Tag Archives: twin photographer

Dinosaur Mini Photo Shoots

Dino Minis! What could be more fun? As a kid, there were exactly 2 types of library books that I would check out: big photographic volumes about whales, and illustrated books about dinosaurs. Apparently huge, mysterious creatures have always fascinated me. Its a love I share with my husband, and its a photographic theme that has been floating around my head for years now. In the spring of 2016, I decided this would be the year, and I set about imagining how I might construct a dinosaur themed mini photo event for my clients.

Eventually, I settled on a prehistoric tropical jungle themed dinosaur set, for families that wanted portraits with some extra pizazz. The botanical background is a paper background that I had already hand painted for some wedding clients earlier this year. The handmade green paper succulents had also been a part of the wedding wall, but this set needed something brand new to bring it to life. Inspiration struck when I saw a window display with large paper leaves on a most excellent crafting blog called Sew Yeah. The night before the first photo shoot, my devoted husband and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning cutting and shaping all of these green, orange, yellow and purple leaves that you see in the photos.

Quite the last minute plan, but I actually love the way all the paper components came together once I had them taped and tied in place. I added a rustic fall muslin backdrop for the “dirt” with pillows underneath to make “rocks” and added a few plants from our deck to fill out the lower portion of our jungle set. We had lots of toy dinos and unique props to keep the kids entertained during their photos, and there was no shortage of smiles as the kids explored our set and the dinos inhabiting it. It worked out that half of our participants were turning either 1 or 2, and these sessions gave their families a unique way to document their child’s milestone without doing the typical balloons and birthday cake smash type of photo session. I’m so glad I just went for it and forged ahead with a very random mini theme. How unique and fun are these images?!?

Thank you so much to the families that came out to help me realize my dino dreams with these mini photo sessions. Extra special thanks to Theodore for lending us some of his very most favourite toys for these photos, and to Melissa for her excellent assisting work and her sweet puppeteering skills. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Until next time… roar!

Curious to know more? Visit the Facebook Event page for Dino Minis here.

A Kitchener Waterloo Portrait Photographer’s Top Shots from 2015

2 Replies

What a year! For me and EBI, 2015 turned out to be a flurry of excitement full of extreme highs and lows, big life changes and unprecedented career opportunities.

The year opened up with elaborate plans for my own “glitter garden party” wedding scheduled for June, escalated with Easter minis, continued with the honour winning a YWCA 2015 Woman of Distinction Award, got complicated when I learned who my true friends were in the spring months, and peaked in June when I vowed (on literally the rainiest, stormiest day in 6 years) to stick with Todd forever. Just our luck.

Me and my business hit the ground running in August and the number of jobs I had on the go steadily increased until holiday minis and then the Christmas rush were upon us. After some personal tragedies and the deaths of 2 family members and my beloved bunny, Todd and I had plenty of opportunities to test the strength of our new marriage. I’m pleased to report that through all the various challenges 2015 presented us with, the two of us have become a stronger team than ever. With his support, I shot and edited more portraits for more clients this holiday season than I would have believed possible in the recent past. For weeks on end I was running on coffee and editing around the clock as Todd delivered photo packages for me all over town. I actually had to turn potential clients away in December because there just weren’t enough hours to fit everybody in before the big deadline on the 25th. I would have liked to help those families out, but I admit it also felt like a bit of a milestone for my business to have reached a point where I can afford to turn people away.

At long last, it feels like I’ve got a substantial client base rooting for me, and what excellent clients they are! In a classic example of Murphy’s law, when my new husband and I finally got a chance to slow down on Christmas day, Santa blessed us with food poisoning and we both rang in the New Year in a rather disgusting state.

It truly was a crazy year, full of far more challenges, joys and sorrows than I ever could have anticipated. These are the images, personal and professional, that stick out for me after the last 365 days of living life and pursuing my dreams at full speed.

ebi_9094edit__Emily_Beatty

Thanks so much for being here and for taking a few moments from your busy day to glance at my pictures. Wishing you love, peace and joy in 2016.

Sneak Peek: Rustic Glam 2014 Holiday Minis in Kitchener

Leave a reply

If I had to sum up the theme for this year’s holiday mini photo shoots in just one word, I’d go with COZY. If I had to elaborate, I’d say we were going for rustic charm with a glamorous edge and a hint of vintage inspiration. The idea for this set began back in the summer when I paid a man in a church yard $25 for a lovely red vintage Canam Flyer sled. He had just personally refinished it by hand. The day before the minis, I raided my sister’s home and discovered yet another beautiful vintage sled, and the red tractor that my father made by hand for his first grandson. Excited to have some new props on hand, I planned the set around them and asked my clients to come wearing neutral and deep red outfits with a bit of sparkle here and there, and they did me proud! Furthermore, we had handmade hats and accessories provided by local business, Kissing Bridge Krafts. In the end, all the elements coalesced into some very festive holiday portraits of some gorgeous families. This is your first peek at this year’s holiday mini portraits, but it won’t be your last. Enjoy!

Spooky Styled Halloween Minis

Leave a reply

Its no secret that Halloween is my favourite holiday. I’ve always loved the anything goes atmosphere and especially the dress up opportunities that come along with October 31st. Since becoming a grownup, putting together the set for Halloween minis has become my new favourite annual tradition. I always spend way to much time and money collecting new orange, green, black, white, and purple items to decorate with. Next I spend a small fortune on Bulk Barn candy, and finally I visit Nauman’s Farm in St. Clements to select picture perfect pumpkins to dress the set.

Minis are great because they give me an opportunity to fully celebrate Halloween for an extra day, while playing dress up with my favourite little clients. We don’t get any trick or treaters in my neighbourhood, so this is my excuse to get in on the cuteness even though I don’t have any kids of my own yet.

This fall I had 11 cuties from 3 weeks to 14 years old come out for a short and sweet mini photo session. It was a noisy, sticky, laughter-filled, joyful kind of day. I felt especially lucky to be visited by several brand new babies that I’ve been waiting an awful long time to meet. These are just a few of my favourite images from our spooky styled shoots. Enjoy!

This shoot marked my first collaboration with Shawna of Kissing Bridge Krafts. She provided most of the cute knitted hats and handmade headbands that appeared in these images. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with to embellish our holiday mini portraits. Thanks Shawna!

St. Patrick’s Day Portraits with Tiny Twin Leprechauns

Leave a reply

“Do you have Irish blood in your family?” I asked their mother. “Oh yes!!!” she replied enthusiastically. After bringing her fraternal twin boys for Halloween photos, Christmas photos, and then Valentine’s Day photos, the obvious next step for this family was a mini St. Paddy’s Day shoot.

Our wee setup included plenty of shiny shamrocks, some of my grandmother’s silver candy dishes, foil wrapped chocolate coins, a chest full of golden booty and of course, beer steins. In a testament to their heritage, the boys began miming beer drinking with the empty mugs right away. And those hats! Did you ever see a cuter pair of leprechauns???

Cheers!