Melissa Danielle Photography Blog

chad + alesha

2011-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

chad + alesha

hey sillies! ive missed u! what this? why the cold shoulder?? oh c'mon... you guys didn't seriously think i would have a new post up in TWO weeks f'realsies, did you!? what am i, some sort of wizard?

chad and alesha saw their photos looong ago so they're all like, blog? what blog? and this is for the clients sooo...ya. ya'll be straight trippin' if you think i'ma get all stressed over major responsibilities like writing posts and brushing my hair n stuff.

so back in the summer when it was safe to go outside, i met up with these guys in banff, ab to photograph their wedding. it was small and quaint and perfect. they exchanged vows overlooking the gorgeous lake minnekewanakasomethingorother.. i feel that may be slightly off but you guys know the one im talking about, right?

afterwards, chad swept alesha off her tiny anthropology-clad feet, and into a canoe which drifted off into a blissfully romantic happily ever after. and then i made them come back to shore so we could do photos.

the reception was in giorgio's private upstairs trattoria, which in case you didn't know is italian for tavern or room where awesome is served on a plate. the ricotta? omg. love at first taste. ok, maybe just lust at first taste, but you know what? i'm ok with that.

and i looved the antique typewriter chad and alesha had for their guests to 'sign' on... so cute. and SO hard to figure out how to work. like, wheres the 'reset' button on this beast? but still, very cute.

chad + alesha, you guys rocked it hard. even, when i got a little weird and made you hold fake moustaches over your faces and you were all, srsly? were paying you how much again? so yeah, thanks again for adding to the many reasons i heart my job.

cali

2011-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Dear friend,

How are you? I am fine. Did you have a good summer? Mine was great! I saw many cool things and did lots of fun stuff (minus the cool things and fun stuff)... (unless sitting in front of my computer counts as cool or fun) ok, i think i'm going to go ahead and end this little pen pal letter I got going on riiight about now. and that would be the extent of my correspondence skills.

so i was little miss mopey, feeling all sorry for myself the other day because everyone else is going to europe and australia and that other far away one and for me, the grocery store at the end of the block is about as far away as i got this summer. no, not true... i dropped off a letter at the post office which is half a block further. dang, i should have taken pics and posted them on facebook! lol, i guess i was in banff last weekend to do a wedding, so there's that. yaayyy banff!

but i did go away in like, february or something? details-shmeetails. my parents and my bro an me took a trip up to cali and it was magical and magnificent. so i thought i would share some of the magical magnificence with ya'll and post a few photos.

we met up with my bestie and her hubby and their little human thing in santa monica and spent a few days there and did all the touristy stuff, ie: walking really slowly and stopping short at every other street corner to take a photo of the totally unique street sign/nearby vegetation/homeless guy under a bench

The Santa Monica Route 66 sign is located at the start of the boardwalk so technically this sign should read 'Beginning of the Trail'. yes, this bothers me because i have CDO. it's like OCD but all the letters are in alphabetical order AS THEY SHOULD BE.

i'm almost 100% positive that in my previous life i was a bicycle, or else a bicycle maker? (do they exist?) or even, its possible i invented the bike... that would explain my obsession with them. riding on them, photographing them... more so the photographing part because you don't end up sweaty but i do love a good bike ride. these guys were so happy and red, they were just begging to be photographed. i could sense it as i gazed out thoughtfully over the vast ocean.

so i decided next time i go i'ma bring some duct tape and my dad's camouflaged hunting binoculars and attach them to the railing next to the telescope thingy and charge 24 cents. lawl, oh can you imagine? wouldn't that be hilAREious!?!?

my brother, Jamie, has always had a fondness for boats which is what moved me to put these 2 pictures together. also i thought the muted tones in the wall he is standing against complimented the colors of the sky in the adjacent picture. that was probably more the reason actually, not the boat thing. come to think of it, it's cheese that he's always liked, not boats. unless the boat were transporting cheese, in which case he would probably make an acception for that boat. wow, i should go to bed.

i'm not sure what's wrong with this dude's backyard... i guess, in all honesty, if i could contort my body that way i would probably also bring my little red yoga mat down to the boardwalk and show off my talent to everyone. heck i would set up a facebook event and invite my friends and family to come watch. and maybe a couple local tv stations. and a clown. yes, this event definitely needs a clown.

these are the supporting beams for the pier at the end of the boardwalk. or, if you squint, they're giant upside down used matches.

all the buildings along the boardwalk were painted cheerful vibrant colors and this made me happy and it made me want ice cream.

ps. ok. have u peeps ever tasted cotton candy flavored ice cream? O.M.G. try it. srsly. it's pretty much my most favorite of all time in the history of ever.

these little guys were so cute, frolicking around the water and drawing pictures in the sand. it's a giant hairy heart on stilts. OBviously!

from behind, i would say he looks like a justin. and she's probably a becky. justin passed becky a will-you-go-out-with-me note in their junior year and they've dated off and on since high school. she hates his his tiny, messy bachelor pad and how he thinks it's cool to collect action figures. she actually secretly hopes one day he discovers that he's deathly allergic to plastic, forcing him to get rid of them all. and he gets annoyed when she babbles incessantly about her friends and their drama or when she takes 10 minutes to tell a story that should take 30 seconds, tops. maybe 35. but he makes her laugh, often to the point where no noise comes out and she sits there clapping like a retarded seal. and she has a kind heart and a cute nose so he puts up with her drama and she avoids his apartment. weird... i kinda feel like if i yelled the name justin or becky right now, they would both turn around and look at me. yes, in the picture on my computer screen. my imagination is trippy like that. but it's not my fault... insanity runs in my family. it practically jogs.

waaay too much time was spent on the previous image caption so little to no thought will be put into this one:

ummm ok, this is a big rock.

it has L.A. engraved on it.

L.A. stands for Los Angeles.

