Category Archives: Family & Lifestyle

Fall 2020: An Unprecedented Portrait Season

Oh hello! Time for a second wave update from EBI.

I’m terribly sad to announce that our home studio on Sixth Ave. in Kitchener will not be available for indoor photo shoots during fall 2020, although we ARE offering outdoor sessions. It is simply not possible to safely separate the studio space from our home space at this time.

For now, it will remain a sewing studio where I make masks and gowns for the pandemic. (This will please my husband, who for once, will not have to endure fake snow in every nook and cranny of our house following the holiday rush.)

Fortunately, we still have a window of time for outdoor portraits this fall. The leaves are just reaching their most colourful peak. Friends, now is the time to get your seasonal photos done. I have space for a couple of sessions with immediate families in the tri-city area during the Thanksgiving weekend. Since nothing is certain this season, the sooner we shoot, the better. If updating your family portraits is something you’ve been thinking about, I recommend that you get in touch asap.

As for COVID precautions, I’ve got several new policies in place to protect my clients. So far, our outdoor, socially distanced sessions are going really well. Family portraits are feeling extra special. Extra love-filled and important. Each family’s health needs are very unique so I’ll always check in with you about the details before we work together.

In general, I’m reducing the use of props, encouraging touchless, distanced sessions, I frequently stop to sanitize my hands when shooting, and I’ll probably be wearing a mask during our session. Despite these little changes, we are still turning out some great images this season. I am treasuring each session, knowing it could be the last one for awhile.

Hopefully we’ll be able to keep on doing outdoor photo shoots until after the snow flies. Fingers crossed. I’ll be announcing details for styled outdoor fall AND holiday minis in the coming days. Both will be by appointment starting October 11th, on the grounds of @adayliagardens just outside of Maryhill, Ontario. Oh, and I’ve also had the pleasure of doing some really unique personal branding sessions during September. I’m always available for head shots and website photography in addition to family portraits. I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish together this fall! Don’t you just love autumn?

Have a safe and snuggly season!

~Emily

Auntie Em’s Super Secret Dill Pickle Recipe

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Homemade dill pickles are a part of my childhood that I missed as an adult, so I set about recreating the recipe and making it my own. After five years of trial and error, I’ve finally perfected the procedure and I’m ready to share it with the world! If you’ve always wanted to try making your own pickles, or if you’ve dabbled, but haven’t found the right recipe yet, give this one a try. It is gooooooood and includes full instructions for safely canning pickles.

My husband’s biggest pet peeve is Internet recipes that contain paragraph upon cringe-inducing paragraph of personal anecdotes before you get to the useful stuff. With that in mind, I’ve created a concise, easy to find, easy to save, easy to view on a cell phone version of my famous garlic dill pickle recipe.

Let’s jump right in!

Do you know the different forms of dill? These are fern dill, dried dill seeds, fresh dill flowers, and dried dill weed. (From left to right and top to bottom.) I like to include at least a couple different types in each jar of pickles for a nice, well-rounded dill flavour. I’ve also been known to add dill flowers to floral bouquets for texture and movement plus a pop of yellow.

Now you know all my secrets! (Okay, all my pickle related secrets.) I hope this recipe works out well for you. Trust me, once you taste these babies, you’ll never want to go back to store bought pickles again.

Cheers!

Hello 2019! Here’s What’s New With Emily Beatty Imagery

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If you’re been paying attention to my Instagram, you’ve noticed me talking about a few big changes for my photography business in 2019. Its true! Life has been beautiful and messy and unpredictable these last couple of years. I’ve been fortunate to work will all different kinds of clients and to really hone my skills in the 10+ years since I began my career in this industry.

Lately, lots of people have been asking if I’m busy shooting weddings this summer, and the answer is, “Nope!” Its been my privilege and joy to work with scores of couples to document their big days, but for now at least, I’m enjoying semi-retirement from the wedding industry.

I have so many interests photographically, I truly wish there were more hours in the day! The truth is, I need to narrow my focus to really excel at my work. There are a great deal of photographers serving my region that specialize in wedding and newborn sessions- especially if you’re looking for those bright and airy or dark and moody styles that are so trendy right now. I’ve come to realize that my bold and colourful style and skill set are better suited for creative portrait art.

