Michele Dyson Photography

It’s Thursday. I’m tired. And I was really looking forward to taking an hour break from the computer this evening and watching Grey’s. Sadly, it wasn’t on for what ever reason…which of course at the time I was pretty annoyed at. But, as I always say…it was for a reason. I was trying to find something upbeat to watch while I attempted to hoist up our 8ft tree; by myself ( yes, I’m that impatient)! and I came across a CNN special on Heroes. Well, it was humbling and inspirational to say the least. There were 10 nominees, and each and every one of their stories brought me to tears, and made me want to jump on a plane and change the world. Well, I am a Mum to wee ones, plus my hubby would think I was crazy – so I knew that was definitely out of the question. The only thing I could reasonably come up with was to offer up what I do best. Nope, not burn everything I put onto the stove or scratch the side of my vehicle EVERY time I go through Starbucks drive-thru ( yes, it’s a problem)…..take pics, of course! I do believe with all my heart that this is my calling ( for now, anyways) and I am crazy passionate about it. Soooo, here’s my thought, and I’m hoping you guys can help me out. …..

You know someone. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, a single Mum holding down more than one job, or someone who is volunteering selflessly although their financial situation is far from steady. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a gift of art, love and memories. 

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography — $575 dollars worth. Included in the package is one 90 minute session at the location of their choice, 12 artistically edited high resolution images on disc as well as 3 8×10 and 4 5×7 prints. They will also receive all untouched images on disc as well.  

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a complimentary sitting fee for their family. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must truly be incapable of purchasing custom photography. ( Not being able to go on their annual vacation and having to cut back on their hired help doesn’t count:)

* The person you nominate must live within one hour of Penticton, B.C. or Victoria, B.C. as I do frequently visit there as well.  Tell me about the person, what they are experiencing and why you think they would be great recipients.  Please include a way to contact your nominee and yourself. 

* Please email me the full story to michele.dyson@hotmail.com

*Please pass this info on to others as they may have the perfect person in mind! 

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve , so get on it!!  

Open your hearts and minds this Holiday season……I’m looking forward to hearing from you:) 

Of course we always need to end with some eye candy, so here’s one of each of my littlest heroes:)  

Yup, they’re for real…..super hot, super stylish and superDUPER fun in front of the camera. My fave thing?! They were amazing listeners…..I have a tendency to get a bit bossy; well, let’s face it – I am Queen Bossypants, can’t help it. But hey, it worked, they laughed, and we squeezed in a lot in some fast fading light. Janine and Jay, thank you thank you thank you for bringing me to Playa with you, for trusting me without ever having met me ( little did you know what you were in for)! and most of all for letting your real selves shine through in your photos. It was an amazing week, and I feel so very fortunate to have played a role in your day. Hope you enjoy the peek…..more to follow once I finish some blog catch-ups! 

I’m writing this in the wee hours just 4 hours from when I need to get up and at ‘em for our trip. Mike and I are headed to the Mayan Riviera for a little vacay as I will be photographing my first destination wedding. It is a much needed break for us as we haven’t been away together since we were married almost 6 years ago. Nope, it wasn’t even the honeymoon, we’ve yet to find time for one of those! We were working our tails off in Bangkok, Thailand….hectic, crazy schedules each week, which looking back on of course we should have taken more time for ourselves. Hopefully this trip is just what we’ve been waiting for. Relaxation, peace, quiet, sunshine (if we’re lucky) and of course some great photo ops!  I will obviously be missing my girls like mad…..I have had many restless nights wondering if I even wanted to go. Ughhh….it’s going to be tough ( really) but it will be so, so fantastic once we’re back and get to soak up all of their pure goodness!  So, for now…..some of us. All four of us together, not only our first official family session, but our first photos EVER together. Don’t ask me how that happened, but there wasn’t even a single snapshot of us together. You can guess who took these….that’s right- my great friend Brooke. She was a trooper and did these in all of 10 minutes before another family session that day . I wouldn’t stop talking, the hubby was complaining a tad, Nevaeh was freezing her butt off ( hence the expression on her face) and Eve, well…..she was happy as usual, and yes she LOVES her tongue. I’m so glad she decided to make her silly faces in these. So her.  I seriously can’t believe we got as many usable ones as we did ( good thing I love backlighting)!  Of course I was impatient, drove to B’s house for the disc then came straight home to edit them. So, the images are courtesy of B and the processing on these few are the work of yours truly.  And yes, I am in LOVE with each and every one of them. Brooke, thank you:)  Mike and the girls……love you heaps:)  Mwah!