(feel free to bookmark this blog in your 'online education' folder anytime)

i wonder if how we see and portray a scene or object is at all an indication of our personality/interests/age, etc. like, for example, my mom took this same picture, only in her photo the focus point was on the word 'slippers'. she must love slippers. or she's old and couldn't see what she was doing.

his board shorts are epic and his socks are purple. your argument is invalid.

it was love at first sight.

i was truly smitten.

then i walked up to him and threw up in my mouth a little. pretty sure he hadn't showered in a little over a decade and quite possibly had handfuls of compost in his pockets.

luckily, '4ever' actually only meant for about an hour and a half while he used my shower, ate everything in the fridge and checked his facebook page. everything is so much cooler in the 21st century, even homeless people.

so we're just sitting there one afternoon, having lunch at a cafe on Santa Monica, sipping our Starbucks and discussing intellectual matters such as books...

....when all of a sudden....

...Adam Sandler strolls into my camera frame. i most definitely did not get up and follow him for a block and a half trying to get a good shot. he was shopping with his daughter, it was totally cool! they were just like, there! hanging out with the rest of us! stars...they're just like us! they shop! for clothing! in clothing stores!

i don't think my dad ever took me clothes shopping, it was usually my mom that took us. although, my clothes always seemed to fit a bit better than little Sandler jr.'s do here. i feel the two might be related...

or... maybe she accidentally misplaced her shirt and Mr. Gumbo was there and gave her the shirt off his back until she could buy a new one. he seems like a nice guy that would do something like that.

if this photo were a video you would see the sales lady actually dancing past the window. it's possible she was singing and flossing as well, i didn't really get a good look.

this was the highlight of my week. this cupcake. looking at it, taking its picture, then destroying it with my throat. did you know i love chocolate? almost so much that i would actually drive around advertising my obsession with one of those corny bumper stickers that says something like 'SAVE THE EARTH - its the only planet that has chocolate'. you know... the kind that grandmas chuckle at.

i loved this colorful inspiration board in the stationary store that we spent WAY too much time in.

i hated that we had to eventually leave the santa monica anthropologie that we spent WAY not enough time in.

brody knows how to high five. brody is officially set for life.

also, he will most likely break a few hearts. but he will be able to make up for it with a solid high five.

yep, i'd nibble on those too if they were put in front of me. add a little bit of ketchup... ooh, or maybe nutella... i'll get back to you on that one.

so apparently the photo from the camera we were actually looking at didn't make the cut so here's a wonderful 'are-they-distracted-by-something-or-is-that-on-purpose' shot. shell is the best an i miss her like the desert misses the rain. i know because i was once at the desert and i asked it. but frealz, she's the awesomest of awesoms. ok, what? you cant plurolize awesome!? whaaat?? plurolize isn't a word??? srsly? who do i talk to about adding words to the dictionary, is there a 1-800 number or something!?

ok...so apparently they got it covered... turns out it was already in the dictionary, I just don't know how to spell.

...the cute little courtyard in the lobby of the hotel we stayed at. it had this foreign, european feel to it so whenever i visited the courtyard i spoke with an accent. ok, the one time i passed through the courtyard i quoted some steve martin line with a french accent but the first story was better, so let's just go with that.

it was sooo nice the whole time and then on our last day there, cali got all moody an was like 'fine...leave... go home! see if i care! i didn't even want you to come in the first place! i'll just be all grey and rainy today so you never wanna come back'!
yeah, it was a little immature but whatever... cali is dead to me. ive moved on. banff is where its at now. (as in, check back in a week for some banff wedding snaps)

tyler + dorothy

2011-06-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

tyler + dorothy

this couple picked the perfect day to have a wedding...

i was a tiny bit afraid it was going to be like winnipeg always is, all hot and sunny and sweaty with hoards of disease infected mosquitos swarming around like they're going out of business. but no, it was literally 100% perfect. slight breeze to blow the wind through the bride's hair? check. not a single ray of sunshine all day? double-check. super awesome wedding party that made the day as baller as it was? mega-check!

it's always more fun doing weddings for friends but these guys bring fun to a whole new level. what's that? did we take photos in and around goats? yes we did!

it was so relaxed and chill... the entire day took place at pineridge hollow, a teahouse/boutique located just outside winnipeg. its odd, it is sorta hidden among the trees in the middle of nowhere. youre driving along dusty dirt roads through gravel pits and then all of a sudden its like "AW HAAAIII, i'm pineridge hollow! aren't i awesome"?

... side story that has nothing to do with tyler & dorothy: growing up my best friend was a server at pineridge hollow and would often choose work over cool fun stuff with me because she's all responsible and sensible an all that noise, so i've always had a mini hate-on for the place. which is completely un-fair, i know. its like hating anybody named janet because its the name of the girl in your grade 3 class who used to spit in her hands and rub them together then make you smell them. scarred for life.

ok, sorry. serious and professional.

i do have to admit though, the place is beautiful and makes for a super gorgeous wedding venue. they've put a lot of work into it over the years and its now surrounded by waterfalls and ponds and gardens and gazebos with this whimsical country feeling to it. you expect to see little cartoon forest animals popping out from behind the trees singing pretty forest music.

and omg. the food is SO good! the skor torte is literally a burst of magic miracles on your palate... my mouth is watering just remembering it. in fact, i would have been ok with just being paid in skor torte. and true story: the actual wedding cake was made by her friend kendra who is 13 and dropped out of school at the age of 8 to focus on her cake making skills.

the bridesmaids are her beautiful sisters, emily and karleen, and tyler's had his bro, ian and his friend josh stand up for him. and they had the cutest flower girls and ring bearer... i had a hard time focusing my attention that day, not gonna lie.

derrick + adrienne

2011-04-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

derrick + adrienne

a few weeks back i shot adrienne & derricks wedding in cochrane, AB. it was a "warm" weekend so we were relatively lucky and the views were gorgeous with the banff mountains in the background. the ceremony and reception took place at the cochrane ranch house, a beautiful facility with high ceilings and great lighting.

i met adrienne and her maid of honor in the morning at bugaloo hair design in cochrane. the ladies there did an awesome job on both of them. especially considering there was a small tornado blowing through cochrane all day and her do still looked amazing at the end of the day!

fave thing: adrienne's moccasins. love love LOVE

courtney + jaclyn - cancun, mexico

2011-02-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

courtney + jaclyn - cancun, mexico

im not gonna lie, i sometimes make things up a little but i swear to you 100%- i am not making this up.

