The Photographer's Notebook

The chilly days of late fall are here. Quite frankly, though, it's feeling a lot like winter. We've lost an hour of daylight and the dark days associated with the winter months are here. I rarely lack inspiration during the summer when light is plentiful, and I’m usually immersed outdoors in nature. However, the move indoors can sometimes leave me feeling uninspired with shorter days and colder weather. To keep from falling into a rut, I make an effort to look for opportunities to capture creative light inside my home. Today, I want to share some tips about places to look for creative light inside your home so that you can remain inspired to pick up your camera even in the darkest and coldest of days. 

1. Window coverings

Slat blinds and lacy drapery can provide beautiful patterned light when it filters from the outdoors inside your home. Lines and repetition of shape as light is diffused through window coverings can infuse creativity into...

Winter has come to the Canadian Rockies. I love winter in the mountains! Although it's cold, the visual beauty inherent in winter is an absolute dream to photograph. Stormy days are plentiful during the winter months. Conditions filled with snow flurries, pockets of wintery light, and overcast cloud drama become the norm for the landscape photographer. I used to be filled with disappointment when I'd make the trip out into the mountains for a day of landscape photography only to be greeted by stormy skies. Now, I embrace these days, as they are, in fact, some of my favoured conditions for photographing landscape scenes during the winter months. Here are a few ideas on how you can embrace stormy days and still capture beautiful landscape images.    

1. Embrace the snow

Snow squalls are common in the Canadian Rockies, and I think they are magical. Snowy scenes can be challenging to photograph, especially when the snow is swirling down and melting...

Halloween is fast approaching! There are a ton of fun activities and traditions around my home that we like to participate in. Witches brew, spooky cookies dripping with icing, pumpkin carving, and more are all on our list of must enjoy Halloween moments. Halloween will look different this year living amidst a health pandemic, but we still have many fun family activities planned. I always make sure my camera is close at hand to capture all the spooky seasonal fun. Here are some of my must capture Halloween images:

1. Halloween traditions

It's time for pumpkin carving, which is one of our Halloween must-do traditions. This year I picked up mini pumpkins, and they are the absolute perfect size for a project my children can tackle on their own! My children are at an age where they dive into that ooey-gooey pumpkin mess and carve up their own jack o’ lantern. At the same time, I can stand back with my camera photographing their expressions from different angles and...

Although short, the fall season is undeniably one of the most beautiful outdoor seasons of them all. The colours and show nature puts on infuses warm beauty into frames. There are several ways photographers can capture the best of the best during fall, capturing our children's moments while photographing precious memories. Below are a few ideas on how you can set yourself up to capture stunning images of your children this fall season.   

1. Shoot during peak colour

The shift from golden trees to fallen leaves happens in a blink of an eye. A simple gust of wind can blow away leaves within minutes, leaving branches bare, or an early snowstorm can freeze fall in her tracks. Once the colour begins, keep a very close watch on nature.  Be on the lookout for peak colours, then run outdoors and devour nature's stunning display before fall comes to an end. Images during the peak of fall colour can result in stunning fall captures.  

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Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner. To all my fellow Canadians, I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings.  For my friends worldwide not celebrating Thanksgiving this upcoming weekend, you can tuck away the information below for when your celebrations arrive. 

I know you'll agree with me that this year has been unusual in many ways. Change and stressors have been great in many homes around the world. However, amidst the COVID-19 heath pandemic, I have observed more family time, stronger relationships, an improved appreciation of others, and resiliency like I've never seen before. Despite the challenges this year has brought, I have much to be thankful for. I plan on enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving with my family, focusing on what is most important to us and the little people growing up before my eyes.

Whether you are celebrating this weekend or another time, I think you should take the time to photograph your important...

Typically, fall in the Canadian Rocky Mountains lasts only a few short weeks. Mixed in with all that beautiful colour is a variety of lighting and weather conditions. Sometimes you're fortunate enough to get the conditions you had been dreaming about photographing in, but other times conditions are not ideal. Since the fall season is so short, I know that I want to make the very most out of capturing this stunning season before winter blows in and covers everything in a blanket of white. Below are some ways in which you can ensure you capture stunning fall landscapes this year. 

1. Consider your Location

When it comes to landscape photography, most of you will agree that location matters. It’s well worth the effort to research and scout locations you intend to photograph, especially if you seek a specific element, like fall colour, within your images. Not all locations will offer fall colours in abundance. It is also a good idea to consider the elevation you'll be...

It’s no secret that I adore summer, but those beautiful days filled with light and warmth are quickly coming to a close. Replacing t-shirts, shorts, and flip flops are all the warm nuances of fall. Fall doesn’t last long around my neck of the woods. Last year we skipped autumn and moved straight into winter. A vicious snowstorm rolled in before the leaves turned their beautiful golden colours, and nature froze instantly. All those leaves fell to the ground in a mess of brown yuck. I’m hoping for more this year when it comes to the autumn season. As nature turns golden, there are five images that I'm aiming to capture. 

1. Outdoor adventure

I’ll admit that I do love the crisp fresh air of fall. Something is refreshing about the scent of dewy grasses, and frost kissed leaves. I find myself breathing a little deeper on my morning walks, enjoying that chill as it expands my lungs. Even with falls' chill, it isn’t too...

Fall, although short-lived where I’m from, is one of my favourite times of the year. Cozy knitted oversized sweaters, leather booties, apple cider, a carefully crafted apple pie, the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg and that spicy scent lingering in the air after a marathon day of salsa creation all flood my senses with a warm nostalgic sensation. Since the autumn season spans only a few weeks before those winter snowflakes begin to fall, I like to prepare for myself a list of autumn images I hope to capture this year. As I plan my seasonal ideas, I've thought about a few ways in which I can infuse variety into the images I capture. Today I'm sharing these thoughts with you. 

1. Use a wide-angle lens

Lenses that are 35mm and wider are considered wide-angle—this focal range permits a photographer with the opportunity to capture a large scene. Wide angles during the fall are fantastic when the goal is to capture a larger setting. If you have a wide-angle...

Summer will soon come to an end. Fall is in the air up here in Canada, where I live. School routines have begun, whether it’s online or in the classroom, as have extracurricular activities, albeit all are looking different this year under the pandemic influence. With the return to the home environment, the creative spark inherent in summer adventure has been lost. The question now is, how can we interestingly use our everyday spaces? Below are a few tips to take with you through the upcoming months as you spend more time in your familiar and sometimes uninteresting environments.

1. Shoot from above-bird's eye view

As parents, our most common view of observing our children is from above. Shooting from above your subject can be an enduring perspective that evokes feelings of tender caring and love. This viewpoint also helps isolate details and can create a more interesting image, even in the most uninteresting location.

 Remember that you don't always have to shoot top...

Photography is a powerful tool, and each photographer should aim to capture images uniquely that are in alignment with her style and voice. The mom photographer in me wants to capture images in which I preserve childhood moments of my rapidly growing children frame by frame. At the same time, the artist part of me wishes to capture dynamically creative images filled with visual interest. More simply put, I want the combination of why I capture images and how I photograph the moments I choose to preserve to be interesting.

There are many different ways in which a photographer can interestingly capture everyday moments. Today, I am sharing a few tried and true methods for infusing more interest in photographs.

1. Infuse a story 

Humans relate to stories. Life is a beautiful story of ups and downs and joys and pains, and visual stories displaying these moments can be captivating. The better you get at telling a story within your images, the more interesting...