Love you guys:) ….now to decide which of these goes onto the wall; input, anyone ?! I have  a spot for two of these babies only and am thinking #2, 3, or 5…although I do love 4 as well, arghhh – and #1.  Why is it so tough, and WHY can’t I have more wall space !?????

As a photographer, I love it when I’m not the only one who has a vision. When the couple “brings it“, the images are able to go to a whole new level. The location, the styling and the interaction between each other are all equally important. Well, Cara + Mike have proven at each of our 3 sessions that they most definitely have what it takes.  Cara isn’t embarrased to admit she studies America’s Next Top Model…..wouldn’t you agree that is shows? I mean, come on – she has mastered “the smize”!    For the first part of this session we started out at one of the firehalls here in Penticton where Mike is now an official firefighter. I was obviously excited when they informed me that there was a vintage truck….and Graham, thank you for the offer of lighting one of the buildings on fire for us; if we’d had more time it would have happened!. Spring session, perhaps?!  Thank you Mike and Cara for being so creative and open minded, and for inspiring me. It is shoots like this that keep me moving forward. 

Stay tuned for more from their After session…..

An obvious fave……Mike, you are my most stylin’ groom to-date. 

Yup, the sky was that crazy, and the sun was pouring down on them like honey. Love. This one make me smile; laughing pictures are most definitely my faves:)

Great shoot…..rain, wind, yucky light and all-around a challenging shoot; luckily for me I ended up with the best subjects EVER!  Brit and Alicia are sisters and Mum had booked this session to get some pics of her girls…..well, Brittany & Kyle are getting married next year so we thought we’d take a bit of time to get a few shots of them. Seriously, all three of them were easy-peasy.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?! Because I do…..thank you guys, you were wonderful!

And now the lovebirds:) You two are seriously great together- you may just win the award for most laughing accomplished during a session!  Thanks for being so easy on me!

Here is his; brand new Baby Evan. He was just 5 days old in his session and was a sleepy little man almost the entire time.  Thank you to Mum and Dad for coming over, and for playing with my  ”big” baby girl while I clicked away. I thoroughly enjoyed doing his first session, and of course getting my new baby fix! 

Michele

anyone out there who knows great online shops for knit baby hats? Please fill me in, as I’m in need of some new props:)If he were mine this would be hanging on my wall – BIG!!!   a gorgeous little man:) my faves…how can you not just drool over those teensy toes. so sweet. 

This session was special for me as it was my very first morning session. I am not what you would call a morning person. At all. Note the 2 a.m. blog posts and you’ll understand why. I of course have to get up with the kids, but I am definitely not ready to face the world until closer to lunchtime! We started the session at 8 a.m. and the sun wasn’t yet over the mountains….we got to shoot in open shade and then had 15 minutes or so with some more dramatic lighting while chillin’ at the creek ( I’m pretty sure Christine was frozen – what a trooper)!  These two were seriously fabulous….so very comfortable as you can see even from this shot below – this was the first frame of the day and is one of my faves. Thank you guys for taking Cara  + Mike’s word and trusting me to get some “after” photos for the images you missed out on for your own day, and thank you also for opening my eyes to such killer locations. They were just stunning and I will be trekking out there again I’m sure….maybe just not so early!  Really though, it was so worth it and I had a wonderful time. Hope you enjoy the images!

AYKM?????  For real, Christine has this incredibly natural beauty that is so easy to photograph. Simply stunning. Chris, you are one lucky man!!
I loved how this moment when the sun broke over looked as though they were in a spotlight – I’m sure they did as well as it was their only moment of warmth the whole time we were out!My definate fave of the day – Oooooh, I am just crazy over birch trees….now to find somewhere I can sneak a few branches for some Christmas decor!!!!

Edited to add  ** I almost missed this image but am glad I came across it. This was one of the last shots of the day and you can just see the sun coming up over the trees; what a difference it made in the lighting…yum!