mexico is awesome.

i knew the moment i walked into the lobby of the resort and was handed my fruity drink as my luggage was whisked away by the bellboy that this was going to be a good week.

and everything was soo gorgeous! jac and court were super hot.. they picked a super hot wedding party and an amazing location. i mean, i took home a pair of slippers! usually you take home chocolates from a wedding or the mini vial of bubbles which is still awesome, but slippers are definitely the awesomest.

and so are 5 star resorts in cancun. i can vouch for that. like, srsly? frealz, this is my job??

jac and her bridesmaids got ready in the resort's salon which was a 2 minute walk from her room through the luscious green palm trees and past the beautiful exotic birds and other wonderful things. (can you tell im now writing this from non luscious green surroundings and that i miss them a bit?)

i love love LOVED the bridesmaid's dresses! they were totally cute with a slightly anthro looking silk flowerish design across the front...made me crave whipped cream.

the ceremony was just off the path in the sand under the palm trees... the temps were perfect and the light was fabulous and thats all i could ask for. but on top of perfect conditions everything looked so incredibly amazing! barcélo maya plans and prepares basically every detail and i was really impressed with how gorgeous it all came together.

if you want to get married in mexico you have to prove you're a good thumb painter.

i think these neat green fashion shades may have been the first purchase ever made by jaclyn as the new 'mrs. anderson' which, pretty sure was not cool by mr. anderson but they were totally worth it for the pics, right jac!?! basically like a tax write-off.

in my opinion everyone should get married in mexico with 50 of their closest friends and family. i am definitely a strong supporter. and if you dont have 50 friends then you can go on-line to www.rent-a-babe.com where jaclyn got hers from.

a mariachi band played as the sun went down, it was probably my favourite part of the day. i don't know why short men in matching tight white pants is so entertaining, but it is!
i may or may not have taken one home with me in my purse.

so i know most posts only ever include 5 or 10 photos max but this one was different. there were just way too many pretty things to put down the camera for more than 5 to 10 seconds and consequently i came home with over a thousand images from this one day alone. and i wanted to post every single photo and i literally could not figure out where to stop, so i just did the logical thing and posted every single photo so thats why this post has approximately all the wedding pics.

jac contacted me a week before their wedding (just kidding... kind of... but not really) and asked me to come to mexico to be their photographer. i then flipped out and broke a lamp or something. and then on top of that it was going to be a surprise for my friends shell and tim and brody from australia who were also going, so it was torture because i couldn't say anything to anyone in case it got back to shell or tim or brody somehow that i was coming and then it wouldnt be a surprise. and im usually really good at keeping secrets but this was really hard! ok, im sometimes good at keeping secrets.

shell and i are best friends and even though we live on opposite sides of the world and she has children and i act like a child, we are still best friends and sort of just pick up where we left off whenever we're together so i was suuper pumped about seeing her and tim of course and their brand new homemade little human thing!

and it turns out he's the cutest baby ive ever met in the entire world and i can't believe they actually own a baby! but its literally the coolest thing ever and i cant even describe how cute he is and he walks and stuff and ahhh!! and im pretty sure he was equally as excited to meet me too. i made him poo a little, so thats something.

so to make matters worse i then had to spend the week with my friends that i never get to see, eating truckloads of food, by the ocean under the sun.

so yeah, i dont know if i've ever mentioned this before but i kind of like my job. like, honestly if i am ever given the choice between being a wedding photographer or being the queen, guaranteed.. hands down i will pick being queen. but then ill sell a village or something and buy every single lens ever made. then ill trick the people of the kingdom and say that i have allergies to castles and gold and stuff like and ill have to give up my position as queen and ill go back to being a wedding photographer. preferably in perfect places like cancun.

awesomest healthy cookies ever

2011-02-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

awesomest healthy cookies ever

so basically mom is trying to trick us into eating healthier. and i think it kinda worked. at first when i saw all the ingredients out on the counter i was all, really? either she's appointed herself Supreme Chief Commander Bird Feeder for all 10,000 species of birds in the whole wide world, or she's lost her marbles. and probably her top as well. both her top and marbles went away to have some sort of toppy marbelish fun and left her alone in the kitchen with 37 different types of seeds.

turns out i was wrong about both and she was just making cookies.

and truthfully? they're actually really good!! so i had four. but thats equal to like, two normal cookies so its aaalll good in the hood. they compliment my cup of herbal perfectly. i think i'll go have another one now.

here's the recipe if anyone else wants to trick themselves into eating healthier.

1 cup margerine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed (ground)
2 cups bran buds
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup rice crispies
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup choc chips

(right?? like, look at all the seeds n buds n germs n stuff!)

-cream butter & sugar, add eggs
-sift flour, salt, baking powder & baking soda together
-stir into butter mixture
-add remaining ingredients
-drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet, press down
-bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes
-consume while convincing self that cake in fridge is waaay not as appealing

sh♥es

2011-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

sh♥es

oh wow listen to this ya'lls. so i just went to click the 'edit blog' button on my bookmark bar and accidentally hit the 'shopping' folder button right next to it and like 187 pages just opened all at once and made the internet freeze and my computer crashed and it was terrible and scary and really funny all at once.

soooo, ya. i just checked an i'm pretty sure it's time for a new post. i super suck at this blogging thing and im sorry, like from the bottom of my heart, in a really deep, sorry kind of way. anyways, moving on...

omg you guys! i went to mexico last week and did my first destination wedding!! did i love it? yes i did! was it a friggin piniata full of amazing awesomeness? yes it was! will i get those pics up soon? definitely soon-ish! YEAH soo, what else? oh we spent a week in montana shredding gnarly slopes and stuff. also awesome. i worked on my backside 720 all week.. well most of the week... the time that wasn't spent watching 'despicable me'. i'll post some pics from that there one day soon too. if i'm still into this whole blogging thing.

no, like literally... why did i sign up for this again? im on the computer enough as it is with all this photo editing noise, why spend more time on it talking about the things ive been doing or worse, the things i wish i were doing? like for example right now? reaally strongly wish i were hula-hooping. or, making origami. orrrr... cool idea...hula-hooping while doing origami! i dunno... something new. could be fun...