In particular, lately I’ve been really excited about the increasingly popular niche of Personal Brand Photography. Its all about helping other business owners and online personalities tell the story of their passion and draw people in with really high quality images.

Now please don’t go thinking this new path means I don’t have time to update family portraits! On the contrary, I’m moving away from weddings and newborns so that I have time to pursue this new niche while continuing to serve the clients that I’ve already come to know and love.

Furthermore, all past EBI clients that have a customized link to a Pixieset gallery now have the option to order wall art, high quality prints and other products directly from your online gallery.

I’m also revisiting my love for fine art photography. For the first time ever, you can now purchase home decor items that are personalized with my artwork via my Society6 Shop.

Fall/Winter 2019 promises plenty of new picture taking opportunities. (Like Holiday Minis, happening at the Kitchener photo studio November 9th and two other dates this fall.) Stay tuned for more fun fresh photos of lovers, ladies and little ones. Thank you so much for visiting!

Holiday 2017 Studio Minis in Kitchener with Emily Beatty Imagery

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Each November I transform the home studio into some sort of insanely festive photo set for our annual Holiday Photo Sessions. In 2017 the inspiration came from Canada’s 150th birthday celebration earlier in the year. The result is this amalgamation of Christmas and Canadiana.

The best part of these holiday mini sessions is watching families grow up in front of my lens. Lots of familiar faces in this crowd!

Enjoy the gallery.

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Want to see more?

Check out this 2017 holiday season compilation.

Fall Photos at the Family Farm

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I love this family. We met years ago through my husband and other mutual friends, and I’ve been lucky enough to photograph their growing numbers in a variety of different sessions over the past few years.

The day we selected for our photo shoot happened to be in the midst of a late summer heat wave and the kids were happy to run around the farm in Scotland Ontario that they call home while soaking up the last rays of September sunshine.

Then that sunset happened! Love it when I get to end a shoot with a sunset and smiles.

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Fall Family Photos at Rockway Gardens

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I’ve been meaning to share this vibrant little fall family photo session from last October at Rockway Gardens in Kitchener. In my experience, husband + wife + baby always = a great photo shoot, and these three were no exception. These new parents were lovely to talk to, easy-going and great with their baby, all of which made for a wonderful laid back, low key session with lovely golden evening light. When the family placed their portrait order, I was pumped that they specifically asked for bright, bold colours during the editing process- my specialty. Fall portraits are all about those sunny warm tones and vibrant foliage. (A super smiley and cute baby like D. helps too.)

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Thanks to this family for choosing me to document your baby boy’s first Halloween season. It was a truly a pleasure.

Mother Daughter Portraits with a Canadian Twist

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These images tell a story that begins and ends in Algonquin Park. My cousin Cicely and I have always been very close, even though we don’t get to see each other much. When we do get together, its often just a few days each summer at our beloved family cottage in Algonquin Park. Cic grew up spending her entire summers at sleep away camp in the Provincial Park, and eventually became an accomplished canoer and camper, spending up to 50 days at a time traveling through remote wilderness with a close group of young women that remain some of her closest friends.

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Five years ago (to the day!!!) I had the joy of documenting Cicely and Dan’s glorious Christmas themed wedding. When we learned that Cic would become a mother, right away, long before the baby arrived, we began talking about how we could possibly rendevouz at my place during the summer for a creative photo session. The logistics were going to be tricky. You see, my beloved cousin and her baby are American. They live in Cincinnati. Nevertheless, Canada holds a special place in Cicely’s heart, and we both wanted to commemorate her baby girl’s first trip to our mutual favourite place on earth- the cottage. At the same time, Canada was still riding the celebration from our recent 150th anniversary on July 1st. If ever there was a time to dream up a Canada themed photo shoot, this was it! We spent less than 24 hours together in 2017, but we sure did make the most of it. So without further ado, its my pleasure to introduce you to Cicely, and her beautiful daughter, sweet miss Louise. I’m so pleased I could capture their relationship and this special moment in our history.

