Back to School

This time last year I was making my commute to school. Travel mug of coffee in one hand and a lovely little toasted peanut butter sandwich in the other. All while steering my car with my knees until I finished my breakfast. Which occurred usually when I came to the main road. I'm a good driver, I swear. 

This September is a little different. School has been completed yet again and it is time to start something new. 

I got a little crafty and going with the back to school theme I decided to make some pens. 

To all students, new and old, I wish you the best of luck for this school year.

Finished pens. Made with birds eye maple.

Happy September

Well I have been m.i.a. once again for a few months. Sorry about that! I have been busy though I promise. I have spent the past few months enjoying the sun, visiting friends, time with family, finding treasures at markets, learning how to sew (that's right I said sew) and taking in the last bit of summer. Unfortunately this may or may not have resulted in neglecting ye old blog. But I'm back! I promise. As the summer winds down and fall begins I will be sure to update you of all my adventures. 


Here are some images of a recent trip to Toronto. I had some extra time to take a tour around a park down town and even hitched a ride on a bixi bike.

Destination...Cow Town

For the next two weeks I will be among the hustle and bustle, weaving around a plethora of plaid shirts, ducking through wide brimmed hats and trying to save my Birkenstock clad feet from being pummeled by cow boy boots. That's right boys and girls...I'm talking about the good o'l Calgary Stampede! 

This will be my second year among the mayhem. It is 11 days of long hours, big crowds and an all around amazing time. I get to spend my days with hilarious co-workers and convince customers that sugar is really good for you. 

I might make some posts while I am there but I can't make any promises. However, I will make a post as soon as I return. That is unless I trade in my Birks for boots and saddle up at the rodeo...ahhh probably not. 

Graduation Celebration

On Tuesday June 21st myself along with fellow classmates walked across the stage at the Ottawa Convention Center to receive our diplomas and officially graduated from the Algonquin College Photography Program (click here to view the program blog). As previously mentioned, I was nominated for the School of Media and Design Award and... I WON! It is "awarded to a graduating student who has demonstrated achievement in leadership in program-related activities, application of learning outcomes for the benefit of others and excellence in reaching the learning outcomes of the program and applying the knowledge to higher levels". I received the award that evening and I am truly humbled that I was chosen and thank my professors for the nomination.

It was great to catch up with friends and hear about plans for the future. Best of luck to all the graduates and I wish you all plenty of success in the future!

Having some fun at my house before heading into Ottawa for the ceremony. I got some V.I.P tickets for my mom, dad, and my partner Mendel.

My diploma, some beautiful flowers I was given, School of Media and Design Award

...as you can see I was in a bit of a mood for layouts today :)

Summer Eats

So I have been lacking on the posts for a little while...oops! 

Quick update: in the past few weeks I ran my first 10k race. To see proof that I actually did it click here to see photos during the race and me crossing the finish line (yeah that's me the cheesy crossing tandem with my partner). AND I shot my first wedding. Hands down the wedding was more physically demanding but I was lucky enough to have two fantastic families and a beautiful bride which made for a truly lovely day. I will be posting some images soon. 

To feed you photo appetite here is what I had for dinner last night. A little salt and pepper shrimp with lime.

Confession: there are only 3 shrimp in the image but there were about another 5 in the pan that I wolfed down...

36383

This weekend is Ottawa Race Weekend for 2011. I have always wanted to run a marathon, so this year my partner encouraged me to sign up for a race. Tomorrow we will both be running the 10K race. It's no marathon but hey, it's a start! 

Click here to see the course maps and get details about the routes, cheering sections, starting and finishing lines. If you have some time tomorrow the race starts at 6:30pm and if all goes according to planned I'll be crossing that finish line somewhere around 7:45 (fingers crossed). Come out and show some support for the runners and keep a look out for bib number 36383.

Wednesday Morning Wake-up Call

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from my professors telling me that I was nominated for the School of Media and Design Award. I am so excited, thankful and humbled by this. Click here to see more details. 

Thank you to the professors who nominated me for this amazing award. 