i kind of actually dont want to do either anymore though.

k so yeah... writing stuff... on my bloggitty blog blog... la la-la la-la... OH! yeah, so check this out: I had surgery. ya, like with needles and bright lights and people wearing surgical masks and using big medical words.

i had a family of gnomes living in my mouth who were friendly at first but then they started morphing into huge troll-ish monsters with those emo studded collars and fire for hair and one day just randomly started freaking out and throwing things and like, torturing the insides of my face. and i may have cried a little. so i was all "oh no you di-int" and went to the dentist. turns out it was just a wisdom tooth coming in but now you can imagine if it had been trolls. really terrible.

so that was fun. hmmmmmm, what else?

maybe if i just keep typing away all of a sudden intelligent and descriptive words will come out appear on the screen like magic and they'll fill in all the blanks and explain everything ive done in the last couple months and i wont have to use my brain to remember stuff and seem smart. that would be the awesomest keyboard of keyboards.

also, i hate the fact that awesomest isnt a word in the dictionary... it results in so many little squiggly red error lines all over my entries and those things vex me. honestly, like even after ive looked at the spelling error and and i know the mistake is there and ive determined it is staying there, cuz.. it just.. makes it sounds cooler or something, i still cant help it. i involuntarily keep looking back at it, like, every 10 seconds! its wrong and i want so bad to correct it and make it right, just so my page will be perfect. with no red squiggly lines. i also used to have to tear off every little single piece of extra paper from the ripped out side of my perforated loose leaf before i could start writing on it. is that normal?

so yeah, touched on travel and leisure, addressed awesome magic keyboards and my OCD... ya, i think that about covers it.

k i'm out. going to stop procrastinating and go edit pics of weddings. and yeah.. ill try and post some pics and stuff and all that noise, i cross my heart, hope to die, pinky swear, promise from the bottom of my heart and other meaningful words.

in the mean time... OMG SHOES!

(i had this reeaally bad shoe sickness come over me this weekend and it took 12 new pairs to cure it!!) (but im returning a couple pairs!) (sometime soon..)

stephen/hazel/roman

2010-12-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

stephen/hazel/roman

while in winnipeg last week i did a quick mini session with my uncle stephen and his wife hazel and of course, roman.

stephen is the director of winnipeg's art gallery, the WAG. hazel is the managing principal for placemakers, a company that designs green, walkable communities. and roman is director, chairman and c.e.o. of awesomeness. being an awesome kid gets tough at times, which is why he has an army of teenage mutant ninja turtles to assist him in his daily tasks.

and if you know roman you will understand the importance of including a photo of his staff.

i ♥ you, blogs and coffee

2010-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

i ♥ you, blogs and coffee

omg, you guys... my fingers? are honestly like, spasming right now. f'realz.

our internet has been down for the last 24 hrs and my brain is literally about to spontaneously combust and start shooting little URLs and domain names all over the walls. every time i open a new tab i have to sit there and think for a good 30 seconds and determine the order of importance of each site i need to go to and which one i should open first. i have somewhere around 17 to 25 blogs to check and five or six online purchases to make and (no joke) 94 new emails... lol only probably half a dozen of which are slightly urgent but seriously? i do not understand how people used to function without the internetz.

omg and can you imagine if something terrible had happened to me while i didnt have access to google!? i could have died ya'll! I COULD HAVE DIED!

k… i think my coffee was a little on the strong side this morning. my apologies.

so i was sitting there drinkin my cupa joe listening to that song enya sings where it sounds like her mouth is sealed shut with crazy glue when I was like, enya! omg i totally understand and connect with you right now!

i too have a song inside me, straining to be joyously released. actually, its just a secret. but a secret that i cant tell anyone. and its killing me. the only person i can tell is my mom. but I know she wont tell anyone. except for, maybe the other people that wont tell anyone. (ive always been really good at keeping secrets. i make sure that everyone I tell knows that they should not tell anyone) so yeah, me and enya are homies. we connect on levels you wouldnt understand.

on another subject. i was in winnipeg this week and got to photograph my adorably cute cousin again and this time his parents too! they were so festively cute in their holly jolly red and festive furs. lol, are furs festive? anyways... ill post that later. after the other 127 and a half other things on my list that i couldnt do without the internet.

honestly, like all i could do was eat and sleep and shower. it was excruciatingly painful and im so glad to be reunited.

also, i need these bandaids in my life.

tyler + dorothy

2010-12-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

tyler + dorothy

these two little lovebirds are the cutest thing since marcel the shell with shoes on... after i got over the fact that i was now taking the engagement photos of the little boy whose diapers i once changed. ok, not really but i DID babysit him once upon a time so this makes me feel reeeallly old.

i almost pulled the "i remember you when you were thiiiis big", which is usually followed by polite laughter and a comment along the lines of how much they've changed since then. but then i told tyler to pose in front of the restrooms, which really cracked him up, and i realized not much had actually changed. (kidding tyler, ur the coolest:)

totally stoked to do their wedding at pineridge hollow next may!

brad + tara

2010-12-06T21:44:00.001-08:00

brad + tara

when tara contacted me asking if i would shoot her wedding in november in scottsdale, arizona at a gorgeous luxury private villa estate i reeally had to think long and hard about it for a total of four seconds. i had never met tara or brad (we were friends through a friend of a friend... on facebook... which basically makes you acquaintances, especially if you have more than 10 friends in common) but they were such an awesome laid back couple that i felt i had known them forever.

i was on cloud 9 as soon as i pulled up and saw the venue... but then i was introduced to the dress and shoes. omg you guys my mouth was literally watering. a GORGeous paloma blanca couture gown accompanied by the perfect jimmy choos gazed back at me begging me to take their duchess satin-sequined perfectness in my arms and do wonderful things to them all night long under the soft moonlight. but then i had to be professional and take pictures and stuff so our romantic love affair was cut short.