A double-post of sorts…..the 4 of us headed into Keremeous a few weeks back to gather our pumpkins – Nevaeh didn’t last as long as usual but it was still long enough for me to snap away and capture and handful of images I adore:)  We picked a half-dozen or so, and of course never got around to carving them all…does anyone else agree with me that pumpkins never used to be this slimy ???? !  The girls had fun, and come Hallowe’en morning Nevaeh was begging me to get into her costume. I of course gave in, and so began a very long day of Hallowe’en fun….cookies, a bit o pumpkin gutting, makeup, movies ,trick or treating and even a little dance-off to end the evening We had a few family friends come by with their little ones in tow and had a great time. I’m looking forward to next Hallowe’en when the Bitty Miss can toddle around with the big kids:)

And dress up day…..Eve wearing Nevaeh’s first costume at almost half the age and it fits….she is getting SO big! Nevaeh says she is Princess Kai-Lan:)

Yup, they’re real….my girlfriend thought I’d put falsies on her! You can see how blonde her little lashes are at the base…I’m sure mascara will one day be her best friend:)

Hope everyone had a great one:)

I’m thinking these may be my last few outdoor posts of our girls ; the weather has now changed, and aside from a few Winter Wonderland shots I’d like to attempt up at the ski hill, I’m not planning on torturing the wee ones for much longer….although they don’t really seem to mind that much:) This is a long post as it’s a mixture from the past month or so…..a few from my stay in Nanaimo with a couple shots of my girlriends’ very photogenic kids, of course since the girls were tagging along I needed some of them on an actual beach too; MAN I miss the ocean!  We then ventured to Victoria where my Mum and 3 of my siblings live. I’d promised Mum I would attempt pics of the 4 grandkids together and it actually worked out …the girls were a bit chilly, dirty, sniffly and wild but in the end they had fun and we all got what we wanted ( us-photos, the rugrats got tic-tacs and cookies…YAY for treats)!!!  

It was a good trip, but of course we’re happy to be home and getting into winter-mode. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that quite yet; luckily the hubby and I are heading to a warmer climate….I’ll be shooting a wedding in Playa Del Carmen in 2 weeks; good timing as Mike and I haven’t been on a holiday together since we lived overseas 5 years ago and it IS TIME!!!

Now on with the good stuff…

This first image may just be my fave of the girls….I can only imagine what Eve was thinking:)
She really does adore her big sis….lucky little thing:)
The Holland kiddos….thanks for having us guys!
 

Cousins…my sister’s girls and mine finally in a photo together…..man, I give kudos to child photogs – it is HARD work!
Can you believe that Nevaeh and her big cousin next to her are only 7 weeks apart???  That’s right, my girl is lacking in the height department, that’s for sure…..luckily she makes up for it in personality:)I just love this shot of Sam’s grubby little toddler hands…I believe I was bribing them with food in this one ( she was just 16 months in these photos and it worked like a charm)!

This is my Mum, “Nanny” to the girls….she’s been asking me for two years to redo her headshots for work and sadly it’s taken me this long. Well, I’m thrilled with the results and we honestly took about 5 minutes to get these. Mum is one of those people who ( up until now)! looks MUCH better in person…she’s been told that the photo she’s been using the past 6 years for marketing makes her look about 60 –  definitely not the case anymore; you look smokin’ in these and I’m so glad we pulled it together!  

My first “mixed” post…..I don’t really enjoy doing this, but I guess when you take on too much that’s what happens:)  Hopefully my clients can all forgive me for making them share their sneak!  There will be full posts in the next few days of each of these sessions…. and more:)  Below are imgaes of 5 day old baby Evan, sisters Brittany and Alicia as well as Brit’s fiance Kyle, a fabulous After session with Chris + Christine…..who happen to be great friends of Mike + Cara, who also did an After session with me this past weekend.  Thanks all for being understanding, and I promise to keep working away on your images…..you were all truly amazing in front of the camera and make me love what I do that much more.

Thank you:)

Introducing sweet baby Evan. It took a bit, but once we got him down he slept like a dream. Thank you so much for letting me do his very first session:)

I had such a great time with Alicia and Brittany….it was raining, we were losing light and were absolutely surrounded by monstrous cow patties; I even stepped in a fresh one. Disgusting. But worth it – thanks for having such a good time with it girls!I’m crossing my fingers to be able to shoot Brit + Kyle’s wedding next year…..mid-fall, a great theme and perhaps a little choreography ?!  Let’s hope they like these!!!  This was my very first morning session; and for those of you who know me, sunrise + Michele = a bad situation. I actually have a 30 minute “don’t talk to me” rule when I wake up:)  Well, Chris + Christine just may have changed my mind….I was loving the early light, in the second image it actually poured down like spotlights on them. Yum-my!

And last, but definitely not least, Mike + Cara. You may remember them from their wedding just a few weeks back. Creative minds, great style and Cara just happens to be an avid watcher of “America’s Next Top Model.” I think she may take it seriously as her presence in front of the camera is stellar. Mike recently started his new job as a firefighter, so of course we needed to work that into the shots; LOVE them…..stay tuned for many, many more great images. Thanks so much guys!