Last year, despite shooting at two separate locations, I didn’t manage to get Easter portrait pictures of my own children. This year I made sure I did.
Here is a cute lil’ slideshow.
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I will post more soon. Thanks to everyone who came out.
Dani
I know Spring has sprung when it is Easter bunny season! This is the second year that I have done Easter portraits with live bunnies at Hopedale Mall. It is always a blast and you never know what the day will bring. Come by either Thursday or Saturday for your photos. A package is only $15.
Call 905.827.7146 for your appointment.
Easter Portraits at Hopedale Mall in Oakville
See you there,
Dani
I am really excited to post my first attempt at a video blog! It seemed like it would be a good idea to discuss how you choose your wedding photographer. What it comes down to is “Does this person make me feel comfortable?”
Just click on this link to see my first attempt.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DaniValiquettePhotos?feature=mhw4#p/u/0/gEzdAv6bQ2Q
Enjoy and happy planning.
You may not even know what a parent book is. (And that’s OK; that’s why I have this blog.) A parent book is an album that is prepared specifically for the parent’s of the bride and groom. (There may be more than two if there are divorced parents in the mix.) In most cases the album is designed once and then the album is printed for each set of parents. It is usually physically smaller than the album that is created for the bride and groom, but not always.
Jenna with her Attendants
A parent album can be any number of pages; 12, 24, or 30 are common page numbers, and often it contains many of the same pictures you have chosen for your own wedding album. The album should tell the story of your wedding day and reflect the photographic style that better reflects your parent’s. (This might be the same as your own, but my experience is that parents do prefer the more traditional photos.)
Jenna with her Parents
It is a good idea to talk to your parents about what they would like in their album. Perhaps they would like more pictures of the church or ceremony then you selected for your own album.
Jenna and Dan: The View
You’ll need to keep in mind the number of “detailed” photos that were included in your package. If you pick too many new pictures, you’ll risk going over your allotted amount. Of course, if you feel that these photos better express the day from your parent’s perspective, we can work together to determine which to include without inflating the price past your budget.
Happy planning,
Dani
This Monday for MM I thought I’d share some hints on how to pick an image for your thank-you cards.
Trust me the first question you’ll get on you big day (especially from your parents) will be a coy, “Soooo when are you guys gonna have kids?”. The next question will occur sometime during your first week back from your honeymoon when someone will ask you if have started your thank-you cards yet. And you and your new husband will look at each other in disbelief. “Already?”, you’ll think.
Though you may not completely agree with where they fall in the list of To Dos, thank-you cards are important. And though I don’t think you need to pick them before you unpack from Maui, you do need to think about what image you may want to use when you go through your pictures.
Here is my guidance, in general, the image on a thank-you card is one of the more traditional photos taken of the bride and groom. It is small so you may not want a full head-to-toe image, but more likely a head and shoulders shot. If there is an image you really like I can most likely crop it. Just ask and I’ll do my best to accommodate. I have never done a thank-you card that is not of the bride and groom, but this isn’t the only option.
Vanessa and Mike's Thank you card
Please don’t use the following knowledge to justify your procrastination, but the Martha Stewart’s and Amy Vaunderbilt’s say you have one-year to get your handwritten thank-yous in the mail. Please note that mother-in laws all over disagree.
Happy planning,
Dani
Here is a fun little post. Mabel’s Label is having a blog contest, and when I read the entry details this is what came to my mind. You can find information on the blog contest here at “Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest”.
Enjoy…
Twitter was the first to go–three hours ahead of the communicated deadline. Things were expected to go black at noon. I checked Twitter on my phone. There were no updates since #unmarketing updated three hours ago, “Not sure how I will handle this. Duration still unknown. #GoingBlack,” it said. I attempt to access it from my desktop, but still nothing. Instead I turn to Facebook. A group of loyal Facebookers are updating their status. Many are more optimistic than I am. They think everything will be back up after a few days that the government will realize the negative impact to the economy outweighs any sort of security issue.
I check on my five year old son, Reese, who is in our rec room blaring the TV volume. Today is not a day he is allowed television or video games, but it didn’t take much to convince me. He is playing an online game his uncle showed him. It’s a Disney creation. A game used to solidify children’s love of their copy written super heroes and prince obsessed heroines. He seems unphased by the Blackout. Perhaps rightly so, Disney was brainwashing long before the Internet.