when brad was little he told his mom he wanted to buy his wife a ring like Princess Dianna's so tara was given a round brilliant cut diamond ring with a sapphire on the wedding band ... pretty sure brad has his girl figured out.

this is tara and her bff since forever and ever. i'm skeptical about her friend situation tho. i have this sneaking suspicion she went online and rented a pile of gorgeous hot models and paid them to come to their wedding posing as their "friends". i'm like, 95-97% sure... if there is a www.rent-a-perfect-person.com out there, that is where these people came from...oh ya, and did i mention the shoes were fabulous?

loved the big juicy bouquet too... big juicy bouquets are the best!

the ceremony took place in the back yard overlooking fountain hills and the couple said their vows just as the gorgeous desert sun set behind the mountains. couldn't have done it better if we'd planned it. which we definitely didn't.

her awesome wedding coordinator, devin hernandez invented this creation... pretty sure its one of the coolest wedding cakes ive ever seen.

the mini burgers and french fries were soo cute... and the fact that they were served over little tiny warming pebbles made them even tastier!

esau + katie

2010-12-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

esau + katie

this was TOtally such a stress-free wedding i wasn't breaking a sweat at all never, not once! no, like it was literally the work equivalent of riding a unicorn down a mountain, carrying a pail filled with rainbows and small children's laughter.

katie is a photographer herself, as well as the daughter of a very experienced photographer. sooo yeah, haha. HAHA!

it was a great day, don't get me wrong... I just had to hire a sleep therapist for the months leading up to the wedding. my re-ocurring nightmares entailed either my camera getting backed over by this cement truck, or the bride getting backed over by the cement truck or the entire wedding party and guests and town and universe getting backed over by the cement truck, which would clearly suck.

however, nothing of the sort happened. in fact, nothing at all really went wrong and the day was considerably less stressful than my nightmares had foreshadowed. it was a huge honour to photograph esau & katie's wedding and im really glad they didnt have the same concerns i had.

katie and her sister amy got ready in the dressing room of the very old and very interesting masonic temple in devils lake. this was also where the ceremony and reception took place... it was an awesome building full of character. dusty character, but character none-the-less.

not being the overly traditional type, esau and katie opted to do a 'first look' rather than wait till the ceremony. it was such an awesome moment and i was sad i didnt have any streamers or party blowers on me... i foSHO would been all up in they biznizz. haha no, not really.

...then they had to compare in the mirror and see who was taller. awww, cute little esau haha. you're just like me! :)

katie had the coolest ring ever! i had a lot of fun with them...

i think its safe to say this is one of the happiest days of their live's... or else katie is a super good faker! esau and katie have been through a lot to get to where they are and it was so awesome to see their families and friends all together, loving and supporting them in this huge step.

the trick to marriage is really quite simple tho, esau just has to remember... happy wife= happy life. i advised him of this and he looked at me with an expression that told me he had no idea what i just said or else he was previously unaware of this little tidbit of advice i had to share.

I may be a little biased as some of the party included my brother and my brother's girlfriend and other cute faces, but this was definitely a goodlookin bridal party!

aww, there's those cute faces.

there were huge amounts of effort put into every last detail, i dont know how katie wasn't regurgitating wedding decorations. which is OBviously to be expected... once youve been to your fair share of weddings you start to form an opinion whether you like it or not.

katie did a great job in keeping it elegantly simple while tying in a little taste of guatemala... and i loved that they served chips and salsa as the appetizer... so cute.

blake + erin

2010-11-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

blake + erin

erin was such a gorgeous bride i srsly wanted to follow her around every second all day everywhere she went and not leave her side for one minute at all ever. never. the moment i was away from her i would start to break out into a cold sweat until i was with her again photographing her gorgeous amazing face.
did i mention she looked super, incredibly gorgeous?

and how could this girl not be born with the great-taste-in-shoes gene?

found these rad chairs outside a loading dock and erin did like a super cool bride does and risked her dress, and life, because they are basically as one on this day, for some snazzy photos amongst the rad chairs. (not too sure whose home we were temporarily invading)

...probably would have taken the rad chairs home with me if no one had been looking. but thats probably like, unprofessional and all that noise.

i wanted to see how boring and plain of a background i could put these guys against and still have them turn out ravishing...

ugh. i cant get over her. i love it when my brides look like they walked right out of a bridal magazine. and Michelle's Flowers did such an amazing job of the bouquet! i loved the mix of burnt orange and maroon... awesome fall colors!

Little Miss Ocean-Jade

2010-11-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

little miss ocean jade

i loved this girl to bits- she was the awesomest of awesomeness.

the entire shoot was like a roller coaster of crazy stories and dancing and jokes and eye rolling and more stories and opinions and giggles and gasps of astonishment and shrieks of laughter and the whole time all i could think was i never wanted to come down.

srsly guys, like have you ever wondered what would happen if the easter bunny and the energizer bunny got traaashed and hooked up and made chocolate energized baby bunnies? she was like basically 10 chocolate energizer bunnies combined. and she is going to have the most awesomest thrilling, wild life because of it.

so glad i got to hang out with u girly and im so so incredibly sorry for taking this long to get these up so thanks for bein so patient!

ps. ur awesome:)

joel + ashley

2010-10-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

joel + ashley

joel + ashley were married in manitou, a quaint resort town right on the shore of little lake manitou. (which is completely not at all little)
we found some awesome spots around town but my fave was definitely the old abandoned crab shack. slightly dangerous, but awesome. joel and ashley risked their lives a few times walking out onto rickety, run-down porches and piers, but it was all worth it.
and ashley only fell in the lake once.
also, fun fact of the day: manitou's dance hall floor is built on horse hair. true story. many horses died for that floor but it makes for an unbelievable dancing experience.

blog? what blog?

