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yesterday, my good friend and fellow wedding photographer, Jayme Morrison and I, took to the streets of Windsor to scout some cool new shooting locations for our upcoming wedding season.
ummmm......
it didn't go very well.
you see, we got off to a rocky start when we got sidetracked by talking too much, and then we realized that we were driving aimlessly around! we quickly got back on track, tried to focus, and then decided that we needed to eat.
we have our priorities ya know.
after a yummy lunch and some good conversation at Chanoso's , right in downtown Windsor, we set off on foot to discover some treasures. actually, we thought we might get lucky and come across some REALLY great shooting locations, but we soon realized that it wasn't going to be our lucky day.
well, what do you do when you can't find any awesome locations?
you photograph OTHER COOL STUFF!
some of our finds of the day include an alley with cool shadows, a fair trade store that smelled like incense and had a Matryoshka doll with the face of Vladmir Putin, a night club called the Boom Boom Room (i like the name), a Windsor Symphony schedule so that Jayme can take her son to the Peanut Butter n' Jam concerts, and some mud.
all in all, it wasn't a total loss.
you see, i had a great time getting to know Jayme better, it was beautiful and sunny outside and we got to walk around AND it was a day away from work at the computer, which doesn't happen very often.
here are a few photos from our adventures in Windsor...
since wedding photographers in WIndsor aren't very busy during the winter months, we resort to shooting murals! LOL!
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scouting gone awry....
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139
March 4th, 1983
the beginning of the life as i know it.
you see, March 4th 1983 is the day that Darryl asked me to be his girlfriend.
it was 2 weeks after my 14th birthday, and it was a friday.
i wish that i still had the original note, but after all of our moving around and the age of the paper, i guess it got lost or thrown out. i still remember the gist though.
Darryl was too shy to ask me out in person, so on that fateful friday morning, before classes started, i was handed a little piece of paper. i was also told not to read it until after he left the room. talk about shy!
it went something like this
"Michele, I like you a lot, and I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend. I had to ask you today, because I couldn't live through the weekend. Love always, Darryl"
Yep.
Short and to the point.
Darryl and i met in Jr.High in Toronto. I was in grade 8 and he was in grade 9.
for me, it was love at first sight, but it took Darryl a little bit longer to realize that i was the girl for him. i was willing to wait.
Darryl played violin and i played viola, and it was actually the music that brought us together. he happened to be the best violinist in the school, and i was the best violist. it was a match made in heaven.
two music nerds, staring at each other from across the orchestra.
man, i had such a crush on that guy! it was crazy!!!
so, 27 years later, we are still together and we are celebrating our 21 anniversary this coming August.
we have 3 teenagers and a lifetime of memories.
through all the trials and all the journeys, i can still say that i'm crazy about this guy.
we still play in an orchestra, and we still stare across the room at each other and i still get that loving wink from the man of my dreams.
of course, we're older, we have a few gray hairs (well, him more than me of course) and we're far from those being those kids with a crush.
we are two 41 year olds with a crush!
even after all these years we adore each other, lust after each other, and can't get enough of each other.
not much has changed in the last 27 years.
when i talk to my clients about love and marriage, i know what i'm talking about!
here are a few embarrassing photos of us together, from ages 14 to 19.
this was taken on a school music trip, about 2 months after we started dating. it was a LONG bus ride to Washington DC, and we fell asleep. i'm so thankful that i have great friends to take embarrassing photos of me at my best!
yep, i had a puppet muppet! i still love Animal!
i think i am in grade 10 in this photo. as you can see, we had some issues with using Sun In during the summer, and we were still sporting the awesome YELLOW hair! LOL!
this was taken a few months after we got engaged. i was 19 yrs old here.
man, i LOVED that sweatshirt and wore it until it was in tatters!
this was the Christmas, after we were engaged. i was still 19 years old here. Darryl was 20.
it was the December before we got married.
these are our kids!
it's hard to believe that 27 years later, we would have these awesome kids!
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27 years ago....
