Michelle & Family - Fall 2018

Well, it took 3 attempts but we finally made it happen! Michelle had booked her family for our Fall Blitz that was to take place on Sunday September 16th, but as that day approached, Edmonton was hit with rain/snow/wind that made an outdoor shoot impossible. With the forecast for Saturday September 22nd looking so much nicer we re-scheduled the Blitz for that day. That day approached and it ended up being worse than the Sunday so we had to end up cancelling our Blitz altogether.

Edmonton did warm up in the weeks to follow and we ended up scheduling a session with Michelle on October 20th. While it ended up being quite windy, it was quite nice out!! The challenge editing the photos from the session was scanning through the 15 photos of a setup to find the one or two where Michelle’s hair wasn’t blowing across her face. Luckily those shots existed (the advantage of digital photography and being able to take so many shots and not worry about the cost of developing film for sure).

 Take a look at some of the images from the session that took place around the new Royal Alberta Museum:

Biddy & The Whole Family

We have been taking photos of Biddy and her immediate family for many years now, but recently we had a fantastic opportunity to photograph her extended family!! Her sister and brother-in-law and their kids were visiting Edmonton all the way from England so they figured it would be a glorious opportunity to get the whole family together for a photo shoot. Not everyone was on board. Her brother is not the most comfortable with getting his photo taken, and same can be said of Biddy's Mom. So we knew we had our work cut out for us. We were up for the challenge!!

I'm happy to report that we were successful in winning over these two! In fact, after the session, some comments from her Mom and brother included: 

"They were so fun!" "Wow they were so good" "Can we do it again next year?" "Maybe we can get your dad out". ---- VICTORY!!!

I know we've said it at least a dozen times, but we are so lucky to get to work with such great people. Yes, Dave has known Biddy for many years, but I have only known her since we started doing their family photos over the last few years. And now I feel like I'm part of their family. That's pretty cool in my books.

- brad

Spring Portrait Blitz - Team Christina

Christina found us because of her brother Scott, who also participated in this Blitz. Scott and his wife Biddy have been at several of our sessions actually, and we were happy to meet more of the family.

One of the fun things about this session was trying to get the older daughter so smile. She was playing shy for a lot of the session but we were able to get her to start enjoying the idea of having her photo taken. The younger daughter seemed to be a natural in front of the camera though!

Here are some of the photos of the family.

Cassie & Drew's New Addition!

We photographed Cassie & Drew’s wedding last year and had a fantastic time! They are one of our absolute favourite couples. So we were thrilled to hear the news that they had recently added a member to their family.

Their daughter was born at the end of June and at the time of our session was just about a month old. Apart from a few crying moments, she did great! We love holding newborn sessions in the family’s own home. We feel it makes it more personal. The great light coming into Cassie & Drew’s bedroom made for a perfect setting for the bulk of the photos.

Congrats Cassie & Drew, we are so happy to see how your little girl has brightened your lives.

Spring Portrait Blitz - Team Marika

Dave has known Marika for many years. We took photos of her while she was pregnant with their little guy and then we followed that up with a family session with Marika, her husband Stephen, and their then 6 month old baby.

Their session consisted of bubble blowing, coaxing their little dude with chocolate almond milk, and of course lots of laughs. We had a fun time with them once again.

Here are a few photos from their Blitz session.

The Smith Family

One hot summer day we headed south of Edmonton to the Smith family acreage. Tehl booked us as a Mother’s Day gift for Julie. What a great guy!!

Julie, Tehl, and the 3 boys were all looking sharp for their session. It took only a short time for the boys to warm up to getting their photos taken and they had fun. Help from the grandparents was much appreciated too!

One great moment was when the boys all spontaneously held hands. It was one of those “can’t plan it any better” moments, that’s for sure!! I am pretty sure Julie shed a tiny tear when she saw that happen.

It was a pleasure working with this family and hope we can do it again.

Here is a sampling of photos we captured that day.

Spring Portrait Blitz - Team Jen

Jen is the President and CEO of Junior Achievement for Northern Alberta. We have worked with JA for several years now. We were very happy it finally worked out that Jen, her husband, and their daughter could finally participate in one of our Blitz days.

Jen is a very busy woman. Aside from her job as CEO, she is an avid runner and participates in triathlons on a regular basis. She was also recently honoured as a Woman of Vision by Global News Edmonton.

Bubbles were a plenty during our session and their little one had a field day (and did NOT want to give up her bubble wand!). She was having so much fun running around so we just snapped some photos of her playing. Love the smiling face she always had!

Looking forward to working with Jen and her family again!

Spring Portrait Blitz - Team Nora

We have worked with Nora and her family more times than we can count now. We always look forward to seeing them and seeing how big their little ones have grown.

Our first session with them was way back when their youngest one was still waiting to join the world. Nora was 8 months pregnant at the time and it was deja vu all over again on this shoot. Nora was oh so close to the due date of their 3rd child (which arrived a few weeks ago! Another little boy!!).

We are very happy for the family and can’t wait to fit all 5 of them into their next session!