2010-10-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

omg YOU GUYS!

i completely forgot i had a blog! i fell down a massive flight of stairs a couple months ago and on the way down i hit my head several times on every step resulting in major head injuries and complete loss of memory.

not even kidding. i know it sounds like i could be, but im not.

so today i was fiercely chiseling out all the gross juicy gooey seedy stuff from the inside of my tomato so that i could eat it and enjoy it, and then it occurred to me. yes, i had a bad day... but i dont have to take it out on this tomato. then i was like, haaaayyy, didn't i used to have a place i could channel my rage and release my anger and call people names without them knowing?

so thats what brought me back here. and just so you all know im doing much better now and all my injuries have healed.

also, i moved to edmonton and started working full time for a portrait studio called Lifetouch and i have zero time to eat sleep and breathe anymore.

but im still doing my own photography and i have approximately a thousand weddings and shoots to blog so check back for new posts soon because im going to try really hard to do my best to not suck at life anymore and get this blog back in action.

maybe it will be hard and maybe ill just suck worse but at least i tried. and samuel beckett seems to think thats ok.

also, the cop who pulled me over today is a giant bag of suck.

Lake Days

2010-09-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

lake days

so seeing as how summer is over i figured now is a good time to reminisce and share my summer memories.

i spent the last couple weeks in july at our cabin on granite lake in ontario. it was 100% awesome as per usual. even the rainy days are ok because you're at the lake. and nothing else matter when you're at the lake. the cabin has always been an escape from the busy chaos of daily life; a place where schedules cease to exist and the most important order of the day is catching a fish end evening out tan lines.

and this year we had mother nature install a natural waterfall in our backyard so it was even more serene than usual.

cottage caramel crack: only the best summer snack ever invented.

Guy + Pam

2010-09-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Guy + Pam

my first wedding back after the RMSP workshop was Guy & Pam's. it was the first wedding i've felt 100% prepared for and ready and in control. it was awesome, i was like an olympian getting ready for the gold medal game. prepared on every possible level and ready to take on the world and the world's mom.

then my camera fell in a lake.

OMG no. but can you IMAGINE? i've had countless nightmares about falling in a pool or a monster or something eating my camera and not having a backup and then my hair sets on fire and i really reeeeally hope that never happens to me. like this guy. Srsly, i would probably just leave everything right there and move to another country and change my name.

so it all went well and no one fell in any fountains. the whole wedding party was awesome and a lot of fun and pam's ready-to-pop sis was such a trooper! pam looked stunning and the two of them made a very handsome couple.

thanks for letting me shoot your day!

we had to stop at winston's to shoot a few of the newlyweds because it's where they first met... awww :)

RMSP Montana Fair

2010-08-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountain School of Photography

so i'm a little tiny bit sad to be done the RMSP workshop and the slightest bit depressed that my hanging out at carnival, eating cotton candy and deep-fried carb days are over.

but now?... i'm like, insanely smart and i know basically everything there is to know about photography and i rock at life in general as well. sooo yeah.

ok, not really but if i pretend that then maybe it will someday be true and if i tell myself i'm cool enough maybe a gossip columnist will eventually overhear and it an maybe then will get into the magazines and maybe james franco will read it and realize our undeniable love connection and show up at my door on a black stallion awaiting to whisk me and my awesomeness away into the sunset.

honestly though, apart from learning how to turn my camera on (and all that important stuff that i really should know if i plan on doing this thang long term) i learned how to own it; to have confidence and be myself. rocking at what you do isn't all about your equipment and computer skills and the diplomas hanging on your wall. its about learning who you are and truly expressing that through your work.

i know i'm still in the process of being found and it may take years to truly embrace my true self and expose that through my photos but this has helped me to identify myself a little better and see who i am.

...now im going to go put something black and paint a dark painting of deep and meaningful stuff while i ponder life.

RMSP Rodio Queens

2010-08-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

RMSP - Rodeo Queens

what little girl out there hasn't dreamt at one point in time of growing up to be a beauty pageant queen, or rodeo queen or the queen of england? (yes, i set my goals high) i can remember participating in my share of pretend beauty pageants when i was little. i would fasten my toilet paper sash, labelled "miss canada" and tell the judges about my hopes and dreams into a hairbrush. and it was always such a surprise when i won. like, really... you'd think after the fourth or fifth win that the judges would feel sorry for the neglected barbies and cabbage patch dolls sitting behind me and award the crown to someone else. crazy judges.

so i've checked and i'm pretty sure these girls have one of the coolest jobs out there. miss rodeo montana spends her day riding horses and participating in beauty pageants. not gonna lie, just a little jealous over here.

i love all the sweet hats and western outfits. they put tons of work into their ensembles and they looked so completely cool! if i had a leather skirt and jacket and matching cowboy hat i would probably wear it at least 5 out of 7 days of the week. i would probably carry a whip and lasso around also and say howdy to everyone i passed, for extra coolth.

so these were my rodeo gals for the day: libby and callie.

RMSP 4H/FFA

2010-08-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

RMSP Downtown Missoula

2010-08-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

RMSP workshop - downtown missoula

our assignment today was to go around downtown missoula and take a portrait of a stranger that showed emotion while telling a story.

i found dennis. dennis came to missoula when jerry garcia died. before that he travelled around on tour with jerry and the rest of the grateful dead, right up until the last days just before jerry commit suicide. they say he had a heart attack but dennis says he just gave up and let himself die. jerry struggled with heroin addiction most of his life and was admitted to rehab several times and the last time he went in and refused treatment and sat in the corner all night until he died. i know because dennis told me.

dennis also doesn't have an actual physical address, i dont think. but he'd got mad biking skills. you should see some of the stunt shots we got! (... ill post more on flickr when i have more time)

then there was jerrod. even though i had my story and was on my way back to the hotel, jerrod caught my eye and he was so intriguing i couldnt pass by without talking to him and finding out more about his undoubtedly interesting life.

ohhhmg you guys i just bit into the centre of this jawbreaker ive been sucking on for the past like 3 days and its soo amazing. it was totally worth the wait and i just had to mention it because it literally the best thing ive tasted in 2-3 months. and im continuing to enjoy its fruity chewy centre... wow. just, wow.

ok so moving along, jerrod works part time in missoula while he plays with his band fagrag. and if you live in montana and like music and want to feel young and hip by hanging out at an urban art museum littered with hipsters carrying their macbooks, clad in skinny jeans and black horn rimmed glasses, then check em out at total fest this thursday at the missoula art museum.

jerrod has a huge collection of sci-fi novels and he's read each one of them three times or more. i wasnt really sure what to say to that, so i said "wow, thats really impressive to some poeple out there, probably"! and i think that offended him a little so i turned and left. but jerrod and his crazy book collection will always hold a special place in my heart.

aand yet another city i've fallen in love with and would move to in a heartbeat.