After peaking in on everyone, including my napping two year old–oblivious to this silent stress–I sit in front of my own Mac. I check my favourite blogs: social media, parenting, photography, and Canadian news. Will I still be able to access this? I laugh out loud; I won’t need to follow social media news. There won’t be any. I’ll find other venues. I’ll subscribe to that parenting magazine again, maybe even get the newspaper.
I shut my computer down. Because what else can I do?
Prepare yourself, this MM might get a little cheese-dog.
Why I Love my Job
I <3 when people comment, “You love your job, don’t you?”. Because, well I do.
My answer is always the same. “I hang out with people on happy days. What could be better than that?” And seriously, what could be? I have the most awesome clients, and (yes, this sounds hokey, but bare with me here) what I do is all based on love. I think it’s because I <3′ed my wedding, my photographer, our PARTY! And I love being married (and trust me if you had known me in my radical, feminist university years, you’d understand how no one would have called that one!) So it’s a privilege and an honour (I warned you) to be part of other couples beginnings!
Did I live up to the cheese?
Happy planning,
Dani
Don’t have any idea what to do with your pre-teen/teen this March Break? Sign them up for photo camp with Danielle Valiquette Photography! Spots are limited and going fast so call to book now at 905.582.4015.
The classes run from March 15 to 19. Sessions are:
2 for $80
3 for $115
4 for $150
5 for $175
Remember no fancy camera required. Hope to see all the young, photo enthusiasts there!
Dani
This weeks Matrimony Monday addresses exactly what a photo proof is.
The Proof is in the Pudding
A common question from clients is, “What is a proof?”. And the confusion is warranted because depending on the photographer “proof” can have many meanings. In short, when you get a proof from me it is a picture from me that has been colour-corrected, maybe the exposure has been adjusted, but there is no Photoshop magic. (And how we love the Photoshop <3, don’t we ladies?)
Don’t forget all wedding packages come with a proof book to help you choose the pics for your wedding album. If a picture calls for it to be converted to black and white, I’ll usually do that in the proof book so you have an idea of the overall feel of the photo.
Digital Proofs
What about digital proofs? All your proofs are available online in your password protected gallery. (Remember, the point of this is to share it with all your friends and family!) You will also be given a proof disc. These are the files from which your proofs were printed. They are low resolution files (meaning they will look like ca-ca if you blow then up past 8×10 inches) with my website on them. Feel free to email them to Nana in Maine or post them to your Facebook wall.
So that’s a proof.
Happy planning,
Dani
This weekend I shot the wonderful, intimate wedding of Isabelle and Mike. I have my husband to thank for this referral. Isabelle and Mike have two wonderful little boys named Brodigh and Christopher. Brodigh and my son, Reese, are friends who go to the same school and my keen-eared husband heard that Isabelle needed a wedding photographer while both boys attended the birthday party of a friend. (You guessed it, I was shooting that day!)
When I met with Isabelle, we hit it off right away. (She’s the first person I have ever met that actually–LITERALLY–ran away and joined the circus when she was younger!) She was looking for a wedding photographer that could capture their day without taking an overly traditional approach. I mean, come on, how traditional could an ex-carny be? 
Isabelle looked stunning in the ever-conventional lilac wedding gown she picked out. I have to say she rocked it. Jessica Rabbit would be jealous. This was a very small wedding held in a restaurant downtown Oakville, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a ton of thought that went into the details. At every turn there was a sentimental detail. Isabelle’s wedding band was engraved with the names of her boys (Mike, Brodigh and Christopher), while Mike’s ring included the boys and Isabelle; Isabelle’s bouquet was tied with a scarf that had belonged to her deceased mother; she left a Kit Kat–Mike’s favourite–at the hotel bedside for her groom; her something blue was one (adorable) blue toenail the tiara she wore had been a present to a best-friend, Kristina, for her wedding.
Here are some of the initial pics. I am sure I’ll blog more, but from now some straight-from-the-camera details.
It just goes to show you that even if your wedding is a small one putting some thought into the little things really pays off.
Happy planning,
Dani