Lea & Steve....we heart you!

I'm someone's Natalie Spencer. Nat to me is my inspiration. I felt like I knew everything about her before meeting her. When I received an email from sweet Lea, that's how she felt about me. When we met up in person, she would actually correct my information based on the details of my blog she's so carefully read. I mentioned I had one wedding left this year and she murmured: you have two weddings left. Then she bashfully mentioned...well that's what it said on your blog.

So adorable. Michael never understands why I put people on a pedestal. They're just people he will chide me. He says that people would actually be creeped out to know how many times I visit their pages, look at their photos or read their words. I don't find it creepy at all. When it happens to me, I find it incredibly flattering.

Back to Lea. She insists we are twins, although when you see her, you will definitely know which twin got the better looks of the family. Everything I love, she loves. She follows me on my blog, website, Facebook and Instagram. I mentioned we are on Twitter and she joined that too. This is the kind of client I adore. The kind that has such a connection to us and our photos that they instantly booked us for their April wedding in Costa Rica. She's full of life, spunk and personality.

When we shot Lea and Steve's engagement photos, we knew we were in for something special. They have been together for 14 years and never had professional photos taken of themselves. Steve is a fireman in Toronto so we are planning a special 2nd part to their engagement photos in the winter. Stay tuned for that. We had one hour of shooting time, including driving to three locations and changing outfits. We worked fast and chased the quickly descending light.

Every Wednesday, Lea drives to Toronto to work with a special needs boy. She doesn't get home until almost midnight, but she never reneges on her commitment. She has the most beautiful soul. She's the kind of person people want to be around. The kind of person who makes everyone feel special just for being in her presence. And she is now my very good friend. How lucky am I.

The fact that there are over 80 people coming to Lea & Steve's destination wedding is a true testament to the kind of couple they are. Steve is fun and ready to party and after their shoot, the four of us sat in the pub that we first met in and laughed for an hour straight. Like the kind of bust your gut kind of laughing that is usually reserved for well-seasoned relationships. One night, her, Michael and myself communicated via cyberspace and sent each other hilarious videos of brides falling. Can you imagine???

I love these two. Their session was magical. Costa Rica is going to be even more magical. And so is their life together.

Lea and Steve....we love you guys!

Enjoy your sneak peeks. Your photos are ready.

xo

Wendy

"Transparent"

I hired this wedding planner to help me with the details of my big day(s). She once told me that I inspire her beyond belief and that I was ridiculously talented. I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me to take one of my very first photos of a Chanel bag and pearls, and put my logo on it. In fact, if you google my name, her site most always is the one who comes up first.

She told me I was onto something. She allowed me the chance to photograph my very first subject....her. 

We were insanely similar, shared many private stories, argued, made up, drifted and now occasionally work together. A once-scared suburbanite has now turned into a well travelled city dweller who isn't afraid to tell it like it is. I used to chide her for her notion of perfectly perfect and I am extremely proud of her candid, honest and soul-baring journey from perfect to perfectly okay.

This latest post hits close to home and she couldn't have worded it better:  I wrote once that some people control their surroundings by being private, that others exert control by being open...and that clearly, I'm an "other".  I am transparent.

This past year we have been blessed to have met so many incredible people. I'm often asked how I manage to keep up with the social aspect of my job...especially from fellow introverted photographers. It really does come natural when you are in good company but it does sometimes get exhausting. I feel like if we were to halt the business right now, I would be fulfilled with what we've accomplished and who we've met. It is safe to say that a handful of our 2012 couples have become lifelong friends. We've booked travel together, planned to ring in the new year together and text like girlfriends, not clients. Sometimes I just don't want any new friends. Especially those that are not transparent. There is room for those people too and not every single event will be so heavily connected. Some will feel like jobs, some will feel like work and that's life.

I was asked the other day if I thought I favoured attractive people with my posts. The truth is, attractive people are the ones who are honest, humble and real. Those are the people I feel connected to....does that mean I work harder on their event? Definitely not. But sometimes the inside shines through the outside and it makes for darn good photos.

December is always a time for reflections and musings. This year has been a whirlwind and mostly consumed with my career ups, downs and maintaining a healthy balance between the two. I feel proud of what I've accomplished, proud of the person I have become, the relationships I have formed and fostered, the relationships I discarded and look forward to the ones I've yet to meet. This journey has taken me and will continue to take me to places I never dreamt of going. It's allowed me to cross paths with some of the most remarkably talented and kind people I've ever met and also veered me off a slight dirt side road to the not so remarkable.

I continue to be me, continue to improve and always always seek the truth.  I hope you do too.
I wish everyone a life of love and transparency. And I thank Mary for inspiring me to write again....because for too long it took a back seat to the days swiftly gone by.

Love,

Wendy

http://myaltardlife.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/transparent/

"People don’t benefit others by  being secretive and withheld and reserved. People benefit others by sharing stuff, telling stuff, and making people think stuff that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

No one tells the author of a bestseller that they were too open – because, for whatever reason, they bought in to the transparency – they saw it as an opportunity to grow/learn/change.

My transparency may not be a bestseller….. or maybe one day it will….. but, for whatever reason, some people buy in to it – and see it as an opportunity to grow/learn/change by proxy." ~ Mary Bratko

Capri Statti!

Dara and I used to chat at our dinner parties about what it would be like to have a child and at one point we knew we were not ready to enter that phase of life. You would never know it now as her and Joe nurtured and proudly showed us their new baby girl Capri.

We had a lovely day photographing her precious newborn and even got some snaps with proud grandparents Ross & Sue.

Thanks to Dara's sister and my friend Danielle for coming along and helping with the shoot. It's always nice to have an extra pair of hands to grab props, swaddle the baby or wash poopy bums!

Here are a few of my favourite shots. I love the way Capri gazed at her mommy when she was nursing.

Love you guys. What a precious Christmas gift.

xo

Wendy