RMSP Barrel Racing

2010-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

RMSP workshop - barrel racing

note: barrel racing is not pushing a bunch of barrels off the top of a steep hill and letting them race down to the bottom. clearly i was never a farm girl.

so apparently the horses race. around barrels. (thats where the barrels come into play) and we got to go watch the riders train their horses for the barrel races. it was neat-o and even though i know nothing about horses i can appreciate all the work that goes into making them look and perform as well as they do.

i photographed emily. she is 16 years old and won the title of 2010 state champion barrel racer. emily is awesome. when she "tore a hole in ma britches" she just patched it up with duct tape. i'm positive this chick will go far in life! I mean, c'mon. She's wearing a bat-man shirt. How is that not the coolest thing ever?

these are emily's riding boots. she got them brand new at the beginning of the year.

RMSP Workshop

2010-08-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

AHHHHH!!!!!

WORKSHOPS AAAARE AWESOME!! srsy folks, if you are even slightly considering attending a photography workshop, or considering looking into attending a photography workshop, or thinking about going on the world wide web and asking google what a photography workshop is... DO IT! you wont regret it. especially if you take one of rocky mountain school of photography's workshops.

i'm not even kidding. like its only the second day and i'm having a blast. we had our own pictures taken today and even though i hate being on the other side of the camera we actually had a lot of fun. (i am not making that up) we climbed trees and rode walls and overall just really learned how to connect with your subject. lol

i have already learned things that i knew i needed to know and just didnt know how to go about knowing them. jeremy and tony know everything there is to know about photographing people, connecting with the subject and capturing that emotion... they truly are awesome instructors. and if i was positive this wouldn't be read by one of them i would write exactly what i think ;)

here's a few from my shoot... clearly i need to improve on my gangsta rapping skillz.

chad + stacey

2010-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

chad + stacey

i know, i know.... a little less snappy and more workie there, missy. but if i wasn't snapping there wouldn't be anything to blog, right? and although there has been a major lack in the post department lately i promise to make up for it by posting 3 times a day, everyday, for the next 10 years (subject to change). also, i will punish myself by going to missoula tomorrow for a week long photography workshop with RMSP. it will be horrible. it's located in the boring rocky mountains of western montana, in a glacial lakebed... we'll be be shooting the montana fair all week, it will be super dull i'm sure. and to make things worse, our instructor is really cute. So yeah... pooor me. sad face.

...anyways, moving on.

chad and stacey's wedding was magical. (in a non-cheesy way) the location was literally a photographer's dream. stacey's parents put huge amounts of time and effort into their meticulously manicured yard and it was evident on this day. and then there was the quonset. gorgeous details covered the walls and tables and something crazy like 500 handmade tissue pom poms hung from the 40 foot ceilings... it was wild.

the bride and her girls were beautiful! everyone looked stunning, basically everything was perfect. it really was magical. and then they lived happily ever after.

joel + ashley

2010-07-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

joel + ashley

joel and ashley picked a great evening for their engagement session. It had been raining all day and cleared up litteraly 5 minutes before we met up. we finished up in a gorgeous field that was covered in a foot of fog. it was beautiful and spooky all at the same time. if there's such a thing.
and of course ice cream is always a good time, even if a little gets up the nose :) can't wait for the wedding in august!

guy + pam

2010-07-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

guy + pam

last week i went out with guy and pam on one of the two rain-free evenings in saskatoon this month (ok, that exaggerating a little, i guess) ... (but not lots) and we had so much fun. these two are so cute together, pam with her adorable little smirk and guy with his, um, ginormous biceps.

like seriously, they scared me a little, not gonna lie.

ok moving on. It was totally fun getting to know these 2 a little better and I'm way excited for their wedding coming up!

bryce + karen

2010-07-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

sunshine is delicious

2010-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

blade + taylor

2010-07-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

hair pretties

2010-07-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

hair pretties

this past weekend i asked 2 of the cutest little heads of hair i know to model my latest hair designs... or "hair pretties" as they were so eloquently labeled by alex.

kids are unpredictable and surprisingly, not every kid likes to sit outside in the blazing 117º heat and have their picture taken. i know, right? like, why not?

well... on a scale of one to ten, ten being generally content and one being 'please kill me now', alex's enthusiasm about doing this photo shoot was sitting somewhere around fourteen thousand and seven, falling in the freakishly overjoyed range. I couldn't have ordered a happier kid off the internet! she kept saying things like "WOW. this is the BEST modeling job i've ever had". it was also the only modeling job she's ever done, which was really surprising because she was a natural! every pose she struck was more catalogue than the last... i was actually struggling to keep up with her.

i managed to get a couple shots of hailey also but she clearly had more important things to be doing.

To see more 'hair pretties' go here.

retro is the new modern

2010-06-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

retro is the new modern

truly, it is. how does the saying go? my grandma owned it, my mother got rid of it and now i'm buying it... and cutting it up and turning it into modern day vintage inspired accessories and selling it on etsy? yep. pretty sure thats close, if not 100% accurate.

last saturday we went to the antique marketplace and spent the better part of our weekend walking up and down the isles of this giant thirty seven thousand-million acre space. we honestly browsed through hundreds and hundreds, of what seemed like the exact same booth over and over, just slightly different from one to the next. however, each one accompanied by the same musty 70 year old pee kind of smell. if you haven't caught on, i'm not the hugest fan of antique markets. i wish someone would invent an All The Exact Things Melissa Needs In One Place market with only shelf of only the stuff i want and thats it. none of this wandering up and down isles nonsense.

but you guys! i found some awesome bargains. none of which smell like pee though. be not afraid.

this super retro gator skin bag was only $12. ya! jealous much? aaand i'm pretty sure the file folders aren't actually antique but i needed them in my life anyways.

so excited to use this for a few dresses this season!

the doilies may have actually had a mild hint of urine scent but i think that was just from being in among the other urine-scented merch. after a nice bath they became pretty brooches like these:

today i ♥ family

2010-06-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

today i ♥ my fam.

i know everyone thinks this but i'm 100% sure of it. i've been given one of the best families in the world. like, at least in the top ten category. seriously. my family is full of super awesome people. and never once have i wished for a different family. ok, maybe once or twice but its never lasted long because i always come back to the realization that any other family just wouldn't cut it. my family gets me. my family encourages and pushes me. my family laughs with me, sometimes at me. but always, my family luffs me.

