Ahhhmagawwwddd cute dogs. I was able to take some great “presidential portraits” (what I like to call these dog portraits) the other day of a miniature apricot poodle and a French bulldog. Such characters!!

Over the last many years, my Grandpa has lived in a senior care facility nearby. My parents both worked full time when I was a child, so I spent the first six years of my life growing up under my Grandparents’ roof. That meant a lot of tagging along to dim sum lunches, sitting in the back seat of my Grandpa’s 1980s-something Corolla as he smoked in the front, and watching lots and lots of daytime television while the old folks napped.

Today, my Dad and I paid him a visit and I decided to take some portraits. It was my first time taking photos of anyone in their 90s, let alone a senior citizen. I found it challenging on a number of levels, but nice to get photos of my Grandpa at this stage in his life.

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to document the wedding of Robert and Claire. Again, I was second-shooting with Derek Cheng of Generation Photography. Despite it looking like a balmy summer day, it was the dead of winter! Luckily I was able to wear my long eskimo parka but the wedding party was not so lucky… brrr…!!

The day started off with my arrival at Robert and Claire’s apartment in North Vancouver, where the boys were busy getting ready. And when I say “busy getting ready,” I mean squeezing in a game of table hockey beforehand:

And of course, no wedding day is complete without a bit of stress — there were some last-minute revisions to the speech..

I was also instructed to make sure I snapped a couple of portraits of the cats, as well:

An interesting text message also came in on Robert’s phone while we were getting ready. An incentive if I have ever seen one, that’s for sure:

This reminds you just a liiiiiitte bit of Full House, doesn’t it?

ANNNNNND my favourite of all…

Bahaha! The boys sure cleaned up nice:

After that, we shipped out to the Wall Centre downtown, where Robert and Claire were planning on doing a “first look.” Making sure we had both angles covered, this was what I saw:

And my favourite group shot:

Derek in action!!

And finally, arriving at Brix… LET’S GET THESE TWO KIDS MARRIED! Brix was a challenging place to shoot, as it was an evening wedding in their courtyard. It provided a beautiful, intimate setting and I tried my hardest to stay hidden behind those black curtains…!!

If it’s one thing I love, it’s a fancy-pants tea party! I have two faves and they are both in the Kerrisdale neighborhood of Vancouver. Please check out Adonia Tea House on W 41st, and Secret Garden Tea Company on West Boulevard if you are ever in the area. At Adonia, I recently had their signature fruit tea with the mini afternoon tea session, and at Secret Garden we were lucky to nab a spot for the Christmas tea sitting — which included cranberry spritzer, live harp music, and a bag of Christmas blend tea to take home to enjoy.

Below, me at Adonia…

And some more, uh, polished looking stuff from my visit to Secret Garden…

(Also, for the photogs reading this, I just picked up a 50mm f/1.4 … mm… low light and bokeh action…)

And of course, all over lovely live harp music:

Just to add some more variety to the mix… we have… a BLONDE! We shot yesterday at a friend’s loft in Gastown and the pics turned out spectacular. I also have to give credit where credit is due — Natalie did her own hair and makeup! I also recently purchased the Boudoir Divas’ book and it gave me some great pointers for direction, posing, and more. This was Natalie’s first time in front of the camera and I think her images turned out great!!

Check out the gorgeousness below: