As promised, here is the start of playing “catch up” on all the blog (in no particular order). I’m starting off with one of my favourite engagement sessions of all time, due to the amazing variety we shot all in one day. Grab a coffee (or tea) and enjoy! ~ Jan

Hope and Steve are one of my 2012 wedding couples, from Thompson, Manitoba. We first met many years ago when my husband and I lived in Thompson, and we’ve been lucky enough to call them friends ever since. Steve is originally from Ontario, having moved to Thompson to find work as a pilot, but not only did he find a starting point for his aviation career, he met his bright, beautiful, kind, future wife, Hope. There’s no question in my mind that fate brings the right people together.

Since Steve and Hope’s marriage was happening in Winnipeg (I’ll have gorgeous photos from that to come in an upcoming post), they wanted to have their engagement photos taken in Thompson, since that’s where they met and fell in love. I flew to Thompson one sunny summer morning and spent a fun day driving around to places that were special to them, shooting several different looks before the day was through.

I wish I could take credit for all the great places and spaces where we shot, but it is all down to Hope. She had an amazing vision and trusted me to translate it onto film. It went remarkably well and I think we accomplished pretty much everything we set out to do, which is especially impressive given that we had bright mid-day sun to deal with, a fair amount of driving and a strict timeline to make sure I got on my flight home the same day.

Our first stop was at Liz Lake, which is located at Paint Lake Provincial Park, just south of Thompson. The campground at Liz Lake is where Steve proposed to Hope. We started the day shooting some photos at the very campsite of the proposal.  You can tell by their smiles at what a special, happy place it holds in their hearts.

Next, we stopped at Paint Lake proper for a few romantic shots overlooking the marina. Yes, this is North of the 55th parallel! If you haven’t had the good fortune to visit this part of the world, you might be surprised at all it has to offer, especially in the summer. Paint Lake is one of the most popular spots in the Thompson area to enjoy the extra long summer days, especially fishing and sitting around a campfire with friends.We returned to town and headed to the airport. We absolutely had to include some photos there, since that’s where Steve and Hope met. Steve has since moved on to another airline, and Hope has graduated university and started a career of her own, but the little hangar on the south side of the runway will always be special to them as the place where it all began.

You could almost categorize the various “looks” into decades if you wanted… Hope thought it would be fun to shoot some images with her brother’s super cool vintage truck (vintage being a relative term… haha!). She was right- it turned out to be a great prop and Steve and Hope really played it up so we got some great images!

Hope had found a cute banner for her wedding day thank you photos, as well as a matching one entitled “Love is Sweet”. Add tiny cupcakes with a playful couple and you’re bound to end up with a sticky situation!

Speaking of playful, we headed inside to play with the idea of retro glam. Hope has the most amazing hair, and she wanted to have fun with juxtaposing her serious and wild side. It turned out great. We probably could have done a session just based on this concept alone.

Finally, tying in with their forest green wedding theme, we shot some images in the woods. With the lush green foliage, and the beautiful couple, it was like a scene out of a fairy tale!

Sessions like Hope and Steve’s is a perfect example of why I love shooting engagements, and how much fun they can be. It’s not merely a great opportunity to get used to the camera and working with your photographer, but can also be used to capture photos of your various interests as a couple. Most people have a few “nice” photos of them looking at the camera but I think its extra special to have a set of images that show something other than a few stiff poses taken at a formal occasion. I know that this particular collection of images will be great fun to look back on in the years to come and it was a pleasure to photograph them!

Thanks for all the creativity you two!  Looking forward to showing off your stunning wedding images here soon!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

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Hello, hello, hello!!!

I’m sure some of you thought I’d dropped off the face of the planet by now.  Despite outward appearances to the contrary, I’ve been here all along- I was just keeping a low online profile is all.

The quickest way to summarize is that 2012 felt like I was walking through quicksand.  It wasn’t a bad year, but progress, oh my… let’s just say it seemed to take at least four times longer than usual to carry out anything last year, no matter what I tried.  So after a few frustrating months, I decided to go easy on myself and one of the things I decided to give lowest priority to was this blog, for which I hope you can all understand.  Blogging certainly remained on my mind (it’s so hard not to share beautiful photos), so I did occasionally post some sneak previews, but overall, I left the blog alone, and instead put my energy into doing what I do best, which is taking beautiful photographs.

On the other hand, 2013 seem to be a year of getting things done!  I’m still not sure what is so different about it, but it’s been a real treat after last year!  I wanted to make sure things really were back on track before I started posting again, and so far they seem to be, so here I am- refreshed and ready to catch up with some of my strongest work to date.

As I have a huge backlog of beautiful weddings and engagements that need to be blogged, I haven’t decided how to go about it; I may go chronologically or not, we shall see.  But I will get to everyone and I sincerely hope I make good on getting to it soon (including a couple of gorgeous weddings from the end of 2011).  I definitely won’t be a daily blogger anytime soon, but I’m thinking I will definitely be around a lot more often than every few months!

In addition to playing catch up and keeping more on top of current work, I have decided to a more frequent showing of my personal work on the blog.  My husband, son and I do a decent amount of traveling every year, both within Canada and beyond, and there are always things catching my eye that I think would be nice to share.  Looking at travel photos and daydreaming about visiting those same places is what gave me the travel bug to begin with so it’s only fair to pay it forward!  I have also added an Instagram account (@northof55photo), which you can find in the top sliding drawer at the left side of the page; feel free to check in there often for some visual odds and ends.

I will leave you with some photos from this past New Year’s, when we were visiting one of my favourite places in the world, New Orleans.