... as demonstrated in one of mom's latest layouts. my gramma teaching me the mad figure skating skillz i have now and my dad preparing me for the extremely hectic and fast-paced life of running your own business... this never-ending mess of meetings, appointments, conference calls and mini golf. also, fyi, pretty sure i have the sweetest pair of purple pants ev-har. 10 points for my wardrobe consultant.

two birds on a wire

2010-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

two birds on a wire

yes, i am still alive.

no, i haven't died from heat stroke nor have i been attacked by a ferocious army of cacti. and i haven't run off to dubai in search of a wealthy, kandura-clad husband... but great guesses and thank you for your concern!

i blame my recent AWOL-ness on the creative part of my brain that never stops going. (also why the other parts of my brain don't always function 100%... the creativity sucks all the juice out and then the rest of my brain is all, huh? carrot sticks don't go in the cupboard)?

so this is how it started: i woke up one morning and wanted to wear this pretty dress my mom brought back from hawaii. but when i put it on i realized it was made for a person of normal height and not the vertically challenged folk, such as i. so i had this brainwave that if i cut off a few inches from the hem it would fit better. and being one that doesn't like to waste or throw out ANYthing (although i'm not yet to the point of collecting each and every yogurt/sour cream/cottage cheese container that comes into my life)... (i have my gramma for that) i came up with the idea of turning the scraps into beautiful wall decor and calling it art!

ok, not really, but shoot me if i ever do that.

no, actually i figured if i could make them into flowers or something that slightly resembled a flower, and then sew them onto the neckline, my too long dress would suddenly be a refurbished and even cuter anthro-looking creation. so i got out the glue gun and sewing machine and started making fabric flowers. then i found a PILE of fabric that my mom was hoarding for the day she plans to make a 40 acre quilt, which i doubt will be this week or next week, so i took it and made more flowers. then i was all, hey! this would make a cute headband. and this would be a cute belt... ooh and pins and brooches and hair accessories....

and then it occurred to me. omg, ETSY! so i was like, hey etsy, can i open up a shop? and etsy was like ummm, you're probably not good enough but everyone else in the world is doing it, so go for it i guess.

so there you have it. its nothing spectacular by any means, but it's how i've been filling my days while patiently waiting to get out there and shoot again. feel free to stop by and take a gander.

two birds on a wire by missyborys on Etsy

and of course i asked my gorgeous sister-in-law to do the modeling for me... thanks again leah. ur a superstar! (not the kind who smells their armpits)

be kind.

2010-06-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

be kind.

Living Without Type 1 - Post 5

2010-06-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Living Without Type 1 - Post 5

Imagine, every time your son or daughter is invited to a birthday party or offered a piece of cake at dessert, having to deny them of that simple pleasure in life. Or think of all the times you have scarfed down a slice of cheesecake or a cupcake topped with deliciously icing... imagine not being able to do that. Srsly, my heartbeat is slightly accelerated right now and my skin is going damp with sweat caused by fear of just the thought. IMO eating cake is right up there with like, diamonds and pearls, luxurious trips to spain and sleeping in... probably even above sleeping in, which for those of you who know me, you now understand how much I value eating cake.

So I really feel for for people like Kylie who can't enjoy a plain old cupcake with everyone else in her class. And once again I am blown away by Kim's amazing dedication, creativity and talent. These cupcakes were as good as they look! And they put a smile on Kylie's face which in the end, is all that really matters. And making them look good. But more Kylie's smile.

Mint Ice Cream

3 large handfuls of organic spinach leaves

1 small handful of organic chocolate mint leaves (Singhs Farm, Scottsdale)

½ carton of coconut creamer (original)

Mix ingredients together in Blendtec and enjoy... it's that simple! And though some of you might scrunch your nose up and make gag noises at vegan ice cream, it's also actually really delicious! The Ice Dream Cookbook has a great collection of gluten free desserts and recipes using dairy alternatives.

Strawberry Pea Protein Smoothie

Instead of a dairy protein try plant. Pea protein has paired well in many of our shakes! Easy and quick to prepare on a busy morning.

10 oz. of organic strawberries (about 2 cups).

1 scoop (35 grams) of Pea Protein

1 ¼ cup of almond milk

pinch of cinnamon

Blend and enjoy!

Yields 2 cups

Jax enjoying a Gluten Free Creations cupcake and washing it down with some yummy strawberry smoothie. And being extremely cute while doing it.

Falafel

15 oz. garbanzo beans, rinsed

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. dried red pepper flakes

2 T. garbanzo bean flour

salt and pepper to taste

Smash garbanzo beans with a fork then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Form the mixture into small balls, about 1 ½ inch in diameter, then roll them in the garbanzo bean flour. In a well oiled skillet, on medium high, fry the falafel balls until all sides are browned and crispy. Drizzle with yogurt and garnish with parsley. These are great appetizers.

Curry Yogurt - In a processor add 1 tsp. of curry to ½ cup of yogurt. We used goat milk yogurt.

Another great, eco-friendly invention... the Love Bottle. They're re-usable glass bottles that you can personalize and write on. And they're wallet-friendly as well, ranging from $12 - $19.

crabby abby

2010-06-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

crabby abby

abby is super sweet. usually. this day she decided to be crabby instead. she made it clear right away that she wasn't really interested in having her photo taken unless aunty leah was there, which she wasn't. so we did what everyone does in this situation and bribed her with sugar and candy and bright shiny objects.

we did manage to capture a few sweet laughs and giggles tho, and janna- you did awesome :) i think we all deserved giant red lollipops.