September Portrait Blitz - The Doyles

Since the first time we worked with Brandon and Shelby for their engagement session, and then through to their wedding, we have always looked forward to the next opportunity to work with these two.

Fast forward a few years, and two have become three.  We were so happy to meet their little man. He was a trooper. Just so adorable. Can't wait to work with this family for years to come.

September Portrait Blitz - The Yaghi's

If dbphotographics.ca has a number one fan, it just might be Nora! We cannot thank her enough for the kind words she always says about us whenever we send her the photos from her family portrait sessions. It actually makes us blush a little!! We always have a good time with her and her family.

This particular Blitz, Nora brought along MANY extended family members for us to photograph. We spent their 30-minute session ensuring we captured every possible combination of this big group.

Thanks again, Nora, for coming back to us time and time again. We appreciate it!

- brad 

September Portrait Blitz - Shaina, Chris, & Wynn

This was our 2nd time working with Shaina and her great little family (dog included). As I’ve said many times about photographing families over time, I love seeing babies turn into toddlers, toddlers turn into little people, and so on. Shaina’s daughter was so tiny when they joined us for the Fall 2015 Portrait Blitz, and now only one year later she’s so much bigger and walking around and everything! So great to see!

And come on…. the photo of her kissing their dog? Tell me that’s not precious?

- brad

September Portrait Blitz - Sam & Family

Earlier this year Sam and her Dad joined us for the Spring Blitz we held. The whole idea was to get photos of the two of them for her Mom on Mother’s Day. Of course they had to be wearing their baseball jerseys – and we were more than okay with that.

Well, her Mom loved the photos so much (thank God!) that she wanted to get photos done with the whole family. So Sam’s parents and her boyfriend Dimitri joined us for a session at our Fall Blitz. I hope her Mom likes these ones too!

- brad 

April Portrait Blitz - Jessica & Dustin

This session was a great example of why we love photo blitzs. We worked with Jessica a few times in the past as part of production photos for various theatre projects over the past few years. When we posted the times for the blitz, Jessica reached out as she wanted to use at least part of the session to get new head shots. Then with the remaining time, we could get some photos with her and her partner Dustin.

That's why these sessions work. You get 30 mins. What you want to do with that time is completely up to you. Check out what we got from the day (minus the head shots which are still being finished).

Enjoy!

April Portrait Blitz - Lindsay, Neil, & Sadie

This kid was ridiculous. I don't think we have ever had a baby who posed so well for photos. Every time it was her turn to focus on the camera, her head whipped around and she was ready to go. She was better than some adults we know. 

What stands out about this session to us is that it feels so downtown Edmonton. It features some of our favourite locations and with the addition of the rain on the ground and the cloud cover it made for a perfect little shoot.

It was great meeting you guys! Looking forward to next time.

April Portrait Blitz - Betts & Her GIANT Family!

When we posted the event for the latest Blitz, we included the line: “Whether you bring 1, 2, or 20 people, we will do all we can to capture your family the best way possible in the time slot you choose”. Well, Betts put that to the test for sure. Ultimately 19 family members showed up for their session. It was a fantastic challenge indeed!

Our first shoot with Betts and her family was quite a bit smaller in scale, but Betts did a great job preparing everyone for this Blitz session. She had a list of all the combinations she wanted to photograph and we managed to get it all done. We think her efforts paid off.

-       brad

Take a look at some of the many different combinations we were able to get for Betts and her family:

April Portrait Blitz - Cheryl & Family

Cheryl

I know Cheryl from my day job. She was one of the first people that I connected with when I started there so I was thrilled when she said she wanted to participate in the Blitz with her and her family.

We had a lot of fun on their session. It was the first shoot we’ve done that included a reptile, so that was definitely interesting! Also, we managed to capture a few photos with a naturally-occurring smoke machine (well, it was just the vent from the building, but we were still happy to be there at the right time).

-       brad

Here are some of the photos of Cheryl and her family, including iguana (it might be a bearded dragon, I’m not up on these things, sorry Cheryl):

April Portrait Blitz - Sam & Her Dad

I’ve known Sam for many years now. She’s great for MANY reasons, but especially because she’s a diehard baseball fan. Yes, her favourite team is the Chicago Cubs, so that’s a little strange, but still, she loves baseball!

When she saw that we were having a Blitz, she came up with a great idea for a gift for her Mom on Mother’s Day – photos of her and her Dad in their jerseys. Of course I LOVED that idea!

It was fun coming up with different poses that wouldn’t end up looking just like baseball cards (although, that wouldn’t be the end of the world in my opinion).

-       brad

Take a look at some of the photos from the session:

April Portrait Blitz - Nora & Family

This was our third time shooting Nora and her family. The first time we met them, they were a group of three expecting a fourth. For this shoot, they showed up with a whole other generation. It was a real treat to meet the parents of this little clan, and it was fun to walk around 104 St capturing them.

Despite the cold of the early Sunday morning, they were troopers. I love how these shots really capture the personality of this group.

See for yourself.