Here are some of my favourite images from a wedding I seconded for in May! This was my first, but definitely not my last time, shooting with Jenn of Jennifer Blaak Photography.
Angie + Dave held their ceremony at the Compass Point Bible Church in Burlington, with a gorgeous outdoor reception held at Sidrabene Retreat.
Congrats Angie and Dave! I wish you all the happiness in the world <3
Sandy
I went to Ireland! I went to Ireland pretty much for free. My partner (Steve) won the trip at a Leafs game on St. Patrick's Day weekend this year. I think he had the luck of the Irish in him that day because he was chosen out of a stadium of almost 20,000 people.
So we went to Ireland from September 8-September 16th and if I didn't think I needed travel in my life before (I did), then I definitely do now. I would recommend not trying to see an entire country (or two) in a week, but I'm not going to complain about a free trip! If we ever go back I'd like to stay at LEAST a couple nights in each place; we drove past so many things we wanted to stop and see, but just didn't have the time.
We landed in Dublin and ended in Skerries, with so many amazing places in between, but that's a different blog post. Now I'm hooked; where should we go next? What is your top recommendation for places to travel? I'm going to start a list. Places with stellar food, rich history and gorgeous scenery gets bumped to the top.
xo Sandy
I NEED MORE PHOTOS ON MY WALL.
I need more photos of things I’ve done and places I’ve been and people I love on my walls. It’s a little late in the year, but it’s my new non-new years goal now. That’s a mouthful. And seeing as I’m in Ireland this week, I am REALLY hoping to get an amazing photo of the Irish countryside that I can blow up and put on my wall, because I have a feeling this is going to be a trip I want to remember forever <3
WHY YOU SHOULD PRINT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS
Your life won’t be noticeably worse if you don’t print your photographs. You won’t lose your job or be unhappy or be more irritable or spill your coffee or anything like that. But I would be willing to bet that if you DID print your photographs, and cover your walls with images you love, your life will be perceptibly better. I’d be willing to bet you catch yourself glancing over and smiling at the portrait of you and your Mom. Or maybe your portraits take a more intentional space in your life; you find yourself pausing while you fold laundry to admire the sticky fingers of your babes' helping you bake cookies. Or remembering a loved one's sweet smile.
ALBUMS & IMAGE BOXES – ALTERNATIVES TO WALL PRINTS
What generation are you from? I was born in the 80s. I think it was a pretty unique time to be born; I can remember both analog and digital being integral parts of my childhood. I remember sitting on the floor thumbing through my parents albums of 4x6s. Memories of when I was a kid and the times before I was ever born; my parents when they were friends and lovers and kids themselves. I am so grateful for these photos, even more so now that my Mom is gone.
What about when you come across of box of old photos while you're cleaning out your closet? I used to carry a 35mm film camera with me often. I would buy new rolls of film from our small town grocery store and send them out to be developed when they were full. I stored my 4x6s in boxes. I still have them. I took photos of my friends at school, my dogs, flowers, sunrises and sun sets. (I took a lot of cliché photos back then haha). A lot of the photos I took weren’t of anything important, but looking back on them gives me a look into who I was at that age. It’s a funny kind of feeling; kind of like when you find one of your old Diaries, or Journals, or whatever you were calling it at the time. Sometimes it’s cringe worthy, but I wouldn’t trade it for a piece of chocolate cake.
It's so important to print your images. I can’t imagine a generation that doesn’t get to experience those moments. That’s why every printed image you buy, the social media sized digital is included, so you can also print your 4x6s. I encourage you to consider printing albums as well as wall art. Canvas and large prints are great for those epic, magic moments, but albums are perfect for catching all the little in betweens that you never want to forget <3
<3 Sandy