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Sending hugs South of the border. xoxo

Mother’s Day Floral Workshop with From The Potting Shed

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Last month, just before Mother’s Day, I attended a Mother Daughter floral workshop with the buds at From The Potting Shed, and the lousy weather didn’t stop my mom, my aunt Debbie, my cousin Alex and I from having a grand ol’ time– and going outside to take pictures in the rain. Earlier in the day we got a quick garden tour and then learned how to make spring twig wreaths and floral crowns. In between there was a catered lunch and some excellent photo opportunities.

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We had a lovely time making our wreaths and crowns, but the real pleasure of this workshop was luxuriating in the ambience surrounding the French peasant gardens and the stone cottage that Elaine and the team at From the Potting Shed call home. Don’t even get me started on that incredible weeping cherry tree! Those pink blossoms totally made my day. Here’s a taste of all the pretty that went down at the 2017 Mother’s Day workshop.

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Did you like the look of this workshop? From The Potting Shed will be hosting another very similar workshop called Fairies and Flowers on July 9th, 2017.

Want to see a complete gallery of images from this workshop? Visit my gallery website. Want to see another blog post showcasing flowers from FTPS? View my open house post.

Thank you for a beautiful day mama, Alex, Debbie, and all the buds From The Potting Shed.

Hello 2017! EBI News and Photography Features

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Oh hello! Its February, the world feels a little crazy right now, and that means here at EBI we are celebrating LOVE. Todd and I have recently relocated to a house near Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, and plans to construct an on site full time studio space are underway. There have been a lot of sleepless nights and pinching pennies, but at long last our dreams are taking shape! I want to thank you personally for helping me get to the point in my career where a full time studio space makes sense. It feels like high time to show some appreciation to the clients that have been with me from the start. That means its time to announce some new promotions. You’ve earned it.

First of all, all 2016 prices will be extended until March 1st 2017. Book a portrait session on location or at my temporary home studio this month for big savings.

Next up, take a peek at our VALENTINE’S PREPAID PORTRAIT DEAL. Maybe you’re looking for a Valentine’s gift for your love, or maybe you are just a smart shopper planning ahead for when you know you are going to want photos later this year. I designed this feature to give devoted customers an option to get the best possible value for 2017 portraits. The idea is you purchase a photo shoot voucher now at 2016 prices, and use it anytime in 2017.

If you’re a returning EBI client and you redeem your voucher before October 2017, you’ll also receive an extra 5 edited digital files with your package. That’s $125 worth of free photography to say thank you for your loyalty. If you know you’re going to want family portraits or maternity or newborn photographs this year, planning ahead and purchasing the prepaid portrait deal could save you hundreds of dollars!

Now technically, this is a Valentine’s Deal, but there’s definitely no rule against treating yourself this February 14th! Give a voucher as a gift, or hang on to it for your own family later this year. Choose from any of the six location or studio portrait packages listed on the investment page of the EBI website for your voucher value. Options range from $200 to $450 including tax.

You can contact me via Facebook or by e-mailing emily@emilybeatty.com to order a handmade voucher until February 14th. Book your photo shoot right away, or wait until summertime and be one of the first people to enjoy our newly constructed Kitchener photo studio.

Stay tuned for our next blog post, 2017 EBI BOUDOIR FEATURES!

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One Afternoon, Four Generations Of Summertime Portraits

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Church bells rang and the sun shone bright and warm the day I met this charming family. After finding each other online through some mutual friends, we met at the family home in the very most picturesque neighbourhood in Historic Kitchener to update four generations of family portraits. Sometimes organizing so many family members can be a real challenge, but this group was great to work with.

Our goal was to come up with 20 different portraits that would coordinate nicely with each other. All the participants would then have enough images to decorate their walls or make a customized photo album with the images. It had been quite some time since these folks got together to take family photos, and is often the case, it was a new baby in the family that set things in motion. After introductions, we flew through a few group shots, then split apart into little groups for some smaller couples portraits and individual family photos. Years from now, I hope this sweet little lady sees these images and knows how much love and joy she has brought this family.