Friends, Food and Fireworks

For the last 5 years some of my closest friends and I have spent the May long weekend at the Ray cottage on Sharbot Lake. The weekend usually consists of card games, cold beverages and way to much food. This year we also decided to add fireworks to the mix and fortunately only a few of us sustained minor injuries. As always it was a weekend full of good times, many memories and laughing so hard that my sides still hurt.

How many grown men does it take to build a mini barbecue ?

A lovely summer salad

My buddy Mark and yours truly shooting roman candles across the lake.

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

Myself and a few of my favorite people decided to venture out to the gallery this past Thursday (fun fact: it is free after 5pm) and ended up stopping by one of the gardens for the tulip festival.  Here are a few images from our little adventure.

I guess not everyone likes tulips...

Photogs in a clog!

Happy Mother's Day

For all the moms and moms to be, thank you for everything you do! This is your day, enjoy it and relax.

Love you mom!

This is the card I made for my mom today. I am sure she appreciates that my cards no longer have macaroni on them.

Maple Fest

Last weekend my family and I went to the Maple Fest in Perth. I was happy to have my friend Brooke come along for the journey and witness the beauty of small town festivals. The Maple Fest is an annual event that draws thousands for a day fun, family and a whole lot of sugar. 


We started the day with the classic pancake breakfast and local maple syrup and ended the day with one of my favourite sticky treats, maple taffy on snow. 

Check out Brooke having her first maple taffy experience. 

the inspection                                                     the taste test                                                           the clean up

Exhibition May 2nd 2011

The Annual Algonquin College Photography Exhibition is coming up quickly. Join myself and fellow students as we display our work and and celebrate the completion of this two year program. 

Come out, show your support and see some amazing images!

Home Sweet Home

Just got in last night after spending another full week in Ottawa finishing up my field placement at the Canadian Archives Preservation Center. It was awesome to spend a week living in the city with the hilarious Liz Flegg and getting back to see the crew at the Archives. 

Being the country girl that I am I took a walk though the maples when I got home to scope out the sap collection. My neighbour collects the sap and makes his own maple syrup. Nothing tastes better on your pancakes than maple syrup made from your own trees.

Photo Booth Fun

This past Saturday my friend Kim and I volunteered for an event at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. It was a fundraiser to help support ovarian cancer research and it was a huge success! The Theme was Reviving Old Holloywod and Kim and I ran a photo booth where guest could don some old school hats, boas, and all that jazz and have some fun pictures taken. We had an amazing time with some fabulous folks. Here are a few images we took at the end of the night of each other for fun. 

Kim                                                                                                             Me

Final Portfolio

Yesterday I handed in my final portfolio which is one of the last steps in the completion of the Photography Program at Algonquin College. The past week has consisted of 12hr+ days at school, average 5hr or less of sleep at night, coffee, coffee, coffee followed by the occasional cup of coffee, poor diet, over heating computer, printing frustration and topped off with some of the funniest most memorable moments that I have had with the people in my program. 

When I handed in my portfolio I though I would have the "thank God that's over with" moment. But to my surprise I had mix feelings about the whole thing. I am proud of myself for my accomplishment but in a way I am also going to miss the mayhem along with the teachers who have provided help and encouragement over the past two years.

For friends (outside of the program) and family who have not seen or heard from me in the past few weeks. This is what I have been up to. And to fellow classmates who have endured the stress, craziness and all things wonderful in the past few years congratulations to you! Be proud of your work and what you have accomplished. 

My theme is Religion and Culture. The blog doesn't do the images justice. Come check out the real deal on May 2nd at the Exhibition at Algonquin College (details will follow soon).

self Portrait

Self Directed

Self Directed

Self Directed

Consumer Portrait

Environmental Portrait

Food Layout

Self Directed

Creative Ad

Movie Poster

Architecture Layout

*some images have been omitted due to agreements on model releases*

Mistakes Can Be Lovely

This weekend will be my first time booking models from an agency for shoots. I thought it was good for to challenge myself new people and new lighting schematics and out of my comfort zone. 

This evening I photographed Rose, a stunning individual with a fantastic sense of humour. I had a lot of fun with her and got some great images for my portfolio. 

