Saturday, October 31, 2015

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

1. Happy Halloween!
2. I made my costume last night.
3. Chachi is the cutest spider.  ever.
4. I plan on stealing my neices and nephew's chocolate while they are asleep tonight.
5. All I want to do is drink spooky wine and watch Hocus Pocus all night long.


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

101 IN 1001 UPDATE : PART II

I seem to have come down with a sudden case of the flu and spent most of my morning in bed snuggling with the fur baby.  I managed to talk myself out of the comforts of a warm bed to get some work done...and here we are.

On to part ii of my 101 in 1001 update.  If you haven't read part i yet, you can find it here.

I'm always on the lookout for new  tools and services that will help make my life easier.  So purchasing the BlogStomp software, number 81, was one of the things on the list.  I have also been very interested in getting my hands on some slideshow software as a different way to present my wedding clients with their images and this is where Sound Slides comes in, number 58.  You can see a sample of a slideshow here from Samantha and Alex's e-session.


Which brings me to the next item checked off the list, #75: shoot first engagement session.  When Ciana contacted me in the early Spring for her May wedding, I was more than excited.  Theirs was the first engagement session I shot, you can find the post about it here.


I saved the best for last.  Number 69: find the perfect nude lipstick.  Boy did I ever.  If you know me, you would know that I am always wearing lipstick.  It's kind of my thing.  Anyways, I had been searching for quite a while, but a quick trip to Sephora and some browsing and I found my perfect shade!  It's the Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte silky sensual lipstick in nude beige.  It comes with a hefty price tag, but I promise you, it is worth every penny.

That brings me to 9 1/2 completed items, out of the 81 I have on my list. Suddenly I don’t feel so productive…but what about you, do you have a 101 list? Do you have any suggestions as to what I should add to mine?

Friday, October 23, 2015

101 IN 1001 UPDATE : PART I

Do you remember that list I started a while back...101 in 1001?  As I've been checking things off the list mentally, I haven't been keeping up with one of the items I said I would: blog as I go.  There are eight, dare I say it again, EIGHT things that I have checked off throughout the year so I've decided to make this a two parter blog post instead of one big one.  So here are the first four checkmarks I've made:

First on off the list, #3, second shoot a wedding.  Wanting to jump full steam ahead into wedding photography was high on my priority list, but not without some practice first.  I reached out to local wedding photographers here on Vanvouver Island and came across Adina from Wren and Rook Photography and she was oh so kind as to letting me join her on most of her weddings this year.  I seriously cannot thank her enough!  To date we have shot 12 weddings together, with the next one being in November and I certainally hope it's not the last!  You can find the blog post to the second time we shot together here.



After gaining some experience shooting weddings, it was finally time to book one of my own and that brings us to #4.  I met Ciana and Travis through a friend of my sisters and I couldn't have been more happy.  They have since then became not only great clients, but even better friends.  I shot their wedding way back in May and you can see their wedding here.  And a short month later, to my surprise, I booked my second wedding.  You can see Samantha + Alex's wedding here :)



Another thing that was pretty exciting for me, I finally purchased the Replichrome lightroom presets by Totally Rad Actions, number 17.  I wrote a more in depth post about them which you can find here, but in short, they are the bee's knees.  They've made my workflow more efficient and my photos more consistent.  



And the last one for today, #20: make friends with a stranger.  Or shall I say stangerS.  Back in April, I had the absolute joy of attending the Canada Photo Convention in Vancouver.  It was probably the funnest three days of my life.  I purposefully went alone to meet new friends and boy did I ever.  Being surrounded by so many driven and like-minded people for three days straight is nothing short of amazing.  You can read a bit about my adventures here and below is a photo one of my good friends (no longer a stranger) took of me while at CPC.  Hi Sherrie!!  You can see more of her work here :)


 That's it for today my people!  Be sure to stop by next week for part ii!  Happy Friday!


Monday, October 19, 2015

WEEKENDS

What a wonderful weekend!  It started off with a session with the most wonderful family (I'll post a sneak peek below), a trip to the pumpkin patch, lots of Starbucks and to top it all off, I voted this morning.  

I think weekends like this should happen more often :)





Wednesday, October 14, 2015

WITH THANKFUL HEARTS AND FULL BELLIES

I'm sure by now everyone's bellies have had a chance to settle down after a long weekend of turkey, pumpkin pie and lots of whip cream.  Unfortunately, my suggestion for a tofurkey was turned down so my dinner consisted of just mashed potatoes and vegetables, but I was thankful nonetheless.  Thankful for such a wonderful family and friends.  Thankful for new opportunities.  Thankful for what I have.

My weekend began with a trip to Vancouver to see my mama.  Being the only parent I have left, she is the one thing I am most thankful for.  Being a single mother, she raised four children with all she had (which wasn't much) but her love was more than enough.  We met for lunch at a restaurant in Horseshoe Bay and then we went our separate ways.  I don't get to see her very often, so each time I do we try and make the most of the time we do have.  


As the weekend went on, many cheers and thanks were passed around.  I've said it before, this year has been pretty amazing and I owe it all to my family and friends, both new and old.  This year flew by, but it is my friends who help keep my life in perspective.  Thank you for being there and cheering me along the way.

Lastly, to every bride, groom and client who has entrusted me to document their lives, I don't think I can thank you enough!  It is an honour to be the one entrusted with capturing your lives while creating new memories.  My heart is full of love from all your support and in turn, you have made me a better person.  I have the best clients.  Like, EVER!

I hope all of your weekends were just as fantastic and filled with love.  Comment below with what you are most thankful for this year and let the good times roll.

