find myself looking back to when I first started and I sit down and look at old photo’s, yea the ones on paper in an a crappy old album and not my monitor and I reflect on how I started photography.

This picture was taken in Varanasi or Banaras in Utter Pradesh eastern India. I took it in 2002 and like most of the time I spent in Varanasi it was extremly hot and muggy. Walking through this narrow alley, one of many, I can still vividly remember all the smells and the colours that hit me. India is a sensory overload! I was walking aimlessly like I normally did throughout that Asian adventure when I turned a corner to see this young boy walking towards me through the thick orange haze and with his long shadow approaching me. There is no magical answer or explanation but I simply lifted my camera, metered quickly and snapped one frame and walked past the boy and carried on like I normally did.

It wasn’t until I got home months later and I developed most of my film from the trip that I stumbled upon this photo. The truth is the original negative still produces a warmer feel then the drum scan I got and you are looking at. The haze in the background was slightly more orange and heavy but of course not nearly as sharp. I left the scars on the film from hair and scratches and I never cloned out the garbage in his shadow or anywhere else, it is as close to the original state as it could be, (albeit sharpened). The film I used was Kodak 400. This film was far from unique and in fact most of the film I bought in India or Burma or all of Asia for that fact usually came from a shop or shack that had film sitting in the sun so long that the box it came in was yellow or white from damage. It really didn’t matter too much to me though as long as I had a few memories from traveling.

Back then I traveled and took photos. I fear that now I’m more of photographer that travels and that haunts me a bit sometimes.

When this photo was shot, I was carrying an Eos 88 (US version was Eos 3000 I believe) and I paid about $350 with a lens for it when my trip began many months earlier in Hong Kong. I had zero or less knowledge how to operate a film SLR but I figured I’d have about a year to get it right. I was off by about 5 years.

I had been traveling quite extensively up to this point but never felt like my pictures were good enough or could be better. I also had friends that would tell me that some photos I took from London and Europe years prior were “professional” so we all thought the obvious career path was that I could be a photographer. My friends and I were about 22 years old and most of us had never even finished school or worked yet, so I trusted their life suggestions.

It’s funny how smart our youth is! I never felt like I could be a photographer until I saw this photo, and some other special frames from Asia in 2001 and 2002. It wasn’t like I spent days preparing for this one magical moment, it was pure luck and I literally didn’t have any settings ready aside from the camera being in focus and slung around my neck. When I see this photo it reminds me why I do it for a living. I look at this young boy approaching me and I can feel the air and heat, smell the food stalls, and it’s truly a moment I can put myself back in or imagine being a part of once again. I think that’s what photography is all about. In essence, a photo is a special moment in time that we can feel again.

Have a great holiday and an awesome 2012!

Carey

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Can you tell I’ve been on the road a lot this year and maybe a little overworked? 2011 was another incredible year for me. I often sit back and contemplate the moments from the year and remind myself how great this job is, and how fortunate I am to be able to share special times from other’s lives through images. I don’t take that for granted and no matter what type of event I photograph I look at each opportunity as a new experience and a chance to meet people from all walks of life. It’s my continuing education.

I continued to travel a lot this year. I found myself on three continents, and traveled through 12 countries. Part of our year, nearly two months was traveling through the Balkans (here) and central Europe with our two small children.

We did this in the first year of my son’s life, like we had done when my daughter was 5 months old, through Asia (here). When we came back from our family trip this year and people asked, Why would you choose to travel to Bosnia with your kids? I always responded with “Wynter has been begging us since she was a kid to go”. I must admit that this trip was far more difficult then traveling to Asia when we just had the one rugrat. A two year old is much more work and harder to catch than a bundle of chubby cuteness on your chest. Another caveat was the weather, it was chilly for the first month and the infrastructure is certainly not geared for tourism. It’s certainly do-able but just not overly family friendly travel.

