Yesterday morning I turned to Duane and asked him if he was interested in doing a quick run up the mountain right across from our house. He said that he was, but he wanted to know if I would be willing to postpone it so that we could be on the peak for sunset, so that we could try our hand at some longer exposures. So that was exactly what we did. It almost didn’t work though – we ended up leaving the house a bit later than we wanted (2:40) and had to haul in order to make the peak on-time for 4:30. Wikipedia tells me that we climbed nearly 4,000 feet, so I am pretty happy with the pace that we set. We didn’t think that we were going to make it on-time so ended up creating our own straight-line for the last 1,500 feet or so. It could be that I am just a whiner, but that was an absolute slog! The snow had frozen and melted a few times so it’s got a pretty good crust up top and was challenging to boot-pack through.

Anyway, here are some of the results, the first one was grabbed from the ridge on the way up:

We got to the top just in time. We literally threw down our packs setup the tripod and started shooting!

After a few minutes the light got really warm!

Fernie. The ski hill is on the far right side of this photo.

It was totally dark on the way down. So we decided to setup some flashes and try some night photography! It’s amazing how monotonous several km of trail can be when it is only lit by your headlamp!

Alright – we’re in Calgary this weekend for Stefanie and Dennon’s wedding, so check back early next week for some images from that!

Had a chance to hang out with a super relaxed couple, Carolyn and Shay, for their engagement session here in Fernie. Carolyn has some family connections in the area, and at one point was looking at having her wedding here. They decided that since they were having their wedding Calgary, that they would come down this way for their engagement session. That’s one of the nice thing about these sessions – its a chance for us to get to know each other and it also allows us to achieve a different look for the pictures as opposed to the ones that they will get from their wedding. So thanks very much guys for travelling down to us – we’re really looking forward to your wedding next July! Slideshow at the bottom!

Thirty-four. That is the number of days that passed between Christa and Andrew’s wedding and Chelsea and David’s this past Saturday. After going at a pace of nearly one a week for 6 months it felt more like it was several lifetimes. As I mentioned in our previous post, we’ve more than managed to keep ourselves occupied during that time but it sure was nice to be able to focus in on the photography again.

Chelsea and her dad sharing a moment during the morning before the ceremony…

First Baptist in downtown Calgary is absolutely gorgeous! I think that the architect must have had a good friend who was a photographer or something.

After grabbing a couple of Chelsea and Dave, we went off with the wedding party for a little while.

After the wedding party shots we took these guys north of town in search of some wide-open spaces and beautiful fall light. Fortunately we were successful on both counts!

It’s hard to say, but I think that this one below might be my favorite shot of the day.

The light faded fast but these guys were game for a quick shot on Nose Hill before heading to the reception. Actually, there was nothing quick about this picture as it was a four second exposure. They did an awesome job of holding still for us!

These two were having a great time all day long! Lots of laughs throughout the evening.

Thanks again guys for having Duane and I along as part of your day!

What a dynamite weekend for pictures!  Saturday was perfect weather in Fernie and Sunday, while on the chilly side, was great as well.  At this point in the year though, we’ll take whatever good weather we can get!

Erin and Thomas made the trip down from the Edmonton area to do their engagement session.  We were introduced to them by Jessica and Josh and after sitting down with them for a coffee and their engagement session, I know that this is going to be an awesome wedding next year.  We headed into the Elbow River Valley here in town with their two dogs and had a great time.  Erin, once again, thanks for doing some hiking in those heels!

The entire family.  I think their names were Koda and Nikko.  One had really unique markings on it’s back that Kevan and I commented on.  Turns out it was magic marker from the previous owners!

These two were a lot of fun.  Always laughing at/with each other and having a great time.  This next shot is an Erin/Thomas original concept!

Oh…the noises this bridge made!

This shot was actually a test exposure that Kevan jumped into…Judging by the smile, I don’t think Thomas knew at the time!

…and the real one…

Don’t forget to watch their slideshow for more pictures!

Thanks guys!  We’re looking forward to hanging out with you again next year!

Up early yesterday for an engagement session with these two out in Fernie. Leif is the brother of Quinn so we were super pumped when he and Laura decided that they wanted to have us along as their photographers. Calgary has long ago turned into brown death, so we were really happy to see that the Elk Valley has tonnes of colour with the Larch and Tamarack trees in full yellows. It’s actually pretty impressive right now – there is one view just as you leave Sparwood that gives you a nice view looking south over the valley and it is wall-to-wall colour. I’m amazed at how much variety there is in Fernie to shoot – it seems like every time we head out that way we find something different. This time we had every intention of just taking the car out to one field north of town and then coming back in. Only problem was that we kept finding cool stuff to use and two hours later we realized that we had better head into town to grab some shots or it wasn’t going to happen!

This series made me laugh. We stopped at a random house to ask to borrow their field as it offered a nice view of Mt. Hosmer in the background. This is the shot as we envisioned it.

But what you can’t see is what is going on below them! We vacated the field when a frisky cow started heading our way!

Like I said, it made me laugh. Cows are such goofy looking animals.

Anybody remember this car? This is the third appearance on the blog now. I’m a fan.

My favourite.