Enjoy and see you soon!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

My last wedding of the 2012 season was spent with Jamie and Erika at Terrace Fifty-Five in Winnipeg.  It was a wonderful day full of lots of love and laughter.  The late October weather even co-operated so that I was able to fulfil Erika’s request for a few night-time portraits outside on the terrace (without completely freezing everyone in the process!)

Here are a few sneak previews of their day.

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

This past Saturday, I joined Sean and Sherri for their beautiful autumn wedding in Winnipeg. Here are a few sneak previews from their big day!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

This past Saturday, I spent a very enjoyable day photographing Keith and Alysson’s wedding at Glendale Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg.  Here are a few sneak preview images of their day.

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

Sunday, August 5th, 2012 was spent photographing the beautiful wedding of my friends Steve and Hope.  Here are just a few sneak preview images from their day.

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

On Saturday, July 28th, 2012 I had the pleasure of photographing Billy and Dana’s wedding, which took place at The Gates on Roblin.  Here are a few sneak preview images of their day.

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

Jonathan and Amber were married on the shore of Setting Lake, Manitoba on July 23rd, 2012.  Here are a few sneak previews of their day!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

Hello again!  I’m back – well, truth be told, I was never really *gone* but I did take a pretty lengthy hiatus from blogging over the winter.  After a nice rest away from almost all of my online haunts, I am back and ready to take on the 2012 wedding season!  With that in mind, I still have a few 2011 weddings and e-sessions to share with you in the coming weeks.

The wedding I’m featuring today took place last August, in Stonewall, Manitoba.  Mandy and Craig chose beautiful Quarry Park for their outdoor ceremony.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony with a thin, high cloud layer in the sky that filtered out just a bit of the bright sunshine, and a light breeze to keep everyone from getting overheated.  In other words, it was perfect photo weather. I started my day at the bride and groom’s hometown of Warren, Manitoba which is where everyone was getting ready. Mandy chose a great pair of ruby red high heels to wear under her dress- I love it when brides wear brightly coloured shoes!Before a short drive to Stonewall, each side of the bridal party took a turn meeting me at the local park in Warren for some pre-ceremony group photos.This bridal party was up for anything, so we took a few fun shots too.
Quarry Park is an amazing location for an outdoor wedding.  With many lush, green trees, beautiful tall grasses, a pond and lots of room for guests it had all of the elements required be the ideal setting for Craig and Mandy to exchange vows.

After the ceremony, our first stop was at the local bar, to have a quick, cold drink before heading out for more photos.  Of course we multi-tasked and I took a few quick photos there too.  Mandy had scouted out some really great locations in the area for me, including a fabulous old, red barn, a field of sunflowers and some straw bales.When Mandy first suggested straw bales for photos, I was already aware that they are quite large, but I was very pleasantly surprised at the huge stack she had in mind.  I would have been quite happy if everyone wanted to stay firmly on the ground for some shots, however, when it became apparent that there would be an ascent to the top by several brave bridal party members, I was more than happy to capture what unfolded.
After working up quite an appetite from our photo excursion, we made our way back to town, just in time for dinner.  It was a great reception, held at the Stonewall Legion, with many entertaining toasts and speeches and followed up by a night of dancing.Mandy and Craig, it was so fun to work with you, your family and friends, and I wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo

At the end of July 2011, I hopped on a plane to travel to Thompson, Manitoba to photograph Troy & Shanleigh’s big day.  For several years I lived in Thompson and it’s always nice to head back there for a visit, especially when the visit means I get to take photographs of great people! (and yes, I still do travel to Thompson for weddings, if you were wondering!)

I started the day by photographing the girls getting their hair and make up done.

It’s always a treat to see what the flower girls and ring bearers get up to at weddings. One of the flower girls gave me a lot of laughs while she was in the hairdresser’s chair.

After hair and makeup it was time for Shanleigh to return to her parent’s home and slip into her beautiful gown.

Shanleigh’s mom Sue is a talented artist and I’d had the pleasure of photographing some of her work in the past, so it could be submitted to juried art shows.  Not surprisingly, Sue put her talent to use in designing Shanleigh’s sassy and fun wedding shoes, as well as the necklace Shanleigh wore.

The ceremony was held at Riverlodge Place, which is a beautiful new venue in Thompson.  With exposed wooden beams, high ceilings and large windows it was the perfect, romantic setting for Troy and Shanleigh to say their vows.It had rained (or rather poured) on and off during the day but we found a quick, rain free window of opportunity to take some photos outside.  I usually ask if the bride and groom have any special photo requests and Troy requested a fun shot of himself and all groomsmen being squished by his beautiful bride’s shoe.  Luckily for me, Shanleigh spent many years as an ice dancer and in the absence of a bench or something sturdy to hold onto, she was able to easily balance on one foot, gown and all, with no problems in order for me to get the shot.In addition to many of the photos I’ve posted, some of the bride’s favourite images of the day include being carried over the wet grass by her sister and husband so that she didn’t sink in and wreck her shoes (wow!), her beautiful dress before she put it on, as well as a few quiet looks between the newlyweds.
Every detail of the wedding was stunning, from the delightful cake to the personalized candy buffet.
Everyone enjoyed a great meal and we heard some wonderful, heartfelt speeches and toasts.After dinner, it was time for dancing.  Troy decided to make the garter toss experience fun for everyone.  Donning a wig and glasses, he surprised his bride as he rocked out like Garth in the movie “Wayne’s World” to the tune of “Foxy Lady”.  Awesome!

Thanks for being so amazing you two!  I wish you all the best for the future!

Until next time,

Get in touch!

Email: info@northof55fineartphotography.com   / Portfolio: www.northof55fineartphotography.com

Office: 1 (204) 480-1837

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northof55photography / Twitter: northof55photo

Instagram: northof55photo