Here is a shot that happened purely by mistake, one of the lights didn't go off and even though it is not technically correct there is just something about it that I like. 

Enjoy!

 

Smile

We all have those days where we just want to stay at home in the good old p.j's (my personal favourite are my plaid RGB set) but instead we have to get up and get ourselves together. Today was a slightly 'blah' day. But when I came home I saw this little gem from a person who knows me all to well. I thought I would share it and hopefully pass a smile along to you too... 

Enjoy and remember to take time out of your stressful day to laugh at something. 

I wish I knew who to give credit to for creating this. Thank you whoever you are!

Library and Archives Canada

This past week I completed the first half of my field placement at the preservation center for Library and Archives Canada. It was such a wonderful experience. I got to use some amazing equipment and got to spend my time with even more amazing people. I spent the week scanning negatives and photographs, taking images of books, scanning maps, completing work orders, touring the building and getting to know the employees. Maggie McDonald (a previous Algonquin grad) was our mentor for the week. She was such a positive and dedicated person. There was never a dull moment and she made sure that our time there was well spent. I am looking forward to returning for another week in April. For now here are some images from the past week. 

The exterior of the building is made of glass - makes for a beautiful view from the top floor

It is designed as a "building within a building" concept. With the exterior of glass on the interior is concrete. To the left of this image encase in cement is the vaults. This double enclosure helps maintain the proper temperature within the vaults.

The ventilation in the building is a work or art itself.

These stairs were originally designed purely for decorative purposes. The yellow beams were added later for support so that they could be used my employees.

On the fifth floor is where all the offices and studios are. There are many sections on the 5th that range from audio visual, book conservation/restoration, photography and restoration, art conservation/restoration. Each area has it own mini building on the 5th.

Maggie and Liz having some fun in the theater.

The lovely Liz and I :) (photo credit Maggie McDonald)

Lunch area complete with umbrellas to help block the sun.

A standard studio set up

One of the Hasselblads. We were pretty excited when we got to use this!

Old Habits Die Hard

Tomorrow I am beginning a week long co-op placement in Gatineau at Library and Archives Canada in the photography department. For the next week I will staying with some very thoughtful friends who are taking me in so the commute to my placement will be much easier.

Now I am a last minute packer...always have been and always be. But I will tell you this, I am damn good at it.

Click on the image to have a closer look to reveal the true organization and skill it took to pack this beast 30 minutes before I had to leave. (with time to spare to make this post!)

A. Towels, wash cloths, hair wrap
B. Fitted sheet for temporary bed, toiletries, lint brush
C. Belts, extra bags for laundry, my favorite scarves, and underneath the scarves there might be 4 pairs of shoes...
D. Pants and p.j’s
E. T-shirts and cardigans
F. Make-up, and jewelry
G.Underwear and sox

Flash, Css, and HTML...Oh My!

For an assignment in my multimedia class we need to design a fully functional website. This means venturing into the territory of Dreamweaver and Flash not to mention the coinciding code. At times when I am working on this assignment I feel like I have developed a form of temporary turrets where I randomly yell mild obscenities at my computer. But I must say that it is also a good test of patience, something that I could always use more of, and once you know what you are doing it can even be, dare I say it...fun. 

While on my website adventure I am going to be (well I am going to be making a solid effort anyway) to make subtle changes to the blog to make it flow nicely with my website and make this blog a bit more interesting/fun. 

In the mean time keep you eyes peeled for changes and new additions and wish me luck on this new adventure :)

A Secret Love Affair

Confession. I like cooking...but I LOVE baking!

Quick example. Right now I have 4 baking books in sight and I am not even in my kitchen. I'm in my bedroom. Seriously though recipes make for excellent bed time stories...

I find baking to be a great stress reliever, creative outlet and it makes for lovely gifts to boot! 

Here are a few images of some of my baking supplies and cookies I made recently for a bake sale at school. 

Happy Valentine's Day to you and whatever/whoever it is that you love.

sugar...or maybe it was salt

Nesting doll measuring cups

The secret ingredient is...magic

Mini ginger bread hearts