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138
hi blog world.
i just wanted to share some awesome news that i received this morning.
you know, there's nothing better than waking up in the morning to an AWESOME email. well, i guess there are some things that are better, but awesome emails are definitely up there as wonderful.
anyways, some of you might have read (a few blog posts ago) that i was invited to be a member of the WPJA (wedding photojournalist association).
i was thrilled to pieces when i got that news, and i did a happy dance and had a perma-smile for a few days.
yep, i'm a happy-dance kinda gal.
this morning i woke up to an email from the AG|WPJA and i have been invited to become a member of their association as well!
this is what the AG|WPJA does :
"The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association AG|WPJA is comprised of outstanding wedding photographers, who are at the forefront of the wedding photography industry when it comes to enhancing images. The chief objective of the AG|WPJA is to provide members with a platform where the finest enhanced, manipulated and/or artistic wedding photojournalism in the world is spotlighted and promoted for the bride and groom.
The AG|WPJA is a separate division of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). Whereas the WPJA upholds strict guidelines that forbid excessive picture manipulation, the AG|WPJA encourages and fosters creative image enhancement, with the vision of promoting Fine Art Wedding Photojournalists.
The AG|WPJA establishes and upholds high standards that are taken into consideration during the judging process for our wedding photography contests. Using all artistic tools at their disposal, members skillfully enliven their work in post production processing."
there are only 13 (now 14 counting me) photographers in Ontario, that are members of the AG|WPJA, and i am very honoured to be associated and listed with some of the best wedding photojournalists in the WORLD!
now i am an honoured member of both associations, and i'm humbled but thrilled that my hard work and efforts have paid off.
now i need to get my butt in gear and enter some of their print competitions!
YIKES!
i also wanted to thank my clients, my family and my friends, for believing in me, supporting me as i grow my business, and just loving me everyday.
thank you from the bottom of my heart!
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some more great news...
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137
last summer, i got a call from a bride that is living in Toronto, but getting married in Windsor. we talked on the phone for a bit, got to know each other better, and i soon found out that this bride is SUPER COOL!
not only was she sweet and easy to talk to, but she was getting geared up and trained to climb Mount Everest in November, to raise money for charity!
seriously?
this bride was Laurie, and her and her fiance Andy, were planning a wedding in Windsor and looking for a local photographer.
after meeting up on a Sunday morning while they were visiting family, they decided to book with me, and i was very flattered.
see, i am blessed with having some very cool couples hire me, and these two are no exception.
Laurie shared the story about how her and Andy ended up together , and it's a great story about perseverance, secret crushes, and long distance love.
in the end, true love prevailed, and this coming May, the two of the them will be getting married at Pointe West Golf and Country Club in Amherstburg. I'm very excited indeed.
i guess Laurie and Andy met, for a brief minute, while they were in high school. the meeting wasn't mind blowing or memorable, but it was the beginning of their journey.
come university, Laurie ends up meeting Andy again and finds out that they have a couple of classes together. i guess Laurie's secret crush on Andy kept her from really getting to know him for the first little while, but they soon hooked up and got talking.
Andy headed off to Chiropractic school in Toronto, and the two of them tried a long distance relationship, which , after a little while, ended.
once Andy moved back to the Windsor area, they hooked up again, but this time is was supposed to be 'only as friends'. it wasn't until Andy was supposed to move back to Toronto for work, that Laurie realized how much she was going to miss him! from what i was told, it took a couple of drinks for them to be able to finally confess how much they liked each other and Laurie decided to follow Andy to Toronto and continue their blooming relationship.
btw....
i grew up in Toronto, and it's a cool place to live!
at the end of my engagement session with these two lovebirds, i asked them what they love the most about each other.
it didn't take Andy long to share that his favourite thing about Laurie, is that she just lets him be himself. Laurie said the same thing about Andy, which i guess means he just loves her the way she is.
Andy also admitted that he loves the fact that Laurie loves to bake for him!
What man doesn't love a woman who bakes!
here are a few photos from our engagement session in the snow.
a big thank you to Andy and Laurie for allowing me to be a part of your lives and your special day!
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andy & laurie {windsor ontario engagement photographer}
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136
on Valentine's Day, i had the pleasure of photographing Laurie & Andy's engagement session.
it was a cold day, but Laurie & Andy were troopers, and walked through snow and ice so that i could get the shot!
Andy and Laurie are getting married in May at the Pointe West Golf and Country Club, which is in Amherstburg. Because their wedding is in Amherstburg, i decided that it would be fun to shoot their engagement session in the cute downtown streets if the quaint town. We had fun in the snow, and then ended our session in a little diner on the main street by the river.
here's a sneak peek
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andy & laurie {windsor ontario engagement photographer}
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