Happy Thanksgiving (even though I am two days late)


Friday, October 9, 2015

INSPIRED: WEDDING DRESS TRENDS FOR 2016

I woke up at one o'clock this morning after going down for what I thought would be a thirty minute nap yesterday afternoon around dinner time.  After many failed attempts of trying to go back to sleep, I decided to just get up and start my day.  I then faced another dilemma: what does one do while the rest of my fellow people of the Northwest are fast asleep?

So for five and a half hours I watched Netflix while casually scrolling through Pinterest between episodes of Lost.  I eventually came across this article about wedding dress trends for spring 2016.  Now, I'm not sure about y'all, but the dress is one of my most favourite parts of a wedding so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite 2016 trends with you.  All these gowns have their own, shall I say, je ne sais quoi that makes them extra special and unique and all the pretty was found on Brides.com.

Trend no. 1: Tiered skirts.
Can you say in love?  There are many versions of this style that it could suit anyBODY.  For reals.  With the soft feminine look,  I could see this being worn at a garden wedding or maybe even at a winery.

left: Alvina Valenta right: Jenny Lee

Trend no. 2: Pants
No dress required.  A more casual approach to a wedding (gown) defiantely suitable for the untradtitional bride for backyard nuptials, beach weddings, or casual city affairs.

left: Angel Sanchez right: Theia

Trend no. 03: Wave Detail
DAYUUUM.  That's all I have to say about these beauties.  They definately have that Great Gatsby feel to them which would be perfect for a classy bride with a 20's vibe.

left: Kenneth Pool right: Berta

Trend no. 4: Thigh High Slits
Daring.  Bold. Confident.  Qualities a bride who donnes this style would have.  Perfect for any kind of wedding depending on the style.


Trend no. 5: Mini Dress
Now for something a little more fun!  Perfect for a late spring or summer wedding, this look is for a bride who doesn't take things too seriously and is just having fun on one of the best days of her life.  Perfect to party in too if you ask me ;)

left: Honor right: Isabelle Armstrong

Trend no. 6: Sheer Skirts
This look is by far my favourite, especially the one on the left - be still my heart.  With plenty of variations of this style, it could be worn on any bride with any style...the beach, backyard, forest, country clubs you name it.  loooovee it.


What is your favourite style of wedding dress?  Comment below, I would love to hear what you all think!

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

DEAR DIARY

I remember as a child always begging my mother to buy me new diaries, notebooks and  journals with the hopes of writing my story.  Everytime  I would find a new one, I would point and whip out the good old puppy eyes.  What about the last one I bought for you? she would ask.  But this one has cats on it!  Mom, pleeeeaasse!?  So with that another book was added to the collection.  I would write in it for a couple of days, always starting with Dear Diary...and I would go on and onn about pointless stories about the friendship bracelet I just braided for my BFF and what I had for dinner that night.  Eventually, I would get bored and it would be tossed into the pile of unfinished journals and that would be it until I talked my way into the next one.

I've always loved getting new journals.  There's something about the fresh clean pages just waiting to tell a story.  But somehow, for whatever reason, my intentions fall flat and I am left with a sad stack of unfinished journals.   Clearly, nothing has changed.


This year, I have taken to writing in them more often.  And the odd thing is, I love it.  I don't know why I've never been able to keep it up.  I suppose life just gets in the way and I forget.  The same old story.  We've all been there.  I was writing in one of my unfinished journals this weekend and I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of...well, I'm not sure what it was.  Wonder.  Joy.  Happiness.  Hopefulness.  You get the point.  I normally begin with five things I am grateful for and if I am feeling the feels, I'll write a little bit more.  Although a tad awkward, I thought I'd share with you what I wrote that night.  

October 4, 2015

1. Music that awakens your soul
2. Kitty snuggles
3. Finding new friends who are just as crazy as you are
4. Tears.  Happy and sad
5. Realizing you're a lot stronger than you thought you were

I feel changes coming my way.  This is it.  It's really happening.  I never thought this is something I could do - I've always lived my life thinking that I'm not good enough.  But, if I have learned anything this year, it's that I am a lot stronger than I ever thought I could be.

Don't give up on your dreams.  Find what lights your soul and stop at nothing until you make it real.  We all got the sizzle, now's your chance to strike that match and light it up, baby!


Here's to finishing the half-used journals.  Happy Wednesday!

Friday, October 2, 2015

FRANKIE SAYS RELAX

Lots of exciting things have been happening here in Julie World!  So many that I feel like I haven't been the funnest (that's a real word here in my corner of the interwebs ;) girl to be around.  I've been so preoccupied with, well, things that I have been working waaay to much and staying up to ungodly hours of the night just to get things done.  I often find myself running around just wishing I had just one extra hour in the day!  It got to the point where it was affecting all aspects of my life and I finally had to take a step back and relaaax.

One of the reasons I've been feeling this way is because I am trying to organize images for my new website!!  WooHoo!!  Originally I was super pumped to start this project (don't get me wrong, I still totally am) but when I finally sat down I realized I had  over 17,000 images to sort through.  And let me tell you, going through them all at once is something else.  I decided to set certain times of the day strictly dedicated to this so I don't go all cray and lose my mind.

In lieu of this, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite images (the ones I can show, I have so many deliciously amazing weddings just waiting to be shared!) as I go through them in hopes of keeping myself sane.


 Is there anything you do to untie the nerves and relax?  If so let's hear them...comment below and do your thang you beautiful readers, you!  

Happy Friday, xoxox