Upon my immediate return home to Canada from Eastern Europe I found myself heading to South America, Peru to be exact. I was originally there to shoot a wedding, however some events changed those plans and I turned the trip into an opportunity to volunteer with an incredible organization called PLAN international (blog photos here). I was first introduced to PLAN by a friend, Aaron Lines who is a spokesperson for them. He spoke so highly of his experience and the organization that I thought this was a great chance to help out with my photography. They are doing incredible things in the region, empowering children and families and working to help people that may not have the chances or the resources that others have. It was truly an awesome feeling to be able to help out in my small way.

The children in class - Plan Peru

The second half of my trip to Peru was to head to the Amazon. I was lucky enough to spend many months in South America and even nearly a month in Peru years earlier but I missed out on the Amazon. There was no way I was missing this opportunity. There really are very few words to describe life on the Amazon. With two so very distinct seasons, dry and wet, it’s hard to envision one or the other. I liken it to living in Edmonton where we survive insane temperate switches, for 6 months on end. We were there at the tail end of the rainy season when villagers live as much as 30 feet above the dry season water levels. It was a little like “water world” with raised homes above the water on stilts and kids canoeing to school.

The summer brought some amazing experiences. Another very busy summer of weddings, locally and in exotic locations like a wedding in Costa Rica (blog here) and an early summer wedding in Cabo (blog post here). I truly can’t thank my couples enough for the wonderful times Jesse and I spent with them. I’m a very lucky person to have a job that allows me to express myself artistically and I get a great meal each week-end.

I finished off my traveling this year with a quick getaway to New York (blog post here). This was my second trip to the Big Apple and I highly recommend everyone see it at some point in their life. I would love to live there, but only for three days a month. It’s got so much energy and it really does impress you but I’m pretty fond of wide open spaces and I think I’d want out after a while.

I want to specially mention Shelly Derksen from F2. I’m honoured and humbled to have my artwork on display at her wonderful store and I truly appreciate the support she continues to give me.

I met so many amazing people this year, artists, musicians, volunteers, and vendors but I want to make one more special mention to Amanda Lindhout. I met Amanda this fall and she is such a special and giving woman. For those of you that don’t know her story, she was kidnapped and held hostage for 460 days in various parts of Somalia. I can’t even begin to imagine what that was like for her in captivity but after being released she has chosen to help the people of Somalia and Africa. If you haven’t heard her speak, I highly recommend that you do and in the meantime please check out her foundation, The Global Enrichment Foundation.

Amanda Lindhout speaking in Edmonton

I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking for me. I wanted to share my memories from 2011 and I hope I didn’t miss anything. I tried to put as many images as I could from the last year in this wrap up and I’m sorry if I missed some faces. Each and every person I met and shot this year was so special to me and gave me new and lasting memories. Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and we’ll see you in 2012!

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Here is a great wedding from this past summer here in Edmonton. Jason and Leanne said “I do” at the wonderful Alberta Art Gallery and then we dashed around town before the party began at the equally modern and fun Matrix Hotel. Thanks so much for the laughs and making every shot so fun to shoot.

Special Thanks go out to Kristina McAnally from Special Event Rentals for such a great looking wedding and the gals at the Electrik Lemon, a rad salon in Oliver, and Harmin B for raising the roof! (am I allowed to say raising the roof anymore?)

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Melanie and Daryl were married this summer in the wonderous Rocky Mountains. A picture perfect ceremony on the Tunnel Mountain Meadow. Overlooking the mountains and the valley it was perfect. After a great afternoon of shooting and celebrating we ended the night at the Rimrock Resort Thanks so very much for making Jesse and I a part of your wedding and I hope you love the images!

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I truly want to thank Jason and Larissa for such a wonderful wedding. From the moment we met I knew we have a great time and it’s been so much fun spending time with such nice and fun people. I’m so proud to share photos from your wedding and thank you so much again for not throwing me up in the air during the Shumka dance!lol

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On behalf of all of us as well I’d like to thank the staff at yellowhead brewery for letting us come in and try a tasy beer and shoot too!

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I just wanted to share a few shots from Milan and Liz’s wedding last month. I’ll have many more later but here is a few captures from an amazing day, filled with laughs and a human pyramid!lol

Enjoy the teasers and thank so much for everything!

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